ISPs Ask FCC to Allow 'Flexibility' on Customers' Privacy

Broadband industry lobby groups urged the Federal Communications Commission not to impose privacy rules that dictate "specific methods" of protecting customer data, since that would prevent "rapid innovation." ISPs should have "flexibility" in how they protect customers' privacy and security, said the letter from the American Cable Association, Competitive Carriers Association, Consumer Technology Association, CTIA, the Internet Commerce Coalition, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and USTelecom.

Senate Gives Final Approval to Ban on Internet Taxes

Congress voted to permanently bar state and local governments from taxing access to the Internet, as lawmakers leapt at an election-year chance to demonstrate their opposition to imposing levies on online service. On a vote of 75-20, the Senate gave final congressional approval to the wide-ranging bill, which would also revamp trade laws. President Barack Obama is expected to sign it.

DHS Secretary Vows 'Intensified' Work on Cybersecurity

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said that improving the nation’s cybersecurity and protecting against terrorism remain two of the department’s “cornerstones” in the final year of the Obama administration. “In the time left to me in office, I pledge all my energy to continue to protect the homeland and leave the Department of Homeland Security a better place than I found it,” Johnson said in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Uber Agrees to $28.5 Million Safety Settlement

Uber has agreed to pay $28.5 million to settle litigation brought by customers who alleged the ride hailing service misrepresented the quality of its safety practices and the fees it charged passengers, the company said. The two proposed class action lawsuits said Uber charged passengers a "Safe Rides Fee" of as much as $2.30 per trip to support its "industry leading background check process."

Google Executives Defend U.K. Tax Settlement

Executives for Alphabet Inc.’s Google business defended their settlement with the U.K.’s tax authority before a panel of British lawmakers, attempting to stanch criticism of a deal that detractors say let the search giant off too lightly. In testy exchanges with lawmakers, Tom Hutchinson, Google’s vice president of finance, said the deal reached with the U.K.’s tax authority was the largest settlement the Internet giant has paid outside the U.S.

Google to Scrub Search Results for European Users

Google will start scrubbing search results across all its websites when accessed from a European country to soothe the objections of Europe's privacy regulators to its implementation of a landmark EU ruling, a person close to the company said. The U.S. company has been at loggerheads with several European Union data protection authorities since the European Court of Justice ruled in May 2014 that people could ask search engines such as Google and Microsoft's Bing to remove inadequate or irrelevant information that appears under searches for their name -- dubbed the "right to be forgotten."

Obama's Op-Ed on 'Cybersecurity National Action Plan'

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, President Obama writes: "[T]oday, I’m announcing our new Cybersecurity National Action Plan, backed by my proposal to increase federal cybersecurity funding by more than a third, to over $19 billion. This plan will address both short-term and long-term threats, with the goal of providing every American a basic level of online security."

U.S. Official Warns of Large Internet Vulnerabilities

Attacks by "homegrown" terrorists are among the most imminent security threats facing the United States in 2016, along with dangers posed overseas by Islamic State and cyber security concerns, the top U.S. intelligence official said. In his annual assessment of threats to the United States, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper warned that fast-moving cyber and technological advances "could lead to widespread vulnerabilities in civilian infrastructures and U.S. government systems."

Twitter Seeks Advice from New 'Trust & Safety Council'

Twitter’s latest step in the tricky balancing act of championing free speech without also handing a free pass to orchestrated harassment via its platform is the announcement that it’s formed a “Trust & Safety Council” comprised of multiple external organizations with various interests in the two issues. The company said that the Twitter Trust & Safety Council will provide “input on our safety products, policies, and programs”.

France Says Facebook Must Change Data-Collection Practices

France’s data-protection regulator threatened to fine Facebook Inc. if the social-media site doesn’t change how it handles data about its users and others on the Internet, escalating a series of coordinated privacy probes into the social-network across five countries in Europe. In a 17-page order, France’s Commission Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés, or CNIL, said Facebook must within three months change a host of ways it collects and uses information about Internet users or face a sanctions proceeding that could lead to fines of up to 150,000 euros ($168,000).

Hacker Publishes Information on FBI, Homeland Employees

A hacker published information that exposes the names, titles, phone numbers and email addresses for thousands of FBI employees, after leaking similar data about 9,000 Department of Homeland Security employees. A Twitter account used by the hacker linked to the DHS and FBI personnel data along with messages suggesting support for a free Palestine and promising to leak data about thousands more workers unless the U.S. ends diplomatic relations with Israel.

Head of Swedish Post and Telecom Named President of ICANN

Sweden's Goran Marby was named head of the body that manages Internet addresses, pledging to uphold checks and balances as it steps out from under U.S. government oversight. Marby, director-general of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority, will take charge in May of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as the nonprofit transitions to become an independent non-governmental body.

Number of Internet Dating-Related Rapes Reportedly Spikes

Rapes related to online dating increased by nearly a factor of six -- from 33 in 2009 to 184 in 2014 -- according to a report released by the UK's National Crime Agency. That's a small fraction of the number of online encounters, to be sure. Seven million UK residents are currently registered with online dating sites, according to the report. But the increased number of rapes indicates that you need to keep your wits about you when meeting strangers.

Indian Rules Would Block Facebook's Free Internet Plan

India introduced rules to prevent Internet service providers from having different pricing policies for accessing different parts of the Web, in a setback to Facebook Inc's plan to roll out a pared-back free Internet service to the masses. The new rules came after a two-month long consultation process that saw Facebook launching a big advertisement campaign in support of its Free Basics program, which runs in more than 35 developing countries.

Russian Raid Cracks Down on Financial Hacking Operation

Russian authorities in November raided offices associated with a Moscow film distribution and production company as part of a crackdown on one of the world’s most notorious financial hacking operations, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. Cybersecurity experts said a password-stealing software program known as Dyre -- believed to be responsible for at least tens of millions of dollars in losses at financial institutions including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. -- has not been deployed since the time of the raid.

Teen's Murder Raises Safety Questions About Kik App

The death of Nicole Madison Lovell, a liver transplant and cancer survivor from Blacksburg, Va., has put Kik-- widely used by American teenagers but not as well known to adults as Snapchat or Instagram -- in the spotlight at a time when law enforcement officials say it has been linked to a growing number of abuse cases. Neighbors say that the day before she died, Nicole showed them Kik messages she had exchanged with an 18-year-old man she was to meet that night.

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.