Apple Urges Supreme Court to Decline Samsung Patent Case

Apple filed its arguments to the Supreme Court, not surprisingly telling the nation’s highest court that there is no reason for it to take up Samsung’s appeal in the long-running patent dispute. Samsung made its case in a December filing that the court could help settle a range of issues around design patents, particularly how damages are calculated. Google and Facebook also filed arguments encouraging the court to hear Samsung’s appeal.

House Committee Plans Vote on Email Privacy Bill

The House Judiciary Committee will vote next month on email privacy legislation that has failed to move despite widespread support in recent years. Committee Chairman Bob Goddlatte (R-Va.) said the legislation is necessary to update a 1986 law to explicitly require the government to obtain a warrant when it is seeking to access emails or other electronic communications.

Chinese Hackers Attempt to Get 20 Million Taobao Records

Hackers in China attempted to access over 20 million active accounts on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Taobao e-commerce website using Alibaba's own cloud computing service, according to a state media report posted on the Internet regulator's website. An Alibaba spokesman said the company detected the attack in "the first instance", reminded users to change passwords, and worked closely with the police investigation.

U.S. Officials Link Cyberattack to Ukraine Power Grid

U.S. investigators have found evidence to confirm what is believed to be the first-of-its-kind cyberattack on a power grid that caused a blackout for hundreds of thousands of people in Ukraine in December. A U.S. official close to the investigation said the power outage was caused by a sophisticated attack using destructive malware that wrecked computers and wiped out sensitive control systems for parts of the Ukrainian power grid.

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EU Watchdog Studying New European-U.S. Data Deal

An EU watchdog said it needed time to study a new EU-U.S. agreement on data transfers to determine whether the United States was committed to limiting intelligence surveillance of Europeans. Negotiators from the European Union and the United States agreed the data pact that will replace the Safe Harbour framework, which a top EU court ruled illegal last year amid concerns over mass U.S. government snooping.

Ex-Yahoo Manager Says Rankings Violate Employment Laws

One of Marissa Mayer’s signature policies as chief executive of Yahoo has been the quarterly performance review, in which every employee at the company is ranked on a scale of 1 to 5. Now, as Ms. Mayer prepares to announce a streamlining plan on Tuesday that is likely to involve even more job cuts, one former manager who lost his job is challenging the entire system as discriminatory and a violation of federal and California laws governing mass layoffs.

U.S., EU Negotiators Agree on New Data Pact

European and U.S. negotiators agreed a data pact that should prevent European Union regulators from restricting data transfers by companies such as Google and Amazon across the Atlantic. The European Union and the United States have been racing to replace the Safe Harbour framework that was outlawed by a top EU court last year over concerns about U.S. mass surveillance, leaving thousands of companies in legal limbo.

Government's Encryption Warnings Overblown, Study Says

For more than two years the FBI and intelligence agencies have warned that encrypted communications are creating a “going dark” crisis that will keep them from tracking terrorists and kidnappers. Now, a study in which current and former intelligence officials participated concludes that the warning is wildly overblown, and that a raft of new technologies -- like television sets with microphones and web-connected cars -- are creating ample opportunities for the government to track suspects, many of them worrying.

Federal Agencies' Anti-Hacking System Called Limited

A $6 billion security system intended to keep hackers out of computers belonging to federal agencies isn’t living up to expectations, an audit by the Government Accountability Office has found. A public version of the secret audit released last week -- a secret version containing more sensitive findings was circulated to government agencies in November -- concerns the Einstein system, formally called the National Cybersecurity Protection System and operated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Nokia Wins Patent Arbitration Decision with Samsung at ICC

Nokia Oyj received a positive arbitration court decision in a patent dispute with Samsung Electronics Co. that will bolster the revenue it generates from its intellectual property portfolio. The decision by a court of the International Chamber of Commerce settles the amount of additional compensation payable to Nokia for a five-year extension of a licensing pact between the companies, Nokia said in a statement.

U.S., EU Officials Fail to Reach Deal on Data Transfers

American and European officials failed to reach an agreement over how digital data -- including financial information and social media posts -- could be transferred between the two regions. Without an agreement, companies that regularly move data, including tech giants like Google and nontech companies like General Electric, could find themselves in murky legal waters.

Law Professor Says T-Mobile's Video Service Likely Illegal

A new report by an influential Stanford law professor concluded that T-Mobile’s new video offering is likely “illegal” under net neutrality rules. Professor Barbara van Schewick submitted a 51-page report to the Federal Communications Commission that accused the carrier's program, named Binge On, of violating the FCC’s general conduct rule that bars Internet service providers from unreasonably interfering with customers’ Internet choices.

Man Gets Five Years Probation for Distributing Malware

An Arizona man who co-created software distributed by an organization called Blackshades that was used to hack into a million computers worldwide was sentenced to five years of probation. Michael Hogue, who online was known by the moniker "xVisceral," was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan after pleading guilty in 2013 to distributing malware and conspiring to commit computer hacking.

Facebook Institutes Ban on Private Sales of Guns

Facebook is banning private sales of guns on its flagship social network and its Instagram photo-sharing service, a move meant to clamp down on unlicensed gun transactions. Facebook already prohibits people from offering marijuana, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs for sale, and the company said on Friday that it was updating its policy to include guns.

Congress to Probe NSA Links to Juniper Networks

A U.S. congressional probe into the impact of a hack of Juniper Networks Inc. software will examine the possibility that it was initially altered at the behest of the National Security Agency, a lawmaker said in an interview. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent letters asking some two dozen agencies to provide documents showing whether they used Juniper devices running ScreenOS software.