News from KW46.2025 – 92 is half of 99

Wews of week 10.11 – 16.11.2025 – You already know the format, here are nine highlights of the week from the tech fund, enriched with all sorts of opinions. Have fun reading!

Article 1

Digital possession at risk: This is why the UK Parliament is debating ‘Stop Killing Games’ – and what the EU is doing

Last week the emotions boiled up, as the „Stop killing games„-Campaign your way into the UK Parliament found. Nearly 200,000 signatures made possible the debate, which has a clear goal: Prevent publishers from simply ‘switching off’ the digital games we paid for. We are talking about titles like The crew, Concord or MultiVersus, which suddenly become unplayable because servers are turned off.

The debate in the UK: Clear demands, tough stance of the government

Members of both camps made strong arguments as to why the current Consumer protection laws We are not up to the digital age.

The cultural value: Deputy Henry Tufnell stressed that the deletion of games ‘Cultural and artistic heritage’ Coming soon. Destroying every copy of a book or movie would be a tragedy, it shouldn't be any different when it comes to games.
The Deception of Purchasing: Mark Sewards said it was a ‘Pretty simple’ Requirement: Consumers don't want to be left with nothing after purchase. Shutting down a game is not the same as ending support for an old printer that Still printing. Rather, it is as if the manufacturer intentionally renders the printer remotely inoperable. Planned obsolescence in pure culture.
Suggestions for solutions: The core requirement is not that servers run forever. Instead, publishers should ensure that we can continue to use our products after official support, whether by patching a Offline mode or permission for private server.

The government But it remained hard. Minister Stephanie Peacock MP, while acknowledging the strong sense of community, stressed that online games Dynamic, interactive services They are not static products. The implementation of end-of-life plans extremely difficult It also poses commercial, legal, and even security risks (such as the lack of official moderation on community servers). She also insisted on the position: Games are for us licensed, not sold – a practice which, according to the Government, has been in place since the 1980s.

Opinion: The Standard Excuses of Convenience

Let's be honest: At least their arguments sound exactly the same as those of those who accept criticism of the economic system only if a fully developed, functioning concept is presented as an alternative that guarantees them at least the same profits as before.

And what then not everything is thrown into a pot, just to not have to change anything!

Liability issues? Please. At least I've never heard that even a totally cheated game would have led to legal consequences in the context of product liability.
Damage to reputation? Of course, the reputation suffers more because someone in a 15-year-old game finds the community server too lame and pushes it to the game manufacturer than if it weren't. Hundreds of active players are angry when the manufacturer shuts down its servers.

As a bonus, there was also the social democratic fundamental tenor: The Laws would work, but would be poorly communicated! Logically, hundreds of thousands of votes under a petition are simply ill-informed.

Nothing impossible is required, such as the installation of an offline mode in a pure online game. How about a small courtesy, for example, the prohibition of online dependencies such as account compulsion in purely offline games? Up to that point, virtually every old game was playable for as long as you like, albeit mostly only through cracks. The increased online constraints of the big player in particular have led to a significant shift in power vis-à-vis the consumer, which should be taken into account in laws and this applies to the entire economy, in particular with regard to the entire ‘smart’ devices.

The argument that such rules would fundamentally change, How games are developed. Well, ah. However, this changes every few years/decades anyway, because what hardware can do, what players want, what operating systems offer, etc. In our view, the ‘change’ is also not a problem, as it is known in advance (see the communication argument). This does not catch a developer cold when he knows that he can only use libraries that he is allowed to publish later.

What about Europe? The EU on the train

In parallel with the UK debate, the „Stop destroying games„-Campaign achieves even greater success in Europe: This petition reached More than a million signatures!

This status as European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) force them European Commission and the European Parliament, to address the issue and formulate an official response. Contrary to the debate in the UK Parliament, where the government sees the existing laws as sufficient and no need for change, the EU must now issue a comprehensive opinion soon.

The European Category: Games lobby has already argued that the demands of the campaign Legally Risky and prohibitv expensive It would be for developers. It will be interesting to see whether the EU follows these arguments or whether it takes seriously the reputation of more than one million citizens and calls for a stronger European Union. Digital consumer rights put in place.

The conclusion remains: The debate is global and pressure is mounting on lawmakers to better protect our digital property. While the UK government is blocking for the time being, the ball is now in the hands of the European Union.

Article 2

Copyright vs. AI: GEMA wins kick-off against Open AI at Munich Regional Court

A landmark judgment on how Artificial Intelligence (AI) may use copyrighted content, was liked in Munich: This District Court of Munich I In the process of the music rights processor GEMA against the ChatGPT developer Open AI This was largely in favour of GEMA.

This judgment is considered as Policy procedure Considered as the first success of a collecting society in Europe against a large AI operator.

The central legal dilemma

The lawsuit revolved around the unlicensed use of lyrics to train the chatbot ChatGPT. He was sued for the lyrics of nine well-known songs, including hits such as »Männer« by Herbert Grönemeyer, »Über den Wolken« by Reinhard Mey and »In der Weihnachtsbäckerei« by Rolf Zuckowski.

The court had to clarify: Are the lyrics in the AI model copies Or just the result of a complex calculation?

The argument of Open AI: The company argued that the texts were not copied, but the result of a ‘sequential-analytical, iterative-probabilistic synthesis’. In short: The system learns patterns, but does not store specific original works.
The decision of the Court of First Instance: The 42nd. The Civil Chamber did not follow this view. It followed GEMA’s line of argument: The automatic use of lyrics and their Almost identical playback The user is an illicit Reproduction and reproduction under German copyright law.

Judge Elke Schwager explained that Open AI was not allowed to use the texts without a license.

Consequences of the Judgment

The court found the copyrights of the songwriters violated because protected texts in the AI model memorized and on request reproduced could be.

Legal consequences: Open AI has become Failure to provide information and compensation condemned. The GEMA does not oppose the use itself, but demands the payment of royalties for the benefit of the authors.
No free pass: According to the court, the use was also not through the so-called Text and data mining barrier Covered by copyright.

What does this mean for the future?

The verdict is still not legally binding. It is likely that now higher instances They will deal with the litigation.

Pressure on politics: The decision increases the pressure on EU policies to address the issue of Licensing of training data If the licensing market does not revive on its own.
International context: While in Germany the focus was on reproduction, in the USA the legal debate under the doctrine of the Fair use. The numerous class actions pending there – as well as other proceedings such as GEMA’s against the AI music generator Suno (negotiation in Munich in January 2026) – will determine the future freedom of AI models.

Article 3

Important for Windows 10 users: Microsoft delivers ESU correction update out of line

The end of support for Windows 10 22H2 is official, but Microsoft has now released an unscheduled update. This is aimed at end users who want to register for the Extended Security Updates (ESU), but encounter installation problems.

Although regular support for Windows 10 22H2 has ended, Microsoft is making a move with what is known as an ‘out-of-band update’. The update KB5071959 will be delivered to private users who sign up for the free support extension program, which Extended Security Updates (ESU), want to register.

The background: Errors in the ESU institution

Microsoft has confirmed in its release health notes that some end-user licenses may experience issues in the setup process of the advanced security updates. This incorrect installation prevented the computers from receiving the monthly security updates after registration.

To resolve this issue, the KB5071959 correction update will now Out of line – i.e. outside the regular patch day.

What affected users need to do

Private Windows 10 users who want to use the ESU extension but are not yet receiving all updates should take action:

Search for update: Go to the Settings and search on the page Windows update Actively following new updates.
Install KB5071959: Install the found out-of-band update KB5071959 and then carry one. restart through.
Activate ESU: After the restart, the Extended security update wizard click through to activate the device for the ESU.
Receive regular updates: Only then does the re-search for updates deliver the regular monthly security updates that are provided with the Microsoft Patchday.

Good to know: The KB5071959 update is cumulative and includes all security updates up to and including October 14, 2025.

The ESU for Windows 10

Registration for the ESU program was unlocked in early October for privately used Windows 10 installations. In the European Economic Area (EEA), the extension of one year free, However, it requires a Microsoft account.

For commercial users, extended security updates are available for up to three years against payment, for which Microsoft has already Detailed instructions for activation published.

Article 4

A fresh look for server admins: Webmin 2,600 Released with Historic UI Redesign

The popular web-based server management software Webmin has received an extensive update. Version 2.600 comes with the largest UI redesign in project history, the so-called Authentic theme 26.00, and brings the administration interface into the modern age.

Last week we talked about alternatives to Plesk And then one of them gets a nice package (in a nice GUI) of new features.

For system administrators who prefer to manage their Linux and Unix servers via browser instead of command line, Webmin It is an essential open source tool. With the release of the version 2.600 (and Usermin 2.500) is now available to users a completely revised frontend.

The biggest redesign of all time

The heart of the update is the new Authentic theme 26.00. The developers describe it as the most extensive optical revision Webmin has ever undergone. The goal was pixel-precise precision and a modern, tidy design:

Modern construction: Menus and sidebars now appear rounded and floating. The content area is frameless and thus looks more tidy.
New color scheme: In particular, the dark color scheme has been greatly improved, offering richer contrasts and softer tones for more comfortable use.
Optimized elements: Almost every element, from input fields to buttons, has been reviewed and renewed in terms of usability and aesthetics.

Although some older, less used layout options have been removed, the look (e.g. the rounded corners) can be adjusted in the theme settings.

More than just cosmetics: New features for admins

In addition to the optical facelift, Webmin 2600 also brings valuable functional extensions for daily system management:

module	New function	Benefits for Admins
MySQL/MariaDB	Activation of the Slow Query Log	Easier diagnosis of performance bottlenecks in databases.
PHP configuration	Parallel installation of multiple extensions	Speeds up the workflow when setting up PHP environments.
Software packages	Display of package URLs and installation times (Debian)	Improved visibility and traceability of system changes.
CLI function	New command `webmin stats`	Provides detailed statistics for monitoring and automation.

Improved stability and security

In addition, important bug fixes have been made to improve stability and security. These include:

Correct storage of Fail2Ban-Jails containing quotes.
Correction of an error in Upload-and-download module regarding the renaming of files.
Fixed a fatal error in the EOL library for operating systems under development.

Webmin 2,600 and Usermin 2,500 are now available for download as RPM, DEB packages and as Tarball on the project page.

Article 5

Attention gamers: The new AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D – good or overpriced X3D entry?

AMD is surprisingly launching a new gaming processor based on the older Ryzen 7000 architecture: the Ryzen 5 7500X3D. Tests show, however, that the price of 279 € could make the niche CPU the storekeeper, because the competition is cheaper and better in the overall package.

This week, AMD has Ryzen 5 7500X3D unexpectedly presented a new processor for the socket AM5. As the smallest member of the X3D family, it is intended to make gaming entry more attractive. It comes with six Zen-4 cores and the performance-enhancing 3D V cache.

The technical data are quickly explained: With a base clock speed of 4.0 GHz and a maximum clock speed of 4.5 GHz, the 7500X3D is only slightly lower than the already known turbo clock. Ryzen 5 7600X3D.

The problem: The price and the competition

The recommended retail price (SRP) of EUR 279 for the 7500X3D is the biggest cracking point. For in trade is the more powerful brother, who Ryzen 5 7600X3D, It is now available for $269, which Ryzen 7 7800X3D It is also slightly more expensive (~300€).

The problem becomes even more serious when you look at the competition:

CPU model	architecture	Cores/threads	Clock (base/turbo)	TDP	Current price
Ryzen 5 7500X3D	Zen 4 (X3D)	6/12	4.0/4.5 GHz	65 W	279 € (RRP)
Ryzen 5 9600X	Zen 5	6/12	3.9/5.4 GHz	65 W	from 189 €
Intel Core Ultra 5 245K	Arrow Lake	(hybrid)	High	159 W	approx. 190 €

Only a niche and not even dominant

As expected, the 7500X3D ranks just behind the now discontinued R5 7600X3D in gaming benchmarks. Although it beats the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K(F) in games by about 8 percent, it costs almost 50 percent more.

The conclusion of the test is therefore clear:

1. Poor application performance

Away from gaming, the 7500X3D breaks down. With a maximum clock speed of 4.5 GHz, it is significantly behind the competition in multi-core applications. The Ryzen 5 9600X (Zen 5, 5.4 GHz clock) is used in applications More than 20% faster It currently costs $90 less. Also the much cheaper Intel Core Ultra 5 245K(F) offers up to 60 percent better multi-core performance thanks to additional efficiency cores.

2. Poor value for money in games

Even if you only look at the gaming performance, the price-performance ratio of the 7500X3D is poor. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245K(F) offers the better value in the pure game-price-FPS-relation, thanks to its significantly lower price (about 190 €).

Conclusion and clear purchase recommendation

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D with an RRP of 279 euros is simply too expensive for the offered overall package. It serves a too narrow niche, while other, cheaper CPUs in applications and as an all-rounder are far superior and perform more than enough in gaming.

The clear recommendation:

Should the street price in the area drop by or just under 200, it would be a good idea to strike. Until then, the following applies.

Gamers who need to save should go to the much cheaper and more flexible Ryzen 5 9600X or one Intel Core Ultra 5 245K(F) Take it, because then they Saved 100-140 euros Instead, it is better to invest in a more powerful graphics card, where the actual performance gain in games is much greater.

Gamers who do not necessarily have to put on the red pen are with the Ryzen 7 7800X3D Better advice at almost the same price.

Article 6

A big blow to cybercrime: Over 1,000 malware servers removed from the network worldwide

An international police operation coordinated by Europol has disrupted the infrastructure of several dangerous malware variants. More than 1,000 servers were seized worldwide, a significant part of them in Germany.

Law enforcement agencies from numerous countries, including Germany, have achieved significant success in the fight against organised cybercrime. The joint action targeted the IT infrastructure of several prominent malware strains, including the notorious Infostealer Rhadamanthys, this Botnet Elysium and the Trojan VenomRAT.

"The authorities removed these three major cybercrime promoters from the network," Europol said in a press release.

Germany in focus: Over 180 servers seized

As part of the operation, which began on 10 November, a total of 1,025 servers disconnected from cybercriminal networks; and 20 domains confiscated. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) confirmed that More than 180 of these servers They were operated in Germany alone and served as the central infrastructure for the malware attacks.

The searches covered several European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Greece. In Greece, the forces were also able to Arrest of a suspected mastermind behind the Trojan VenomRAT.

Huge dataset backed up

The success of the criminal prosecutions, in which in Germany the BKA and the Central Office for Combating Cybercrime (ZIT) the Prosecutor General's Office Frankfurt am Main played a key role, is measurable:

According to BKA, the close collaboration with international partners and private cybersecurity companies (such as the Shadowserver Foundation, Proofpoint and Bitdefender) has allowed compromised data to be exploited. ‘in the high double-digit million range of over 650,000 victims’ be ensured.

Part of Operation Endgame

The latest blow is part of the large-scale international initiative Operation Endgame. This operation aims to permanently destroy the infrastructure of the world's largest malware networks.

May 2024: The action achieved its first major success with over 100 seized servers and 1,300 domains.
A year later: This was followed by another 300 servers and 650 domains, which could also be assigned to malware variants.

The current destruction of more than 1,000 servers thus marks another milestone in the ongoing struggle of law enforcement authorities against the infrastructure of cybercrime.

Source: BKA Press Release, Europol press release, Golem articles

Article 7

Mega-judgment in Berlin: Google sentenced to 465 million euros in damages to Idealo

The Landgericht Berlin (Regional Court, Berlin) has awarded the price comparison service Idealo considerable compensation. The judges considered it to be proven that Google has exploited its market power in an anti-competitive manner – a victory for Idealo, although the amount awarded is well below the claims.

The legal dispute between the German price comparison provider, which has been ongoing since 2019, Idealo and the tech giant Google or its parent company Alphabet came to a provisional end on Friday morning at the district court of Berlin II.

Judges of the 16th Civil Chamber decided in favour of Idealo and awarded the company damages in the amount of EUR 465 million to (reference 16 O 195/19 Kart (2)).

Compensation: 374.094.751,88 Euro
Interest: 91,126,641.82 euros
Total: Approximately 465 million euros

The accusation: Uncompetitive self-preferential treatment

Idealo had accused Google of exploiting its dominant position for years to use its own price comparison services (Google Shopping) in search results against competitors. Anticompetitive advantage – behaviour commonly known as ‘self-preferencing’ or ‘self-preferencing’. Idealo originally had damages in the amount of at least EUR 3.3 billion requested.

Although the judges in the case followed Idealo's arguments, the final calculation of the amount of the damage differed significantly from the claims of the price comparison company.

A Second Success for Competitors

In parallel with this procedure, the judges also ruled in favour of another Google competitor in a similar case: The Producto GmbH (Operator of test reports.de) were also due to the damage suffered EUR 103.7 million awarded (reference 16 O 275/24).

The last word has not yet been spoken

Despite the large sums involved, the legal process is not expected to be completed yet. The District Court of Berlin II has explicitly Appeal to the Court of Appeal allowed. It is generally expected that Google will appeal this verdict. The dispute over the competition law treatment of price comparison services by Google is thus likely to go to the next instance.

Article 8

BGH rulings paralyze digital further education: When a 1970s law meets e-learning

The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is causing a quake in the German continuing education industry with two explosive judgments.
He subjected almost all online courses and coaching to the completely outdated Distance Learning Protection Act (FernUSG) of 1976.
The result: Without state approval of the ZFU, contracts are void – with fatal consequences for reputable providers.

Digital training is booming, but a current BGH case law is generating a wildfire. Although the starting point was dubious coaching offers with high fees, the judgments (BGH III ZR 109/24, III ZR 173/24) now affect the entire industry.

The bomb: Invalid without ZFU approval

The BGH ruled with ‘brachial clarity’: Contracts for online courses covered by the FernUSG are void from the outset if the provider lacks the necessary approval of the State Centre for Distance Learning (ZFU).

The consequences are existential:

Loss of remuneration: The provider loses any claim to the agreed course fee.
Recovery wave: Participants can Reclaim all fees already paid in full.
Free service: The participant does not have to be credited for services provided (e.g. completed courses or coaching sessions). A customer can complete an expensive IT training and then demand full money back.

This legal situation not only protects against ‘black sheep’, but also invites dissatisfied or even malicious customers to legally refuse to provide a complete and serious service.

Absurd interpretation of an analogous law

This FernUSG from 1976 was created for analogue distance courses (documents by post) in order to protect consumers. However, the BGH judges and the ZFU interpret the three characteristics of the authorisation requirement to such an extent that hardly any modern e-learning format remains free of authorisation:

trait	Definition according to BGH/ZFU design	The absurdity
Mainly spatial separation	Applies as soon as a live webinar recorded It is asynchronous and asynchronous.	The recording makes synchronous participation ‘dispensable’ and thus establishes the distance learning character.
Monitoring of learning success	This is when the participant ‘the mere possibility of asking substantive questions’ (e.g. in a chat).	The teacher’s ability to draw conclusions about the level of learning from a question is considered to be ‘monitoring’.

The ZFU approval: An innovation brake block

The supposed way out to apply for ZFU approval is hardly practicable for modern, agile course providers:

Bureaucracy and costs: It must: each individual course Approved, not the company. The fee is prohibitive: It shall be at least EUR 1,050; or 150 percent of the net course price.
Massive delay: Due to the flood of new applications, applicants report waiting times of three to nine months for approval.
Static corset: "Substantial changes" to the course – such as updates in fast-moving IT areas or a new legal situation – require a renewed, lengthy and paid examination.

The Path to Active Deterioration of Supply

In order to circumvent the bureaucracy, reputable providers must actively deteriorate their offer in order not to fall under the law:

Abandonment of records: Participants cannot rework content.
No feedback: No queries, chats or community support, as this can be considered as a ‘learning success check’.

These limitations are in direct contradiction to modern, didactically valuable e-learning concepts that rely on interaction and flexibility.

Appeal to the Legislator

The current legal situation, fuelled by the BGH decisions, threatens the existence of serious training providers and is fatal for Germany as an educational location. There is an urgent need for an timely legislative emergency braking, to adapt the deeply outdated FernUSG to digital reality. A modernization was announced in the coalition agreement, but the industry calls for an immediate correction to avert the impending wave of lawsuits.

Read on heise.de

Article 9

Building instructions on golem.de: The own ‘Steam Machine’ for the living room. It's that easy with AMD and SteamOS

Valve has triggered a hype with its Steam Machine At the same time, we invite you to replicate. Since the SteamOS operating system is freely available, we will show you how to assemble Valve's console competitors as a mini-ITX PC yourself Which hardware is best?

The Steam machine Valve is Valve's answer to console competition, designed as a gaming PC for the living room. The highlight: The operating system SteamOS – based on Linux – is available for free download and can be installed on almost any PC.

The easiest way to create your own ‘Steam Machine’ is to use AMD hardware, It has the best compatibility with SteamOS.

The recommended hardware base

In order to get as close as possible to Valve's specifications of the minicomputer and to get SteamOS running smoothly, the following configuration is recommended:

component	Valve Steam Machine (base)	Steam Machine DIY Sample (New)
processor	6-core CPU (AMD Zen 4)	AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (6 cores, up to 5 GHz)
Graphics card	AMD RDNA 3 (28 execution units)	AMD Radeon RX 7600
RAM	16 GB	16 GB DDR5-5600
memory	M.2 2230 NVMe SSD	Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB (M.2 2280 NVMe)
Estimated total price (DIY)	Unknown	approx. 760 Euro

For a compact design, a Mini-ITX model with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (e.g. Asus Tuf-Gaming A620M-Plus Wifi) to connect controllers and peripherals in a device-friendly way.

Performance and graphics card memory

Since SteamOS is very frugal, a CPU such as the Ryzen 5 7500F in combination with 16 GB of RAM is sufficient to render current titles smoothly.

Special attention should be paid to the graphics memory: For 4K TVs or demanding titles, Valve's decision for 8 GB of VRAM is considered too low.

Recommendation: For higher resolutions, models such as the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (with 16 GByte) or the newer RDNA-4 model RX 9060 XT better suited.

Installing SteamOS - What you need to know

The SteamOS operating system offers a mature big picture mode, which can be controlled like a console via controller.

Hardware choice: The best compatibility is currently with AMD CPUs and Graphics Cards (both AM4 and AM5).
BIOS setting: In the UEFI menu of the motherboard must Secure Boot disabled Otherwise, SteamOS won't start.
Installation: The image provided by Valve can be easily installed from a USB stick.

Alternatively: If you want to use Intel or Nvidia graphics cards, you have to expect additional configuration effort. This is the Linux distribution. Bazzite It is recommended as a simpler workaround because it starts directly in big picture mode and offers images for different GPU manufacturers.

Conclusion: A worthwhile alternative

Self-construction is not just an option for hobbyists. If you already have older, compatible AM4 hardware, you can give it a second, cost-effective life in the living room as a Steam Machine. Valve has announced that the price of the final Steam Machine will be based on PCs (and not on consoles), the bottom line does not necessarily have to be more expensive.

Finally, as always, a Sun Tsu wisdom, this time just free out.

‘The capable general seeks the effect from the dynamism, not from the effort of the individual.’

Meaning: Set up AI-based security solutions (SOC, EDR), which recognize patterns and respond faster than human analysts to the Growing complexity Dealing with the defense.