In today’s roundup of technology headlines:

  • Netflix is re-coding to save bandwidth
  • VTech hack arrest has been made
  • The first Uber-Lyft union is OK’d
  • Germany targets quick net hate speech removal
  • Samsung wants $399M court loss to Apple tossed

The details:

  • Netflix re-codes library to reduce bandwidth usage

Netflix is working on ways to reduce bandwidth usage by as much as 20 percent, according to tech news site SlashGear.

“The company has long had a few different quality levels that they can display content at, but these have always been used to simply cater to the amount of available bandwidth on a connection,” SlashGear reports. “What the company is now doing is analyzing each individual title, and re-encoding them based on what type of content is being displayed.”

Read details at:

http://www.slashgear.com/netflix-re-encodes-their-library-to-save-bandwidth-increase-quality-15418569/

  • British police arrest 21-year-old man in VTech hacking

Police in the UK say they’ve made an arrest in the hacking of kids’ technology maker VTech, which compromised the personal information of more than 6 million children around the world.

The South East Regional Organised Crime Unit, a regional task force made up of a handful of English police departments, says its cybercrime unit arrested a 21-year-old man was on hacking-related charges Tuesday morning in Bracknell, a town about 30 miles west of London.

Police seized a number of electronic items that will be examined by a cybercrime forensics unit.

Craig Jones, who heads the cybercrime unit, says in a statement that the investigation remains in its early stages and much work still needs to be done. Few other details were provided.

  • Seattle becomes first US city to let Uber drivers unionize

Seattle on Monday became the first city in the nation to allow drivers of ride-hailing companies such as Uber and Lyft to unionize over pay and working conditions.

Supporters erupted into cheers after the City Council voted 8-0 in favor of the legislation, which is seen as a test case for the changing 21st century workforce. The companies strongly oppose it, and several council members acknowledged there would be legal challenges ahead but said it was worth doing.

The measure requires companies that hire or contract with drivers of taxis, for-hire transportation companies and app-based ride-hailing services to bargain with theirdrivers, if a majority shows they want to be represented. Drivers would be represented by nonprofit organizations certified by the city.

Seattle has been a national leader on workers’ rights, such as gradually raising the minimum wage to $15 and requiring most employers to provide paid sick leave.

  • Germany: Web giants pledge to delete hate speech in 24 hours

Facebook, Google and Twitter have agreed to delete hate speech deemed illegal in Germany within 24 hours.

The move follows pressure from German authorities concerned about the increasing volume of racist abuse being posted on social networking sites.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the Justice Ministry and the three companies said that it will become easier for users and anti-racism groups to flag hate speech.

The content will be examined by specialist teams and removed within a day if possible.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said the measures weren’t intended to curtail free speechbut rather to ensure German law is applied online.

Germany has strict laws against incitement to racial hatred, a reaction to the country’s Nazi past.

  • Samsung asks Supreme Court to throw out $399M judgment

In its patent dispute with Apple, Samsung is asking theSupreme Court to take a digital-age look at an issue it last confronted in the horse-and-buggy era.

South Korea-based Samsung on Monday appealed a $399 million judgment for illegally copying patented aspects of the look of Apple’s iPhone, the latest round in a long-running fight between the two tech-industry giants.

The last time the Supreme Court heard cases on patents covering the appearance of a product instead of the way it works was in the late 1800s, when the court battles concerned designs of spoon handles, carpets and saddles.

The smartphone is fast becoming as common a possession as those items were in the Victorian age. Nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, the Pew Research Center said in April, up from about a third just four years earlier. Apple and Samsungare the top two manufacturers of smartphones.

None of the earlier-generation Galaxy and other Samsung phones involved in the lawsuit remains on the market, Samsung said.