Pirated streamed content will soon become a felony in the U.S., Apple is working on a new autonomous vehicle, and Eric Engstrom the champion of Windows Gaming and Direct X passes away.
It’s all the tech news that’s popular right now. Welcome to Hashtag Trending! It’s Tuesday Wednesday 23, and I’m your host Baneet Braich.
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Pirated streamed content will soon become a felony in the U.S. thanks to a new Bill. Under the new bill, any person that pirates video streams of copyrighted work will have committed a felony act and be subject to either fines or imprisonment. The previous penalty for pirating streaming content was a misdemeanour. The bill targets large scale, criminal and for-profit streaming services. However, it does not address non-commercial activities or individuals who access the pirated streams knowingly or unknowingly. This bill was passed considering how people’s viewing habits have changed since COVID-19 touched down, leaving them with more time to view content.
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Hey Siri, start my car. That’s right – Apple is working on a new self-driving vehicle with “breakthrough” battery technology by 2024, according to Reuters. However, the tech giant refused to discuss the new vehicle. Anonymous sources say it’s a mass-market vehicle, with “radically” cheaper battery, and lidar sensors, which give self-driving cars a three-dimensional road view. [LinkedIn]
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Creator of DirectX, Eric Engstrom, passes away at 55 from technology
And lastly, some heavy news to report as Eric Engstrom, the Pioneer Of Windows Gaming And DirectX, has passed away at 55 due to an injury. He will be remembered for his contributions to DirectX where the API made gaming on Microsoft’s Windows OS the top choice for PC Gaming. DirectX is a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable a computer to recognize and run games that can tap that computer’s graphics capabilities. This also paved the way for what we now know as Microsoft’s Xbox consoles. Rest in Peace Eric, you brought people joy in both the real and virtual world.
That’s all the tech news that’s trending right now. Hashtag Trending is a part of the ITWC Podcast network. Add us to your Alexa Flash Briefing or your Google Home daily briefing. And remember, over the next couple of weeks, we want you to tell us what you think is this year’s biggest Canadian tech story. Let us know on Twitter @ITWorldCa, or leave a comment on the show notes for this episode at ITWorldCanada.com. Respondents will be entered into a draw for a chance to win an IT World Canada mug in the New Year!
I’m Baneet Braich thanks for listening.
