The Live Nation-Ticketmaster trial is back on. Dozens of states are expected to move forward with their claims against the company’s alleged concert industry monopoly beginning on Monday, following a brief hearing on Friday.

The Justice Department and a handful of states have accepted settlements with the company, but the majority of the 40 state and district attorney general plaintiffs — as of now — are continuing their fight in court. The states that are pressing forward withdrew their motion for a mistrial, filed after the DOJ announced its settlement in court Monday, and showed up with new outside counsel to lead their trial team in the absence of the federal litigators. The judge also said that jurors will be allowed to see internal chats between Live Nation employees who bragged about how they “gouge” fans, overruling opposition from the company.

In a hearing Friday that lasted less than an hour, Judge Arun Subramanian — visibly cheerier than he was earlier this week when he scolded attorneys for failing to inform him of an impending settlement earlier — sorted through trial logistics and issued orders on exhibits. In order to take over the case, the now-departed DOJ trial team continued to work to transfer information the proceeding states would need at trial, the states’ co-lead attorney Jonathan Hatch said. But there are still some things left in the DOJ database that haven’t yet transferred, he said. At the judge’s request, the DOJ agreed to ensure that access wasn’t cut off until the states and their counsel got everything they needed.

Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota have all either signed an agreement similar to the DOJ’s with Live Nation, or are close to doing so. South Carolina is continuing to negotiate with the company, and may continue with the litigation unless the state reaches an agreement on its monetary demands before then. An attorney speaking on behalf of these states said South Carolina had reached an agreement in principle on updated injunctive terms of the settlement, though it’s not clear what those are. That leaves more than 30 state AGs still involved in the litigation, unless things change before Monday.

The trial is expected to pick up with the testimony of AEG COO Jay Marciano, who was the last witness to be questioned by a DOJ trial lawyer in the case. Marciano was only partway through his testimony when court adjourned for the day, so the states will likely need to refresh the jurors’ memories, after their new trial team introduces themselves. AEG is a competitor to Live Nation-Ticketmaster and a similarly integrated ticketing and live events promotion business.

The judge also allowed several exhibits containing Slack messages between Live Nation employees to be shown to the jury, after the company sought to exclude them. The messages came to light this week after the judge unsealed them following requests from a group of media outlets.

The messages from 2022 included two then-regional directors for ticketing at the company’s amphitheatres boasting about how they “gouge” fans with ancillary costs, like for parking or VIP access, and ridiculing fans as “stupid” and saying Live Nation was “robbing them blind.” Live Nation spokesperson Emily Wofford described the exchange as one from a “junior staffer to a friend” and said it “absolutely does not reflect our values or how we operate.” In a brief opposing the motion to exclude the chats, however, the plaintiffs say these “junior” employees now hold important positions at the company: one is the head of ticketing for the arm of Live Nation that operates its amphitheatres, and the other is a senior director of ticketing for Live Nation’s Capital Region.

“Because this was a private Slack message, leadership learned of this when the public did, and will be looking into the matter promptly,” Wofford said in a statement. “Our business only works when fans have great experiences, which is why we’ve capped amphitheater venue fees at 15% and have invested $1 billion in the last 18 months into U.S. venues and fan amenities.”

Live Nation had sought to exclude the exhibits from being shown to the jury, with its attorneys arguing they were simply “informal Slack messages” without relevance to the case. Attorneys for the government argued the messages represent “candid, internal messages” that rebut the company’s claim that it invests in amphitheaters to give fans and artists a great choice of where to see a concert. The judge agreed that Live Nation had “opened the door” to this kind of evidence by bringing up the quality of fan experiences at its venues in its opening statement.

In any event, the show will go on beginning Monday morning.

Cancer surgery often requires patients to travel to the specialist. This time, the specialist traveled to the patient. Doctors at The London Clinic remotely guided a robotic system to remove a man’s prostate cancer from 1,500 miles away.

The patient remained in a hospital operating room while the surgeon controlled the procedure from another country. The milestone operation marks the first time a U.K. hospital has successfully performed remote robot-assisted telesurgery on a patient.

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How the remote robotic surgery worked

The procedure connected two hospitals nearly 1,500 miles apart. The surgeon, Professor Prokar Dasgupta, operated from a robotic control console at The London Clinic’s robotic center at Harley Street.

AI ROBOT PERFORMS GALLBLADDER SURGERY AUTONOMOUSLY
 

The patient lay in an operating room at St Bernard’s Hospital. Between them sat an advanced surgical robot. The system used was the Toumai robotic surgical system developed by MicroPort MedBot, a platform designed for high-precision minimally invasive procedures.

From the console in London, Dasgupta controlled:

• Four robotic surgical arms
• A high-definition 3D camera
• Specialized surgical tools

Fiber optic networks carried every movement from the surgeon’s hands to the robot in Gibraltar. A secure network infrastructure designed by Presidio connected the two hospitals. The delay between command and movement was about 48 milliseconds, which is fast enough to feel almost real time.

For delicate procedures like prostate cancer surgery, that speed really matters. Urological surgeons James Allen and Paul Hughes were part of the local surgical team in Gibraltar, ready to step in if the connection dropped or complications occurred. The operation went smoothly.

The patient behind the milestone surgery

The patient, Paul Buxton, is a 62-year-old resident of Gibraltar who has lived there for about four decades. Patients who need specialized prostate cancer surgery often travel to larger medical centers such as London or Madrid. That journey can mean long waiting lists, travel costs and weeks away from home.

Buxton avoided that disruption. He received the procedure in his local hospital. He had originally planned to travel to London for surgery but was offered the chance to participate in a telesurgery trial between the two hospitals earlier in February. Reports say he felt fantastic within days. The technology removed a major burden for him and allowed him to recover close to home.

Why this surgery matters for the future of medicine

This operation did not appear overnight. Remote robotic surgery has been developing for decades. One of the earliest examples took place during the Lindbergh Operation. In that procedure, surgeons in New York remotely removed a patient’s gallbladder in Strasbourg, France.

HUMANOID ROBOT PERFORMS MEDICAL PROCEDURES VIA REMOTE CONTROL
 

Technology has improved dramatically since then. Recent developments include cross-continent robotic surgeries between Rome and Beijing. Surgeons have also completed long-distance prostate operations using the same Toumai platform in parts of Africa. The London Clinic procedure signals an important shift. Remote robotic surgery is moving from experimental demonstrations toward practical medical use.

The hospitals plan to demonstrate the technology further by live-streaming a telesurgery procedure to thousands of surgeons at the upcoming European Association of Urology Congress.

The technology that makes telesurgery possible

Several technologies work together to make remote surgery viable.

Ultra-low latency networks

Surgeons must see and react instantly during an operation. Even small delays can make precise movements difficult. Modern fiber optic networks and backup 5G connections help keep latency extremely low.

High precision surgical robots

Robotic surgical systems translate a surgeon’s hand movements into smaller and more stable movements inside the patient’s body. That precision often improves outcomes in delicate procedures such as prostate cancer removal.

Advanced imaging systems

High-definition 3D cameras allow surgeons to see the surgical area with remarkable clarity. In many cases, the view from a robotic console is clearer than what surgeons see in traditional open surgery.

Challenges hospitals still need to solve

Remote robotic surgery still faces important hurdles. Infrastructure remains a major challenge. Hospitals must maintain extremely reliable networks with almost no downtime. Cost also plays a role. Robotic surgical systems and specialized networks can cost millions of dollars. Regulation raises additional questions. Surgeons who operate across borders introduce legal and licensing complexities.

Every remote procedure also requires backup plans. Local surgical teams must remain ready to step in if technology fails. For now, hospitals treat telesurgery as an emerging capability rather than a routine practice.

SPACE SURGERY EXPERIMENT COULD PROVIDE PATHWAY FOR MEDICAL CARE IN EARTH’S MOST REMOTE REGIONS
 

What this means to you

For patients, the long-term implications could be significant. In the future, you may not need to travel to a major medical center for complex procedures. Instead, specialists could operate remotely while you stay in a hospital closer to home. This shift could benefit people in rural communities and regions with limited access to specialists.

Remote robotic surgery may also shorten wait times for certain procedures. Safety will remain the top priority. Hospitals must prove that remote procedures are as reliable as traditional surgery before the technology becomes widespread.

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Kurt’s key takeaways

For years, remote surgery sounded like something far off in the future. Now it is starting to move into real operating rooms. The procedure connecting London and Gibraltar shows how quickly surgical technology is advancing. Reliable networks and advanced robots now allow surgeons to guide delicate procedures from thousands of miles away. That does not mean remote surgery will become common overnight. Hospitals still need strong network infrastructure, trained specialists and clear safety standards before it spreads widely. Even so, the direction is becoming clear. Distance may no longer prevent patients from accessing world-class surgical care.

Would you feel comfortable having surgery performed by a specialist operating from another city, state] or country if the technology proved safe? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Mobile gaming has come a long way over the course of the last decade or so, but we all know that smartphones simply can’t match the visceral, tactile feel you get while playing with a dedicated controller. Luckily, Backbone makes some excellent mobile options — including last year’s Backbone Pro, which is on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target right now for $139.99 ($30 off), its second-best price to date.

In many ways, Backbone’s latest mobile controller is merely an updated take on what came before. The handheld device consists of two oblong halves with an extendable strip of plastic in the middle, allowing you to use it with Android devices and iPhone 15, 16, and 17 series phones. It plugs into your phone’s USB-C port and, once connected, you can game with two full-sized ALPs thumbsticks, a responsive D-pad, and A, B, X, and Y buttons. It also features two programmable back buttons, a 3.5mm headphone jack, better ergonomics than your phone, and averages up to 40 hours of battery life on a single charge.

The hardware is only part of the equation, though. Backbone’s intent with the Pro is for it to function as a more universal gamepad, and as such, the company’s software pulls together games from Apple Arcade, Netflix, Google Play, and other services into a singular app, allowing you to discover and launch games with little fuss. What’s more, you can use it to stream Xbox or PlayStation games — either from your console or the cloud —and connect it to a wealth of other devices via Bluetooth, including your PC, Steam Deck, and Apple devices like the iPad and Mac. Sure, the beefy controller looks a little awkward when you’re using it without a phone, but it’s a small price to pay for its added versatility.