Netflix Sees Moderate Gains and Postpones Crackdown on Account Sharing
At the start of the year, Netflix reported some moderate gains in revenue, profit, and subscriptions. However, the DVD rental service that Netflix started 25 years ago will finally come to an end as the company discontinues it in September 2021. Meanwhile, Netflix had hoped to take global action against sharing Netflix access with those outside of your household at the end of Q1, but it has now been postponed until the end of Q2.
North Rhine-Westphalia Postpones Abitur Due to Technical Fault
Due to a technical fault, the download for matriculation examination tasks for biology, chemistry, nutrition, computer science, physics, and technology had to be postponed from Wednesday to Friday, resulting in the postponement of the written Abitur examinations in North Rhine-Westphalia. The state government cited that the download problem was “massive and extremely annoying.”
EU Council and Parliament Agree on European Chips Act
On Tuesday, the EU Council and Parliament agreed on the contents of the European Chips Act, which aims to make the EU stronger and more independent in the production of computer chips. The act has a budget of 3.3 billion euros and is expected to lead to further investments of 40 billion euros. The goals of the act include doubling Europe’s market share in the global production of computer chips, making production more environmentally friendly and well-paid, expanding technical expertise, and reducing dependence on foreign suppliers.
EU Opens European Center for the Transparency of Algorithms
On Tuesday, the European Commission’s Joint Research Center (JRC) officially opened the European Center for the Transparency of Algorithms (ECAT) in Seville, Spain. The center aims to examine the program routines of online platforms and search engines to enforce the new EU digital content regulation, the Digital Services Act (DSA). Around 30 employees will be tasked with examining the algorithms used by Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and other platforms.
GitHub Plans to Require Second Factor Authentication
GitHub, the code hosting platform, plans to require all users who contribute code to secure their login with a second factor authentication (2FA) later this year. The change was announced in several blog posts, and since March 13, the first users have been prompted to switch. In an interview, GitHub’s security chief, Mike Hanley, explained the reasoning behind the requirement.
Attacks on Software Supply Chains on the Rise
Recently, attacks on software supply chains have increased, making it more attractive for attackers to inject malicious code into software libraries used by many other projects. To combat this, GitHub plans to require 2FA to secure logins for all its users who contribute code.
