Remember Popcorn Time, the app that served as an easy-to-use front end for streaming torrents of movies and TV shows? Development of the MPAA's least-favorite app of the 2010s has been abandoned for years, but the "Netflix of Piracy" software is still installed on millions of devices that are just waiting to join a bot army. Researchers at Eye Security found the updater for a Popcorn Time fork called "Time4Popcorn" still running on tons of Windows, macOS, and Android devices located around the world, phoning home to now-abandoned web domains over unencrypted HTTP and running an outdated, insecure version of Chrome.

Eye Security's Niels Teus …

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Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters assured investors this week that they have nothing to be concerned about. Sure, the company was going to lay off 1,000 employees, downsizing its product, tech, and legal departments, and was ousting its chief content officer, film chairman, and film vice president. But it had also hired a new COO - "one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry," Sarandos said - to turn things around.

Though executive shake-ups aren't uncommon, having so many of them back to back would send a concerning message even in the best of circumstances. With Netflix, however, the situation lo …

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Spotify co-CEO Alex Norström confirmed on this week's earnings call that the company is trying to catch Spotify Family plan users who don't actually live together with a new QR code verification method that requires scanning the plan manager's phone. TechCrunch reports that in response to a question about the "crackdown," he called it a "routine improvement" instead:

This is not as much a crackdown as it is actually a routine improvement of our verification methods for our Family Plan. Family Plan has existed for a long while. It has been around for, I think it is now close to 12, 13 years in Spotify history, and it makes up a pretty signi …

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On Tuesday, I published a story about how YouTube appeared to be testing hiding the dislike button on videos, with at least two users on X sharing screenshots of the dislike button moved into the three-dot menu. But a YouTube spokesperson, in a Wednesday statement to The Verge, confirmed that YouTube is "not testing hiding the dislike button on YouTube for users."

However, YouTube is introducing a new UI for creators on their uploaded videos where the dislike button will be moved.

Here's the full statement, from spokesperson Kimberly Taylor:

We are not testing hiding the dislike button on YouTube for users. We're introducing a new UI for …

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It remains to be seen if people really want to watch vertical content on horizontal TV screens, but many filmmakers and creators were confident that their latest projects would play well at Alza - New York City's first microdrama film festival. Founded by former Tribeca Festival chief operating officer Pete Torres, Alza, which took place October 16th through 18th, was billed as a showcase for the "the creativity, innovation, and growing cultural impact of stories made for the vertical screen." The festival featured a selection of microdrama and film premieres as well as industry-focused panels with executives who all seemed to genuinely beli …

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YouTube appears to be testing hiding the dislike button on videos, as reported by 9to5Google. At least two users on X have recently shared screenshots of the dislike button now being placed in the three-dots submenu, and a user on Reddit also shared an image of the dislike button being absent for them.

Right now, for me, the dislike button sits right next to the like button under a video. Moving it to a submenu would make it considerably more of an effort to access, meaning that fewer people would likely use it.

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Netflix is making monetization a top priority amid reports of falling viewing time. As part of its third-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, Netflix lists improvements to monetization as one of its main focuses going forward, alongside efforts to boost entertainment value and leverage new technology.

The streaming giant doesn't say exactly how it plans to improve its monetization, but the company notes that these goals will help Netflix "create member value that lets us occasionally raise prices, and increase advertiser demand." Netflix also highlighted plans to push further into original titles, live events, and third-party programming as …

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After announcing plans to introduce its own streaming service last month, JustWatch, a popular guide and search engine for finding things to watch on existing platforms like Disney Plus and Netflix, launched JustWatch TV today. The new streaming service offers an ad-supported free subscription, an ad-free paid subscription, and movie rentals with content from 30 global partners.

The streaming service is accessible through JustWatch's existing mobile apps and its website and is currently available in 12 markets including the US, Canada, France, Italy, Australia, and the UK. Content providers include Bleecker Street, Cineverse, Fremantle, New …

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Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 148, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you're new here, welcome, hope you're enjoying all your pumpkin-flavored everything, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I've been reading about Marc Andreessen and the future of math and Mike Tomlin and Citizens United, reminiscing about the heyday of MySpace, sending this article to everyone as an apology for my bad texting, listening to the Pet Shop Boys' new Alan Turing album and Dwarkesh Patel's thoughts on AI, barely keeping myself from preordering an iPhone Duo, asking a lot of questio …

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YouTube is adding a "Made with AI" label to tracks that were "altered or fully generated" using AI, with a similar approach to its existing process for applying AI labels to videos. It doesn't sound like this will apply to any and all use of AI tools in making music, but according to YouTube, it includes things like "using a generative model to create the composition and vocals." In its rules for music partners who upload their songs, YouTube lays out how to disclose generative AI use, and says that if there's no disclosure, it may use "other signals" to decide if a song is AI-generated.

The label is rolling out starting today in the YouTub …

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Following a report last week that Netflix was planning to lay off five percent of the company, today the streamer's co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters announced in an email that it would actually be laying off six percent of its workforce, or around 1,000 employees, according to Variety, which obtained a copy of the memo. That makes this Netflix's largest round of layoffs so far, following the company cutting 150 jobs in May 2022, and an additional 300 in June 2022 in an attempt to reduce costs following slower revenue growth.

Today's layoffs will mostly affect staff in Netflix's product, technology, human resources, and legal teams, acco …

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Epic Games plans to use AI to generate code and art for an unannounced Disney game, which is now delayed from its original March release window, according to a report from Bloomberg. The project's developers have been given an "AI-first" mandate directing them to use tools like Anthropic's Claude more to finish the game.

According to Bloomberg, one of the game's directors said in a message to staff, "No more hand-written code." Staff were also told that all of the game's art will be "generated with full AI workflows." In a statement given to Bloomberg, Epic Games spokesperson Jake Jones said the company is "embracing AI-accelerated develop …

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