Judge Rejects U.S. Request for Gag Orders Against Tech Firms

A Brooklyn magistrate judge has rejected the Justice Department’s practice of getting gag orders against technology companies, saying federal agents should have to give a specific reason why customers of Facebook and other firms shouldn’t be told when the government searches their data. U.S. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein denied 15 separate government applications for gag orders against service providers, writing in a ruling that they lacked enough information for him to judge whether the secrecy was warranted.

International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition Suspends Alibaba

An anti-counterfeiting group said it was suspending Alibaba Group Holding Inc's membership following concerns raised by some of its member companies. The International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) statement follows an AP report that the group's president, Robert Barchiesi, had stock in Alibaba and that he used family members to help run the coalition.

Hackers Try to Attack German Chancellor's Computers

A group of hackers that cyber-security experts say targets critics of the Russian government has been trying since April to attack the computer systems of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, a security research firm said. Researchers at Trend Micro said the hackers, called Pawn Storm, appear to be trying to steal personal and corporate data from the CDU and high-profile individuals using two free email services.

VoIP-Pal Seeks $2.8B From Apple in Patent Lawsuit

VoIP-Pal announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Apple in a U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Nevada, seeking over $2.8 billion in damages for alleged infringement of its patented Internet communication technologies. VoIP-Pal has over a dozen issued or pending patents, primarily related to VoIP technologies, a few of which it accuses Apple of infringing upon with services like FaceTime and iMessage on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

U.S., Chinese Officials Meet to Discuss Anti-Hacking Agreement

A group of senior U.S. and China cyber officials held its first meeting since the two countries struck an anti-hacking agreement in September to try to ease years of acrimony over the issue. The so-called Senior Experts Group on International Norms and Related Issues is expected to gather twice a year, the U.S. State Department said in a statement announcing the meeting.

FTC Questions Indicate Possible New Google Investigation

Federal Trade Commission officials are asking questions again about whether Google has abused its dominance in the Internet search market, a sign that the agency may be taking steps to reopen an investigation it closed more than three years ago, according to sources familiar with the discussions. Senior antitrust officials at the FTC have discussed the matter in recent months with representatives of a major U.S. company that objects to Google's practices, according to sources with the company.

U.S. Security Alert Warns About 6-Year-Old SAP Vulnerability

Europe’s biggest software company, SAP, is the subject of a U.S. security alert over a vulnerability the firm disabled six years ago that can still give outside attackers remote control over older SAP systems if the software is not properly patched. SAP fixed the issue, but left the decision over whether to switch off an easy access setting up to its customers, who may sometimes place a higher priority on keeping their business-critical SAP systems running than on applying security updates.

Oracle, Google Return to Court for New Java Trial

Oracle Corp. and Google faced off in a $9 billion copyright retrial, with Oracle accusing Google of stealing programming to become the world's leading smartphone player and Google saying it acted legally as a true innovator. Oracle claims Google's Android smartphone operating system violated its copyright on parts of the Java programming language, while Alphabet Inc.'s Google says it should be able to use Java without paying a fee under the fair-use provision of copyright law.

Senator Questions Zuckerberg About Anti-Conservative News Bias

A top Republican senator demanded answers from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over allegations that the social media giant’s trending news feature omits topics popular with conservatives. “Facebook must answer these serious allegations and hold those responsible to account if there has been political bias in the dissemination of trending news,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) in a statement.

FCC, FTC Explore Vulnerabilities on Wireless Devices

Federal regulators have begun exploring a question of importance to millions of American consumers: How secure are your smartphones and tablets? The Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission asked device makers, the creators of mobile operating systems and the major wireless carriers to provide information about how they address vulnerabilities in smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

SWIFT Rejects Allegations Over Bangladesh Bank Heist

SWIFT rejected allegations by officials in Bangladesh that technicians with the global messaging system made the nation's central bank more vulnerable to hacking before an $81 million cyber heist in February. The comments were in response to a Reuters story that cited Bangladeshi police and a central bank official as saying that SWIFT technicians introduced security holes into the bank's network while connecting SWIFT to Bangladesh's first real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system.

Law Enforcement, Tech Firms Increase Lobbying on Encryption

Behind-the-scenes lobbying has become de rigueur in Washington as the battle over encryption shifts to Capitol Hill. It is the next phase of a bitter divide that spilled into public view this year when Apple refused to comply with a court order to help bypass security functions on an encrypted iPhone used by an attacker in the San Bernardino, Calif., mass shooting last year.

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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.