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Internet service providers (ISP) will soon have to be a lot more transparent with what their plans come with and how much they truly cost. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has introduced new rules that will require ISPs to display easy-to-read-and-understand labels that show key facts about their products at the point of sale. These labels will resemble the nutrition labels at the back of food products and should include, among other things, the price, speed, data allowances and other aspects of a company's wired and wireless internet services.

FCC

In a statement, FCC Chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel said that by requiring the companies to display their rates clearly, the agency is "seeking to end the kind of unexpected fees and junk costs that can get buried in long and mind-numbingly confusing statements of terms and conditions." As you can see in the FCC's example above, providers will have to itemize each one-time and monthly fee you'll have to pay.

The FCC will require providers to prominently display these labels on their main purchasing pages, and in close proximity to an associated plan advertisement. They can't be hidden behind multiple clicks and can't be camouflaged by other elements in the page that they'll likely be missed. The labels also need to be accessible from your customer account portal, and the provider must give you a copy when you ask. Further, the FCC is requiring the broadband companies to make the labels machine readable, so that third-party developers can easily create tools that would make it easier to compare ISPs.

The commission proposed rules for broadband labels back in January in response to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Biden signed into law last year. After the Office of Management and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act reviews and approves the FCC's requirements, ISPs will have six months (or a year, if they're a smaller company) to comply. 

Elon Musk is now facing a new crisis at Twitter as a wave of employees seemed to reject his ultimatum of an “extremely hardcore” Twitter 2.0 or leave the company. Hours after a deadline for workers to check “yes” on a Google form accepting “long hours at high intensity, it seems a large number of employees have rejected Musk’s vision.

Exactly how many employees opted for severance over remaining at Twitter isn’t yet clear. The New York Timesreported the number was in the “hundreds,” while other early reports suggest the number could be much higher. The departures come after Musk already cut 50 percent of Twitter’s jobs in mass layoffs.

On Twitter, dozens of Twitter employees who had survived the initial round of layoffs tweeted farewell messages. One employee tweeted a video of a group of workers inside Twitter’s office counting down to the 5pm ET deadline on Musk’s ultimatum. “We’re all about to get fired,” he said.

Others tweeted messages alluding to Musk’s policies. In his Wednesday morning message, Musk had said that “only exceptional performance will constitute a passing grade.”

As the deadline approached, Musk reportedly grew concerned about how many remaining employees could leave the company. In a new memo, he appeared to walk back some of his earlier comments banning all remote work, though he still said he would fire managers if remote workers on their teams weren’t performing.

But it seems the concession wasn’t enough for many at Twitter Platformer’s Zoe Schiffer reported Thursday that Musk and his lieutenants were struggling to figure out just how many employees had declined to check the “yes” box on his Google form, and that Twitter would be closing down access to its offices for a few days as an extra precaution.

The departures raise new questions about whether the remaining Twitter engineers will be able to reliably keep the service up and running. Current and former employees are already speculating that the latest exodus could further put Twitter’s ability to function at risk, especially with the start of the World Cup a few days away.

Twitter no longer has communications staff, but Musk so far hasn't publicly commented on the resignations.

Elon Musk is changing Twitter’s remote work rules yet again amid deadline for employees to commit to his vision for a “hardcore” company. Musk, who previously banned remote work at Twitter, has now indicated that some remote work is possible, Bloomberg and The Verge report.

“Regarding remote work, all that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution,” Musk wrote in a new memo to Twitter staff. He added that teams should be meeting in person at least once a month though weekly meetings are “ideal.”

Musk’s latest comments on remote work come one day after Twitter employees were told they had to agree they “want to be part of the new Twitter” where the expectation will be “long hours at high intensity." Workers who wouldn’t check the “yes” box on the accompanying Google Form would be provided severance.

Now, it seems Musk is concerned that not enough employees are buying into his vision of an“extremely hardcore” Twitter. Bloomberg reports that Musk has been pitching “key employees” on his plans and that he has tapped other leaders “to convince employees to stay” on at the company.

But while the allowance of some remote work may seem like a victory for Twitter employees, who have enjoyed a “work from anywhere” policy for more than two years, Musk made it clear that he was more than willing to punish managers for remote employees who fall short of his expectations. “At risk of stating the obvious, any manager who falsely claims that someone reporting to them is doing excellent work or that a given role is essential, whether remote or not, will be exited from the company,” he wrote.

Since Musk took over Twitter, the employees who survived the initial job cuts have faced growing uncertainty and mounting pressure as the new CEO has prioritized features like paid verification. Esther Crawford, a Twitter manager who has been leading the revamped Twitter Blue, tweeted a photo of herself sleeping on the floor of a Twitter conference room in the days immediately after Musk’s takeover.

But not everyone has been as willing, or able, to adapt to Musk’s demands. And a Twitter lawyer recently told other employees that Musk’s requirement for workers to show up in the office or get fired might be illegal. Now, it seems at least one former employee is testing that notion, and has filed a lawsuit alleging that Musk’s new policies are discriminatory against workers with disabilities.

US law enforcement isn't just interested in shutting down video pirates. The feds have charged two Russian nationals, Anton Napolsky and Valeriia Ermakova, for allegedly running the pirate e-book repository Z-Library. The site was billed as the "world's largest library" and held over 11 million titles, many of which were bootleg versions stripped of copyright protections.

The pair was arrested in Cordoba, Argentina at the US' request on November 3rd. The American government disabled and seized the public Z-Library site at the same time. Napolsky and Ermakova each face charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and wire fraud.

As TorrentFreakexplains, it's not clear how central Ermakova and Napolsky were to Z-Library. While the indictments only cover activity starting in January 2018, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll said the two had been running a pirate site for "over a decade." Z-Library is still accessible on the dark web and responding to email.

The pirate bookshelf's social media presence contributed to its undoing. Ars Technicanotes The Authors Guild complained to the Office of the United States Trade Representative after a "#zlibrary" hashtag started trending on TikTok, with over 19 million views. Students and other users were touting Z-Library as a way to get textbooks and other course material for free.

As with many pirate site shutdowns, this isn't likely to be a permanent blow. The Authors Guild pointed to alternatives like Libgen when it filed its complaint, and Z-Library itself is carrying on in a limited form. It's a high-profile victory for the anti-piracy camp, however, and suggests that other digital book pirates could face similar legal action.

A group of Democratic senators have asked the FTC to investigate Elon Musk over his handling of users’ privacy and security in the wake of his takeover of Twitter. In a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan, the senators cite Musk’s botched rollout of Twitter Blue’s paid verifications, as well as the departures of Twitter’s top privacy and security executives.

The letter, signed by seven senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Dianne Feinstein and Richard Blumenthal, follows a widely-publicized warning from a lawyer at Twitter that Musk could be exposing the company to billions of dollars in fines from the FTC.

“In recent weeks, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps that have undermined the safety and integrity of the platform,” the senators write, noting that his actions “could already represent a violation of the FTC’s consent decree.” Under the terms of a 2011 agreement with the FTC, Twitter is required to review new features for potential privacy issues and regularly send reports to the FTC. The recent departures of top pirivacy and security executives came just ahead of a deadline to send one of those reports, according toThe New York Times.

In their letter, the senators write that the FCC should investigate Musk and other executives’ actions. “We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breached or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate,” they write.

It’s unclear if the FTC plans to launch such an investigation, but an FTC spokesperson said last week that the agency was “tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” according toCNBC.

Your Facebook page will say less about you in a few weeks. After an early sighting by consultant Matt Navarra, Meta has confirmed that it's removing addresses, "interested in" (read: sexual orientation), political views and religion from Facebook profiles as of December 1st. The move is meant to make Facebook "easier to navigate and use," a spokesperson told TechCrunch. If you've filled out any of these fields, you'll get a notification about the change.

Other details you provide, such as your contact information and relationship status, will persist. You can download a copy of your Facebook data before December 1st if you're determined to preserve it, and you still have control over who can see the remaining profile content.

The move won't have much practical impact on usability beyond reducing scrolling in the "contact and basic info" section. It may reflect changing attitudes toward privacy, however. Facebook included these sections in the early days of social networking, when users more readily shared their more sensitive details (MySpace, anyone?). Now, however, privacy is a major concern — Meta itself has been more interested in privacy in recent years, focusing on private chats and greater security. People may be less inclined to share info on profiles in an era when online stalking and harassment are all too common.

In the latest example of what seems like daily Big Tech job cuts, Roku announced plans today to lay off around 200 employees, nearly seven percent of its workforce. The streaming company wrote in an SEC filing that it plans to cut the jobs in the US due to “economic conditions.” The company estimates it will pay between $28 and $31 million for the reductions, primarily because of severance payments, notice pay (where applicable), employee benefits contributions and related costs.

Roku says most of the layoffs will happen in Q4, with the remaining cuts expected to be “substantially complete” by the end of Q1 2023. In a statement released today, Roku said, “Taking these actions now will allow us to focus our investments on key strategic priorities to drive future growth and enhance our leadership position.”

These layoffs follow a warning from Roku in its latest quarterly results that it anticipates a year-over-year revenue decline for Q4. The company’s shares dropped almost three percent today in trading before the bell.

Big Tech job cuts have become an unfortunate trend in recent months. Roku’s layoffs follow downsizing from Meta, which laid off 11,000 employees last week; Twitter, which cut approximately 3,800 jobs earlier this month; plus Amazon and Microsoft. Although Apple has so far remained an exception, it imposed a hiring freeze expected to continue into late 2023. Likewise, Disney is reportedly freezing hiring and anticipating cuts, while Netflix laid off around 300 people back in June. Streaming-focused companies — Roku included — have faced the dual challenges of an uncertain economy and a revenue decline following a boom during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Dead Island 2 will arrive later than expected. The zombie-smashing game re-emerged in August with a trailer, gameplay video and a firm release date of February 3rd. As it turns out, that release date was actually malleable. Publisher Deep Silver and developer Dambuster Studios have pushed Dead Island 2 back to April 28th.

"The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us and we are as disappointed as you undoubtedly are," a note on the game's Twitter account reads. "The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now. We're going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we're proud to launch."

Dead Island 2 was announced all the way back in 2014. The project has twice moved to a different studio, with Dambuster taking over in 2019, and it's finally coming to fruition.

The sequel to 2011's Dead Island will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and the Epic Games Store, and it will be the first game to use an Alexa-powered voice command feature. You'll be able to find out some more details about the game during a showcase on December 6th. The livestream will be available on YouTube, Twitch and the Dead Island website.

If you're gifting an Xbox Series S or X this year, or even grabbing one for yourself, here's a chance to get an extra Xbox Core controller for just $40. We saw the Xbox Core controllers get a more a more modest 26 percent discount back in September, but this sale matches the lowest prices we've seen yet. Right now the black and white versions of the official joypads are 35 percent off, and the lime green (aka electric volt) colorway is seeing a decent, 31 percent discount. Some of the special edition Core controllers are on sale too, like the shimmery lunar shift, which is $20 off. 

New Xbox consoles are going to be a popular gift this year, and an extra controller is great for local multiplayer sessions, or if you just want to have a backup on hand. The Core controllers have textured trigger buttons, custom button mapping and a 3.5 mm headset jack. They run on two AA batteries, with your first set included, and get around 40 hours of play on a charge.  

If you want a little more comfort and customization, plus a rechargeable battery, you might try one of Xbox's Elite controllers. They're only seeing an eight percent discount off their usual $180, but that still saves you a tidy $15. Or to shave off that pesky Bluetooth lag, Amazon also has wireless adapter Xbox controllers on sale. The controller connects via Bluetooth to any Xbox console or Windows PC, or plug in the dongle to your PC to help eliminate the latency some people experience with Bluetooth connections. The adapter also lets you connect up to eight controllers for local multiplayer gaming. 

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If you're looking for an iPad for a loved one this holiday season and don't want to break your budget, it might be worth considering the 2021 version of the tablet. That was already the most affordable iPad on the market and now you can snap it up for a steal ahead of Black Friday. The 10.2-inch tablet usually starts at $329, but you can pick it up from Amazon for $269 — a discount of 18 percent.

This price is for the WiFi-only model with 64GB of storage. Naturally, this iPad isn't quite as tricked out as Apple's higher-end models, but it's still a very capable device. It has an A13 Bionic chipset, instead of an Apple Silicon chip or the A14 one the company slotted into the 2022 iPad. The tablet has a 12MP ultra-wide selfie camera with support for Center Stage (a feature designed to keep you in the middle of the frame as you move around) and an 8MP wide-lens camera on the back. The device has Touch ID, stereo speakers and first-gen Apple Pencil support too. Apple claims that you'll be able to use this iPad for up to 10 hours on a single charge.

We gave the 2021 iPad a score of 86 in our review, crediting it for improved performance from the 2020 model, larger base storage capacity, a better front-facing camera and solid battery life. The screen doesn't quite match up to the ones found in other iPads, though, and the design feels a bit outdated. If you can live with those downsides, however, you'll be getting a great tablet at a hard-to-beat price.

As for the 2022 iPad, that's on sale too. Along with the A14 chip, landscape-oriented front-facing camera and USB-C charging port, the more recent model boasts an iPad Air-esque redesign (the Home button is no more, for one thing). We gave it a score of 85, citing drawbacks like having to use a dongle to charge the first-gen Apple Pencil. Until November 20th, you can pick up the WiFi-only 2022 iPad with 64GB of storage for $399 at B&H. That's $50 off the regular price.

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