TGIF. Want to just dive right in?
1. Are pirates on the resurgence?
A report from Creative Content Australia into the piracy behaviours of Aussies has shown that around 21 per cent of adults are more than happy with illegally downloading content. According to the report, many pirated for the first time during lockdown, a habit that they continued well into 2022. The main thing Australians are pirating are new release movies, followed by new TV shows, then movies we simply don’t have access to, despite the ridiculous amount of streaming services available. While the report doesn’t show what questions are asked, nor does it really drill much deeper than what we’ve shared, a quick poll of the Gizmodo Australia office found that people hypothetically would still download something if it meant ridding ads. Interestingly, these people would pay for free-to-air catch up services if it meant there were no more ads.
2. Entain pays $13K penance for online in-play bets
The ACMA has issued its first infringement notice in relation to a breach of the in-play betting rules of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001. Entain Pty Ltd (Entain) has been penalised $13,320 for online in-play betting after it was found that two of its services (Ladbrokes and Neds) had accepted illegal bets (78 of them) on the final day of the Bangkok LIV Golf tournament in October 2022. Entain reported to the ACMA that the breaches occurred due to its parent company inputting the incorrect start time for the event into their systems. As a result, 59 bets were accepted via the Ladbrokes service and 19 via the Neds service after the event had commenced. All bets were effectively voided.
3. 3,000 complaints about telcos
Over to iTWire and they’ve reported on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman’s (TIO) latest thematic review on financial hardship complaints, noting that the TIO received over 3,000 complaints from consumers experiencing financial hardship over the last 12 months (to the end of March this year). In the reporting period, 67 per cent of new complaints about financial hardship involved a mobile service, with the TIO noting “more financial hardship complaints involved debts and charges for mobile services than for every other service type combined”.
4. Oh no, Zuck is doing things again
Meta’s latest quarterly earnings report is hung up on the “efficiency” buzzword. In his call with investors this week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg talked up “efficiency work,” more than once, all while sprinkling in talk of “monetisation efficiency” and “organisational efficiency”. But he had one sticking point amid all his optimism: artificial intelligence. While he also claims AI has improved the company’s own monetisation, it seems AI chatbots and other generative AI models will soon be flooding into users’ apps with all the efficiency of a diesel train barreling through a crowded station. Read more about it over here.
5. Elon Musk’s attorneys claim ‘Deepfake Defence’
“I really would consider autonomous driving to be basically a solved problem,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk said during the Q&A portion of a 2016 interview at a Vox Recode conference. “A Model S and Model X at this point can drive autonomously with greater safety than a person, right now,” he added. Or…did he? Defence lawyers in a civil case surrounding Tesla driver Walter Huang’s fatal 2017 car crash have claimed that Musk’s apparent 2016 statements on Autopilot, and others, could have been deepfaked. And, because the statements may or may not be authentic, the company has argued that Musk shouldn’t be forced to face questions about them. Read more about it over here.
BONUS ITEM: Our favourite non-news news item from the week.
Have a wonderful weekend.