Archives for September 2021

NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart denied any partnership with the digital currency Litecoin after a fake news release led to a brief flurry of inaccurate reports from national news outlets and social media users on Monday.

A news release claiming a partnership between Walmart and Litecoin is “not real,” according to Walmart spokesperson Molly Blakeman. Charlie Lee, creator of Litecoin and managing director of the Litecoin Foundation, confirmed the release was fake.

The false announcement was temporarily featured on a major press release wire and in outlets including Reuters, CNBC and Yahoo Finance, before being deleted and corrected. It wasn’t immediately clear who created it.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: Walmart on Monday announced a major partnership with the digital currency Litecoin.

THE FACTS: The nation’s largest retailer is not partnering with Litecoin, despite a bogus news release claiming as much, Blakeman told The Associated Press by phone. Walmart added in a statement on its website that it “has no relationship with Litecoin.”

Lee, who created Litecoin, confirmed the release was fake in an email to the AP. A Litecoin employee mistakenly tweeted the false claim on Monday from the currency’s verified account after seeing the bogus announcement on GlobeNewswire, a major distributor of news releases, Lee explained. The employee later realized his error and deleted the tweet, Lee said.

The release touted the false headline “Walmart Announces Major Partnership With Litecoin.” It fabricated quotes from Walmart’s CEO and the creator of Litecoin to falsely claim Walmart would allow customers to pay with the digital currency starting Oct. 1.

After the release was published, Twitter users pointed out that Walmart hadn’t announced the partnership on its own corporate website, nor did the contact email in the release match the company’s actual website address.

Though this announcement is fake, Walmart is looking to hire an expert in digital currencies and blockchain, Blakeman said.

The false news release briefly tripped up national news outlets, Twitter users and cryptocurrency buyers. The price of Litecoin jumped from about $175 early Monday to about $233 within seconds of the press release being published. The price fell just as fast a few minutes later.

GlobeNewswire, which briefly featured the release on its site before removing it, is conducting an investigation into what happened, said Dave Pleiss, vice president of investor and public relations for Intrado, which owns the press release wire.

“This has never happened before and we have already put in place enhanced authentication steps to prevent this isolated incident from occurring in the future,” Pleiss said.

GlobeNewswire is an Associated Press client that distributes press releases to AP’s network of customers.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.

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NEW YORK (AP) — If you can remember the price of a 30-ounce jar of mayonnaise, what an Armani purse goes for and how much to pay for an iPhone 12, there’s really only one place to shine — “The Price Is Right.”

The longest-running game show in television history is celebrating its 50th season this month and offering viewers a chance to, as always, “come on down” to win by guessing the correct retail price for various items.

Some rival game shows reward their contestants for esoteric knowledge, others physicality. With some shows, contestants need luck, a friend to phone, strategy or an ability to cook or sing. On “The Price Is Right,” the value of things is itself valued.

“This show is about how much a can of creamed corn is. That’s what’s great about it. Because whether you are just scraping by or you’re Martha Stewart, you probably bought a can of cream corn,” says George Gray, the show’s announcer since 2011.

“The Price Is Right” is a remarkably sturdy thing, surviving the retirement of beloved host Bob Barker in 2007, a turnover in models — sometimes acrimoniously — the introduction of male models in 2012 and even out-witting COVID-19.

It has subtlety evolved, with sturdy grandfather clocks as prizes replaced by electronic gadgets. High-definition TV monitors make exotic trips in the showcases pop these days, and the packages themselves have become more experiential, with scuba gear or golf clubs added to packages to Belize or Scotland, respectively.

“We’ve really been able to keep up with the trend of new prizes and what people want today. But it’s still the same game show — you still need to know the price of that laptop or that iPhone,” says Rachel Reynolds, a model from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who joined the show in 2003.

Contestants are mostly regular people, nursing aides or home renovators or book store managers. “Good luck, man,” current host Drew Carey will say. Or, “Let’s see those great prizes back there, Heather.” They are overjoyed to be there. One recently wore a partially bedazzled T-shirt that said: “Drew, Let’s party like it’s $19.99.”

The dozens of games — from Double Prices to Five Price Tags and Plinko — test the receipt-minded prices of things like a 12-ounce tin of corned beef, a pair of stainless steel patio heaters and a six-night stay in Philadelphia with a cheesesteak tour. The show is so kind that even contestants who make it on stage but don’t get to play a pricing game leave with a $300 consolation prize.

To celebrate its milestone, the show this week will feature a game each day where contestants can win up to $1 million. A two-hour primetime special on Sept. 30 will include a look back at the biggest winners, never before seen outtakes and a salute to Barker.

“The Price Is Right” made it’s debut on NBC in 1956, with Bill Cullen as host and consisting of four people bidding auction-style on items. The show was canceled in 1965, but the current version was revived in 1972 at CBS, with Barker as host, influencing a nation with his sign-off advice to get “pets spayed or neutered.” Carey has kept that slogan in his honor.

Since 1972, producers say over $300 million in cash and prizes has been given away. More than 2 million audience members have attended a taping over those years and 68,000 of them have become contestants. More than 8,400 cars have been given away.

Reynolds, who has gotten married and had a child during her tenure, calls the show her “second family.” Her daughter has made multiple appearances, and her husband has been on “The Price Is Right” for wedding shows. But it started with a baptism by fire.

She was about six months into modeling prizes when she was asked to pilot a Ford Mustang onto the set. It was in neutral when stagehands pushed it into view and her job was to “wave, smile and hit the breaks.” She hit the clutch instead.

By the time she realized her mistake, the muscle car was drifting into the set, finally bumping Door No. 3 with a nudge. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m getting fired,’” she recalls. But Barker was gracious and didn’t skip a beat — and neither did she.

She credits the show for also making the Barker-Carey transition seamless (something “Jeopardy!” has not done well this year). Barker had an unflappable regal elegance, but Carey has his Cleveland blue-collar wit and kindness.

Gray says he’s always heartened that contestants cheer each other on, even of they just lost. “If you’re the Red Sox, you don’t cheer for the Yankees,” he says. “But when somebody else gets to play instead of you, you cheer for them.”

“I love the fact that ‘The Price is Right’ is always a positive show,” he adds. “Everybody pitches in and wants everybody else to win. I think that really is always a bright spot in people’s days.”

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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

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BOSTON (AP) — Apple released a critical software patch to fix a security vulnerability that researchers said could allow hackers to directly infect iPhones and other Apple devices without any user action.

Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab said the security issue was exploited to plant spyware on a Saudi activist’s iPhone. They said they had high confidence that the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire firm, Israel’s NSO Group, was behind that attack.

The previously unknown vulnerability affected all major Apple devices — iPhones, Macs and Apple Watches, the researchers said. NSO Group responded with a one-sentence statement saying it will continue providing tools for fighting “terror and crime.”

It was the first time a so-called “zero-click” exploit — one that doesn’t require users to click on suspect links or open infected files — has been caught and analyzed, the researchers said. They found the malicious code on Sept. 7 and immediately alerted Apple. The targeted activist asked to remain anonymous, they said.

“We’re not necessarily attributing this attack to the Saudi government,” said researcher Bill Marczak.

Citizen Lab previously found evidence of zero-click exploits being used to hack into the phones of al-Jazeera journalists and other targets, but hasn’t previously seen the malicious code itself.

Although security experts say that average iPhone, iPad and Mac user generally need not worry — such attacks tend to be limited to specific targets — the discovery still alarmed security professionals.

Malicious image files were transmitted to the activist’s phone via the iMessage instant-messaging app before it was hacked with NSO’s Pegasus spyware, which opens a phone to eavesdropping and remote data theft, Marczak said. It was discovered during a second examination of the phone, which forensics showed had been infected in March. He said the malicious file causes devices to crash.

Citizen Lab says the case reveals, once again, that NSO Group is allowing its spyware to be used against ordinary civilians.

In a blog post, Apple said it was issuing a security update for iPhones and iPads because a “maliciously crafted” PDF file could lead to them being hacked. It said it was aware that the issue may have been exploited and cited Citizen Lab.

In a subsequent statement, Apple security chief Ivan Krstić commended Citizen Lab and said such exploits “are not a threat to the overwhelming majority of our users.” He noted, as he has in the past, that such exploits typically cost millions of dollars to develop and often have a short shelf life. Apple didn’t respond to questions regarding whether this was the first time it had patched a zero-click vulnerability.

Users should get alerts on their iPhones prompting them to update the phone’s iOS software. Those who want to jump the gun can go into the phone settings, click “General” then “Software Update,” and trigger the patch update directly.

Citizen Lab called the iMessage exploit FORCEDENTRY and said it was effective against Apple iOS, MacOS and WatchOS devices. It urged people to immediately install security updates.

Researcher John Scott-Railton said the news highlights the importance of securing popular messaging apps against such attacks. “Chat apps are increasingly becoming a major way that nation-states and mercenary hackers are gaining access to phones,” he said. “And it’s why it’s so important that companies focus on making sure that they are as locked down as possible.”

The researchers said it also undermines NSO Group’s claims that it only sells its spyware to law enforcement officials for use against criminals and terrorists and audits its customers to ensure it’s not abused.

“If Pegasus was only being used against criminals and terrorists, we never would have found this stuff,” said Marczak.

Facebook’s WhatsApp was also allegedly targeted by an NSO zero-click exploit. In October 2019, Facebook sued NSO in U.S. federal court for allegedly targeting some 1,400 users of the encrypted messaging service with spyware.

In July, a global media consortium published a damning report on how clients of NSO Group have been spying for years on journalists, human rights activists, political dissidents, and people close to them, with the hacker-for-hire group directly involved in the targeting. Amnesty International said it confirmed 37 successful Pegasus infections based on a leaked targeting list whose origin was not disclosed.

One case involved the fiancee of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi just four days after he was killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018. The CIA attributed the murder to the Saudi government.

The recent revelations also prompted calls for an investigation into whether Hungary’s right-wing government used Pegasus to secretly monitor critical journalists, lawyers and business figures. India’s parliament also erupted in protests as opposition lawmakers accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of using NSO Groups’ product to spy on political opponents and others.

France is also trying to get to the bottom of allegations that President Emmanuel Macron and members of his government may have been targeted in 2019 by an unidentified Moroccan security service using Pegasus. Morocco, a key French ally, denied those reports and is taking legal action to counter allegations implicating the North African kingdom in the spyware scandal.

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STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — North Sea oil and gas has helped make Norway one of the wealthiest countries in the world. But as Norwegians head to the polls on Monday, fears about climate change have put the future of the industry at the top of the campaign agenda.

The ruling Conservatives, led by Prime Minister Erna Solberg, and the opposition Labor Party, which is leading in opinion polls, both advocate for a gradual move away from the fossil fuels that continue to underpin the economy.

But the larger parties rarely rule alone in Norway; smaller players are usually required to build a majority coalition, and they can have an outsize influence on the government agenda. Some are demanding a more radical severing with the country’s dominant industry and income stream.

“Our demand is to stop looking for oil and gas, and stop handing out new permits to companies,” says Lars Haltbrekken, climate and energy spokesman for the Socialist Left party — a likely coalition partner for Labor. He claims that after eight years in charge the government is protecting a status quo at a time when the country is thirsty for a post-oil future.

A report in August from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicting global floods and fires created a wave in Norway that has crested throughout this election campaign.

It is also forcing Norwegians to wrestle with a paradox at the heart of their society.

With their hydro-powered energy grid and electric cars, they are among the world’s most enthusiastic consumers of green power, but decades of exporting oil and gas means this nation of 5.3 million enjoys a generous welfare buffer, and sits on the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.

Tina Bru, the Oil and Energy Minister, says it’s unthinkable that the country should force an end to the country’s biggest industry, which is responsible for over 40% of exports and directly employs more than 5% of the workforce.

“My question is always: What happens after you stop? What else are you going to do to make sure the world reaches its climate goals? It might affect our own climate budget, but it’s not going to make a difference globally,” she says.

She agrees with a report highlighted by the Norwegian Oil and Gas Association, an industry group, that says an end to Norwegian production would have a net negative effect on global emissions. Demand would stay the same, and cleaner Norwegian production would be replaced by other countries with higher emissions, she says. She prefers a longer-term approach that focuses on demand.

“It is kind of disappointing in this campaign where we see the only way to discuss policy and have credibility on your will to cut emissions is to stop producing oil and gas. It is such a more nuanced issue involving other things like agriculture and transport.”

Some 70% of all new cars sold in Norway are electric, with consumers continuing to benefit from government subsidies, and the government has signaled that environment taxes will rise. Earlier this month, it also proposed a tweak to the existing tax regime, where some explorers will have to shoulder more of the risk of searching for oil.

Labor supports the approach and admits that it charts a similar future for the industry. But it has promised a more interventionist industrial policy that will funnel support to new green industries, like wind power, “blue hydrogen” that uses natural gas to produce an alternative fuel, and carbon capture and storage, which seeks to bury carbon dioxide under the ocean.

However, any post-election horse trading is likely to be fraught for Labor. The Socialist Left says it won’t offer support lightly, and the other probable partner, the Center Party, is also demanding a more aggressive approach to the energy shift.

“Right now our plan is to run together with our two old friends from these parties,” says Espen Barth Eide, Labor’s Energy spokesman. “We still think this works. But if their opening position is to end exploration, that is not going to happen. … We will try to have a mature dialogue about the next phase of the oil industry.”

Most of the country’s oil and gas still comes from mature areas in the North Sea, but most of the untapped reserves are in the Barents Sea, above the Arctic Circle — a red line for environmentalists. Eide says a possible compromise might be found by focusing on where oil exploration can be carried out in the future.

However, Haltbrekken, a former chairman of Norway’s Friends of the Earth, a climate charity, says the new government needs to be more urgent. “The IPCC report made a huge impression on the population. But there is one thing I fear more than what was in the report, and that is that apathy and hopelessness will take over. People could think this is such a huge problem that we cannot do anything. But we can. We can do a lot to solve it. It just has to start now.”

Election forecasts will be released when voting closes at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday. The final official tally for the 169-member parliament, usually comes at some point overnight, but experts believe the results could come quicker this year with a record number of people having already made their choice in advance voting. More than 78% of eligible people in this nation of 5.3 million voted in the last national election.

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Read more stories on climate issues by The Associated Press at https://www.apnews.com/Climate

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Epic Games filed notice that is appealing a federal judge’s decision in a lawsuit alleging that Apple has been running an illegal monopoly that stifles competition.

The maker of the popular Fortnite video game said in a court filing Sunday that it will take the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

In a 185-page decision rendered Friday, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered Apple to dismantle a lucrative part of the competitive barricade guarding its closely run iPhone app store, but she rejected Epic’s allegations that Apple ran a monopoly.

Epic’s notice of appeal said it would appeal the final judgment “and all orders leading to or producing that judgment.”

The ruling continues to chip away at the so-called “walled garden” that Apple has built around its crown jewel, the iPhone, and its app store, without toppling it completely.

The decision also provided Apple with some vindication. The judge didn’t brand Apple as a monopolist or require it to allow competing stores to offer apps for iPhones, iPads and iPods.

Those were two of the biggest objectives sought by Epic, which filed what it would hoped would be a landmark antitrust case last year after brazenly defying an exclusive payment system that funnels 15% to 30% of all in-app digital transactions on iPhones to Apple.

Such transactions can include everything from Netflix or Spotify subscriptions to the sale of digital item such as songs, movies or virtual tchotchkes for video games. Epic cast that highly lucrative fee as a price-gouging tactic that wouldn’t be possible if competing stores were allowed to offer iPhone apps.

While parts of her decision raised questions about whether Apple’s fees were driving up prices for consumers, Gonzalez Rogers left the fee structure intact and upheld the company’s right to block other stores from offering apps for its iPhone. She sided with Apple on every other key point of the case.

But the judge did conclude Apple has been engaging in unfair competition under California law, prompting her to order the company to allow developers throughout the U.S. to insert links to other payment options besides its own within iPhone apps. That change would make it easier for app developers to avoid paying Apple’s commissions, potentially affecting billions of dollars in revenue annually.

Apple did its best to frame the decision as a complete victory, even as it acknowledged it may appeal the portion of the ruling that will make it easier for app developers sidestep Apple’s commissions.

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Krisher reported from Detroit.

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