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cyberbarf

TERMS OF DISSERVICE A LETTER FROM THE PUB

As a writer and an artist, I am at a crossroads. A dilemma. Something that really irks the artistic community.

Meta has decided that Facebook and Instagram will have new conditions unilaterally imposed on their accounts. The change is significant for those who use their accounts to promote their work to a community of followers and to a larger audience. The change in the terms of service states that beginning in 2025, all users give the platform a non-exclusive, global right to use all of the user's content (photos, artwork, stories, etc.), to sub-license and to use it for artificial intelligence training including derivative works.

What does that mean? It means Meta is trying to massage copyright theft as a contractual right.

It is galling because social media platforms have used your information to sell data to advertisers to push targeted ads on your feeds. That data mining was accepted since no one really noticed it. But now, in the threat of AI copyright infringement lawsuits, Meta is trying to put the lost horse back into the barn. The defense would be we had a license to use user copyrights without their express permission. That line of thinking is not a defense, but an admission that artificial intelligence training is misappropriating copyrighted works to make derivative content (which the copyright owner owns) without any compensation.

What is worse is that Meta is telling its users if you don't like the new terms, then back-up you content and leave. Close your account. Move along. We don't need your kind anymore. How many successful businesses bitch slap their customers?

Users in the US own whatever they create when they create it. Copyrights adhere when an author, artist, photographer, sculptor, etc. puts an idea into a tangible form. Social media platforms do no content creation. Platforms were created to digitize public gathering spaces for people to interact, share ideas, and make new connections. As a public space, as some courts have ruled against politicians trying to block negative commentators, putting up barriers to keep some people out is wrong.

It is like a Viking horde ransacking your internet village. Take everything, leave nothing behind. Accept or die.

Is this legal? Class action attorneys with basic contract principles could argue it is not. The change of terms of service could be considered such a one-sided contract that it is unenforceable (an unconscionable contract where only one side benefits). In addition, all contracts need consideration in order to be valid. When one attempts to materially change the contract terms, it requires additional consideration/value in order to be binding on the second party. Lawyers can easily argue that no consideration is present since the users are receiving no compensation to license their copyrighted works.

Why does it matter? It matters because AI does affect writers and artists. When Hollywood writers and actors struck earlier in 2024, a major point of contention was the studios use of AI generated scripts and actor performances. Producers were looking to scan voice and images of actors to create virtual actors. Producers were also looking to eliminate many writers on a project and substitute chatGPT to write scripts. The bottom line is the elimination of jobs for the sake of an unproven technology.

It also matters because AI is a very flawed technology. It does not have the capacity to think like a human. It does not have the ability to pick up a brush and create a painting on a canvas. It has no actual experiences to craft a poem or write a novel. All it can do is take other people's prior work and cut or paste it together by guessing what the correct answer is to the posed keywords. This is why the US copyright office has determined that AI generated works are not copyright protected because they are not created by humans.

Facebook itself has been called out for helping create bad AI output. As AI is being used to create things that are posted on the platform, an army of chatbots are interacting with those posts with LIKES, which tells the AI that its work is good when it is total trash. So AI creates a bias from the bots to use more bad output to generate more bot LIKES to create utter nonsense.

Professional artists have seen their work taken by AI. It leads to artists losing commissioned work. It also leads to the bad AI diluting their own artistic reputation. It also devalues their work as a whole as an AI generator seller may be charging a few dollars when a real painting/image from a human artist could cost thousands. How would you feel if you spent time and money on a project for a client, but the client decided to reject your work because an AI output was just as good. Or take your ideas to get a knock-off copy made by a machine program.

Further, the fall-out could be long term if the AI bubble bursts as people realize that it was all promise and no substitute for human knowledge and its application. But by then, many could have given up their professions, or their professions have been devalued so much by cheap AI output that no one will pay real people real compensation for their work.

Here is another part of the dilemma. Many of us posts art and cartoons like the ones below in iToons section to entertain, to get known, to communicate with friends. A few years ago, I received a message from a person who had been going through a hard time, but my cartoons gave him some comfort. I always thought if I could reach one person and give them a smile or a thought a day, it would be worth it. With that actual confirmation, how can one abandon those you may not even know who want to see your work? Do you cut off your hand in order to prove a point?

Hopefully, the courts will correctly decide this issue in favor of the artists and users.

cyberbarf

A FIEND IN NEED NEW SCAM TWIST

Telephone scams have been around for a long time. Aggressive story telling to entrap a person to give up money with the promise of some reward. The unknown relative died leaving you a large inheritance scam where the scammer seeks a retainer in order to collect your new found fortune. The Nigerian prince scam. The grandma scam where a person calls a grandparent telling them their grandson is in jail and needs bail wired to this person right away. Confused by the news, grandparents often wired money to the scammer instead of picking up the phone to their grandson to confirm the situation. There is an emotional component that is the bait to hook the victim.

We have discussed in the past the Romance scams. A person of the opposite sex starts to like and follow you on the socials. Shortly after, they DM you to start a conversation with you which could be easily answered if they read your profile. They quickly want to get to know you in order to ask for favors. The favors include a sad story (lost job, abusive boyfriend, being scammed of savings) to buttress their ask for some money to get them from being thrown out into the street. Some gullible individuals get caught in this trap.

Now there is a variation on the Romance Scam that puzzles the police. Some are calling it The Friend in Need scam.

It starts with a phone call to a stranger. The caller is worked up, upset and needs to confirm some information. The caller is calling a married woman to tell her that her husband is cheating on her best friend. The caller is upset that her best friend is being hurt if the man has been telling her lies, such as he is divorced. The cold call missile is to get the woman to think the worst. At this point, police are confused because the caller does not ask for any money. Often, the caller calls back or sends “evidence” of the cheating (which may be just cropped or photoshopped pictures from social media.) Again, this is to strike an emotional response from the spouse.

The more calls the spouse takes, the more sympathetic the scammer is to her. She is trying to become her new friend who will help her through this trying time. But with all phone scams, verification is often overlooked. The caller may have given her a real name, a location where she lives and a phone number to call back. But two can play the same game: Internet look-up of the phone number may yield a clue. A name search of the person and state can yield public information. In one example, the caller inferred she was a young woman in a Michigan town. She gave a phone number. But when an Internet check revealed the name was that of a 74 year-old woman whose phone number was one digit off from the real phone number. (A trick to think the victim wrote the number down wrong.) Another example, a woman received the cheating call and engaged in a conversation asking the scammer where her husband was now. The caller said on a date with her friend. But in reality, the husband was on the couch watching a ball game. End of call.

Things often do not end that cleanly. Police state that some victims (men and women alike) get irate with their spouses about the claim. Large fights occur between them as the innocent spouse has to prove he or she is innocent. Police think in some instances, the call may just be a cruel prank in an attempt to break-up a couple. It is hard to imagine what the caller gets out of it, except the thrill that a bully would have seeing someone in pain.

In other cases, the caller hooks the victim to the point of convincing the wronged spouse to keep it quiet. The caller will get her clear evidence of the cheating so she can confront him with actual facts. Of course, this dialogue could be lifted from a 1950s paperback novel that you need evidence of cheating to get a divorce. Not so today. But the caller could press her for money to obtain photographs, private investigator reports, etc. If the victim is reeled in, the money is sent and the caller disappears.

Why do so many people fall for these friend in need scams? If they have a good moral background, they first believe people are telling them the truth. That they may have no reason to lie to them. That they are helping them out. But many of the victims lack common sense. Why would a stranger call me with such upsetting news? It is suspicious. Why not discuss the call with the husband before going any further down the rabbit hole?

It is preying on the emotional insecurities, fears and dread that surrounds many people who live stressful lives.

cyberbarf

QUICK BYTES CYBERCULTURE

PROHIBITION DOWN UNDER. Australia recently passed a new law that will ban social media to anyone under the age of 16. Why, you may ask. Legislators claim that young people are being harmed physically, socially, and mentally by social media. It is claimed it a health crisis to stave off kids who grow up as hermits addicted to their smart devices. Others claim this is the Nanny State gone overboard. Platforms like facebook, IF and Twitter (X) have a year to implement the law to verify ages of its users or face harsh penalties.

SINGLE PANELS COME TO KOREA! The Chosun Ilbo newspaper reports that single panel comics, called instatoons, are becoming quite popular on Instagram. These westernized comic format is new since webtoons have dominated the cartoon landscape for a long time. A single panel cartoon like the iToons below can be gag (joke) cartoons, editorial cartoons or single panel stories. These style of cartoons have to tell a complete story or opinion in a small space while a four panel comic strip can have a beginning (set-up), middle and ending. An agency reported that both professional and amateur artists are going to IG to post their panels. It is now 20.9 percent of the webtoon market.

SNOW JOB. The NY Post has warned GenZ daters about sledding. It is a dating trend where one part of the couple holds on to his date instead of breaking up with him/her in order to stave off family criticism on martial status or being alone at family gatherings. The guest is taken for a ride because he or she will be dumped after the scrutiny is gone. But really, this is not a new dating technique. Asian countries have brutal holiday gauntlets for single children coming home to meet the parents and grandparents. Even married couples take heat trying to conform to customs and practices. In Japan, you can rent a boyfriend or girlfriend for such occasions. Yes, lying about you status with an actor is not good in the long run, but it can provide some level of peace from a weekend of badgering.

BAD LIVE TV . Netflix had a technical disaster in showing the Paul-Tyson “fight.” It was a one-sided boxing match that some viewers thought could have been rigged for a big pay day. But the technical issues, dropped feeds, etc. made customers furious and outraged. It is very hard to produce a live sporting event. Miles of cables are laid, satellite trucks need to connect properly, signals have to be strong, and technical staff have to be on the top of their game. It is not like giving a novice a chemistry set without instructions. But it came off that way. Netflix's bigger problem is the NFL, who sold Christmas Day rights for games. The NFL prides itself on its stellar product. Netflix claims it has fixed all its broadcast problems. We shall see, or some shall see. It seems more and more football fans are tired of spending more money on multiple subscription plans just to watch a game. Greed may kill the NFL golden goose.

iToons

cyberbarf

FOUND BUT NOT LOST ON THE INTERNET

Officially, Britain does not contain wild large cats like jaguars or panthers. But numerous people in Scotland have spotted large cats roaming the fields and woods, hunting prey like rabbits. They swear it is not a large domestic house cat. Officials who looked at photographs are not convinced because it seems smaller than panthers or leopards. But some experts will admit that there could be such big cats roaming Britain from the release of exotic pets or escaped zoo animals. In any event, people sear they are seeing something usual wandering their roadways. Never say something exotic may not be living outside its normal habitat. Nature finds a way.

Source: Daily Mail (UK)

In the way past, leeches were used as a cure-all for all kinds of ailments. The bloodsucker was used to remove bad blood in a patient. It fell out of favor when actual modern, scientific medicine evolved into today's health care system. But medicinal leeches are making a small comeback. Leeches that contain anti-oxidents, anti-inflammatory agents and painkilling properties are being targeted to seal and heal specific injuries, like a severed finger. Practitioners caution that medicinal leeches are rare so don't go hunting in your nearby swamp if you have a cut.

Source: neatorama

A 35,000 year old saber-tooth tiger cub was found freeze dried in the Russian permafrost/ It gives scientists a unique opportunity to collect information on its fur, muscles, etc. It is rare to find fully preserved extinct species. People have speculated from bones to determine how ancient animals looked but now the guesses are no longer needed when a picture can do.

Source: neatorama

A hornbill sits on an ant hill. The ants come out to attack. But the bird does it on purpose. It wants the ants to crawl over and in its features to kill parasites. Ants secrete a defensive acid against attackers so the bird is using them for feather maintenance, parasite removal and control. This is learned behavior, but it is hard to imagine why the first bird decided it was better to be attacked by ants than live with parasites.

Source: Instagram

cyberbarf

THE WHETHER REPORT

cyberbarf

STATUS

Question: Whether social media platforms change of terms of service to mine user data, files, photographs, and copyrighted work for artificial learning and derivative works without compensation legally work?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether Trump's second term put more regulations on social media platforms?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

Question: Whether entertainment streamers like Netflix, Apple, paramount, Disney have financial second thoughts?

* Educated Guess

* Possible

* Probable

* Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

* Doubtful

* Vapor Dream

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