U.S. Companies Slow to Agree to New EU Data-Transfer Pact

U.S. companies have been slow to sign on to a new international data-transfer agreement with the European Union for reasons that include uncertainty that the terms will survive legal tests in the EU, experts said. The agreement, called Privacy Shield, allows businesses to transfer personal data on European citizens to the U.S. About 40 companies have been certified under the new rules since Aug. 1, when the U.S. Department of Commerce began accepting applications, the agency said.

Homeland Security Offers to Help States with Election Hacking

The government is offering to help states protect the Nov. 8 U.S. election from hacking or other tampering, in the face of allegations by Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump that the system is open to fraud. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told state officials in a phone call that federal cyber security experts could scan for vulnerabilities in voting systems and provide other resources to help protect against infiltration, his office said in a statement.

Hacking Group Claims Access to 'State Sponsor' Cyberweapons

A previously unknown hacking group claims to have broken into a cyberespionage organization linked to the National Security Agency and is offering to sell what it says are U.S. government hacking tools. The group, calling itself the “Shadow Brokers,” said in an internet post that it had access to a “full state sponsor tool set” of cyberweapons.

U.S. Court Says Kim Dotcom Can't Recover Assets

German tech entrepreneur and alleged internet pirate Kim Dotcom will seek a review of a Federal Court decision which rejected his bid to keep hold of millions of dollars in assets held in Hong Kong and New Zealand, his lawyer said. A three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled two to one that Dotcom could not recover his assets because by remaining outside the U.S., he was a fugitive, which disentitled him from using the resources to fight his case.

South Korea Investigating Google for Antitrust Laws

South Korea's antitrust regulator said it is looking into whether Google has violated the country's anticompetition laws, acknowledging formal scrutiny of the global internet search company for the first time. The Korea Fair Trade Commission disclosed the investigation in a brief statement, without commenting on the nature of the probe nor any potential antitrust violations.

Russia Fines Google $6.75M for Android Antitrust Violations

Russia’s national regulator fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google 438 million rubles ($6.75 million) for violating antitrust rules on tablets and mobile phones, after reviewing a complaint filed by local search engine Yandex NV last year. The fine was determined as a share of Google Play’s domestic sales, a Federal Anti-Monopoly Service representative said.

French Interior Minister Seeks Global Help on Encryption

Messaging encryption, widely used by Islamist extremists to plan attacks, needs to be fought at international level, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, and he wants Germany to help him promote a global initiative. He meets his German counterpart, Thomas de Maiziere, on Aug. 23 in Paris and they will discuss a European initiative with a view to launching an international action plan, Cazeneuve said.

Twitter Not Liable for Users' Pro-ISIS Propaganda Tweets

Twitter isn’t legally liable for pro-ISIS propaganda tweets that a lawsuit claimed contributed to the death of two Americans, a federal judge ruled. The lawsuit was brought by a plaintiffs’ class-action law firm on behalf of the widows of two U.S. government defense contractors from Florida, Lloyd “Carl” Fields Jr. and James Damon Creach, who were killed in a shooting spree attack in Jordan last November.

Judge Upholds $25 Million Piracy Verdict Against Cox

In a big win for copyright holders, a federal judge won't change the outcome of a $25 million verdict in favor of BMG Rights Management against Cox Communications. As U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady notes at the beginning of an opinion, "This case presents the question of whether a conduit internet service provider may be held liable for the infringing activity of its subscribers based on the uploading and downloading of copyrighted musical works using BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file sharing network."

Cambodia Bans Pokemon Go from Former Torture Center

Cambodia banned the game Pokemon Go from a former Khmer Rouge torture center and prison after players showed up at the site, now a genocide museum, hunting for the virtual cartoon characters. It is the latest effort to rein in enthusiasts of the game, which has been blamed for a rash of accidents and has prompted safety warnings after players glued to their phones stumbled, were robbed or wandered into dangerous places.

Apple Loses Patent Ruling on Use of 'Common Knowledge'

Judges can’t rely on common sense alone when analyzing the validity of a patent, an appeals court ruled in a loss for Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google. A U.S. Patent and Trademark Office review board was wrong to use only “common knowledge and common sense” -- without more to back it up -- to invalidate a patent closely held Arendi S.A.R.L. had asserted against the tech companies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled.

Man Gets 13.5 Years for Luring Victims Via Craigslist

Charged with five counts of armed robbery and one count of “brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence,” Lavunte Collins was sentenced in federal court to 13 1/2 years in prison for using Craigslist to lure his victims with the promise of cheap iPhones. The robberies in an outer suburb of Atlanta — and other violent Craigslist-related crimes across the United States, including multiple slayings — have sparked wariness among some Internet bargain hunters and given police department parking lots a second life as a place to buy stuff from strangers.

Apple Disputes Russia's Allegations of iPhone Price-Fixing

Apple Inc rejected allegations from Russia's state competition watchdog it may have been involved in fixing prices for iPhones, saying resellers set their own prices. Apple reacted a day after Russia's Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) said it had opened a case into the allegations after a consumer had pointed out that identical prices had been set for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models, which appeared in Russia in October 2015, at 16 major resellers.

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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.