South Korea has passed legislation giving tax breaks to its semiconductor companies in a bill being labelled as the “Korean Chips Act.” At the same time, the nation’s trade minister repeated its complaints that the criteria for Korean companies to access US funding are unpalatable in a possible sign of growing protectionism in the worldwide chip market. From a report: To bump up the level of tax breaks, the Korean National Assembly passed a revision bill to the Restriction of Special Taxation Act. The reductions will be given to companies investing in semiconductor production and other strategic industries in the country. These tax breaks appear to be largely in line with earlier reports regarding the Korean government’s plans, and will see large corporations such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix offered tax credits of up to 15 percent on investments into strategic technologies such as semiconductor manufacturing, up from 8 percent previously.

Raising the deduction rate from 8 percent to 15 percent would save some 2.5 trillion won ($1.9 billion) in taxes for the local chip industry, according to The Korea Herald. For small and medium-sized enterprises, the tax credit rate is set to be raised from 16 percent to 25 percent, in moves designed to bolster domestic investment in key technology sectors. The move follows the announcement of plans from the Korean government earlier this month to pour cash into several key industries including semiconductors and electric vehicles. As part of those plans, Samsung said it aimed to invest $230 billion over the next 20 years to build five new local semiconductor plants. South Korea is not the only nation offering such tax breaks. In January, Taiwan — home to semiconductor giant TSMC — passed similar legislation that will allow its domestic chipmakers to turn up to 25 percent of their annual research and development expenses into tax credits, in efforts to ensure the country’s continued leadership in chip manufacturing.

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Source: Slashdot – South Korea Passes Tax Break-Driven ‘Chips Act’ as Protectionism Fears Mount

The nonconsensual deepfake economy has remained largely out of sight, but it’s easily accessible, and some creators can accept major credit cards. From a report: Digitally edited pornographic videos featuring the faces of hundreds of unconsenting women are attracting tens of millions of visitors on websites, one of which can be found at the top of Google search results. The people who create the videos charge as little as $5 to download thousands of clips featuring the faces of celebrities, and they accept payment via Visa, Mastercard and cryptocurrency. While such videos, often called deepfakes, have existed online for years, advances in artificial intelligence and the growing availability of the technology have made it easier — and more lucrative — to make nonconsensual sexually explicit material.

An NBC News review of two of the largest websites that host sexually explicit deepfake videos found that they were easily accessible through Google and that creators on the websites also used the online chat platform Discord to advertise videos for sale and the creation of custom videos. The deepfakes are created using AI software that can take an existing video and seamlessly replace one person’s face with another’s, even mirroring facial expressions. Some lighthearted deepfake videos of celebrities have gone viral, but the most common use is for sexually explicit videos. According to Sensity, an Amsterdam-based company that detects and monitors AI-developed synthetic media for industries like banking and fintech, 96% of deepfakes are sexually explicit and feature women who didn’t consent to the creation of the content. Most deepfake videos are of female celebrities, but creators now also offer to make videos of anyone. A creator offered on Discord to make a 5-minute deepfake of a “personal girl,” meaning anyone with fewer than 2 million Instagram followers, for $65.

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Source: Slashdot – Inside the Deepfake Porn Economy

The United States and some of its partner countries on Thursday called for strict domestic and international controls to counter the proliferation and misuse of commercial spyware. From a report: The joint statement was issued by the governments of Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, France, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The countries said they were committed to preventing the export of technology and equipment to end-users who are likely to use them for “malicious cyber activity.” The joint statement also said the countries would share information with each other on spyware proliferation and misuse, including to better identify these tools. On Monday, U.S. President Joseph Biden signed an executive order intended to curb the malicious use of digital spy tools around the globe targeting U.S. personnel and civil society. The new executive order was designed to apply pressure on the secretive industry by placing new restrictions on U.S. government defense, law enforcement and intelligence agencies’ purchasing decisions.

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Source: Slashdot – US, Partner Countries Call For Controls To Counter Misuse of Spyware