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A court in the United States has ordered an Internet Service Provider to produce personal details of account holders linked to IP addresses allegedly used to pirate music using BitTorrent software.

Cox Communications must identify the account holders behind the "Top 250" IP addresses from a total of more than 150,000 IP addresses. BMG and Round Hill Music sued Cox last year claiming that the ISP had forfeited protection under the DMCA's safe harbor provisions by failing to disconnect repeat infringers.

The factory reset option in the Android mobile operating system may not be as reliable as you'd think, according to new research.

Using the factory reset is common when giving away / selling an old smartphone or tablet, clearing out personal information so the new owner can start afresh, and the previous owner can rest assured that all personal information is wiped.

But.. what if the data is not wiped properly? A study from Cambridge University has raised doubts about the reliability of this function across Android hardware. It focused on tests performed on 21 devices from five manufacturers, running different versions of the popular operating system.

Unfortunately, the researchers could successfully recover partial data after the factory reset was carried out. Even with Full Disk Encryption, some data recovery was still achieved.

In 80 percent of the devices, the researchers could recover the master token required to access Google services. They could also recover login information for other services, as well as images, videos, contacts and so on.

There are a variety of reasons for the problem, with one being manufacturers failing to include adequate drivers that would be needed to properly erase the internal memory, or removable flash memory of a device.

Google forwards anti-piracy notices and settlement demand letters to Google Fiber subscribers, even though other Internet Service Providers in the U.S. choose now to, and here's why.

The search giant claims that it sends users the information as part of its commitment to transparency. Other ISPs don't forward settlement demand notices to their subscribers, since the offences referenced are still only allegations.

Google's decision to forward these notices to subscribers of its super-fast Fiber broadband raised a few eyebrows.

"When Google Fiber receives a copyright complaint about an account, we pass along all of the information we receive to the account holder so that they're aware of it and can determine the response that's best for their situation," a Google spokesperson said, reports TorrentFreak.

The spokesperson did go on to say that Google believes there are "better options" to fighting piracy than targeting individual users.

Firms such as CEG-TEK attempt to monetize the notice systems in place in the U.S. and other regions by demanding settlements from Internet users for alleged incidents of copyright infringement. Some ISPs feel that it is better not to forward these demands to their customers.

Earlier this week, it was reported that adult dating website Adult Friend Finder had been compromised and sensitive information on nearly 4 million users was stolen.

The data breach was reported by Channel Four in the UK.

Adult Friend Finder claims to have around 64 million users around the globe. In this leak, leaked information includes IP addresses, e-mail addresses, dates of birth, post codes and even seuxal preferences and other sensitive information.

Worse, data that was leaked even included information from accounts that had been deleted from the service by user request.

Shortly after the data breach, affected users were targeted with spam and malware-laced e-mails. There are also concerns that leaked information may be used for blackmail purposes.

"We have already begun working closely with law enforcement and have launched a comprehensive investigation with the help of leading third-party forensics expert, Mandiant," the firm said earlier this week.

The Pirate Bay has lost another domain name just days after a Swedish court ordered the seizure of piratebay.se and the piratebay.se.

In response, the Pirate Bay registered SIX new domain names ending in .GS, .LA, .VG,. AM, .MN and .GD. The new logo on the evasive torrent site features a Lernaean Hydra - a mythical monster from Greek mythology that sports multiple heads - and the new domain names.

It then went on to troll Prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad for wasting time and public money in pursuing its two Swedish domain names.

Just a few days after Samsung teased the device, the company has confirmed that the Iron Man Edition Galaxy S6 Edge is coming next week.

The second teaser image shows a little bit more of the smartphone, which appears to be red on the back plate with an Iron Man decal.

Outside of the colors and the decal, the device is expected to also include some Marvel apps and potentially videos.

Check out the teaser image larger here:

According to a new report, Google's upcoming Android M will include native fingerprint authentication.

The new feature will work similar to Apple's Touch ID but will also allow you to login to supported apps without the need to enter a password.

Just like existing fingerprint readers, the authentication will let you unlock your device and make purchases when browsing the Google Play Store.

Google's developer conference, I/O, is next week and the search giant is widely expected to introduce all of Android M's features.

After some really interesting research results, Google is raising awareness about how unreliable "Security Questions" are for legitimate login authentication, password recovery and more.

Providers of Internet services have long asked their users to provide answers to questions about themselves which may be used for identity verification later. Typically, these questions are asked if a login is suspicious (unfamiliar location etc.) or as a layer of a password recovery process.

It turns out that this is an extremely unreliable layer of security. Hundreds of millions of secret question and answer combinations were analysed by Google, with the goal of (among other things) determining how likely it would have been for an attacker to guess the answers correctly.

Google Maps was at the center of Internet outrage this week with demands for apologies, and heads to roll, in an unfortunate set of circumstances that associated 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue with racist search terms.

It emerged that searches of "n****r house" or "n****r king" in Google Maps brought up the home of Barack Obama, and Google very quickly responded with an investigation. In the meantime, the story took off and all eyes were on the Mountain View giant.

It's not as if racism is new to the Internet; let's be honest this place is full of assholes, but for it to appear as a top result in such an important Google service raised questions. How could this happen? How could Google let it happen?

Unsurprisingly, it was down to the aforementioned assholes that roam the digital plains and spread their toxicity wherever they can be seen. It's no secret that Google is constantly probing the web and using that crowdsourced pile of data to drive features of its services.

Yeah, you can already see where this is going!

In online discussions of the White House, racist slurs were used frequently enough for Google's systems to strongly associate them with the location. That crowdsourced data scoured from every corner of the web mixed with some offensive search terms in Google Maps produced a very embarrassing result for Google, and one that was offensive to a lot of people.

Delta Airlines has turned to Internet memes to get you to pay attention to the safety instructions for its aircraft.

The memes will bring back some memories, including that damn dancing baby from the late 90s that caused so much fuss. It also includes nods to Mentos & Coke madness, the Evolution of Dance, Keyboard Cat, Peanut Butter Jelly Time and of course that wide-scale study of human psychology that was the Ice Bucket Challenge.

Oh and of course, no meme video would be complete without a goat screaming when it learns that you can't smoke on and airplane.

Well, cringe or laugh, here it is.

Google Fiber subscribers who have used their super-fast Internet service to download and share copyright infringing files could soon hear from the Mountain View giant.

According to TorrentFreak, Google has been sending copyright infringement notices to subscribers whose accounts have been flagged by third parties for piracy activity. Controversially, TF alleges that Google is also forwarding settlement demands from Rightscorp and CEG TEK.

Settlements are offered to Internet users ranging from $20 to $300.

Other ISPs in the United States, including Comcast and Verizon, do not forward such settlement demands to subscribers, given that the subscribers are only alleged to have committed a crime and there's typically no evidence to hold the account hold personally responsible.

Along with the demands from Rightscorp and CEG TEK, Google also warns users that repeated violations of its Terms of Services - which expressly prohibits copyright infringement - can result in remedial action including service termination.

Read more at TorrentFreak

Smooth! In a move aimed at Amazon's Twitch and others in the growing arena of video game streaming, YouTube now supports 60fps in 1080p.

Google's video giant previously added support for 60fps videos, which was welcomed and embraced by gamers. In HD, the difference between 30fps and 60fps is very noticeable for some fast action content. Now YouTube has added the same support for streaming game footage, using a HTML5 player in compatible browsers.

"When you start a live stream on YouTube at 60fps, we'll transcode your stream into 720p60 and 1080p60, which means silky smooth playback for gaming and other fast-action videos," YouTube's creator blog announced.

"We'll also make your stream available in 30fps on devices where high frame rate viewing is not yet available, while we work to expand support in the coming weeks."

Any app using YouTube's live streaming API can add a new high frame rate flag to enable 60fps streaming.

Additionally, the HTML5 player supports variable speed playback, enabling viewers to skip backwards and then increase the playback rate to 1.5x or 2x to catch up to live.

Twitch - which cost Amazon almost $1 billion to acquire - claims to have reached an average of 100 million viewers per month. Google was considering buying Twitch before Amazon swooped in, and now wants its YouTube platform to eat its audience instead.

Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games has filed a lawsuit against the BBC in the UK over a film starring Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe.

'Game Changer' is a drama being made about the public and legal spats between Rockstar Games and anti-gaming (disbarred) lawyer Jack Thompson. It stars Daniel Radcliffe as Sam Houser, co-founder and President of Rockstar Games, while the role of Thompson is filled by Bill Paxton.

Rockstar Games confirmed that it has sued the BBC over the upcoming feature, citing its desire to protect its intellectual property and trademarks.

"Take-Two Interactive has filed suit against the BBC for trademark infringement based on their movie currently titled'Game Changer' as it relates to Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto video game series," the firm said in a statement, published by IGN.

"While holders of the trademarks referenced in the film title and its promotion, Rockstar Games has had no involvement with this project. Our goal is to ensure that our trademarks are not misused in the BBC's pursuit of an unofficial depiction of purported events related to Rockstar Games. We have attempted multiple times to resolve this matter with the BBC without any meaningful resolution. It is our obligation to protect our intellectual property and unfortunately in this case litigation was necessary."

Android TV devices can now get new sports and entertainment content through the Sling TV app, and new customers can get 50% off a Nexus Player for a limited time.

Sling TV will bring Android TV devices - like the Nexus Player - new content from HBO and live Sports for paying customers. For $20 per month, Sling TV delivers 22 channels, featuring content like the NBA Playoffs on ESPN and SportsCenter.

HBO can be added for $15 per month to provide access to Game of Thrones, True Detective and other HBO shows. The upcoming Ballers premieres on June 21 and it can be watched live for subscribers on Sling TV.

Sling TV is also offering a 50% discount on a Nexus Player for those who sign up for three months of service.

Nexus Player & Remote

Controversial 'Netflix for Pirates' services under the Popcorn Time banner are facing further blocking at the hands of a court.

This time the service is being targeted in Israel, where media firms have acquired a court order mandating that Internet Service Providers block access to Popcorn Time websites. The complaint was brought to a court in Tel Aviv by ZIRA, which represents content owners in Israel and elsewhere.

Around the world, Popcorn Time is being fought by targeting the websites that host the applications. Not only are these websites devoid of any copyright infringing material, but they don't even host torrent files or even link to torrent files.

No Legitimate Use

The position of media companies objecting to this "free Netflix" app is that it has no legitimate use. Its sole purpose instead is to act as user-friendly graphical frontend for users to download movies and TV shows using BitTorrent and watch the content as it downloads.

BitTorrent clients on the other hand can be used for legitimate purposes, and so there has been no major push to attack the main websites of Vuze or uTorrent, for example.