Tag Archives: Society & Culture

United Auto Workers seeks to unionize Tesla, BMW and other carmakers

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Fresh off successful contract negotiations with Ford, GM and Stellantis, the United Auto Workers (UAW) is seeking to unionize 150,000 workers across 13 automakers including Tesla, BMW, Mercedes Benz and Hyundai, it announced. "To all the autoworkers out there working without the benefits of a union: now it’s your turn," said UAW president Shawn Fain. 

The UAW said the organizing drive covers "more than a dozen" non-union automakers. It notes that many use a mix of full-time, temporary and contract employees "to divide the workforce and depress wages." The union cited one example of a Hyundai assembly plant employee who worked for a subcontractor for eight years starting at $9.25 an hour before finally becoming a full-time Hyundai employee. 

Non-union automakers, including VW, Nissan, Hyundai, Honda, Toyota and Subaru raised wages after the UAW's negotiations with the big three. VW, for one, bumped them to $23.42 an hour, rising to a maximum of $32.40. However, they "lag far behind UAW autoworkers in wages, benefits and rights on the job," the union said.

The UAW helped workers win a 25 percent raise over four years with the big three automakers, with the highest-paid Ford workers now earning $83,000 per year for a 40-hour work week (around $42 per hour). The union also gained reinstatement of cost-of-living allowances, shorter progression periods to top wages and a quicker conversion of temporary to in-progression (full-time) employees. 

Tesla employees have attempted to unionize the company before, and some alleged that the company fired them for that — though that claim was recently dismissed by the US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB has previously found that Tesla violated labor law by prohibiting employees from talking about workplace matters. Back in 2022, Elon Musk challenged the UAW to hold a vote at Tesla's California factory.

Other automakers aren't exempt from worker complaints, including startup Rivian. "The company likes to tell us we’re making the plane while flying it, and that explains a lot about the problems we have," said one Rivian chassis worker. "We have all sorts of safety issues. Turnover is terrible. Every group has a story about a new employee who did not make it to first break. The lack of safety, the low pay, the forced overtime, there are so many reasons we need to be union." 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/united-auto-workers-seeks-to-unionize-tesla-bmw-and-other-carmakers-100555374.html?src=rss

Tesla sues Sweden for blocking license plate deliveries during labor strike

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Tesla sued Sweden’s transportation agency and postal service on Monday over a union strike blocking the company’s license plate deliveries in the country. The workers are striking to demand the non-unionized automaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, a standard practice that mechanics’ union IF Metall describes as “the backbone of the Swedish model.” However, the Swedish Transport Agency says it already received an interim decision from a district court ordering it to consent within seven days to Tesla’s request to collect license plates or face hefty fines. The agency says it’s too early to say what exactly that means for the standoff.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Tesla, which delivered over 9,000 EVs to Swedish customers in 2022, described the actions of The Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) as a “unique attack” on the US company. Tesla’s lawsuit reportedly urges a district court to fine the Swedish Transport Agency 1 million kronor (US$95,803) while allowing Tesla to “retrieve license plates.” The registrations are held up because workers at state-owned postal service PostNord stopped supplying the plates to Tesla after its workers joined the strike.

The lawsuit allegedly claims the Swedish Transport Agency refused the automaker’s request to pick up the license plates itself or, failing that, send them through a different channel. Reuters reports Tesla filed two lawsuits: one against the Swedish Transport Agency and another against PostNord.

In a statement to Engadget, Swedish Transport Agency spokesperson Ann-Sofie Masth confirmed the lawsuit and revealed the court’s interim decision. “The Swedish Transport Agency has now received an interim decision from the Norrköping district court to consent within 7 days to Tesla collecting license plates directly from our sign manufacturer. It appears from the decision that our sign manufacturer has announced that it is prepared to provide the signs directly to Tesla, provided that the Swedish Transport Agency agrees to this. We at the Swedish Transport Agency now need to analyze the announcement and assess what consequences this has for us and what measures might need to be taken to implement the decision. It is currently too early to say exactly what that would mean.”

FILE- Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio March 14, 2019, in Hawthorne, Calif. A Florida judge ruled Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, that a jury should decide whether Tesla and Elon Musk oversold the electric car company's Autopilot system that caused the fatal crash of a software engineer who engaged it and took his hands off the steering wheel. A trial is scheduled for 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
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Tesla, not exactly a union-friendly company, has a policy against signing collective bargaining agreements, claiming its employees already have equal or better terms than what the union proposed. The argument that it takes good enough care of its employees to void the need for a union echoes one Tesla CEO Elon Musk made in 2017 when accused of allegations of poor working conditions and low pay at the company’s Fremont, CA factory.

IF Metall, Sweden’s most prominent manufacturing union, began striking on October 27. Although Tesla doesn’t have a manufacturing plant in the country, it has several service centers, which stopped working on Tesla vehicles after going on strike. Other unions in the Nordic nation, including dockworkers, cleaners and electricians, have joined the strike in an act of unity. A component maker joined the unions on Friday in a sympathy action.

In Tesla’s court filing, the company reportedly described the decision as “a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden,” claiming the refusal to deliver the license plates would affect “a large number of consumers who ordered a new car from Tesla.”

In a statement to The AP, an IF Metall representative said, “We are doing this for the sake of our members, to ensure that they have safe working conditions.” A Swedish Transportation Agency spokesperson reportedly told Reuters, “We at the Swedish Transport Agency do not share this view and therefore Tesla has decided to have the issue tested in court, which is their right.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/tesla-sues-sweden-for-blocking-license-plate-deliveries-during-labor-strike-190547427.html?src=rss

US Senator calls for the public release of AT&T ‘Hemisphere’ surveillance records

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US Senator Ron Wyden wants the public to know about the details surrounding the long-running Hemisphere phone surveillance program. Wyden has written US Attorney General Merrick Garland a letter (PDF), asking him to release additional information about the project that apparently gives law enforcement agencies access to trillions of domestic phone records. In addition, he said that federal, state, local and Tribal law enforcement agencies have the ability to request "often-warrantless searches" from the project's phone records that AT&T has been collecting since 1987. 

The Hemisphere project first came to light in 2013 when The New York Times reported that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was paying AT&T to mine and keep records of its customers' phone calls. Four billion new records are getting added to its database every day, and a federal or state law enforcement agency can request a query with a subpoena that they can issue themselves. Any law enforcement officer can send in a request to a single AT&T analyst based in Atlanta, Georgia, Wyden's letter says, even if they're seeking information that's not related to any drug case. And apparently, they can use Hemisphere not just to identify a specific number, but to identify the target's alternate numbers, to obtain location data and to look up the phone records of everyone who's been in communication with the target. 

The project has been defunded and refunded by the government several times over the past decade and was even, at one point, receiving federal funding under the name "Data Analytical Services (DAS)." Usually, projects funded by federal agencies would be subject to a mandatory Privacy Impact Assessment conducted by the Department of Justice, which means their records would be made public. 

However, Hemisphere's funding passes through a middleman, so it's not required to go through mandatory assessment. To be specific, ONDCP funds the program through the Houston High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is a regional funding organization that distributes federal anti-drug law grants and is governed by a board made up of federal, state and local law enforcement officials. The DOJ had provided Wyden's office with "dozens of pages of material" related to the project in 2019, but they had been labeled "Law Enforcement Sensitive" and cannot be released to the public. 

"I have serious concerns about the legality of this surveillance program, and the materials provided by the DOJ contain troubling information that would justifiably outrage many Americans and other members of Congress," Wyden wrote in his letter. "While I have long defended the government’s need to protect classified sources and methods, this surveillance program is not classified and its existence has already been acknowledged by the DOJ in federal court. The public interest in an informed debate about government surveillance far outweighs the need to keep this information secret."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/us-senator-calls-for-the-public-release-of-att-hemisphere-surveillance-records-083627787.html?src=rss

Sega faces unfair labor practice complaint for planned mass layoff of union members

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Workers at Sega of America are accusing the video game company of "bad faith bargaining with workers" for its plan to lay off dozens of temporary workers. The publisher known for franchises that include Sonic the Hedgehog and Yakuza is now facing an unfair labor practice complaint filed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA). In April, 200 people in various departments across the company overwhelmingly voted in favor of unionization and formed the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA) under the CWA. Now, Sega allegedly intends to lay off 80 of those unionized workers.

In its complaint, the CWA explained that it's been in bargaining with Sega since September. On November 6, Sega apparently presented the organization with a proposal to phase out of all its temporary employees by taking their work offshore to the company's offices in Europe and Japan by February 2024. Those temporary employees make up 40 percent of the union's bargaining unit and mostly work in quality assurance and localization, which the group describes as "critical to Sega's success."

The afternoon after their meeting, the CWA said Sega presented its proposal to the affected employees through captive audience meetings. "We believe this is a clear case of bad faith bargaining," the CWA wrote in its complaint, since Sega dealt directly with the union members and "violated status quo" by telling them they're losing their jobs. 

"Sega will not be allowed to get away with this unlawful behavior," Elise Willacker, Senior QA Tester Temp, said in a statement. "We call on the company to make all temporary employees permanent and return to the bargaining table in good faith. There is no other just alternative." As Kotaku notes, the organization's complaint is now in the hands of the National Labor Relations Board, but it may take a while to resolve and may not prevent the layoffs from taking place. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sega-faces-unfair-labor-practice-complaint-for-planned-mass-layoff-of-union-members-073046095.html?src=rss

Basically all of Maine had data stolen by a ransomware gang

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The state agencies of Maine had fallen victim to cybercriminals who exploited a vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer tool, making them the latest addition to the growing list of entities affected by the massive hack involving the software. In a notice the government has published about the cybersecurity incident, it said the event impacted approximately 1.3 million individuals, which basically make up the state's whole population. The state first caught wind of the software vulnerability in MOVEit on May 31 this year and found that cybercriminals were able to access and download files from its various agencies on May 28 and 29. 

While the nature of stolen data varies per person based on their interaction with a particular agency, the notice says that the bad actors had stolen names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, driver's license and state identification numbers, as well as taxpayer identification numbers. In some cases, they were also able to get away with people's medical and health insurance information. Over 50 percent of the stolen data came from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, followed by the Maine Department of Education.

The state government had blocked internet access to and from the MOVEit server as soon as it became aware of the incident. However, since the cybercriminals were already able to steal residents' information, it's also offering two years of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to people whose SSNs and taxpayer numbers were compromised. As TechCrunch notes, the Clop ransomware gang that's believed to be behind previously reported incidents, has yet to release data stolen from Maine's agencies.

Clop took credit for an earlier New York City Department of Education hack, wherein the information of approximately 45,000 students was stolen. Cybercriminals exploiting the vulnerability haven't only been targeting the government, though, but also companies around the world. Sony is one of them. There's also Maximus Health Services, Inc, a US government contractor, whose breach has been the biggest MOVEit-related incident, so far. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission is already investigating MOVEit creator Progress Software, though it only just sent the company a subpoena in October and is still in the "fact-finding inquiry" phase of its probe. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/basically-all-of-maine-had-data-stolen-by-a-ransomware-gang-061407794.html?src=rss

Basically all of Maine had data stolen by a ransomware gang

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The state agencies of Maine had fallen victim to cybercriminals who exploited a vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer tool, making them the latest addition to the growing list of entities affected by the massive hack involving the software. In a notice the government has published about the cybersecurity incident, it said the event impacted approximately 1.3 million individuals, which basically make up the state's whole population. The state first caught wind of the software vulnerability in MOVEit on May 31 this year and found that cybercriminals were able to access and download files from its various agencies on May 28 and 29. 

While the nature of stolen data varies per person based on their interaction with a particular agency, the notice says that the bad actors had stolen names, Social Security numbers, birthdates, driver's license and state identification numbers, as well as taxpayer identification numbers. In some cases, they were also able to get away with people's medical and health insurance information. Over 50 percent of the stolen data came from the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, followed by the Maine Department of Education.

The state government had blocked internet access to and from the MOVEit server as soon as it became aware of the incident. However, since the cybercriminals were already able to steal residents' information, it's also offering two years of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to people whose SSNs and taxpayer numbers were compromised. As TechCrunch notes, the Clop ransomware gang that's believed to be behind previously reported incidents, has yet to release data stolen from Maine's agencies.

Clop took credit for an earlier New York City Department of Education hack, wherein the information of approximately 45,000 students was stolen. Cybercriminals exploiting the vulnerability haven't only been targeting the government, though, but also companies around the world. Sony is one of them. There's also Maximus Health Services, Inc, a US government contractor, whose breach has been the biggest MOVEit-related incident, so far. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission is already investigating MOVEit creator Progress Software, though it only just sent the company a subpoena in October and is still in the "fact-finding inquiry" phase of its probe. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/basically-all-of-maine-had-data-stolen-by-a-ransomware-gang-061407794.html?src=rss

Omegle shuts down after 14 years of random chats

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Omegle, a chat service that pairs users with a random person so they can talk via text or video, is shutting down. Leif K-Brooks, who launched the service when he was 18 years old, announced its closure and talked about its humble beginnings, as well as how it grew organically because "meeting new people [is] a basic human need." While he didn't delve into the specific reasons for Omegle's shutdown, he admitted that "some people misused [the service], including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes."

Critics have raised concerns about the website's safety over the past years, with some even calling it a "magnet for pedophiles." In 2021, an American woman sued the website for pairing her with a person who coerced her into sending explicit images for three years, starting when she was just 11 years old. Her legal team said that the way the platform works allows it to become a "hunting ground for predators." Last year, two men in the US were sentenced to federal prison for exploiting children they met on apps, including Omegle, forcing them to perform sexual acts and to send them explicit photos and videos. A BBC investigation also revealed a rise in cases of users exposing themselves on Omegle chat. These users included minors, because while the website is technically meant for use by people 18 and older, it has no age verification in place. 

In his farewell note, K-Brooks said he worked with law enforcement agencies, as well as "the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to help put evildoers in prison where they belong." His website, he said proactively collected evidence against these people and tipped authorities to put them in jail. However, he said the fight against crime is "a never-ending battle" and that the "world has become more ornery" in recent years. He also said that there's been "a constant barrage of attacks on communication services... based on the behavior of a malicious subset of users."

In the end, he found the "existing stress and expense of operating Omegle, and fighting its misuse" to no longer be sustainable, both financially and psychologically. "Frankly, I don’t want to have a heart attack in my 30s," he added. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/omegle-shuts-down-after-14-years-of-random-chats-125007355.html?src=rss

The Morning After: Elon Musk’s new AI company, xAI, launches Grok the chatbot

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Elon Musk’s new AI company, xAI, will release its chatbot to X subscribers who pay $16 per month once it exits beta. A select group of X users started testing Grok, a competitor to OpenAI’s ChatGPT, this weekend.

Musk laid out his heady ambitions for xAI earlier this year, saying in July that its intended purpose is, quite literally, “to understand the true nature of the universe.” Having said that, Musk says Grok will wield a sense of humor, like this… banter sewn into a guide to making cocaine, which must be funny to someone.

Grok’s notable feature is its real-time access to information published on X, which Musk claims will be “a massive advantage over other models.” Rival chatbots are limited to the information fed to their model. If Grok constantly pulls new information from X, it could have an edge. It could also be more liable to the horrible biases of AI models, not to mention parsing the mass of misinformation swirling around the rebranded social network.

— Mat Smith

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X may start selling recycled user handles

It’s reportedly soliciting people to buy recycled user handles for $50,000.

Beyond subscriptions for access to chatbots, X is looking at other ways to make money. The company has been trying to find buyers for inactive user handles, even sending solicitation emails asking for “a flat fee of $50,000 to initiate a purchase,” according to Forbes. Elon Musk announced back in May that X, formerly Twitter, would start purging dormant accounts and even alluded to plans for recycling disused handles.

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Fortnite keeps breaking player count records since releasing its OG season

Fortnite OG brought back the original island map and more.

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Fortnite

Since the release of Fortnite OG at the end of last week, player counts have reached new all-time highs — peaking on Saturday with 44.7 million players, according to a tweet from the Fortnite team. Players reportedly clocked a cumulative 102 million hours of play, making it the game’s biggest day ever. Apparently, a 2018 map is old enough to be considered nostalgic.

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud

SBF faces up to 110 years in prison.

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Amr Alfiky / reuters

A federal jury has found FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Arrested in the Bahamas back in December 2022, SBF faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in federal prison for multiple crimes, including committing wire fraud against FTX customers, wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He’ll be sentenced on March 28, 2024.

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Washington DC pilots free AirTags scheme to tackle car theft

The pilot program will focus on certain areas.

The city of Washington DC will distribute free Apple AirTags to residents in specific neighborhoods, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Wednesday. The aim: to make stolen cars easier for police to track down. “We are equipping residents with technology that will allow the [Metropolitan Police Department] to address these crimes, recover vehicles and hold people accountable,” Bowser said.

DC is the second city to hand out free AirTags to make finding car thieves easier. Earlier this year, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the city would give away 500 AirTags to make finding car thieves easier.

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This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-elon-musks-new-ai-company-xai-launches-grok-the-chatbot-121533489.html?src=rss

Live in Washington DC? You might be able to get free AirTags for your car

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The city of Washington DC will distribute free Apple AirTags to residents in certain neighborhoods, mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Wednesday. The aim: to make stolen cars easier for police to track down.

“We are equipping residents with technology that will allow the [Metropolitan Police Department] to address these crimes, recover vehicles, and hold people accountable,” Bowser said in a statement, "we will continue to use all the tools we have, and add new tools, to keep our city safe.” Local publication DCist first reported the story.

DC residents in neighborhoods with the highest numbers of vehicle theft will be eligible to get free AirTags at three different events in the city over the next few months, starting next week. It’s not clear how many AirTags, which cost $29 a pop, will be given away.

Police officers will help residents put the AirTags in their cars and register them on their iPhones. If a car is stolen, residents will need to report the location of the car as it appears in Apple’s FindMy app to law enforcement.

DC is the second city to hand out free AirTags to make finding car thieves easier. Earlier this year, New York City mayor Eric Adams announced that the city would give away 500 AirTags to make finding car thieves easier. Since then the NYPD has held several AirTag and Tile tracker giveaways, focusing on Kia and Hyundai owners, though it's unclear if these come from the same supply announced by the mayor.

AirTags, which Apple released in 2021, have often sparked controversy. Critics have said that they let stalkers track victims silently without their knowledge — a safety issue Apple eventually addressed. But the devices have also been useful, letting people keep track of pets, checked baggage and stolen campaign signs. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/live-in-washington-dc-you-might-be-able-to-get-free-airtags-for-your-car-202616642.html?src=rss

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty of fraud, faces up to 110 years in prison

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A federal jury has found FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, which he was charged with following the downfall of his cryptocurrency exchange. According to The New York Times, he faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in federal prison. SBF, as he's now infamously known, was arrested in the Bahamas back in December 2022 after the Department of Justice took a close look at his role in the rapid collapse of FTX. The agency examined whether he transferred hundreds of millions of dollars when the exchange filed for bankruptcy. (The company claimed it was hacked after around $600 million disappeared from its funds.) The DoJ also investigated whether FTX broke the law when it moved funds to its sister company, Alameda Research.

During SBF's trial, which took place over the past month, prosecutors argued that he used FTX funds to keep Alameda Research running. The fallen entrepreneur also founded the cryptocurrency hedge fund, which was ran by his girlfriend Caroline Ellison, who was aware that he used FTX customers' money to help Alameda meet its liabilities. Bankman-Fried previously denied that he deliberately misused FTX's funds. 

The Times says his lawyers tried to portray him as a math nerd who had to grapple with "forces largely outside of his control," but the jury clearly disagreed after the prosecution called Ellison and three of Bankman-Fried's former top advisers to the witness stand. Ellison and all of those advisers had pleaded guilty, with the Alameda Research chief admitting that she committed fraud at Bankman-Fried's direction. The FTX founder himself took the stand and said that he "deeply regret not taking a deeper look into" the $8 billion his hedge fund had borrowed from the cryptocurrency exchange. 

Bankman-Fried was charged with committing wire fraud against FTX customers; wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders; conspiracy to commit wire fraud against both; conspiracy to commit securities and commodities fraud on FTX customers; as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, 2024 by US District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who also presided over the FTX trial. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-found-guilty-on-seven-charges-of-fraud-and-conspiracy-012316105.html?src=rss