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    Man Helped Distribute ‘Sadistic’ Torture Videos of Monkeys, U.S. Says

    Philip Colt Moss, 41, paid another man for videos of monkeys being sexually abused, tortured and killed, prosecutors said. A child in Indonesia made the videos, according to a previous indictment.An Iowa man was arrested this month for his role in a group that created and shared so-called animal crush videos in which monkeys were brutally tortured, sexually abused and killed in sadistic ways, federal prosecutors said on Friday.The man, Philip Colt Moss, 41, who was arrested on Aug. 8, was charged in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati with conspiracy to create and distribute the videos and with distributing the videos themselves, according to the indictment, which was unsealed on Friday.Also named in the indictment against Mr. Moss are Nicholas T. Dryden, of Ohio, and Giancarlo Morelli, of New Jersey, who were charged in June with the same counts as Mr. Moss.Mr. Dryden, who prosecutors said had paid a minor in Indonesia to film the videos, is also charged with “creation of animal crush videos, as well as with production, distribution and receipt of a visual depiction of the sexual abuse of children because a minor was paid to abuse the monkeys,” the Department of Justice said.Mr. Moss and Mr. Morelli were two of Mr. Dryden’s customers, prosecutors said.From February to April of last year, Mr. Moss sent Mr. Dryden $1,447 for the videos, discussed them and mentioned plans to take a trip to Indonesia with Mr. Dryden to make crush videos themselves, according to the indictment.Lawyers for the three men did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday night. Prosecutors also did not immediately respond.Mr. Moss and Mr. Dryden appeared to have become friends, according to charging documents, with Mr. Dryden even offering to give Mr. Moss free videos.“If ur low on bread brother I’ll throw u a couple for free,” Mr. Dryden said in a text message to Mr. Moss that was included in the indictment.Mr. Moss called Mr. Dryden a “good friend” and responded that he appreciated the offer but insisted on paying because “u work hard to make that all happen.”If convicted on the counts he faces, Mr. Moss could face a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.Kirsten Noyes More

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    AI Companies Have Pitched US Political Campaigns. The Campaigns Are Wary.

    More than 30 tech companies have pitched A.I. tools to political campaigns for November’s election. The campaigns have been wary.Sam WoodMatthew Diemer, a Democrat running for election in Ohio’s Seventh Congressional District, was approached by the artificial intelligence company Civox in January with a pitch: A.I.-backed voice technology that could make tens of thousands of personalized phone calls to voters using Mr. Diemer’s talking points and sense of humor.His campaign agreed to try out the technology. But it turned out that the only thing voters hated more than a robocall was an A.I.-backed one.While Civox’s A.I. program made almost 1,000 calls to voters in five minutes, nearly all of them hung up in the first few seconds when they heard a voice that described itself as an A.I. volunteer, Mr. Diemer said.“People just didn’t want to be on the phone, and they especially didn’t want to be on the phone when they heard they were talking to an A.I. program,” said the entrepreneur, who ran unsuccessfully in 2022 for the same seat he is seeking now. “Maybe people weren’t ready yet for this type of technology.”This was supposed to be the year of the A.I. election. Fueled by a proliferation of A.I. tools like chatbots and image generators, more than 30 tech companies have offered A.I. products to national, state and local U.S. political campaigns in recent months. The companies — mostly smaller firms such as BHuman, VoterVoice and Poll the People — make products that reorganize voter rolls and campaign emails, expand robocalls and create A.I.-generated likenesses of candidates that can meet and greet constituents virtually.But campaigns are largely not biting — and when they have, the technology has fallen flat. Only a handful of candidates are using A.I., and even fewer are willing to admit it, according to interviews with 23 tech companies and seven political campaigns. Three of the companies said campaigns agreed to buy their tech only if they could ensure that the public would never find out they had used A.I.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Judge Blocks Joint Streaming Service from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery

    The planned service from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery was slated to cost $42.99 a month and aimed at fans who had abandoned cable TV.A judge issued a preliminary injunction against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery on Friday over a planned sports-focused streaming service from the companies, saying the joint venture would most likely make the market for sports viewership less competitive.The 69-page ruling from a federal judge in New York’s Southern District effectively halts — at least for the moment — the companies’ ambitious plans for the service, called Venu, which was aimed at sports fans who had abandoned cable television.The service, which had been expected to become available this fall and cost $42.99 a month, promised to offer marquee games from the National Football League, the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball.But the idea raised alarms with rivals, most notably a sports streaming service called Fubo, which sued to block the new service’s formation after it was announced this year. In a statement accompanying its complaint, filed on Feb. 20, Fubo alleged that Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery had “engaged in a long-running pattern” of trying to stymie its business through anticompetitive tactics.The complaint led to a hearing this month that focused on whether Fubo should be able to obtain a preliminary injunction against Venu, essentially stopping the sports-media venture from proceeding.In her ruling, Judge Margaret Garnett said Fubo was likely to prevail in its claim that the new service would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.” She added that refusing to grant the injunction could limit the effectiveness of any court order reached after a trial.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    These Modern Homesteaders Live Off the Grid, but They’re Extremely Online

    In corners of the internet — and in wooded, undeveloped parts of the country — young men are documenting their efforts to to live off the land.Nate Petroski’s address doesn’t help visitors find his house. Locating it, instead, requires specific GPS coordinates to a spot deep in West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains, and precise instructions on how to get there. Many of the surrounding roads are impassable without an ATV to traverse several creeks and muddy inclines.It’s much easier to visit him online.Mr. Petroski, 39, is a prominent video creator in the modern-day homesteading movement, determined to live a life of semi-self-sufficiency “off grid,” or disconnected from the power, water, gas and telecommunications lines that connect most residential addresses in the United States. But rather than embracing the reclusive life often associated with off-grid homesteaders in rural areas, Mr. Petroski is extremely prolific online, broadcasting his daily life to millions of followers on social media.His property, known as NarroWay Homestead, is one of the most sophisticated and most-watched operations in a burgeoning niche of online creators who document their off-grid or sustainable living projects across the country, often promoting a way of life that seems diametrically opposed to the mediums they use to share it.“Almost everything I own is a hybrid of ancient knowledge and modern technology,” Mr. Petroski said. His water, he explained, comes from rainwater that runs off his roof into a self-filtering pipe and tank system — and is then pumped throughout his buildings with solar-powered electric pumps.One afternoon in July, Mr. Petroski and his wife, Jen, filmed a video for TikTok, which helps them support their homesteading lifestyle.Kristian Thacker for The New York TimesMr. Petroski’s video recording setup.Kristian Thacker for The New York TimesThe plaque Mr. Petroski received from YouTube when he reached one million subscribers.Kristian Thacker for The New York TimesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Tubi’s Free Streaming Explodes in Popularity, Outranking Max and Apple TV+

    Tubi has exploded in popularity over the past 18 months, outpacing some competitors with much bigger budgets.When Nicole Parlapiano joined Tubi as its marketing chief two years ago, one of the most searched questions about the decade-old streaming service was, “Is it a scam?” It was free, after all, and consumers were skeptical.“Would it put a virus on your computer?” Ms. Parlapiano said. “People wouldn’t even touch it.”That’s not an issue now.Tubi has exploded in popularity over the last 18 months, establishing itself as one of the most popular streaming outfits in the United States. It now consistently outranks Peacock, Max, Paramount+ and Apple TV+ in total viewing time, according to Nielsen — and is drawing even with Disney+. Only YouTube, Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are still ahead.The streaming service, which is owned by the Fox Corporation, runs a different business model from those competitors. In addition to being free — with revenue coming from advertising — it doesn’t require an account to use, making it more similar to services like Roku and Pluto. And it comfortably commands more engagement than those peers, according to Nielsen.“We’re like the little engine, and it’s just getting better and better,” Anjali Sud, Tubi’s chief executive, said.Its sudden rise has come as something of a shock to many competitors, as well as investors.Unlike its biggest rivals, which allocate huge budgets for original programs or premium sports rights like the N.F.L or the N.B.A., Tubi’s library contains tens of thousands of older shows and movies, many that seem to have been collected from the bargain bin. Some popular programs on the service include the 1970s procedural “Columbo,” and an early 2000s UPN sitcom, “Everybody Hates Chris.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    NBA Agrees to Massive Rights Deals With Disney, Comcast and Amazon

    The agreements, set to begin after next season, could potentially pay the league about $76 billion over 11 years.The National Basketball Association’s Board of Governors has approved a set of agreements for the rights to show the league’s games, Commissioner Adam Silver said on Tuesday, moving one step closer to completing deals that would reshape how the sport is watched over the next decade.Mr. Silver declined to discuss any financial details or even the companies involved, though there have been reports for months that Disney, Comcast and Amazon were close to deals with the league. TNT, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, has shown N.B.A. games since the 1980s, but its prominent on-air personalities like Charles Barkley talked during the playoffs about how they worried that the network would lose the rights after next season, the last covered by the current nine-year TV deal.The companies are expected to pay the N.B.A. a total of about $76 billion over 11 years. On average, ESPN would pay the N.B.A. about $2.6 billion annually, NBC around $2.5 billion and Amazon roughly $1.8 billion, according to three people familiar with the agreements, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the financial details.The Board of Governors voted to approve the deals at its yearly meeting in Las Vegas. The N.B.A. must now present the deals to Warner Bros. Discovery, and once that happens, the company will have five days to match one of them to remain in the mix.“We did approve this stage of those media proposals, but as you all know there are other rights that need to be worked through with existing partners,” Mr. Silver said.Warner Bros. Discovery was expected to try to match Amazon’s offer, according to two people familiar with the company’s thinking, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the delicate nature of the negotiations.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Meet David Ellison, the CEO of Skydance and Paramount’s New Owner

    He left college to try out acting. Now, he’s set to become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.David Ellison’s Hollywood career has been defined by high-octane blockbusters filled with suspense, stunts and improbable plot twists.But on Sunday he landed his biggest cliffhanger yet, striking a deal to merge with Paramount after months of negotiations with the company and its controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone. If the deal closes, he will be in charge of a sprawling media empire that includes CBS, MTV and the Paramount movie studio.Though Mr. Ellison, 41, joined the cast of Hollywood’s power players more than a decade ago, he hasn’t taken center stage until now. Here’s a look at his career.Who is David Ellison, and what is his company, Skydance?A quick perusal of Mr. Ellison’s page on the Internet Movie Database shows a relatively undistinguished acting career, with minor roles in films like the fighter drama “Flyboys” and teen comedy “The Chumscrubber” (in which he played “Student No. 1”). It wasn’t until he became a producer that his star in Hollywood began to rise.After he dropped out of the University of Southern California and gave up on acting, Mr. Ellison turned to producing. His family’s considerable influence — he is the son of the Oracle founder Larry Ellison — helped him bankroll big-budget films like “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” and “Star Trek Into Darkness.”Along the way, the valuation of Mr. Ellison’s company Skydance Media ballooned to more than $4 billion, after private-equity firms like RedBird Capital Partners and KKR invested in it. Mr. Ellison, the chief executive of Skydance, has co-produced hits like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” with Paramount, giving him an entree to the company’s executives and its most valuable franchises.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Deepfake of U.S. Official Appears After Shift on Ukraine Attacks in Russia

    A manufactured video fabricated comments by the State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller.A day after U.S. officials said Ukraine could use American weapons in limited strikes inside Russia, a deepfake video of a U.S. spokesman discussing the policy appeared online.The fabricated video, which is drawn from actual footage, shows the State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, seeming to suggest that the Russian city of Belgorod, just 25 miles north of Ukraine’s border with Russia, was a legitimate target for such strikes.The 49-second video clip, which has an authentic feel despite telltale clues of manipulation, illustrates the growing threat of disinformation and especially so-called deepfake videos powered by artificial intelligence.U.S. officials said they had no information about the origins of the video. But they are particularly concerned about how Russia might employ such techniques to manipulate opinion around the war in Ukraine or even American political discourse.Belgorod “has essentially no civilians remaining,” the video purports to show Mr. Miller saying at the State Department in response to a reporter’s question, which was also manufactured. “It’s practically full of military targets at this point, and we are seeing the same thing starting in the regions around there.”“Russia needs to get the message that this is unacceptable,” Mr. Miller adds in the video, which has been circulating on Telegram channels followed by residents of Belgorod widely enough to draw responses from Russian government officials.The claim in the video about Belgorod is completely false. While it has been the target of some Ukrainian attacks, and its schools operate online, its 340,000 residents have not been evacuated.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More