### Issue 1784 - Monday 13th February, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Attorney-General considers sharing Netflix passwords a form of piracy
- eSafety Commissioner orders industry to re-write online safety codes
- ACMA to investigate how to combat SMS sender ID impersonation
- There's never been a better time to buy your favourite albums on CD and rip them to FLAC
- Cheap Ring cameras, MacBook Air, JB, GG, OW & EB gift cards, Samsung portable SSD, Apple Pencil, used big HDDs, Samsung 49" monitor, refurb Lenovo X380 laptops, Polestar 2 rentals, Drop.com shipping, Telstra pre-paid, LG 27" 4K monitor

## The News

### Attorney-General considers sharing Netflix passwords a form of piracy

You know how Netflix is desperate for more revenue because subscriber number have plateaued, so they're cracking down on people sharing passwords with different households? Well the Australian attorney-general is giving Netflix a helping hand by expanding what it considers piracy to include password sharing in a survey it conducted recently. It will likely use the results of that survey to justify copyright enforcement changes that are currently under review. Wouldn't surprise me if this was a bit of quid-pro-quo in return for Netflix, Disney, Amazon etc agreeing to produce more local content here. You give us an easy win for the local media industry and we will make it illegal for Australians to share online streaming service accounts. TorrentFreak has more details on the AG's "Consumer Survey on Online Copyright Infringement" if you're keen.

### eSafety Commissioner orders industry to re-write online safety codes

The eSafety Commissioner is not pleased with the draft codes it asked industry to cook up last year, with the Commissioner saying in a press release that "while I have not made a final decision, my preliminary view is that the draft codes we received in November are unlikely to provide the appropriate community safeguards required for them to be registered" and asked them to have another shot to try and read her mind. If they don't get it right this time, the eSafety Commissioner can just tell them what to do so why the fuck didn't they just do this from the start? eSafety obviously has something in mind and has been deeply involved in developing these draft codes - so what gives?

### ACMA to investigate how to combat SMS sender ID impersonation

SMS scams claiming someone's bank account has been compromised are spoofing their Sender ID, making the SMS appear in the same message thread as legitimate messages from the bank. They'll often say to call them on a fake number that goes to a scammer's call center. In a panic, they'll call it instead of the bank's legit number. The victim is then told to move their money from the "compromised" account to a new account (that the scammer set up), so the imaginary person with access to their hacked account can't steal the funds. It sounds dumb as hell, but works. In an effort to try and stop it, or at least pretend like they're doing something to try and stop it, the comms minister has asked ACMA to investigate what they can do to about SMS sender ID impersonation. The same communications minister that has powers over online gambling and was exposed as receiving $19,000 in donations from Sportsbet.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### There's never been a better time to buy your favourite albums on CD and rip them to FLAC

I've been ripping a bunch of CDs lately and unlike the last time I did this - late 90s, with CDs borrowed from the local library - I'm ripping them to FLAC lossless audio, not 128kbit MP3s. To ensure a bit-perfect copy of the disc, I'm using apps that support AccurateRip. Without it, there's the chance I'll get "audible pops, clicks, or extended periods of silence (where the CD drive has substituted the error with silence)". I don't really understand it, but you can read this Hydrogen Audio wiki page for more info. Hydrogen Audio also has instructions on how to set up X Lossless Decoder on Mac and Exact Audio Copy on Windows so they'll use AccurateRip properly. Whipper is a good choice for those on Linux.

## Bargains

- Ring Video Doorbell 3 - $179 from JB Hi-Fi
- Apple MacBook Air (M2, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) - $1698 from Amazon
- 20x Flybuys points on JB, GG, OW, EB gift cards
- Samsung T7 1TB Portable SSD USB 3.2 - $129.59 from Amazon UK
- Apple Pencil (2nd Generation) - $169 at Amazon (Officeworks price match - $160.55)
- A bunch of cheap used large capacity HDDs (e.g: Seagate Exos X16 ST14000NM001G 14TB for $217.55) from MetroCom's eBay store
- Samsung 49" Odyssey Neo G9 Curved QLED gaming monitor (240Hz, 5120x1440) - $2299 from Samsung
- Ring Indoor Cam - $69 at Amazon (Officeworks price match $65.55)
- Refurb Lenovo X380 Yoga laptop (1080p 13.3" touch, i5-8350U, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) - $341.96 from Maxtradinggroup's eBay store
- 25% off Polestar 2 rentals in Australia from Hertz
- Drop.com has free shipping to Australia at the moment (US$50 min spend, max 5x items per order)
- Telstra $300 Pre-Paid 365-day SIM Starter Kit with 200GB data & unlimited calls/SMS - $250 from Telstra
- LG 27UP550N-W 4K USB-C IPS monitor - $399 + delivery from Umart, Scorptec or Mwave

## Image Of The Day

Edward Joseph Snowden (born June 21, 1983) is an American and naturalized Russian former computer intelligence consultant who leaked highly classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA) in 2013, when he was an employee and subcontractor. His disclosures revealed numerous global surveillance programs, many run by the NSA and the Five Eyes intelligence alliance with the cooperation of telecommunication companies and European governments and prompted a cultural discussion about national security and individual privacy. (Wired)

## The End

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