Patreon moves to restrict adult content on its crowdfunding site

NSFW Warning: This story may contain links to and descriptions or images of explicit sexual acts.

Patreon is a crowdfunding platform that enables people to receive subscription payments for the work that they do. It’s a way of connecting individuals and small businesses with paying audiences, from news websites and YouTube channels through to activists and educators.

At the same time, the site has also enabled a variety of creators in the adult space to earn cash for the erotic material they’ve made. But a new change to the site’s conduct policies, published October 17th, threatens to shut down many of those performers who rely upon the site for revenue.

Patreon has always been against pornography, but the site’s previous content policy covered the matter in very broad-brush terms. Creators were asked to flag their content as not safe for work, but otherwise there was a wide latitude as to the material published. Patreon’s corporate position was that the company recognized the need for art to depict “nudity and sexual expression.”

The distinction it drew, at the time, was that it was happy to turn a blind eye to the sort of content you’d find in an R-rated movie, but not porn. Otherwise, it would only go after otherwise-illegal material, such as depictions of incest, bestiality, children and the suchlike. Of course, it’s very hard to determine what is pornography and what is artistic, and the goalposts are shifting on a near-daily basis.

But the gray area that the company previously allowed has now been erased with a far more proscriptive policy. Users are now prohibited from selling “pornographic material,” as a reward for their patrons. In addition, they cannot use cash from the site to “produce pornographic material, such as maintaining a website, funding […] movies or providing a private webcam session.”

Google “Patreon + Webcam Session” and you’ll find plenty of adult content providers that offer such incentives to their users. It’s not just webcams, as some offer access to, for instance, a private Snapchat account that may do a similar job. It’s not clear how many performers are affected by the change, but it’s likely that we’ll be seeing the effects of the crackdown in the near future.

Patreon’s legal head Colin Sullivan explained the difficulties of creating a policy that empowers creators without harming the site’s “ability to be a home for all creators.” Sullivan said that the platform is being more explicit on banning adult content concerning incest, bestiality, children and sexualized violence.

Sullivan also detailed, that rather than simply erasing offending profiles, Patreon’s Trust and Safety team will work with creators to moderate their content. There will also be an appeals process, and users will have personal guidance from a Patreon employee to help them get their page reinstated.

What’s not clear is why this crackdown has also blocked apparently legitimate activity like webcam sessions and subscription websites that do not include illegal content. We’ve reached out to Patreon to try and understand the broader meaning of the rule change and to clarify its position. For now, it appears as if the site has joined the network of online businesses that specifically exclude sex workers from their payments platform.

Via: Violet Blue (Twitter)

Source: Patreon (Medium), Patreon Content Policy

Apple’s Lengthy Lawsuit With Samsung Over Copying iPhone’s Design Headed Back to Court

Apple’s over six year old legal battle with Samsung for copying the iPhone’s design is headed back to court yet again.

U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh on Sunday ordered that a new trial is required to determine whether Apple’s $399 million award for Samsung’s design patent infringement should stand or whether a new damages trial is required.

Apple and Samsung have until Wednesday to propose a retrial date, according to intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller, but he believes there is about a 30 percent chance the two parties could settle out of court before then.

The lawsuit dates back to 2011, when Apple successfully sued Samsung for infringing upon the iPhone’s patented design, including its rectangular front face with rounded edges and grid of colorful icons on a black screen.

Apple’s damages were awarded based on Samsung’s entire profit from the sale of its infringing smartphones, but Samsung argued that the amount should be a percentage based on individual components like the front bezel or display.

Last December, the U.S. Supreme Court recommended that the U.S. Court of Appeals reconsider the damages amount that Samsung owes.

Apple’s statement at the time:

The question before the Supreme Court was how to calculate the amount Samsung should pay for their copying. Our case has always been about Samsung’s blatant copying of our ideas, and that was never in dispute. We will continue to protect the years of hard work that has made iPhone the world’s most innovative and beloved product. We remain optimistic that the lower courts will again send a powerful signal that stealing isn’t right.

Calvin Klein, Dieter Rams, and over 100 other top designers backed Apple last year, arguing the iPhone maker is entitled to all profits Samsung has earned from infringing designs. They cited a 1949 study stating that more than 99 percent of Americans could identify a bottle of Coca-Cola by shape alone.

Apple was initially awarded nearly $1 billion in damages, but a significant part of the decision was reversed in 2015, leaving Samsung owing $548 million. The amount was eventually lowered to $399 million in subsequent retrials.

Tags: Samsung, lawsuit, patent trials
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iPhone 8 and 8 Plus Sold ‘More Like an ‘S’ Model’ During Launch Quarter According to New Report

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus accounted for 16 percent of total iPhone sales in the July-September 2017 quarter, which means the new smartphones “look much more like an ‘S’ model” in terms of sales. According to a report sent to MacRumors today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, the new devices actually represented a smaller sales percentage than ‘S’ devices have in past years, particularly in comparison to the iPhone 6s with 24 percent of iPhone sales in 2015.

In terms of each model, the iPhone 8 had 6 percent of iPhone sales and the iPhone 8 Plus had 10 percent in the fiscal quarter ending October 1, 2017. While the smartphones’ small share makes sense, because they were only available for about a week (shipping September 22) in the quarter that CIRP analyzed, previous generation iPhones were notably higher at the same points over the past few years.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus accounted for 43 percent of sales during this period in 2016, while the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus had 24 percent of the iPhone sales in this period two years ago. In 2014, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus represented 46 percent of iPhone sales in their launch quarter.

“iPhone 8 and 8 Plus accounted for only 16% of total sales, compared to a 24% share for the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus two years ago,” said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. “While it’s a little early to know, it appears that this even lower share relative to that earlier ‘S’ model probably resulted from some buyers delaying a purchase, we think in anticipation of the new iPhone X.”

So, in terms of consumer demand and reception, the 8 and 8 Plus have a share of total sales that makes them look much more like an ‘S’ model, while the 7 and 7 Plus was closer to the very well-received 6 and 6 Plus. This is not surprising, as the form factor remained the same, and the improvements in features were incremental and internal.”

CIRP co-founder Mike Levin mentioned that Apple’s dual-announcement of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X “changed the market dynamic” for 2017, echoing previous sentiments that many users are not ordering the former smartphone because they’re waiting for the latter device. The new report is based on a survey of 500 Apple customers who made a purchase between July and September of this year.

In the 2017 quarter, the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus continued seeing strong demand, with both devices accounting for 58 percent of sales. In total, older models like the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, and SE represented 25 percent of sales in the quarter. Levin explained that “rather than waiting for and buying the iPhone 8, it looks like buyers in this quarter either bought existing models, or decided to wait for the iPhone X, later in the year.”

Related Roundup: iPhone 8Tag: CIRPBuyer’s Guide: iPhone (Buy Now)
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Swing and a miss: Why Virtual Reality Is Striking Out With Sports Fans

People of the world, we have been deceived. The sky isn’t filled with flying cars, we can’t plug into the Matrix (unless I’m already in it), and despite lofty promises, VR has done next to nothing to make watching sports any better.

In the last few years, nearly every major sporting league dabbled in virtual reality, promising fans a better sports viewing experience than they get from “ordinary” TV. Watch boxers Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin beat each other’s faces in — from atop the ring’s turnbuckle! Take in Real Madrid and Juventus’s epic duel in the 2017 Championship League Final — from behind the goalie net! Catch the NBA’s best dunkers showing off their skills in the 2017 Slam Dunk Contest — from right behind the basket!

Unfortunately, watching a game in VR is … mundane.

Sporting events in VR boil down to nothing more than stuffing a TV broadcast into a VR headset. You don’t really feel like you’re actually at a game; the action is too far from the camera, or you can’t fully look your surroundings. Worst of all, there isn’t enough worthwhile content that you couldn’t be similarly entertained by on your TV. Why bother?

But that’s just scratching the surface of what’s wrong with VR sports.

What Am I Watching?

This year, Intel live streamed an MLB game every Tuesday in virtual reality for the entire 2017 regular season, placing three to four True VR cameras around each stadium. The views mostly changed from game to game, but fans could usually tap a button and watch the game from an aerial view above home plate or views near third and first base. Howard Wright, vice president of global business development for the Intel Sports Group, told Digital Trends in September that those three views were chosen because “this is what, optically, we’re used to.” Wondering why VR doesn’t offer much fresh or different? That’s part of it right there.

Intel isn’t psychic, after all.

One problem: This isn’t TV, it’s VR, and the limitations of trying to copy a TV broadcast in virtual reality are glaringly obvious. Those True VR cams don’t zoom in, so diving centerfield catches and last-second slides into second are virtually unwatchable in VR. Worst of all, in VR, you can’t watch a home run soar into the bleachers — Intel isn’t psychic, after all. “We don’t know where the home run is going to go, but we know where the home run is going to come from,” Howard said, explaining why Intel’s cameras point towards home plate.

This isn’t just a baseball problem. When watching a football game on the sidelines in VR, I often can’t tell what’s happening on the field, because the action is too far from the camera. That problem is compounded by the fact that mobile phones compatible with the Google Daydream and Samsung Gear VR don’t have screen resolutions high enough to display the 4K quality  in which these games are captured. “When I’m in the headset and I’m watching content or a highlight on the other side of the field, can I actually see what’s happening? Resolution today limits that ability,” William Deng, NFL’s Director of Media Strategy and Business Development, told Digital Trends in January.

If you can’t see everything, then what’s the point of watching in VR?

Thinking Inside The Box

If you’ve never watched a sporting event in virtual reality, let me paint you a quick picture. Cut a rectangle in a cardboard box, put it on your head, and look through it the next time you attend a live game. You’re only given a 180- to 210-degree field of view for almost every sporting event you watch in VR, with statistics, the app’s logo and other graphics filling in the blank space behind you. Sometimes players run out of your field of view, and if you’re manually choosing your view, you’ll miss out on a lot of action. Isn’t being able to choose where you watch the game the whole draw of watching sports in VR?

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Plus VR is lonely. At any live game, the players are the attraction, but the fans are the atmosphere. I can’t tell you how many times I rewound Steph Curry’s near half-court game winner against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2016 just to watch the fan reactions in the crowd. I also can’t tell you how many times I’ve attended games with horrible on-court action that were only enjoyable because I could people-watch the characters around me. Even watching a game at home by yourself isn’t as solitary as watching in VR, because you can chat with other people on social media.

If a tree falls in VR … who cares?

Sure, VR’s starting to play nice with social media, but it’s still cumbersome. On the Samsung Gear VR, you can take a screenshot and record a video by holding the back button, scrolling to [Capture], selecting which option you want, and returning to the VR experience to capture what you see. You can then go to your library and share  what you captured on Facebook. That tedious process doesn’t lend itself well to capturing special moments like Lebron James moonwalking away from a referee. And if you can’t share your snapshot of a posterizing dunk on Twitter while everyone is still talking about it, does it really matter that you saw it? If a tree falls in VR … who cares?

Give The People What They Want

I hate to say it, but even with all of its failings, VR still has immense potential to revolutionize how we watch sports. One way to do that is to truly leverage the immersive technology of VR to deliver engaging content you can’t get anywhere else. You can buy a ticket to a game, or watch it on your device of choice. But you can’t be a fly on the wall after every Cleveland Cavaliers game to get the player’s unfiltered thoughts. To do that, athletes need to be as involved in VR as they are at penning articles for websites like Jeter’s The Player’s Tribune and Lebron’s Uninterrupted.

Jonathan Nackstrand/Getty Images

During the 2016 NBA playoffs, Golden State Warriors superstar forward Draymond Green kept a running diary of his experience by speaking with Marc J. Spears from ESPN’s The Undefeated. When the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals to the Cavs, Green remarked “[The locker room] was stunned. Guys were looking down, [angry]. But guys were uplifting, too. This ain’t the last of us. This is just a bump in the road …” Imagine seeing those diary entries in VR every week, staring into each player’s eyes as coach Kerr delivered his final speech of the season. That would be a visceral experience that would make ESPN jealous — and fans open their wallets I’ll bet.

What  about visually integrating fantasy sports profiles into the VR experience? That would keep people engaged and eliminate the need to take off the headset to check your lineup on your phone, which I suspect tens of millions of people do when watching games. A graphic displaying game stats and fantasy points could hover over each player in the game who’s on your fantasy team. Imagine if each game in which you have an active fantasy player were accessible in VR: You say you’re bored being under the basket as Lonzo Ball bricks jump shot after jump shot? You could easily click the drop-down menu, click on a different player, and be transported to a courtside seat just as Klay Thompson’s barrage of three-pointers saves your fantasy team from disaster.

Luckily, some of these problems are being worked on.

Bright Future

The Fox Sports VR app took a huge step toward social VR by allowing people to watch a game in a virtual lounge while talking to floating avatar heads that represent people sharing the experience. In the app, you can virtually hang out with either Facebook friends of yours or complete strangers.

Mobile VR is also on the precipice of a revolution with the introduction of standalone VR headsets. Mobile headsets like the Gear VR and Google Daydream provide you with only three degrees of freedom (3DOF), allowing you to look horizontally and vertically, but not move in a 3D space. Standalone VR headsets that require no phone, such as the upcoming Oculus Go, offer six degrees of freedom (6DOF) allowing you to move up, down, left, right, backward, and forward in a 3D space. NextVR co-founder and CEO David Cole is bullish on the potential such standalone VR headsets can have on sports. “For instance, you are watching our center court camera feed and something obstructs the camera — like if a ref stands in front of the camera — you can physically move your body and look around it,” Cole told Digital Trends in June.

In a year, you could potentially be running around Yankee Stadium before a game, or even following along with the Dallas Cowboys. But it’s just as likely that none of this happens. Meanwhile, I’m not giving up my season passes.

Editor’s Recommendations

• NikeConnect lets NBA fans unlock exclusive content from their team jersey
• Canon wants fans to choose their own camera angle in this slick new VR system
• Keep a 360-degree view on Notre Dame-Michigan football game using Fox Sports VR
• Will we see an electrified Lamborghini? One man has until 2030 to figure it out
• The ultra-portable Pico Goblin is the first fully untethered VR headset

The Morning After: Monday, October 23rd 2017

Hey, good morning! You look fabulous.

Welcome back! We’ll set our alarms for Stranger Things season two and iPhone X pre-orders (3 AM ET, Friday for both) and quickly recap news you may have missed over the weekend, like a new price point for Essential’s first phone.

If you can’t get the SNES Classic Edition…Nintendo surprises the US with this SNES-themed 3DS XL

Turns out that SNES-themed 3DS XL isn’t a Europe exclusive after all. Now US gamers can grab this $200 handheld with its retro style and included code for Super Mario Kart on Amazon.

Andy Rubin’s new phone is suddenly $200 cheaper.Essential PH-1 gets a price cut to $499

Even with an impressive all-screen design, the Essential Phone is facing an uphill battle as an outsider. Also, as new flagships like the latest iPhones and Pixel 2 series enter the arena, its chance for sales at the high-end are likely slipping, and over the weekend Essential announced the price is dropping from $699 to $499. Early adopters who already purchased one aren’t entirely left out as they will receive a $200 coupon to use on accessories or another phone. Now we’ll find out if its sales fare better as a mid-tier option competing with phones like the OnePlus 5.

Cambridge said this paper was the ‘most-requested’ work on its open repositoryStephen Hawking makes his doctoral thesis from 1966 available online

Ever wondered how Stephen Hawking saw the universe as a doctoral candidate when his theories about black holes were just coming to fruition? You don’t have to hear about it second-hand, anymore — you can now go straight to the source.

IRL.What we’re watching: ‘Raw’ and ‘Feast of Fiction’

Need some help getting into the Halloween spirit? Timothy Seppala’s horror suggestions (Raw and Them) may help, while a different kind of hunger drives Kris Naudus’ YouTube food channel recommendations.

The stylus dream is coming true.How Microsoft embraced ‘messy’ creativity with Windows Ink

With the Surface Pen and Windows Ink, Microsoft found a way to let PC users do something completely new: It gave them a way to break free from the constraints of the keyboard and mouse.

Snitching.Windows 10 now includes TruePlay anti-cheat protection for games

Steam games have Valve Anti-Cheat to try to catch shady players, and now Universal Windows Platform games can tie into a similar Windows 10 feature called TruePlay. It keeps an eye on background processes and “behaviors and manipulations that are common in cheating scenarios.” Gamers can turn off its ability to phone home, but doing so could come at the cost of features like online multiplayer.

A respectable debut.Fitbit Ionic review

The Ionic is Fitbit’s first real smartwatch, but it feels rushed, like a placeholder to secure a spot on your wrist while you wait for marquee features to roll out. Right now, it’s favorably viewed as a fitness tracker with some smartwatch bonuses (and a long-lasting battery), but until its software and app support improves, the Ionic is “simply functional.”

Crush the ‘gram.The best devices and apps to up your selfie game

Looking for more likes, swipes or RTs? Self-proclaimed selfie queen Cherlynn Low explains what gear makes for the best pictures — and the real benefits that can follow.

But wait, there’s more…

• After Math: The fix is in
• The Wirecutter: the best DSLR for beginners
• LG’s OLED TVs now pack lossless 3D audio
• Feds warn energy, aviation companies of hacking threats
• Google aims to share revenue with news publishers

The Morning After is a new daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you’ll miss if you don’t subscribe.

Engadget UK giveaway: Win an iPhone 8 courtesy of Mobilefun.co.uk

You lucky devils, you. No sooner have we shipped one iPhone 8 off to a lucky competition winner than we have another one up for grabs. This week, we’re giving away a silver iPhone 8 (256GB) courtesy of our chums at Mobilefun.co.uk. Whether a prize or a purchase, the accessory retailer has all manner of cases and covers to protect your coveted iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus or the incoming iPhone X. You probably know the drill by now already: Parse the rules below, enter up to three times and then keep those fingers crossed.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

• Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
• Contest is open to all residents of the UK, 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
• Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) winner will receive one (1) iPhone 8.
• If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
• This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. Apple, Mobilefun.co.uk and Engadget / Oath are not held liable to honour warranties, exchanges or customer service.
• The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
• Entries can be submitted until October 27th at 11:59PM BST. Good luck!

Source: Mobilefun.co.uk

Android is getting a feature that encrypts website name requests

Google’s efforts to push websites to use encrypted connections is paying off. Just days ago, the search giant revealed that HTTPS use on its own products is at 89 percent overall, up from just 50 percent at the beginning of 2014. (Not sure what we’re blabbering on about? Just peep the green lock icon and the word “secure” in the address bar). Now, Google is adding an extra layer of security to Android. XDA Developers has spotted that DNS over TLS (Transport Layer Security) support is heading to the mobile OS, according to the Android Open Source Project — meaning DNS queries will be encrypted to the same level as HTTPS.

The Domain Name System (DNS) — often referred to as the internet’s phone book — translates domain names (like engadget.com) into machine-readable IP addresses. The process is hidden from users, but essentially applies to every website you visit. While TLS hides your DNS requests, it won’t afford you full privacy (as your Internet Service Provider can still see the IP address you’re communicating with). For that, you’ll still need a VPN app. But, this is also about DNS robustness. TLS would make it harder for hackers to hijack a DNS to spy on users or, worse still, to direct them to fake sites and phishing pages.

Updates to the Android repository suggest you will be able to disable DNS over TLS, and that it may arrive on a future update.

Via: XDA Developers

Missing plane: U.S. firm in talks to use its tech to help find MH370

Why it matters to you

Hopefully Ocean Infinity can use its technology and expertise to finally solve the mystery of Flight MH370.

It’s still utterly incomprehensible to many as to how a plane as large as a Boeing 777 could simply fly off into the night and never be seen again.

Search teams have been making every effort to locate Malaysia Airlines’ missing aircraft after it disappeared with 239 passengers and crew during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

With the relatives of those on board MH370 still desperate to know what happened on that fateful flight more than three years ago, and an entire industry equally keen for answers to this enduring mystery, the Malaysian government is now talking to a U.S. firm about the possibility of a new search effort that could work on a “no find, no fee” basis.

The government confirmed in recent days that it’s in discussions with Ocean Infinity, a seabed exploration firm based in Houston, Texas. If it gets the green light, Ocean Infinity could bear the cost of the search effort and only receive payment if it locates the missing aircraft.

Operating from its main multi-purpose ship, Ocean Infinity uses a range of autonomous vehicles to conduct its searches, including six underwater machines that are able to operate at a depth of 6,000 meters while collecting high-definition imagery from even deeper. Six unmanned surface vehicles work with the submersibles to ensure precise positioning and constant communication, the company explains on its website.

Ocean Infinity

Searching for a missing plane would be a first for Ocean Infinity, but it has growing experience using its deep-sea technology for operations such as seabed mapping and imaging, marine geological surveys, and environmental monitoring.

Endless search?

With costs spiraling,  lengthy multi-national search effort covering nearly 50,000 square miles of the southern Indian Ocean was called off at the start of this year.

It’s believed that a future search, possibly to be conducted by Ocean Infinity, will center on an area of interest of around 10,000 square miles identified by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, which the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said offers a “high probability” of revealing the missing plane.

The Malaysian government said it had received “several” proposals from private firms interested in resuming the search for the missing plane, and that having assessed the inquiries it is now “negotiating the terms and conditions with Ocean Infinity.”

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• California calls on the world’s only 747 SuperTanker to take on wildfires
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• Supersonic passenger jet prototype completes first unmanned test flight

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 shows up at TENAA with 5.99-inch 18:9 display

Xiaomi’s upcoming budget phone will feature an 18:9 display with thin bezels.

The Redmi Note 4 turned out to be one of the most popular devices in the budget segment this year, and it looks like Xiaomi is all set to announce a successor. A phone bearing model number MEE7 has made its way through TENAA, and the device in question is likely to be the Redmi Note 5. Based on the images in the listing, Xiaomi is looking to switch to an 18:9 display with thin bezels for its upcoming budget phone.

The design itself at the back looks very similar to that of the Redmi Note 4, and while we’ve seen Xiaomi introduce dual cameras in the budget segment with the Mi A1, it looks like the Redmi Note 5 will feature a single rear camera.

The TENAA listing also gives us a detailed look at the specs, with the Redmi Note 5 set to feature a 5.99-inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080, 3GB/4GB of RAM, 32GB and 64GB storage options, microSD slot, hybrid dual SIM card slot, 12MP camera at the back, 5MP front shooter, Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 4.2, and a 4000mAh battery.

There’s no mention of the chipset, but with this year’s phone powered by the Snapdragon 625, it’s not too unreasonable to assume that the Redmi Note 5 will feature the Snapdragon 630. The phone has dimensions of 158.5 x 75.45 x 8.05mm, and weighs 179g. On the software front, the device will run MIUI 9 atop Android 7.1.2.

The Redmi Note 4 enabled Xiaomi to become the second-largest handset maker in India in 2017, and the brand is undoubtedly looking to continue that momentum going into 2018. We’re light on details regarding an official launch, but we’ll let you know once we have more information. In the meantime, let us know what you’re looking forward to with the Redmi Note 5 in the comments.

EPA cancels scientists’ climate change talk at the last minute

If there were any lingering doubts that the Environmental Protection Agency under Scott Pruitt would suppress any mention of climate change by its scientists, they’ve just been erased. The agency has cancelled an October 23rd climate change talk in Rhode Island mere hours before it was slated to take place. A spokesman didn’t offer an explanation, but the three EPA scientists were expected to speak primarily about climate change and its effect on Narragansett Bay. The decision came from the EPA’s Office of Public Affairs.

The EPA researchers are allowed to attend the event, so they’re not completely excluded. However, they’re explicitly forbidden from attending the opening news conference or making any presentations. And when Pruitt hopes to cancel the National Estuary Program supporting the talk as part of his 2018 budget, agency scientists might not have anything to attend next year.

The cancellation isn’t coming out of the blue, of course. The EPA started scrubbing climate change references within weeks of Pruitt taking charge. However, it does validate suspicions that have been floating around for months: that the EPA would prevent scientists from doing their work if it clashed with the agency’s current agenda of climate change denial. Like it or not, you probably won’t hear much public discussion of climate science from EPA-backed scientists for a while.

Source: New York Times