Faux fur and Chinese ballons sound like a good party — #77

Hello, from a train somewhere between Stockholm and Berlin.

This week, I've been thinking about how my life has become 200% better since I stopped planning for the future. If you say yes to exciting experiences, work for the common best interest, and are friendly to the people around you, things will turn out better than you could ever imagine. I promise.

Anna

Chinese spy balloons hoover the United States and Latin America

GEOPOLITICS / CHINA

This story has been covered a lot this weekend. But since it’s both geopolitics and surveillance, I feel I should cover it too …

So, a white balloon (about the size of three school buses) drifting across United States airspace has triggered a diplomatic thunderstorm. The United States says it is a Chinese spy balloon, “without a doubt”, and yesterday, the United States government shot it down on the coast of South Carolina. The balloon has been moving east over America at about 18,600 meters, carrying sensors and surveillance equipment. Pentagon says the balloon could both be manoeuvred and change course.

China insists the balloon is a lost civilian airship used for meteorological research. According to them, the wind pushed it off course, and it has limited “self-steering” capabilities. As far as wind patterns go, according to scientists, China’s story that global air currents — winds known as the Westerlies — carried the balloon from its territory to the western United States is plausible. And with the current winds, it would have taken about a week for a Chinese balloon to reach the United States.

The balloon has been lingering over sensitive areas of Montana where United States nuclear warheads are located, leading the US military to take action to prevent the balloon from collecting intelligence. Pentagon said it could let the balloon hoover over the United States for “a few days,” creating uncertainty about where the balloon might go or if the US would try to take it down safely. But on Saturday, it was shot down — as the balloon was no longer over land and could cause danger to people on the ground.

The situation made United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancel a planned weekend trip to China to cool the already quite heated situation between the countries. However, China is trying to play down the cancelled visit, saying neither of the countries has formally announced any visit.

On Friday, the United States Department of Defense also acknowledged reports of “another Chinese surveillance balloon” flying over Latin America.

Hermés and artist Mason Rothschild face off in court over NFT Birkin bags

TECHNOLOGY / ART

In the first real test of how trademark law applies to NFTs and other digital designs, french luxury retailer Hermès (established in 1837) and Los Angeles-based artist Mason Rothschild faced off in court this week.

Hermès argue that Rothschild infringed on its trademark by creating furry digital versions of its iconic Birkin bag in his collection of 100 ‘MetaBirkin’ NFTs.

In its 47-page complaint, Hermès argues that MetaBirkin NFTs infringe upon the luxury brand’s Birkin trademark, dating back to 1984. Since the Birkin trademark is so strong, Hermès also believes that Rothschild’s NFT collection is “likely to cause consumer confusion and mistake in the minds of the public.”

Further, Hermès claim that Rothschild not only had no permission to use its Birkin mark but has also profited from the unauthorised use of the trademark through the sale and resale of the NFTs.

Rothschild claims that MetaBirkins are an artistic interpretation of Hermès’s product, similar to Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup can prints. While it is unknown how much Rothschild made off the project MetaBirkins, which debuted at Art Basel in December 2021. The items were sold and resold for tens of thousands of dollars.

The recent crypto downturn has deflated the value of NFTs since its height, but Hermès says that Rothschild cheated it on the chance to capitalise on digital collectables. For example, two months before Rothchild’s collection launched, Gucci made $25,000 on one short film NFT, and in September 2021, Dolce & Gabbana sold nine NFTs for about $6 million.

The trial challenges the legal landscape at the intersection of intellectual property law, constitutional law, technology, and fashion. The case's outcome will set a precedent in the new metaverse era. However, the lawsuit shows digital artists that featuring branded products in their designs can be risky.

Actual Birkin bags are expensive, and there’s allegedly a long list of requirements — on top of having the funds — to get hold of one. So, it is no surprise that the luxury brand does everything possible to keep it exclusive and weed out replicas — even NFT versions.

United States senator sends letter to Apple and Google asking them to remove TikTok

GEOPOLITICS / PRIVACY

On Thursday, United States Senator Michael Bennet (a Democrat) wrote to Google and Apple, urging both companies to remove TikTok from their app stores immediately, calling the popular video-sharing app "an unacceptable threat to the national security of the United States."

TikTok is under immense pressure in Washington. The critique has existed for years and has intensified in the last month. However, the letter — addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook and Google CEO Sundar Pichai — is the first time a member of the United States Congress has suggested TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, should not be available for download via Google Play or Apple App store.

In the letter, Bennet wrote, "No company subject to [Chinese Communist Party] dictates should have the power to accumulate such extensive data on the American people or curate content to nearly a third of our population."

TikTok has said efforts to ban the app in the United States are misguided and that China cannot access American users' data. However, there have been multiple leaks suggesting this might not be the case — nor is data access the only issue with the platform (as you could read in last week’s issue.)

Many US states have banned the app on government devices and college WiFi networks while waiting for a government-approved security recommendation. Also, some members of the United States Congress have introduced bills to ban the app entirely.

And no, looking at the increasing tensions between the United States and China, that is not an unlikely scenario. So cut to the chase, and the opinions of millions of American TikTok users weigh very lightly when it is put against a national security threat.

Double-check the headlines

Just making sure you didn't miss any major world events this week.

• Raging wildfires leave at least 13 dead in Chile as heatwave fuels nearly 40 blazes across southern and central regions.

• The European Union will unveil its 10th package of sanctions against Russia on February 24 to mark the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Indian police arrest over 2,000 men for illegal child marriages.

• Brazil sank an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic despite the pollution risk from asbestos and toxic materials.

• Exxon Mobile makes a record profit, and the White House calls it ‘outrageous’.

• At least 101 people were killed in a Pakistan mosque after a suicide bombing.

• IMF raises expectations for the World Economy as financial growth seems to turn.

• TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before United States Congress in March

• Intel cuts CEO pay by 25% as part of companywide cuts in manager compensation.

• Instagram’s co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger return to the mobile app market with the launch of a news reading app called Artifact.

• Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open title and took back the no. 1 ranking after being deported from the country a year ago.

One long

WIRED

The Kremlin Has Entered the Chat

Russian antiwar activists trusted Telegram, a supposedly secure messaging app. So how does Putin’s regime seem to know their every move?

🇸🇪-bonus: I wrote a text about why Artificial Intelligence will give us a more consistent view of historical events and might cure the epidemic of alternative facts.

Five short

1. View

I recommend a short art break, looking at some photos from the photo book “Hafiz,” where Turkish photographer Sabiha Çimen pays tribute to the Girls of Quranic Schools and depicts young Muslims forming their own “playground of the imagination.”

2. Listen

My friend Charlotte recommended the book No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention. Since I trust her opinion, I just started listening to the audiobook. I don’t think I will be disappointed.

3. Remember

EU train tickets for the summer months were released recently, and popular routes and weeks are already selling out. If you - like I - are planning to travel around Europe this summer, it is time to make some plans …

4. Change

Splitting my time between Berlin and Stockholm, I’ve realised how much my aesthetic taste has been shaped by the culture I’ve been living in. In Stockholm, you might think we all share the same closet and live in the same apartment. In Berlin, people have a more personal style — less influenced by the latest trends.

This has made me realise that I might want to question my preferences. I'm not saying it is ever possible to break completely free from cultural norms. But, if I could choose anything in the world, why did I end up liking the things I like?

5. Try

Ask for help. Sometimes, you've got to let people help you. Just because you COULD do something yourself doesn’t mean you should. Leaning on each other helps us build relationships, and as I’ve written about so many times in this newsletter, we could all need some improvement in that area.

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