Merkel Wants Facebook to Take Action Against Hate Speech

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Facebook to do more against racist comments and hate posts, in comments due to be published in a regional newspaper. Germany is expecting a record-breaking influx of refugees this year. Politicians and celebrities have voiced concern about a rise of xenophobic comments in German on Facebook and other social media platforms because of the refugee crisis.

Gov't Personnel Hacking Called Threat to U.S. Spies Abroad

The breach of U.S. security clearance information in the cyber-hacking of the federal government's personnel office poses a "significant counterintelligence threat" and could compromise the identities of American spies abroad, senior U.S. officials said. Testifying before a U.S. House of Representatives panel, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said there were no signs yet of any "nefarious" use of data accessed in the hacking of the Office of Personnel Management, which was disclosed in June.

Cyberthreat to Energy Department Called 'Absolutely Real'

Cyber attackers successfully compromised the security of U.S. Department of Energy computer systems more than 150 times between 2010 and 2014, according to a review of federal records obtained by USA Today. Incident reports submitted by federal officials and contractors since late 2010 to the Energy Department's Joint Cybersecurity Coordination Center shows a near-consistent barrage of attempts to breach the security of critical information systems that contain sensitive data about the nation

Health Insurer Hacking Exposes Data on 10 Million Members

Upstate New York health insurer Excellus BlueCross BlueShield said its computer systems and those at affiliates had been breached, exposing data from more than 10 million members, in the latest case to show the industry is still struggling to ward off hackers. The Rochester-based insurer said it and its affiliates had been the target of a sophisticated cyber attack and that it was taking steps to address the situation and offering free identity theft protection services to those affected.

Microsoft Wants Court to Block Disclosure of E-mails from Ireland

Microsoft Corp. asked a federal appeals court to block the U.S. government from forcing the company to hand over a customer's emails stored on an Irish server, warning that the precedent would create a "global free-for-all" that eviscerates personal privacy. The case, the first in which a U.S. company has challenged a warrant seeking data held abroad, has captured the attention of the technology industry, privacy advocates and news organizations.

Court Rejects Murder Defendants' Rights to Facebook Records

Criminal defendants’ right to information that will aid in their defense doesn’t extend before trial to social networking posts that are protected under federal law, a California appeals court ruled. The decision by a division of the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco rejected two murder defendants’ efforts to get access to records from the Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts of the victim and a prosecution witness.

Group Threatens Financial Firms' Websites, Demands Bitcoins

A cybercriminal group going by the name “DD4BC” is blackmailing financial institutions, threatening to take down their customer websites unless they pay a hefty bitcoin ransom. DD4BC -- which stands for “DDoS for Bitcoin” (Distributed Denial of Service for Bitcoin) -- has been targeting firms since mid-2014, so far evading international police forces.

 

Presidential Candidates Seeking Funds from Tech Leaders

With 435 days to go until Election Day 2016, several of the major party candidates -- including Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio -- have already made early pilgrimages to Silicon Valley, looking to drum up support and to build their campaign war chests.  Over the last few years, tech companies have hired an army of lobbyists intended to boost their reach in Washington.

Europe Still Considering Antitrust Charges for Android

The European Commission has still to determine whether it will charge Google with market abuse over its Android mobile operating system, Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. The Commission, which is in charge of antitrust issues in the European Union, accused Google in April of cheating competitors by distorting Internet search results in favor of its Google shopping service and at the same time opened the Android probe.

U.S. Government Clashing with Tech Companies Over Access

U.S. government conflicts with Apple and Microsoft reflect heightened corporate resistance, in the post-Edward J. Snowden era, by American technology companies intent on demonstrating that they are trying to protect customer information. President Obama has charged White House Homeland Security and cybersecurity officials, along with those at the Justice Department, the FBI and the intelligence agencies, with proposing solutions -- some legislative, some not -- to the technology access issue

Ireland, Europe Face Battle Over Apple's Tax Treatment

Ireland will probably face censure from European authorities within months in relation to its tax dealings with Apple Inc., according to a person with knowledge of the matter. A finding against Ireland will spark a legal battle that may last years, as the government is ready to fight the decision in the European Union Court of Justice, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the case is ongoing.

Latvian Man Pleads Guilty to Role in 'Gozi' Virus

A Latvian man pleaded guilty to engaging in a scheme to transmit a computer virus that infected more than a million computers worldwide and caused tens of millions of dollars in losses. Deniss Calovskis, 30, pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan to conspiring to commit computer intrusion, admitting that he had been hired to write some of the computer code that made the so-called Gozi virus so effective.

Competitor Sues Waze for Using Its Proprietary Data

A competitor to Waze claims in a lawsuit the driving directions app stole its data, unjustly beefing up its product before selling to Google. In a lawsuit filed in a San Francisco federal court, traffic information app maker PhantomAlert claims it discovered the theft when it found its proprietary information on Waze, which Google purchased in 2013 for a little less than $1 billion.

Game Distributor Settles with FTC Over Paid Videos

Machinima Inc., a popular distributor of online videos about games, agreed to settle charges that it didn’t tell viewers it paid some influential publishers to post videos about Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One system and games. The Federal Trade Commission said Machinima, an early leader in so-called multichannel networks, paid “influencers” as part of marketing campaign managed by Microsoft’s advertising agency, Starcom MediaVest Group.

Judge OKs $415M Settlement in Tech Hiring Case

A U.S. judge granted final approval to a $415 million settlement that ends a high profile lawsuit in which workers accused Apple, Google and two other Silicon Valley companies of conspiring to hold down salaries. The plaintiffs alleged that Apple Inc, Google Inc , Intel Corp and Adobe Systems Inc agreed to avoid poaching each other's employees, thus limiting job mobility and, as a result, keeping a lid on salaries.

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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.