Category: Technology and Internet

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Technology and Internet

LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE NEW BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

blockchain

Naturally, the new technology Blockchain, as a new way of recording and storing data, should first be considered in light of the law of personal data protection.

Questions such as who will be considered the controller and who is the processor will be difficult to answer especially in open (permissionless) blockchain platforms.

But also rights such as the right to delete or update personal data are extremely doubtful whether and how they could be satisfied in a database that is kept simultaneously in thousands of copies and in which it is impossible to modify, let alone remove data, and in fact, in the manner required by the new Regulation for the protection of personal data (GDPR).

Virtual currencies/cryptocurrencies

The legal characterization of cryptocurrencies is a prerequisite for their legal treatment and their systematic inclusion in the corresponding set of legal rules. Although the name suggests coins, the answer is not so obvious as almost none of the cryptocurrencies act as currency.

As we mentioned above, almost every open blockchain protocol provides for the creation of tokens (for example ether for the eEthereum platform) which are necessary for participation in this platform. To be able to use the protocol, or conclude and fulfill a smart contract, the participants in a transaction must have tokens of this protocol at their disposal.

Therefore, the nature and operation of cryptocurrencies are more akin to digital assets whose value is tied to and exists only within the operating ecosystem of a particular blockchain protocol (rather than a currency). This value is determined by the technical characteristics of the protocol, its functional capability, es and ultimately its appeal and dissemination to the community it addresses.

The concept of tokens can be better understood by looking at the architecture and structure of the companies that issue and own them, usually through what is called an Initial Coin Offering or ICO (referring, rather euphemistically, to Initial Public Offering – IO, i.e. the public registration, with which they have nothing to do).

These companies create services that are based on decentralized co-creation, depend on the distribution of tokens, and the main, if not the only, source of income is the increase in the value of the tokens according to the success of their “economy”.

Recently, in the case of the distribution of tokens through the Ethereum platform, the US Securities and Exchange Commission. , (SEC), ruled that these should be treated as securities and therefore their disposal is governed by applicable law.

In addition, in October 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union in the context of the interpretation of Directive 2006/112/EC on VAT. ruled that bitcoin cannot be classified as tangible goods within the meaning of Article 14 of the VAT Directive, because it has the sole purpose of being a means of payment and that the exchange of traditional currencies for bitcoins is exempt from VAT.

Also, according to the Court of Justice of the EU, transactions involving non-conventional currencies, i.e. currencies that are not legal tender in one or more countries, are financial transactions, provided that the non-conventional currencies in question are accepted by the traders as an alternative, about conventional currencies, means of payment and are used exclusively as means of payment.

It is worth noting that according to the referral decision of the requesting court (Sweden’s Supreme Administrative Court) in the above case, the bitcoin address [pp. a user’s public key] can be compared to the bank account number.

Furthermore, according to its February 2015 report, the European Central Bank does not consider virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin, to be a form of money as defined in economics, nor from a legal point of view.

For this report, the ECB defined virtual currencies as “a digital representation of value, which is not issued by a central bank, financial institution or an electronic money institution, which, in some cases, can be used as an alternative of – traditional – money”.

For the ECB, the existing regulation that applies to the traditional financial sector cannot be applied as the traditional financial parties do not exist, and categorizes bitcoin as a “convertible decentralized virtual cryptocurrency”.

The European Union plans to regulate, at least in part, the distribution of virtual currencies as part of the revision of Directive (EU) 2015/849 on money laundering.

Consumer protection law

Today’s most popular application of blockchain technology, virtual currencies, raise important issues directly related to consumer law, due to certain disadvantages they present, in particular:

  • Lack of transparency as to how they work, as their key features are difficult for users to understand and the information available is limited, especially for the lesser-known ones. In addition, as most users treat virtual currencies as a store of value rather than a means of payment, and invest in them with the expectation of their value increasing, they are likely to fall victim to fraudulent promises from issuers (risk of investment fraud due to lack of transparency).
  • The legal status of cryptocurrencies is unclear, as is often the identity of these key actors, who are generally not subject to regulation or supervision, information that users are very likely to be unaware of, especially due to the similarity of virtual currencies with electronic money. Therefore, users do not benefit from legal protection provisions, such as the possibility of redemption or a deposit guarantee system, and are exposed to various risks that are usually limited by legislation.

Furthermore, the continuity of a virtual currency is far from guaranteed and users may be faced with an abrupt cessation of the issuance or validity of the virtual currency.

When using virtual currencies as a means of payment for goods and services, users are not protected by the refund rights granted for (unauthorized) transfers from a contractual account, as applicable under EU law. This is because in these cases there is no one payment service provider that users can turn to, and no central dispute resolution body.

Smart contracts

As programming languages are less ambiguous than human languages, this implies less uncertainty about the interpretation of the terms of a smart contract: two people may ascribe a different meaning to the same words, but not two computers in the code of a smart contract. Therefore, the scope for different interpretations of the contractual terms is significantly reduced (if not eliminated) during their execution.

On the other hand, the modification (due to e.g. changes in the mandatory legal framework that occurred after the conclusion of the contract) of the terms of a smart contract is difficult, since it has been integrated into a blockchain platform. The interlinking of smart contracts with databases (public or private) to be automatically updated with the current legal framework, and the separation of terms into modifiable and non-modifiable, are some of the solutions that have been proposed.

Also, due to the cross-border nature of transactions on a blockchain platform, in some cases, it will be difficult to identify those characteristics that are set as criteria by the rules of private international law, such as the place of residence of the parties, the place of making a contract, the place fulfillment, etc., to determine the applicable law in case this has not been agreed between the contracting parties.

Finally, the most important legal aspect of the implementation of smart contracts is arguably the stage of execution and whether the strict conditions of automatic fulfillment of the consequences against the non-compliant party are consistent with the public nature of the execution acts. The problem in bankruptcy law is similar: in the example of the starter switch, the debtor will be protected and will be able to use his car if he is placed in bankruptcy or pre-bankruptcy proceedings during which any acts of execution against the debtor are suspended.

Organizations – legal entities

In addition to applying new technology and digital governance capabilities to existing corporate types, blockchain has created an entirely new type of organization, the so-called “decentralized autonomous organization” or DAO, whose operation (from the statutes, the terms of administration up to the totality of transactions), is captured in smart contracts which “run” on a blockchain platform.

Such an organization that “operates” and is managed decentralized according to the rules installed in the software of thousands of computers in different parts of the world, raises several legal issues, such as the law that governs it, its legal characterization, the acquisition of legal personality, the way of administration, the requirements and consequences of publicity, etc.

Mergers – Legal controls

Already artificial intelligence is widely used in some legal services and especially in the legal audits that are necessary for the context of large transactions.

With the use of algorithms, it is now possible for computers to review thousands of documents and draw legal conclusions with an accuracy equivalent to human work, which would require many times more time.

Recently a Court in the United Kingdom accepted the use of artificial intelligence, in the context of legal review, despite the opposition of the other party.

With the use of blockchain technology, where all corporate governance acts, transactions, accounting entries, and assets of companies will be registered in the blockchain registry, the process of legal audits and generally establishing the financial and accounting status of a company will it is fully automated, accurate, and secure.

Procedure: evidence

But also at the level of procedure and mainly of evidentiary means, the new technology will have consequences, as it is certain that the proof of title deeds, transactions, or even the certainty of the date of actual events will (may) be done by presenting the data concerning their registration on a blockchain platform.

These data will be able to be verified with certainty by the judge without the assistance of experts since all entries in the – open – blockchain databases are public and available.

Likewise notifications with a certain date, certain content and certain receipt (delivery of documents) will be possible based on the new technology.

Procedure: forced execution

As we saw above, one of the key features of smart contracts is the automated fulfillment of contractual terms if the agreed conditions are met.

This feature, i.e. the fulfillment of contractual obligations regardless of the will of the parties and without the assistance of a third party, will have the consequence of limiting the need to resort to an enforcement procedure for contractual debts.

CONCLUSIONS

Although it is difficult to predict the evolution and degree of adoption of the new technology, it is very likely that its path will be similar to other innovative proposals of the recent Internet past and will eventually either be adopted by central authorities or organizations or become a technological guide for the improvement of existing services and technologies to the extent that blockchain technology offers advantages over them.

Whether the new technology blockchain and cryptocurrencies will live up to these expectations depends to a large extent on whether the citizens have the maturity to take power but above all the responsibilities that its decentralized philosophy implies and that the new technology promises to give them.

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9 ways to hide your IP address

9 ways to hide your IP address
9 ways to hide your IP address

There are many reasons why you might want to hide your IP address with the help of our company MyIp, experts in web hosting, from having discounted airfare to accessing content that is not available in your home country. This allows you to unblock Netflix libraries in many different countries, as well as platforms such as Hulu and BBC iPlayer, which are blocked in many parts of the world .

It is also a great way to protect your privacy and prevent your personal information from falling into the hands of advertisers, hackers and others.

What is an IP Address?

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique set of numbers and decimals used to identify each device connected to the Internet . Each device that is connected to a computer network has its own unique IP address. But if you have connected several devices through a WiFi router, then their IP addresses are the same.

When you visit a website, your device sends a request to the website server using the website’s IP address. The request returns with the information you requested using your own IP address.

There are two types of IP addresses. IPv4 (Internet Protocol version 4) addresses consist of four two-digit or three-digit numbers separated by periods (for example 123.45.67.89). IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) addresses are much larger and include uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers.

The IPv6 protocol is being developed because the number of available IPv4 addresses is running low. It also has more efficient routing and data flow than IPv4, as well as improved security. But in most of the world the use of IPv4 is still prevalent and the transition to IPv6 is not an easy process.

If you want to switch to IPv6, your ISP (Internet Service Provider), router, and operating system must be compatible with it. Unfortunately, most ISPs do not yet support IPv6 .

If you want to see your own IP address right now, you can easily use our tool to check your IP . I used it to check my IP address with and without VPN.

Your IP address has not been assigned to you by chance. A non-profit organization called the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority generates IP addresses and gives them to the five regional Internet registries around the world (RIR). These regional registries then assign IP addresses to ISPs in their area.

This means that your IP address can be used to locate your location .

Because your computer and other devices need an IP address to access information on the Internet, there is no way you can avoid using an IP address. The only way to hide your real IP address is to disguise it with a different one.

Why Hide My IP Address?

The fact that you give your real IP to every website you visit can threaten the security of your privacy and anonymity on the internet .

This is because your IP address can easily be used to identify your location – sometimes with a frightening level of accuracy. Hiding your IP prevents you from being detected. This is especially important if you are going to use torrents or any other activity located in the gray area of ​​legality.

But even if you just browse, revealing your location has consequences . Various websites and advertisers can use this data to target you in order to benefit from your online activity.

For example, airlines and travel companies change their prices based on the location of your IP address. You may be shocked at how much airfare can vary because of the location you appear to be in.

Another reason for hiding your IP address is to bypass the restrictions of various websites, ISPs, government agencies, workplaces, and even schools . A common example is Netflix, which uses your IP address to identify content that you can watch.

If you do not hide your IP address, you will only be able to view your Netflix library from your actual location. But if you want to bypass the restrictions of a country and access content from all over the world , hiding your IP will help you achieve this.

9 Ways to Hide Your IP Address

1. Use a VPN

This is the best and most reliable way to hide your IP . All you have to do is select one of the top VPN services, download the VPN and then choose which country you want to connect to. The VPN will assign you a virtual IP address associated with this country and effectively hide your real location .

One of the biggest advantages of using a VPN is the fast connection speed . Unlike other methods, you do not have to worry about browsing, streaming or downloading content too late.

This is especially important if you want to watch content on Netflix or other platforms. These sites are great at detecting when users are trying to bypass their restrictions and will not hesitate to block you. But the best VPNs can easily bypass even the strictest geographical restrictions .

VPNs are also the safest way to download torrents. In addition to hiding your IP address and protecting your privacy, some VPN providers offer dedicated servers for torrents and P2P profiles.

In general, VPNs are incredibly secure if you choose a trusted service that uses advanced security profile. This will protect your IP from leaks.

The best VPNs on the market ask you to pay a subscription, but it’s really worth it. While there are some pretty good free VPNs , these are very few and usually offer slow connection, low bandwidth and data transfer. Some free VPNs may even put you at risk for data theft, malware attacks and other security threats.

In my opinion, it is necessary to invest in a chargeable VPN like the ones we present to you below. Just a few extra dollars a month is the small price you have to pay when it comes to protecting your privacy. The VPNs that we offer you offer money back guarantees, so that you can try their services without any financial risk on your part.

2. Proxy – Slow and Unsafe Download Torrents

Proxies are commonly used to access content with geographical restrictions. Suppose you want to see something that is only available in a specific country. Your computer sends a request to the site to see it, but the proxy corrupts the request and resends it using an IP address from that country . When the proxy server gains access, it sends it back to you – that’s it!

There are several drawbacks to proxies: they are very slow and not very secure because they do not encrypt your traffic like VPNs do. Also, they do not work well for downloading torrents , as they do not hide all your activity from your ISP (your ISP). In addition, many popular sites, such as Hulu, can easily tell when you are using a proxy and block your access.

3. Tor – Covers your IP for Free (Not for Streaming or Downloading Torrents)

If you want to remain completely anonymous online without paying a penny, Tor is a solid solution. It consists of a large network of servers run by volunteers around the world. When you use Tor, your traffic goes through several of these servers and is often encrypted, making it almost impossible for anyone to track your traffic and locate your IP.

However, all of this encryption and decryption makes Tor incredibly slow, so it’s not at all useful for streaming or downloading – and its developers advise against using it for torrents. If you just want to browse the web, you can use Tor Browser or download the Firefox extension. However, in order to have the highest possible level of protection of your privacy, I suggest you use Tor in conjunction with a VPN .

4. WiFi Network – A Dangerous Last Solution

Your IP address is assigned to you by your ISP, so if you connect to the Internet through a different network, you will be assigned a new IP. If you want to quickly and temporarily change your IP , you can go to a cafeteria or any other place where there is a public WiFi network. Because this is a shared connection, your activity could not lead to your location.

However, connecting to a public WiFi makes you vulnerable to hacker attacks, malware, and all sorts of security threats. I always recommend using a VPN when connecting to a public WiFi network. Plus, a WiFi network won’t help you get around geographical constraints – so it’s more of a quick fix than a long-term solution.

5. Use Your Mobile Network – A Temporary Solution

If you do not have easy access to a public WiFi connection – or you just do not want to take all the risks involved – you can also temporarily change your IP using the data you have on your mobile instead of connecting to a WiFi .

The biggest disadvantage of this method is that it can be expensive, especially if you want to stream or download a lot of content. But again, this is a solution that can not be permanent and I only recommend it if you think your normal IP address is exposed . If so, using your mobile network is an easy way to get a new IP right away.

6. Disconnect Your Modem – Refresh your IP Address

This may sound silly, but sometimes unplugging your modem for a while can really change your IP address. When you disconnect from your ISP (your ISP), the link to your existing IP is deleted – but only if your ISP uses dynamic IP addresses (which is most likely).

Leave your modem disconnected for as long as you can, as this increases the chance that your IP will change. When you reconnect it, you will need to have a new IP. However, this is not the most reliable method and therefore should not be your first choice.

7. Refresh Your IP Address – Follow These Steps

As I mentioned above, your primary IP address is publicly visible, but if you use a WiFi network or an Ethernet cable, you can also have a private IP address. This method only works to replace private IP , not public IP.

8. Use a NAT Firewall – Hide Your Private IP Address

Like the previous method, this option only applies to your private IP address. A Firewall NAT (Network Address Translation) allows different devices to hide their own IP address and use all the same public IP address. In other words, many devices connected to the same router can share a public IP address.

The main advantage of NAT is that it protects you from receiving unwanted communication from unknown internet users, which can be malicious. However, it does not hide the public IP address of your device , which is even more important when it comes to protecting your privacy online. As I mentioned before, the best way to hide your IP is with a VPN.

9. Ask Your ISP to Change It for You – Ask Kindly

Because your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is the one giving you your IP, you can simply ask them to change it . You should contact his service directly and provide your account details. This is an easy and simple way to change your IP, but it’s not going to solve geographical constraints or security issues like a VPN would .

Remember that if your ISP uses dynamic IP addresses, your address will change again at some point in the future . If you want it to stay the same, you can ask for a static IP address – but this usually costs extra and requires extra effort.

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iPhone 11 Pro vs iPhone X – Comparing cameras

thikishop-iphone-cases

Whatever iPhone you may choose to buy, you should always buy a phone case (axesouar iPhone) that doesn’t hide the beauty of your new iPhone mobile.

1. Comparison main camera (Daylight)

You have actually seen every iPhone 11 Pro vs. Apple iPhone XS electronic camera comparison, so we selected to go back in time to see exactly how things have actually transformed because of Apple iPhone X. Additionally, a lot of people aren’t happy to upgrade yearly, and also some demand convincing even two years into it, so such a shoot-out would make sense to them.

2. Main video camera: iPhone 11 Pro – iPhone X (Daylight)

It helps that the iPhone X generation wasn’t amongst the most colourful shooters, so the 11 Pro doesn’t look any more low-key alongside it if that can appear favourable to a person. What is objectively better on the more recent phone is that it takes significantly sharper images with crisper details. Noise reduction is likewise far remarkable and also the 11 Pro’s photos are much cleaner.

3. Telephoto video camera comparison (Daylight)

The above mainly holds true for the telephoto video cameras also – the 11 Pro leads carefully and also noise efficiency, substantially so. Strangely sufficient, nonetheless, the X has the livelier shades – Apple wasn’t recognized for so very closely matching the shade outcome between components at that time as it is with the 11s.

Currently, one area where the apple iPhone X can’t take on the 11 Pro is the ultra wide-angle video camera – it simply does not have one. So if the renovations above aren’t enough of a push to update, the third camera might certainly tip the ranges.

4. Key electronic camera comparison (Reduced light)

And that’s prior to we reach Night mode. The iPhone 11 presented the feature to the Apple ecosystem as well as iPhone customers can currently appreciate what Android’s had for a year or two. No Evening Setting on the apple iPhone X, nonetheless, and really not likely to come with a software application update down the road.

Normal low-light shots are currently better on the 11 Pro even without Evening mode. Dynamic range is greatly enhanced as well as the 11 maintains highlights far better. Undoubtedly, the X contrasts positively in solved information in the well-lit areas.

Telephoto video camera contrast (Low light)

Switching to the telephoto cams, the 11 Pro’s dynamic range advantage stays, as well as 2 years later on it’s even more likely to fire with its real telephoto component, as opposed to focusing digitally with the main web cam maybe as a result of its broader F/2.0 aperture.

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Golden Link Building Techniques from UK’s Leading SEO Company

SEO

The web is not the same place it used to be. Traditional SEO methods are getting heavily penalised by Google’s latest updates so in order to survive, change is inevitable. Many webmasters, some with their websites completely thrown off the SERP grid, are utterly confused about which way things are heading. In this article we’ll try to give you a fair insight into what exactly is happening in the SEO world and how we can get high rewarding and future-proof links to effectively carry out SEO in the evolving web environment.

A lot of people are talking about effective and ineffective link building strategies these days. We’ll spend little time discussing any grey approaches that are allowing certain opportunistic webmasters to keep their rankings, simply because Google is likely to soon penalise such methods as well. Therefore the best way to identify the approaches that will really work in the future is to focus on the aspects that Google is actively rewarding.

2012 is probably the year in which the traditional link building approaches received the most brutal blow. Prior to 2012 neither SEO experts nor Google showed any signs of how the traditional building techniques would cause so much damage to rankings. All this came as a big surprise to many.

In the current setup, bad links can really hurt your site’s success. The use of unnatural, low quality links should be avoided at all costs if you are planning to achieve longevity in high ranking positions. Google first started off by sending an unnatural link warning. Such links, though not properly defined, had some general characteristics; they were scalable, could be automated, had over-optimised anchor text and created patterns that the Google’s algorithms were able to detect and punish.

In contrast, ethical links get higher rankings, better indexing and crawling from Google, although they are not so easy to scale up. At the moment, there are actually a few patterns that Google can detect therefore the anchor text must be more creative. If people are linking to your site, those links are considered highly rewarding. The threshold for unnatural links keeps expanding and Google’s getting better at finding new patterns. That’s why we need to shift our focus on safer, stronger methods.

Many people are asking about infographics, they’re also wondering about guest blogging, and whether these are going to be the future methods. The reality is that Google has already started considering them and they are being rewarded. The point to understand here is that however rewarding the immediate methods may seem, care and consideration should be to taken to not overuse them. Many people are using spammy guest blogging with a lot of unnatural author profile links with repeated anchor text. A cleverer blend of SEO is to use these techniques in a natural way to make sure that your approach creates lasting results.

So how do we know if these techniques really work or not? It seems Google is more worried about link implementation than the type of link building webmasters are doing. There is one golden rule; you need to build a rich link portfolio in which the anchor text is not heavily optimised. You should avoid routine patterns at all costs! If you adopt any kind of anchor key rotation system you must implement a fluid and natural rotation format to prevent attracting any negative attention.

Considering everything, you have a choice. You can take the momentary risks for quick wins yet suffer the consequences each time Google releases a new algorithm update. However, the best future-proof method is to spend your time and effort wisely on generating high value and high rewarding links which will give you lasting, lucrative benefits.