Justice Dep't Appeals iPhone-Unlocking Decision in New York

In the latest volley in its high-profile fight with Apple, the Justice Department said that a federal judge in Brooklyn had erred last week in refusing to order the company to unlock a drug dealer’s iPhone. “Apple is not being asked to do anything it does not currently have the capability to do,” Justice Department prosecutors said as they appealed the decision made Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

National Guard's Cyber Squadron Could Help Fight ISIS

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said the National Guard's cyber squadrons will play an increasingly important role in assessing the vulnerabilities of U.S. industrial infrastructure and could be asked to join the fight against Islamic State. The National Guard -- a reserve military force that resides in the states but can be mobilized for national needs -- is a key part of the military's larger effort to set up over 120 cyber squadrons to respond to cyber attacks and prevent them.

Amazon to Restore Encryption Option for Fire Tablets

Amazon.com Inc. will restore encryption as a security option on its tablets and other devices that use the Fire operating system, following a customer backlash driven by increased sensitivity about data protection as Apple Inc. grapples with the FBI over access to a terrorist’s iPhone. Amazon removed encryption from the devices in late 2015, possibly to reduce costs for its tablets and electronic readers.

Google to Extend 'Right-to-Delist' Beyond European Sites

Google has confirmed previous reports that it is to comply with European regulators requesting that the Internet giant extend the scope of the so-called “right-to-be-forgotten” legislation beyond that of European search engines. The right-to-be-forgotten ruling, or “right to delist” as Google perhaps more accurately calls it, was the result of an E.U. directive back in 2014 that was designed to help individuals hide web pages that contained out-of-date, irrelevant, and ultimately “damaging” information about them.

Amazon Drops Disk Encryption from Fire Tablets

Amazon.com has quietly dropped support for disk encryption on its Fire tablets, saying the feature that secures devices by scrambling data was not popular with customers. Privacy advocates and some users criticized the move, which came to light even as Applewas waging an unprecedented legal battle over U.S. government demands that the iPhone maker help unlock an encrypted phone used by San Bernardino shooter Rizwan Farook.

Samsung Unsure About Supporting Apple in Court in FBI Case

Samsung Electronics Co. called customer privacy “extremely important” and said any requirement to build backdoors into its devices would undermine trust, as it weighs in on Apple Inc.’s escalating battle against the U.S. government. The world’s largest smartphone vendor echoed many of its arch-rival’s arguments but said it hadn’t decided if it will file a friend-of-the-court brief in support of the iPhone maker.

German Court Allows Facebook to Enforce Real-Name Policy

Facebook may prevent its users from using fake names, a German court said, overturning a previous order from the Hamburg data protection authority. The ruling is a coup for the social network firm which has long argued its real-name policy ensures people know who they are sharing and connecting with and protects them from the abuse of the wide-open Internet.

Apple-FBI Fight Raises Questions About Chinese Government

Apple’s refusal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s request to help unlock a shooter’s iPhone has been a hot topic not only in its home country but in its biggest foreign market: China. Some Chinese have questioned whether the move is a marketing stunt, but others have supported Apple for standing up to the government -- something unimaginable for Chinese companies. Some also have asked: What if the Chinese government asked Apple to do the same thing? Could Apple say no?

Fake New York Times Article on Sanders Endorsement Taken Down

A webpage that masqueraded as a New York Times article and claimed that Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts had endorsed Bernie Sanders for president circulated widely on social media. The fake news article, which mimicked The Times’s typefaces and design and included the bylines of two of the newspaper’s political reporters, appeared with the headline “Warren Endorses Sanders, Breaking With Colleagues.”

Apple, FBI Argue Against Each Other at House Hearing

The fight on encryption between Apple and the FBI moved to Capitol Hill for a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, with each side showing no sign of compromise.  Bruce Sewell, Apple’s general counsel, said that the FBI’s demand for the company to break into an iPhone that belonged to one of the shooters in the San Bernardino, Calif., attacks that left 14 people dead “would set a dangerous precedent for government intrusion on the privacy and safety of its citizens.” The FBI director, James B. Comey, emphasized the importance of law enforcement’s ability to get access to data for criminal investigations.

FCC Investigating Cable Firms, Internet Television

The Federal Communications Commission is probing whether big cable firms use special contract provisions to discourage media companies -- from Walt Disney Co. to smaller firms -- from running programming on the Internet. It is part of a broader attempt by the FCC to address one of the big conundrums of the telecom age: Why has television been so slow to come to the Internet, despite technical breakthroughs that made it possible long ago?

Republican Report Says FCC Followed Obama on Net Neutrality

Tom Wheeler, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, buckled to White House pressure in deciding to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility in last year’s “net neutrality” rules, a new report from Republicans on a key Senate panel asserts. The report concludes the FCC’s actions were largely driven by a Nov. 10, 2014, public statement from President Barack Obama urging the agency to reclassify broadband as a common carrier and implement the strongest possible net neutrality rules -- the principle that Internet service providers treat all content equally.

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.