Latest news with #PaulBender
Sydney Morning Herald
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
This musician was getting millions of streams. Then fake tracks appeared under his name
'If this doesn't change, people are going to start training AI on your entire discography. Then they upload songs that actually sound like you. Fans go to your page, hear something that sort of sounds right — but it's shit.' Paul Bender (at right) with his band Hiatus Kaiyote: (from left) Perrin Moss, Simon Mavin and Naomi Saalfield aka Nai Palm. The problem, he says, is wilful inaction from distributors and streamers. Even basic password protection 'would solve 99 per cent of these cases overnight. Two-factor authentication would solve more. These tech companies are full of developers who could fix this in an afternoon. So far 'it's just them passing the buck — 'it's the distributor's fault, no, it's the platform's fault'. It's a copout. It just proves how demoralising this system is for artists.' Spotify, which commands more than 30 per cent of the global streaming market, acknowledged the fakes issue in 2023 when it removed tens of thousands of tracks uploaded by AI music startup Boomy. That followed pressure from Universal Music Group, its biggest licensor. The Sweet Enoughs' boutique label, Wondercore Island, has had less success. 'It took Spotify six weeks to lift a finger,' says label head Si Jay Gould. 'They're calling it a 'mapping issue' — as if four artists just happened to release terrible AI music under our name. 'There's no incentive to protect us. We're being impersonated, we're losing income, our brand is being damaged, and the response is: 'We've done what we can.' It shows how little they value artists.' Even now, though Spotify has uncoupled the four fakes from the Sweet Enoughs' profile, the tracks remain live under that name, ready to deceive fans looking for real music. Spotify declined to comment for this story. When asked about authentication systems, an Australian spokesperson referred us to the company's extensive Spotify for Artists educational manuals. The scale of hijacking 'can't be human', Gould says. 'The money's too marginal.' Like those old computer scams creaming fractions of cents from millions of bank accounts, 'it has to be automated. I assume they're targeting artists who do well in the algorithm — names the system likes.' Loading Industry indicators confirm a growing problem. Deezer reported that 18 per cent of its daily uploads in early 2025 were fully AI-generated. Music generator Mubert claims over 100 million AI tracks were created on its platform in the first half of 2023. The global Music Fights Fraud Alliance estimates 10 per cent of global streams are fraudulent, often driven by bots, fake profiles or click farms. Some distributors report fraud rates of up to 50 per cent, potentially diverting up to $US3 billion annually from artists. Now musicians are fighting back. Michael League, best known as leader of American jazz collective Snarky Puppy, says he has collected 'several dozen testimonials from artists of various genres and levels of visibility recounting their experiences with AI-generated music being uploaded to their account without their consent'. League has briefed the Recording Academy's New York chapter on the hijacking of his own solo artist profile. He says senior executive director Nick Cucci has indicated he will escalate the complaint within the Grammy organisation this week. 'I've been both shocked and horrified by the volume of messages I've received,' League says. 'It's like a silent epidemic in our industry.' Behind the languid chill of The Sweet Enoughs, Paul Bender is fuming. 'It's not resolved, it's multiplying,' he says. 'I'm f---ing ropeable … You're building towards a new album, and suddenly this steaming pile of crap lands in the middle of your Spotify profile. It's vile and disrespectful. 'There are people in this industry who seem to actively loathe musicians. It's almost sadistic. Real human music and AI slop are the same to them. It's all just a commodity. It's all just content.' Get the day's breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.
Crypto Insight
19-05-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
Coinbase hit with wave of lawsuits over customer data breaches
Coinbase has been hit with a flood of lawsuits after it recently disclosed its user data was breached, with users accusing the crypto exchange of mishandling the incident. At least six lawsuits were filed against Coinbase between May 15 and May 16, which all made various claims that the exchange failed to keep stringent security protocols to protect user data and handled the data breach aftermath poorly. In one of the lawsuits, filed in a New York federal court on May 16, plaintiff Paul Bender argued that Coinbase failed to protect the sensitive personal information of millions of users during the data breach. Users are suing Coinbase, alleging the exchange failed to protect their sensitive data. Source: PACER Coinbase reported on May 15 that four days earlier it had been hit with a $20 million extortion attempt after cybercriminals bribed several of its customer support agents to access internal systems and steal a limited amount of user account data. The stolen data included names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, some bank account identifiers, driver's licenses, passports and some account data, such as balance snapshots and transaction history. Bender claimed that 'Coinbase failed to implement and maintain reasonable security safeguards,' which exposed users to 'serious and ongoing risks.' The suit also claimed Coinbase's response to the incident was 'inadequate, fragmented, and delayed.' 'Users were not promptly or fully informed of the compromise, and Coinbase did not immediately take meaningful steps to mitigate further harm, provide identity protection services, or offer actionable guidance to affected individuals,' the complaint claimed. The lawsuit claimed users could face 'substantial, immediate, and ongoing threat of identity theft and financial fraud' and that the consequences of the breach could be long-term or 'potentially permanent' because the compromised information can't be recovered or made secure once exposed. Flurry of lawsuits make similar allegations Two other lawsuits filed in a New York federal court made similar claims against Coinbase, while a fourth lawsuit added the allegation of unjust enrichment, arguing that Coinbase didn't spend enough on data security measures. All four complaints ask for damages and other measures to help protect the plaintiff's sensitive data. Meanwhile, a fifth lawsuit filed in a California federal court on May 15 made similar claims against Coinbase, but asked the court to order Coinbase to purge all sensitive data it holds about the plaintiffs and hire third-party security auditors to test its security systems, among other requests. A Coinbase spokesperson did not comment on the lawsuits and instead pointed Cointelegraph to a blog post it shared regarding the data breaches. Coinbase said it refused to pay the $20 million ransom and has flagged plans to reimburse users tricked into sending crypto to phishing scammers due to the data breach. In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the exchange said it expects reimbursement expenses ranging from $180 million to $400 million. The exchange also reportedly fired a group of customer support agents based in India following their alleged involvement in social engineering attacks on users. Coinbase (COIN) shares dipped 7% and dropped to $244 after it disclosed the data breach along with an ongoing SEC probe over misstated user numbers in 2021. The stock has since staged a comeback, spiking 9% and hitting $266 by the closing bell on May 16, according to Google Finance. Source:
