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This is today's variation of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a regular dose of what's going connected successful the satellite of technology.
The counterfeit lawsuits that scoop up hundreds of Chinese Amazon sellers astatine once
Sun Qunming had nary thought that the connection “airbag” could beryllium trademarked. Sun, who owns an e-commerce institution successful Shenzhen, China, has been selling telephone cases to Amazon buyers successful Europe and the US since 2016.
When she listed a lawsuit with air-filled bumper cushions astatine the edges to support the telephone connected Amazon successful November 2021, she didn’t cognize that the connection “airbag” successful the discourse of physics instrumentality accessories had been trademarked by different telephone lawsuit vendor, PopSockets.
A fewer months later, the institution sued Sun and much than 160 different online sellers for trademark infringement. Her accounts were restricted and her relationship balances were frozen.
Sun is acold from alone. Her lawsuit is emblematic of a caller benignant of suit suing hundreds of sellers connected Amazon oregon different platforms astatine the aforesaid clip for selling counterfeit goods—and they’re getting progressively baseless. Read the afloat story.
—Zeyi Yang
If you’d similar to work much astir the cross-border e-commerce manufacture successful China, Zeyi has dug further into it successful the latest edition of China Report, his play newsletter covering the tech manufacture successful China. Sign up to person it successful your inbox each Tuesday.
The iPad was meant to revolutionize accessibility. What happened?
On April 3, 2010, Steve Jobs debuted the iPad. What for astir radical was fundamentally a much convenient signifier origin was thing acold much consequential for non-speakers: a life-changing gyration successful entree to a portable, almighty connection instrumentality for conscionable a fewer 100 dollars.
But a portion of hardware, nevertheless impressively designed and engineered, is lone arsenic invaluable arsenic what a idiosyncratic tin bash with it. After the iPad’s release, the flood of new, easy-to-use augmentative and alternate connection apps that users were successful hopeless request of ne'er came.
Today, determination are lone astir fractional a twelve apps, each retailing for $200 to $300, that inquire users to prime from menus of crudely drawn icons to nutrient substance and synthesized speech. It’s a depressingly dilatory gait of improvement for specified an indispensable quality function. Read the afloat story.
—Julie Kim
This communicative is from our forthcoming people issue, which is each astir accessibility. If you haven’t already, subscribe to marque definite you don’t miss retired connected aboriginal stories—subscriptions commencement from conscionable $80 a year.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the net to find you today’s astir fun/important/scary/fascinating stories astir technology.
1 OceanGate was alert of information concerns implicit its submersible
He claimed the sub, which is presently missing, had “visible flaws” and was not built for utmost depths. (New Republic $)
+ The institution likened itself to the SpaceX of the sea. (Motherboard)
+ There volition ever beryllium radical consenting to wage for utmost tourism ventures. (The Atlantic $)
+ Coastguards are scouring the oversea for immoderate motion of the vessel. (Economist $)
2 Building AI is earnestly laborious work
Millions of radical are paid a pittance to marque AI look human. (NY Mag $)
+ AI needs to look up to its invisible-worker problem. (MIT Technology Review)
+ OpenAI is considering making an app store for AI software. (The Information $)+ Joe Biden has met with AI critics. (WP $)
3 Reddit suspended immoderate protesting moderators and reinstated others
The warfare of attrition betwixt Reddit and its volunteers shows nary motion of slowing. (The Verge)+ The company’s besides nether unit from a disgruntled hacking group. (Vox)
4 Inside the transgression satellite of convulsive Discord servers 5 How distant moving became start-ups’ concealed weapon
Groups of young men stock tips and boast astir their purported crimes. (Motherboard)
+ Some firms are adjacent offering charitable donations successful speech for attendance. (NYT $)
6 US states are rushing to modulate deepfakes
It’s a ineligible country with a astonishing complaint of progress. (Bloomberg $)
+ Deepfake porn is ruining women’s lives. (MIT Technology Review)
7 Demand is increasing for a arguable caller ALS drug
Relyvrio could dilatory the disease’s progression, but its effects are unproven. (New Yorker $)
+ The US is clamping down connected unchecked laboratory tests. (Undark)
8 Tesla’s supercharger web is expanding
Owners of Rivian cars tin present get involved. (WSJ $)
+ In the clash of the EV chargers, it’s Tesla vs. everyone else. (MIT Technology Review)
9 Meet China’s ChatGPT hustlers
They’re grifting away, adjacent though it’s technically banned there. (Wired $)
+ People are already utilizing ChatGPT to make workout plans. (MIT Technology Review)
10 Digital avatars are presenting the quality successful Indonesia
And they’re crafted to perfectly correspond circumstantial demographics. (Rest of World)
Quote of the day
“He is an explorer to the halfway of his soul.”
—Fellow adventurer Jannicke Mikkelsen describes her person Hamish Harding, the British businessman presently missing onboard the Titan submersible, to CNN.
The large story
How exertion helped archaeologists excavation deeper
Construction workers successful New York’s Lower Manhattan vicinity were breaking crushed for a caller national gathering backmost successful 1991 erstwhile they unearthed hundreds of coffins. The site, known arsenic the African Burial Ground, became 1 of the best-known archaeological discoveries successful the state and is present a nationalist monument.
The African Burial Ground task was among the archetypal to usage a caller constellation of “bioarchaeology” tools that went mode beyond the accepted pickaxes and brushes. But this was simply the archetypal signifier of a overmuch broader archaeological gyration that brought scientists and humanities scholars unneurotic to make information astir our ancestors. Read the afloat story.
—Annalee Newitz
We tin inactive person bully things
A spot for comfort, amusive and distraction successful these weird times. (Got immoderate ideas? Drop maine a line oregon tweet 'em astatine me.)+ Possibly the eventual successful arguable lists: ranking Disney movies by their faithfulness to their publication root material.
+ Happy summertime solstice to those who celebrate, including the Sinagua people.
+ In praise of spending clip pottering successful your garden.
+ Aww, Slipknot’s assemblage knows no property boundaries.
+ Coney Island’s mermaid parade looks similar a full lotta fun.
English (US) ·