A New York bill that would ban new bitcoin mining operations is "swiftly making its way through the state capitol in Albany," reports CNBC. Some industry insiders fear that the bill, which calls for a two-year moratorium on certain cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain transactions, could have a domino effect across the U.S. From the report: Lawmakers sponsoring the legislation say they are looking to curb the state's carbon footprint by cracking down on mines that use electricity from power plants that burn fossil fuels. For two years, unless a proof-of-work mining company uses 100% renewable energy, it would not be allowed to expand or renew permits, and new entrants would not be allowed to come online. [...] At this point, the State Assembly has passed the bill, and it is now under consideration by the Democratic-controlled State Senate, which will soon vote on the measure. If it passes, it will land on the desk of Governor Kathy Hochul, who could sign it into law or veto it. "If it passes, it would make New York the first state in the country to ban blockchain technology infrastructure," explained Perianne Boring, founder and president of the Digital Chamber of Commerce. "New York will be left behind, losing to other states at best, and at worst, other more progressive nations," says Galaxy Digital's Head of Mining Amanda Fabiano. "New York is setting a bad precedent that other states could follow."

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According to some iPhone users, the Apple Music iOS app is installing itself directly to the iPhone's dock when downloaded, instead of to the phone's home screen. "It's also kicking out other apps users had set up in their dock and taking their spot, which is not something apps would normally do," adds TechCrunch. From the report: Some iPhone owners also found the bug was causing Apple Music to establish itself as the default music service for Siri requests, even if another service had previously been configured for this, like Spotify. It's unclear how widespread the bug is at this time, as we've tested it internally with mixed results. However, we've seen the dock issue taking place across different versions of iOS 15, old and new, so it does not appear to be related to a recent iOS update. It's also been seen impacting different iPhone models. [...] Apple was not able to provide further details about the bug, but said it's looking into it. You can view the "odd behavior" in a video posted on Twitter by iOS developer Kevin Archer.

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An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: YouTube is showing videos that promote skin-bleaching, weight loss, drug culture and firearms to children as young as two, a new investigation of the company's "Kids" app has found. YouTube Kids, an app and website released in 2015, is supposed to be a safer, curated version of the video-sharing website aimed at children under 13. It tailors content to three age groups: "older," "younger" and "preschool," roughly corresponding to those aged nine to 12 years old, four to seven, and under four. The company says it ensures that the videos on the service are family-friendly through "a mix of automated filters built by our engineering teams, human review and feedback from parents to protect our youngest users online." But, it cautions users "no system is perfect and inappropriate videos can slip through." Research from the Tech Transparency Project, a US-based non-profit, shows that the system is indeed far from perfect. Using three different accounts, each set to one of app's age groups, the analysts discovered numerous videos that should not have made it past Google's filters. A Breaking Bad-themed cooking show, for instance, in which the hosts dress up in respirators and make jokes about the risk of inhaling the fumes, might be light-hearted viewing for adults or teens, but has been categorized by YouTube as being appropriate for "younger children" -- as has a Minecraft project to recreate the RV, "where the crystal meth is cooked," from the hit show. Songs sometimes slip mature themes into the children's app, too. Eric Clapton's Cocaine -- sample lyric "When your feeling is gone, and you wanna ride on, cocaine" -- is available to children as young as five as part of a guitar tuition series. Content aimed at gun users slips through the net, leading to younger children being shown a ranking of recoil pads, which protect shooters from the kickback of a firing gun, and older children being offered step-by-step instructions on how to build a shelf with a hidden compartment to conceal a pistol. Most alarming was content for kids that could lead to harmful body image issues. A popular Indian beauty influencer's post on how to apply skin-bleaching products was available for older kids, while even preschool children were shown a cartoon about the importance of burning calories to lose weight, which exhorted them to "wiggle your jiggle". In a statement, a YouTube spokesperson said: "We built YouTube Kids to create a safer environment for kids to explore their interests and curiosity, while giving parents the tools to customize the experience for their kids. We have a higher bar for which videos can be a part of the app and also empower parents to control what content their child can and cannot see. Upon review we have removed or age-gated a number of the flagged videos from the Kids app."

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YouTube Go is shutting down beginning this August, Google has announced this week. From a report: The lightweight Android app first launched in 2016 and features offline viewing and nearby sharing. Like other apps designed for emerging markets, YouTube Go includes a suite of features that take into consideration the high costs of data, poor signal strength and the prevalent use of SD cards on Android devices. YouTube Go first launched in India and later became available in more than 130 countries worldwide. The company notes that since 2016, it has invested in improvements to the main YouTube app that make it perform better in emerging markets, while also delivering a better user experience.

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VPN companies are squaring up for a fight with the Indian government over new rules designed to change how they operate in the country. Wired: On April 28, officials announced that virtual private network companies will be required to collect swathes of customer data -- and maintain it for five years or more -- under a new national directive. VPN providers have two months to accede to the rules and start collecting data. The justification from the country's Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) is that it needs to be able to investigate potential cybercrime. But that doesn't wash with VPN providers, some of whom have said they may ignore the demands. "This latest move by the Indian government to require VPN companies to hand over user personal data represents a worrying attempt to infringe on the digital rights of its citizens," says Harold Li, vice president of ExpressVPN. He adds that the company would never log user information or activity and that it will adjust its "operations and infrastructure to preserve this principle if and when necessary." Other VPN providers are also considering their options. Gytis Malinauskas, head of Surfshark's legal department, says the VPN provider couldn't currently comply with India's logging requirements because it uses RAM-only servers, which automatically overwrite user-related data. [...] ProtonVPN is similarly concerned, calling the move an erosion of civil liberties.

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