Tech Brew Ride Home - Tue. 07/13 – Bribe Or Bot Your Way To Twitter Verification?

Episode Date: July 13, 2021

If Twitter verification is now run by humans, how did so many obvious bot accounts get verified? Why you might start seeing brand logos in your emails, and why that’s actually a good thing. Biden's non-compete clause executive order is a big deal for Big Tech. And a look at the absurdity of the right to repair situation when it comes to gadgets you own. Links: Twitter verified a number of bot accounts—raising questions about security (updated) (DailyDot) Gmail deploys support BIMI security standard (The Record) Android 12 adds ‘Game dashboard’ and ‘Play as You Download’ in Google Play Store (9to5Google) Ring’s end-to-end encryption is rolling out globally (The Verge) Disney Plans to Raise ESPN Plus’ Monthly and Annual Subscription Costs (Variety) Biden's non-compete clause executive order is a big deal for Big Tech (Input Magazine) Biden Executive Order on Non-Competes Could Roil Tech (Bloomberg) Apple AirPod batteries are almost impossible to replace, showing the need for right-to-repair reform (CNBC) Tesla’s $16,000 Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters (The Drive) Link to the Twitter space, tomorrow (07/14) at 4pm eastern Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Tuesday, July 13th, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough today. If Twitter verification is now run by humans, how did so many obvious bot accounts get verified? Why you might start seeing brand logos in your emails and why that's actually a good thing. Biden's non-compete

clause executive order is a big deal for big tech and a look at the absurdity of the right to repair situation when it comes to gadgets you own. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. I don't remember if we covered this, but Twitter recently rolled out an extensive new verification system that promised to offer a systematic and comprehensive way for a broad range of folks to get those coveted blue check marks. But I haven't even tried it out yet myself because it had so many procedural hoops to jump through. It wasn't worth my time when I looked into it. And also, I just keep hearing stories of obviously prominent people going through those hoops only to be denied verification once again. And now, after a user made waves by highlighting this on Twitter

recently, Twitter has confirmed it inadvertently verified six essentially robot accounts, obvious bot accounts, saying that the inauthentic accounts are now suspended and their badges have been removed. So yeah, Twitter verification remains a cluster you know what, quoting the Daily Dot. In a tweet thread on Sunday Twitter user, Conspirador Nortena, a A data scientist focused on disinformation highlighted six newly created accounts that all had been verified. While it's common for malicious actors to hack into already verified accounts, these six users had all been created just 26 days ago. Not only that, the accounts shared nearly all the same followers and had not made a single tweet.

The profile pictures for two of the accounts even appeared to be stock images, while others seemed to have been created with artificial intelligence. Dozens of the accounts followers looked the same as well, using computer-generated photos of humans and cats for their profiles. In a statement to the Daily Dot, Twitter confirmed that it had inadvertently verified the inauthentic accounts. Quote, we mistakenly approved the verification applications of a small number of inauthent or fake accounts, a Twitter spokesperson said, we have now permanently suspended the accounts in question and removed their verified badge under our platform manipulation and spam policy, end quote.

While questions remain, Alex Stamos, Facebook's former chief security officer, suggested that the verification could have been an inside job. quote, you might have a malicious or bribed insider. Stamos tweeted. Something similar happened at Instagram, paid off by spammers in that case, end quote. I guess that would actually make it make sense, because the whole point of this new system by Twitter was supposed to be that humans would be making the calls on who got the blue checks and who didn't.

Stamos later tweeted that he had heard Twitter had ruled out it being a malicious actor, which means, I don't know what, at this point. I mean, any human with a lick of training should have been able to immediately see that those were obviously bought accounts, right? Google has added support for BIMI, a security standard for brands. This support has been added to Gmail, which will now allow brands to show logos for verified users as part of an effort to improve email sender authenticity. hear me out. If you start seeing little logos and icons in your email, it's actually a good thing, quoting the record. The new standard is hard to comprehend for non-technical users, but it basically allows companies that have implemented email security standards like DMR, D-Kim, and SPF for their

email domains to show authenticated logos inside email clients. Since all these security protocols rely on digital certificates and advanced cryptography, the verified logos will only appear for a company's real email domain and not for spoofed emails sent by scammers or cybercrime groups. Google had first rolled out BIMI in a trial last year for a small group of users. With today's announcement, Gmail now joins Yahoo, AOL, and FastMail as the only email providers to support BIMI authenticated logos inside their email clients. Besides the security benefits of having authenticated logos appear next to emails, the BIMI standard also has tangible marketing benefits as well, according to a 28MI.

trial with Yahoo users. Verizon said that after adding verified logos next to inbox emails, they saw a 10% increase in customer engagements, as users tended to click on emails with a logo more often, driving traffic to companies which tested the technology. But as with all new technologies and standards being rolled out, there are also technical hurdles. In the case of BIMI, these hurdles are related to VMCs, the special certificates that companies need to authenticate their logo ownership. Today, only Digisert and entrust can issue VMCs for BIMI authentication, but in a press release, the BIMI team said they expect the list of supporting certification authorities to expand in the future, end quote. Google has also unveiled a feature for Android 12 that lets users play a game

from the Play Store before it's even been fully downloaded. This new feature is available now to implement with what Google says is minimal developer effort. Quoting 9 to 5, Google. It's called Play as you download. Like before, you visit the listing for a title you want to get from the Play Store. The install button will feature a lightning bolt icon to signal how you can start playing while remaining assets are downloaded in the background. In one example, the play button appears 18% into a 127 megabyte download. Initial rounds will be immediately available with Google seeing games being ready to open at least two times faster. The company today also announced the Android game development kit with tools and libraries to, quote, develop, optimize, and

deliver high-quality Android games. There are three tent poles for this. Number one, integrated workflows, e.g. a new visual studio extension. Number two, essential C and C++ game libraries, e.g. the new game text input library. And three, performance optimization, e.g. frame profiler support in the GPU profiler and new loading time support in Android performance tuner. end quote. Ring has rolled out opt-in end-to-end encryption for video streams to all U.S. users and is now rolling out globally to everyone else, quoting the verge. The opt-in feature makes it so that your video streams can only be viewed by you on an enrolled iOS or Android device, meaning that ring can't access that footage even if it wanted to.

The feature works with 13 ring cameras, and you can see the full list of compatible models and follow the steps on how to set up end-to-end encryption on Ring's website. Rings battery-powered video doorbells and cameras don't support end-to-end encryption, according to that page. End-to-end encryption is a boon for customers who want to ensure Ring can't access their footage. Turning it on ensures that Ring can't turn over captured video to law enforcement either. Ring first announced video end-to-end encryption in September 2020 and launched the technical preview in January.

Alongside End-to-end encryption, Ring is introduced. using new features to help customers protect their accounts. If you use two-step authentication to provide extra security to your account, Ring now supports authenticator apps, which can be more secure than SMS. The company is also rolling out CAPTCHA in both the Ring and Neighbors app, which can prevent bots and spammers from logging into your account, end quote. Something something pricing power. Disney is planning to raise the subscription fees for ESPN plus in the U.S. to $7 a month and $70 a year. the previous $6 a month or $60 a year. But note, this is for ESPN Plus, not Disney Plus,

and the price for a Disney bundle of their streaming services is unchanged at about $14 a month. Quoting variety. Starting on August 13th, the price of an ESPN Plus subscription will rise to $6.99 a month and $69.99 a year, up from $5.99 a month and $59.99 per year. Disney is informing subscribers of the news on Monday. Prices for the UFC pay-per-view matches featured on the service remain unchanged, as does the price for getting a bundle of all Disney's U.S. services, which includes Hulu and Disney Plus. The group subscription costs $13.99 per month, 30% less than the cost of individual subscriptions to all three services. The company raised the monthly subscription cost last year for

new ESPN plus subscribers to $5.99. The price hike comes after ESPN unveiled a pestle of sports rights deals that call for significant amounts of new and archival content to make its way to the company's streaming outlet. A new deal with the National Hockey League will make 75 games available via ESPN Plus exclusively. And a pact between ESPN and the All-England Lawn Tennis Club for rights to the iconic Wimbledon tournament calls for ESPN Plus to live-stream activity all courts during the event and to be the only outlet to feature full replays for all matches. The club is also making available archival materials such as films, classic matches, highlight shows, and press conferences. ESPN Plus is also slated to become a showcase for La Liga soccer exclusively after August

and PGA Tour Live starting next season. The move suggests Disney is eager to push more customers to pick up its bundle, gaining subscribers for all three services and added penetration into the streaming outlets in consumers' homes. Disney said in April that ESPN Plus had won around 13.8 million subscribers, end quote. Considering how vital sports are to the overall entertainment picture, I wonder if this will be a new focus for Disney going forward, building out their membership specifically for ESPN Plus. You could see them trying for, I don't know, 50 million subs in five years, say, and, you know, given yesterday's news about the paying $30 to watch Black Widow while still in theater's success, would they dare experiment further with pay-per-view for at least

niche sporting events. Something we missed last week that might be a big deal for you tech grunts working in the trenches of Silicon Valley last Friday. President Biden went ahead and issued those executive orders that we were talking about last week aimed at breaking up or limiting the power of big tech in various ways. One of the orders, though, took direct aim at Silicon Valley's longstanding practice of non-compete clauses in contracts, quoting Input magazine. As the official White House press release states, Biden's EO intends to, quote, make it easier to change jobs and help raise wages by banning or limiting non-compete agreements, end quote. While the Biden administration does not specifically mention Silicon Valley corporations, it is clear the mandate

is aimed squarely at companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, and Facebook, who have long included infamously restrictive non-compete clauses for many of their employees, end quote. Quoting Brad Stone now in Bloomberg, quote, corporations generally favor non-competent. to prevent employees from taking company secrets to a competitor or starting their own rival company. But right now, there's not much public support or even private lobbying to preserve them. At a time of almost puritanical concern over the sanctity of free market competition, such covenants have a serious branding problem. The very name, Non-compete, makes them unpalatable.

IBM recently used non-competes to sue its longtime chief diversity executive after she was poached by Microsoft. Microsoft wielded it against an employee who did. defected to Salesforce and Google successfully waged legal war against well-known autonomous vehicle engineer Anthony Lewandowski for violating the non-compete in his contract, as well as filching trade secrets when he defected to Uber. Amazon has been particularly aggressive in its enforcement of non-compete suing a number of departing executives throughout its nearly three-decade history. My colleague Matt Day recently reported that new chief executive officer Andy Jassy was personally behind lawsuits against Amazon Web Services execs who left for rivals.

like Google. Quote, that's Andy feeling a betrayal, one Amazon veteran told Matt. Non-competes have played a key role in Silicon Valley lore. California rules make it difficult to prevent employees from jumping ship. As a result, it's easier for workers to take insider know-how and best practices to other firms or create new startups. The resulting innovation, some have argued, is the key difference that made the Bay Area into the world's tech mecca instead of, say, Massachusetts around the 1980s. But other states like New York and Washington, haven't passed such broad laws that make it difficult to enforce non-competes, though Washington did pass a more limited law last year that only covers employees making less than $100,000 per year.

That's left employees in the middle of a hyper-competitive tech giant battle for every inch of advantage. So Biden's order is merely the beginning of the end of the non-compete. A bipartisan group of senators and representatives is pushing for a more conclusive denouement in the form of a new law that limits non-competes across income levels in all but a few situations, such as founders who sell their startups to a large company. It's called the Workforce Mobility Act and has been kicking around Capitol Hill for a few years. Now it's time may have come, end quote. Finally today, more from Biden's executive order bonanza last Friday. Another area of tech regulation that is getting a lot of energy behind it of late is the idea of the right to repair your stuff.

Let me give you two examples of why this is probably a bit overdue. It's consumer-friendly, it's environmental friendly. First, consider Podswap, a startup offering a battery replacement service for Apple's AirPods, quoting CNBC. Some owners have noticed that, after a few years, used AirPods eventually will last only an hour or so before needing to be recharged, a big decay from the four to five-hour battery life they have when new. Because each AirPods is so small and so tightly packed into its housing, it's almost impossible to swap out the old battery for a new one. Most people give up and just buy a new pair. The limited lifespan of AirPods is exactly the kind of problem that the right to repair movement

wants to fix. Repair shops and lobbyists that support repair reform want lawmakers to implement a variety of rules, including increased access to manuals and official parts and consumer protections around warranties. The Biden administration on Friday ordered the FTC to write new regulations targeted at limiting manufacturer's ability to hamper independent or do-it-yourself repairs as part of a sweeping executive order. New repair rules have not yet been drafted.

Apple provides battery service for AirPods at the cost of $49 per earbud, but functionally, Apple simply gives you a replacement pair and the old earbuds are recycled. It's not a repair, it's a replacement, and it's expensive. AirPods originally cost $159, so opting for battery service costs more than half the price of a new pair. Podswap is a Miami company founded by Emma Stritzinger and Emily Alps. which aims to keep AirPods out of the landfill. They're not associated with Apple. They believe they're

the only company performing AirPods battery replacement, although other companies refurbish old AirPods, the founders told CNBC. The company was formed after the founders experienced dying AirPods themselves and thought that upgrading or replacing them would be wasteful and impractical. But PodSwap faces many challenges that show why repair advocates want new rules. Alpert said the design of the AirPod makes it challenging for repair shops or companies like theirs to do a lot of battery replacements. Podswap's process uses both robotics and manual labor, the founder said, end quote. And then the second example I'm not going to actually quote from, but the final link in the show notes today is to an article from the drive about a Tesla customer who was quoted $16,000 for a repair

to his car only to get a third-party repair service to do the repair for just $700. As we've been saying, every consumer product is a tech product now, is a gadget. So absurd stories like this will only proliferate unless new rules are put in place. Hey, we're doing another Twitter space tomorrow, Wednesday, as per usual, but we're doing it at a different earlier time. So those of you in Europe especially listen up because you might finally be able to join us live. Chris and I will be doing a space on Twitter tomorrow after. afternoon at 4 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Pacific. Link to a calendar reminder is at the bottom of the show notes. Talk to you tomorrow.