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Oracle Reveals Advertising Fraud on Streaming TV Platforms

Oracle has uncovered a significant fraud involving advertising on streaming platforms. Dubbed StreamScam, Oracle Data Cloud found that the fraud leverages flaws in ad serving technology and the supply chain to trick advertisers into paying for ads never seen by viewers on real devices and apps. Oracle Data Cloud chief product officer Derek Wise puts the damage at $14.5 million over the last four months, based on an estimated average cost of $20 per one thousand consumer impressions in OTT viewing. Read more

SEC, State Attorneys Investigate Zoom Over China Contacts

After several months of investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and two U.S. Attorneys’ offices, Zoom Video Communications revealed that it has provided investigators with information regarding its interactions with China and other governments in addition to security and user privacy issues. A former employee based in China, Xinjiang Jin (also known as Julien Jin) has been charged by the Department of Justice for helping the Chinese government halt a remote commemoration of the Tiananmen Square uprising. Read more

VFX House Weta Digital Aims to Become a Content Producer

New Zealand-based Weta Digital, a visual effects company that has worked on such high-profile films as “Avatar” and “Avengers: Endgame,” is making a play to create its own original content. Co-founded by “Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson, Weta Digital recently added firepower to its board of directors, including former Disney chief operating officer Tom Staggs, and is also searching to make strategic purchases in the special effects and animation business since animation can be produced remotely during the coronavirus pandemic. Read more

State Attorneys General File Another Lawsuit Against Google

Google is now facing a third antitrust suit. Two months after the Justice Department, joined by 46 state attorneys general, filed suits charging anticompetitive behavior, and only one day after 10 other state attorneys general accused the company of using its dominance to control advertising and overcharge publishers, another suit has landed. This suit, made up of a bipartisan group of 30 AGs, accuses the Big Tech giant of illegally manipulating search results to push competitors out of the way. Read more

GoPro Releases New Wireless Remote, Firmware for Cameras

GoPro launched a new wireless remote with free firmware updates that is designed to control the company’s cameras even if they are far away or mounted somewhere hard to reach. Priced at $80 — the same as the previous Smart Remote — it is compatible with the Hero 9 Black, Hero 8 Black and Max cameras. Improvements in design include a larger display and an even bigger Record button on the front, ideal for use with gloved hands. Dubbed the miniature Remote, it is also waterproof up to a depth of 16 feet. Read more

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