New York Times Sues Perplexity for Copyright Infringement

The New York Times claimed in a lawsuit that its copyrights were repeatedly violated by Perplexity, an artificial intelligence start-up that has built a cutting-edge internet search engine. The Times said in its lawsuit that it had contacted Perplexity several times over the past 18 months, demanding that the start-up stop using the publication’s content until the two companies negotiated an agreement.

White House Plan to Block States' AI Laws Called Likely to Fail

Pressure from President Trump to block state-level AI regulation is falling short on Capitol Hill. Although the White House and Hill allies have landed on an AI preemption proposal and are pressing ahead, time is running out and opposition is mounting as sources familiar with the matter described the proposal from Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) as "a long shot," "it's dead" and "it will fail."

YouTube to Restrict Access for Users Under 16 in Australia

YouTube is taking steps to comply with Australia’s upcoming under-16s social media ban, even after rejecting its inclusion in the crackdown and speculation that the company was considering a court challenge. Anyone under the age of 16 in Australia will be automatically signed out of their YouTube accounts on Dec. 10 when the law takes effect, Rachel Lord, public policy senior manager for Google and YouTube Australia, said in a blog post.

India Drops Plan to Require State-Run Cybersecurity App on Phones

India's government scrapped an order to smartphone makers to preload a state-run cybersecurity app on all new devices after an outcry from politicians, privacy advocates and global tech companies over surveillance fears. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government had privately told companies including Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi on November 28 to preload new phones with an app that cannot be deleted called Sanchar Saathi within 90 days.

Missouri Becomes 25th State with Age-Verification Law for Porn

Half of the states in the U.S. are under restrictive age verification laws that require adults to hand over their biometric and personal identification to access legal porn as Missouri became the 25th state to enact its own age verification law. As it’s done in multiple other states, Pornhub and its network of sister site — some of the largest adult content platforms in the world — pulled service in Missouri, replacing their homepages with a video of performer Cherie DeVille speaking about the privacy risks and chilling effects of age verification.

Australian Boy Sues Over Law Banning Social Media for Young Teens

A teenager suing the Australian government to overturn a ban on social media for under-16s says the measure would make the Internet more dangerous for young people and be widely circumvented. The law, due to take effect on December 10, would block minors from platforms such as Meta's Instagram, TikTok and Snap's Snapchat. The government says the ban will protect children from harmful content and online predators.

Supreme Court Hears Arguments About ISP Liability for Songs

The Supreme Court grappled with the practical implications of a closely watched copyright clash testing whether Internet providers can be held liable for the piracy of thousands of songs online. Leading music labels and publishers who represent artists ranging from Bob Dylan to Beyoncé sued Cox Communications in 2018, saying it had failed to terminate the internet connections of subscribers who had been repeatedly flagged for illegally downloading and distributing copyrighted music.

Georgia Real Estate Authority Hit by Ransomware Attack

A state authority that oversees and manages a widely used database of Georgia’s real estate records said it recently suffered a sophisticated ransomware attack. The Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority, which operates the central database for the state’s real estate index, announced Sunday it restricted its website and halted related services because of the cyberattack.

Italy's Competition Regulator Widens Probe of WhatsApp

Italy’s competition regulator has broadened the scope of an investigation into WhatsApp-owner Meta Platforms over the social media giant’s artificial intelligence chatbot policy, saying the company could face interim measures over its rules. The Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato said it is now scrutinizing a policy WhatsApp introduced in October excluding rival chatbots from its messaging service and the company’s integration of its own AI features into the messaging platform.

Russia Threatens to Block WhatsApp for Failing to Comply with Laws

Russia's state communications watchdog threatened to block WhatsApp entirely if it fails to comply with Russian law, news agencies reported. In August, Russia began limiting some calls on WhatsApp, owned by Meta Platforms and on Telegram, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of refusing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.

North Korean Hacking Group Suspected in Crypto Attack

North Korean hacking group Lazarus is suspected of being behind an exploit that saw 45 billion won (about $30 million) drained from South Korea’s largest crypto exchange Upbit, Yonhap News reported. South Korean authorities plan to carry out an on-site investigation at the crypto exchange and believe Lazarus was behind the incident, according to the report, which cited unidentified government and industry sources.

EU Lawmakers to Hold Social Media Companies Liable for Fraud

Platforms including Meta and TikTok will be held liable for financial fraud for the first time under new rules agreed by EU lawmakers. As a compromise, lawmakers agreed that banks should reimburse victims if a scammer, impersonating the bank, swindles them out of their money, or if payments are processed without consent, but social media companies will have to compensate banks if it’s clear that they failed to remove an online scam that had been reported.

U.S. Patent Office Issues Guidelines on Using AI in Inventions

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued new guidelines outlining when inventions created with the help of artificial intelligence can be patented. USPTO Director John Squires said in a notice that the office considers generative AI systems to be "analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, research databases, or any other tool that assists in the inventive process."

Singapore Orders Apple, Google to Stop Government Spoofing

Singapore's police have ordered Apple and Google to prevent the spoofing of government agencies on their messaging platforms, the home affairs ministry said. The order under the nation's Online Criminal Harms Act came after the police observed scams on Apple's iMessage and Google Messages purporting to be from companies such as the local postal service SingPost.

Senators Want FTC to Probe Meta for Profiting from Fraudulent Ads

Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to regulators, requesting an investigation into Meta for allegedly profiting from fraudulent advertisements. The letter, sent to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Andrew Ferguson and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Paul Atkins, calls on their agencies to “investigate and, if appropriate, bring enforcement actions against Meta for its facilitation of and profiting from criminal investment scams, fake government benefits schemes, deepfake pornography, and other fraudulent activities.”

Poland's Anti-Monopoly Office Investigating Apple on Mobile Ads

Poland's anti-monopoly office UOKiK is investigating whether Apple is restricting competition in the mobile advertising market through its privacy policy, it said. The regulator suspects that the tech giant's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework, introduced in iOS 14.5 and later versions, could limit third-party apps' ability to collect user data for personalized ads while favoring Apple’s own advertising service.

Lawsuit Filings Show Meta Stopped Research on Mental Health Links

Meta shut down internal research into the mental health effects of Facebook after finding causal evidence that its products harmed users’ mental health, according to unredacted filings in a lawsuit by U.S. school districts against Meta and other social media platforms. In a 2020 research project code-named “Project Mercury,” Meta scientists worked with survey firm Nielsen to gauge the effect of “deactivating” Facebook, according to Meta documents obtained via discovery.

Judge Blocks OpenAI from Using 'Cameo' to Describe its Video App

OpenAI will not be allowed use the word “cameo” to name any products or features in its Sora app for a month after a federal judge placed a temporary restraining order for the term on the AI startup. U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee granted a temporary restraining order, blocking OpenAI from using the “cameo” mark or similar words like “Kameo” or “CameoVideo” for any function related to Sora, the company’s AI-generated video app.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Spanish Court Orders Meta to Pay $522 Million for Behavioral Advertising

A Spanish court has ordered Facebook owner Meta to pay 479 million euros ($552 million) to Spanish digital media outlets for unfair competition practices and infringing European Union data protection regulation, a ruling the company will appeal. Madrid's Commercial Court said that the compensation, to be paid out to 87 digital press publishers and news agencies, was linked to Meta's use of personal data for behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

Google Ordered to Pay $542 Million to German Price Comparison Site

Google must pay the German price comparison platform Idealo approximately 465 million euros ($542 million) in damages for market abuse, a Berlin court has ruled. The court found that Google had abused its dominant market position in two case decisions and ordered the U.S. technology giant to pay damages, both rulings can be appealed, a court spokesperson told Reuters.

Subscribe

The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.