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Society, Policy & Culture
The most popular blog posts about society, policy & culture on Hacker News. 4,917 posts.
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Digital books wear out faster than physical books
Ever try to read a physical book passed down in your family from 100 years ago? Probably worked well. Ever try reading an ebook you paid for 10 years ago? Probably a different experience. From the leasing business model of mega publishers to physical device evolution to format obsolescence, digital books are fragile…
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I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research
As I’ve shared with family, friends and our team since late last year, I have made the decision to disband Hindenburg Research. The plan has been to wind up after we finished the pipeline of ideas we were working on. And as of the last Ponzi cases we just completed and are sharing with regulators, that day is today.
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The campaign to shut down YouTube-dl continues
Copyright maximalists just don’t know when to stop. Having failed in their 2020 attempt to use U.S. law to force GitHub to permanently cut off access to youtube-dl, an open source tool that allows users to download and preserve videos, on the theory that the tool can also be used for infringing...
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Freesound just reached 500K Creative Commons sounds
In our recent 2020 in numbers blog post we predicted that we would reach 500k sound uploads at some point in 2021 and… it has just happened! At some point during the past weekend, the number of sounds which are available for download in Freesound has surpassed half a million. Note that by sounds which are available…
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Tennessee man jailed 37 days for Trump meme wins settlement after lawsuit
Retired Tennessee law enforcement officer Larry Bushart has won a substantial settlement from the county and sheriff behind his arrest.
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Australia’s new mass surveillance mandate
The Australian government has new laws on the books to hack your computer, your online accounts, and just about any piece of technology and networks you come into contact with. It can happen without a warrant and without you ever knowing. That’s just the start of it. Outraged? Good.
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One of the FBI’s Major Claims in the iPhone Case Is Fraudulent
“We have enormous computing power in the US government, but we need to be able to bring it to bear without the phone killing itself.” – FBI Director James Comey, March 1 , 2016.
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ACLU sues Minnesota for police violence against the press
We are facing a full-scale assault on the First Amendment freedom of the press.
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Updates to Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy
Claude Free, Pro, and Max users can now opt in to having conversations used to improve models, with a five-year retention period for participants.
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January 1, 2023 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1927 are open to all
By Jennifer Jenkins, Director of Duke’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain January 1, 2023 is Public Domain Day: Works from 1927 are open to all! On January 1, 2023, copyrighted works from 1927 will enter the US public domain. 1 They will be free for all to copy, share, and build upon. These […]
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Bruce Schneier joins EFF Board of Directors
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is honored to announce the newest member of its Board of Directors: renowned security expert Bruce Schneier. Schneier is widely acclaimed for his criticism and commentary on everything from network security to national security. His insight...
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Why has examine.com disappeared from search results?
Examine.com was born in 2011 out of our personal frustration with the poor quality of information on nutrition and supplementation available on the Internet, and since then we’ve helped tens of millions of people get health information free from advertorial pressures, miracle cures, and clickbait headlines that tease…
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The .Org Fire Sale: How it sold for less than half its valuation
Part 2 in a series. (See also Part 1: The Great Dot Org Heist.) Updates: Moz letter, El Reg, registry agreement, ISOC forum + letter, Wyden Ethos Capital seems on track to complete their takeover …
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Making It Legal to Play Outside: “Reasonable Childhood Independence” Bills
Let Grow is working to make independence for children legal across the country. Here's an update on efforts in states this year.
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ICE Deports 3 U.S. Citizen Children Held Incommunicado Prior to the Deportation
Families disappeared and isolated without legal access; one child with cancer deported without medication and pregnant mother deported as well
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Twitter restricted in Turkey in aftermath of earthquake
Network data confirm the restriction of Twitter on multiple internet providers in Turkey as of Wednesday 8 February 2023. The incident comes as authorities raise concerns over disinformation online, although ...
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I’m Terrified of My New TV
From facial recognition to personal data collection, this thing is downright scary -- and so are the implications.
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“Google: it is time to return to not being evil”
A monopoly both in search and advertising, Google, unfortunately, shows that they are not able to resist the misuse of power.
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Undergraduates with family income below $200k will be tuition-free at MIT
Undergraduates with family income below $200,000 can expect to attend MIT tuition-free starting next fall, thanks to newly expanded financial aid. Eighty percent of American households meet this income threshold.
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A Decade-Old Gag Order, Lifted
More than a decade ago, a man named Nick Merrill approached the NYCLU and ACLU with an unusual request for help. At the time, Nick ran a small Internet access and consulting business, called Calyx, in New York City.
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Apple’s ad business set to boom on the back of its own anti-tracking crackdown
Apple is the one tech giant that has never been associated with ads, proudly declaring its customer a jewel it will never sell to advertisers. But it seems that Apple is now immersing itself deep into the ad business. Will its promises be kept?
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Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act
Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the dangerous EARN IT bill. We’re disappointed to see the committee advance this misguided bill. If enacted, EARN IT will put massive legal pressure on internet companies both large and small to stop using encryption and instead scan...
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PSF has withdrawn $1.5M proposal to US Government grant program
In January 2025, the PSF submitted a proposal to the US government National Science Foundation under the Safety, Security, and Privacy of Open Source Ecosystems program to address structural vulnerabilities in Python and PyPI. It was the PSF’s first time applying for government funding, and navigating the intensive…
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Nest Reminds Customers That Ownership Isn't What It Used to Be
Nest Labs, a home automation company acquired by Google in 2014, will disable some of its customers' home automation control devices in May. This move is causing quite a stir among people who purchased the $300 Revolv Hub devices—customers who reasonably expected that the promised "lifetime" of...