Ex-Ass't Att'y Gen'l Warns Europe About Russian Election Hacking

A former Justice Department official who served in the Obama administration said European countries must be willing to respond forcefully to efforts by Russia or others to use cyber attacks to meddle in their elections, saying the U.S. response fell short. Former Assistant Attorney General John Carlin, who ran the national security division at the Justice Department and oversaw the pursuit of cyber criminals, said the United States did not do enough to deter the hacking and leaking of Democratic Party emails during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Senators Want to Reverse FCC's Broadband Privacy Rules

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) confirmed that he plans to introduce a resolution that would roll back the FCC’s broadband privacy rules via the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to eliminate agency rules with a simple majority vote. What’s not clear is whether Congress or the FCC will act first, but momentum to do away with the privacy provision is building.

BlackBerry Files Mobile Network Patent Suit Against Nokia

BlackBerry Ltd. filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against Nokia Oyj, demanding royalties on the Finnish company’s mobile network products that use an industrywide technology standard. Nokia’s products including its Flexi Multiradio base stations, radio network controllers and Liquid Radio software are using technology covered by as many as 11 patents, BlackBerry said in a complaint filed in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware.

Lawmakers Want Probe of EPA Staff's Use of Encrypted Chat Apps

Some members of Congress are demanding an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's use of texting and encrypted chat apps like Signal. Federal employees, worried about the impact of President Donald Trump, have turned to encrypted messaging apps, new email addresses and other ways to coordinate their strategy toward the new administration.

Yahoo Warns Users About Malicious Activity on Accounts

Yahoo is warning users of potentially malicious activity on their accounts between 2015 and 2016, the latest development in the internet company's investigation of a mega-breach that exposed 1 billion users' data several years ago. Yahoo confirmed that it was notifying users that their accounts had potentially been compromised but declined to say how many people were affected.

Democrats Question FCC Chief's Decision on Broadband Subsidies

Democrats in Congress are questioning the new FCC chief over his decision to slow the expansion of broadband subsidies for low-income households. In a letter, 41 House Democrats write that the commission’s actions have the effect of “reducing, not expanding, internet access” and “will hurt those in our country that need the most help.”

Microsoft President Wants International Convention on Hacking

Microsoft President Brad Smith pressed the world's governments to form an international body to protect against nation-state hacking, saying recent high-profile attacks showed a need for global norms that police government activity in cyberspace. Smith's call for a "Digital Geneva Convention" followed a 2016 U.S. presidential election marred by the hacking and disclosure of Democratic Party emails that U.S. intelligence agencies concluded were carried out by Russia in order to help Republican Donald Trump win.

Facebook Efforts with Music Industry Signal Copyright Shift

Facebook, the world’s largest social network, has redoubled its efforts to reach a broad accord with the music industry, according to interviews with negotiators at labels, music publishers and trade associations. Music executives have long assailed what they say is YouTube’s lax approach to copyright enforcement -- even though the video-sharing website is the most popular in the world for music, has catapulted many young artists to stardom and delivered $1 billion in ad revenue to the industry last year.

After Court Ruling, ICANN Plans to Delegate '.africa'

Internet overseer ICANN will push ahead with a new ".africa" top-level domain, despite having twice been ordered not to because of serious questions over how it handled the case. A Los Angeles court refused [PDF] a preliminary injunction against ICANN that would prevent it from adding .africa to the internet and allowing South Africa-based ZA Central Registry (ZACR) from running it.

Italian Politician Wants Facebook to Fight Hate Speech

Facebook must do much more to stamp out hate speech on its site, the president of Italy's lower house of parliament said, warning that rising abuse on various social media was being fueled by fake news. Laura Boldrini, herself often the focus of sexist insults and online threats, complained to Facebook managers in November about hate speech on the social network and put forward several proposals on ways to deal with the problem.

Commercial Spyware Firm Used in Attack on Mexico Soda Tax

Vocal proponents of Mexico’s 2014 soda tax, the first national soda tax of its kind, received links laced with an invasive form of spyware developed by NSO Group, an Israeli cyberarms dealer that sells its digital spy tools exclusively to governments and that has contracts with multiple agencies inside Mexico, according to company emails leaked to The New York Times last year. NSO Group and the dozens of other commercial spyware outfits that have cropped up around the globe over the past decade operate in a largely unregulated market.

Advertising Board Says Comcast Should Stop 'Fastest' Claim

Comcast's claims that it offers the “fastest Internet in America” and the “fastest in-home WiFi” risks misleading consumers and should be stopped, according to an advertising watchdog administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus. The ruling from the National Advertising Review Board found that Comcast's reliance on Ookla's Speedtest.net data masks important details that undermine the cable giant's marketing.

'Fileless Malware Attacks' Discovered at 140 Banks

Fileless malware attacks, which were recently discovered in the networks of at least 140 banks, telecoms and governments, account for about 15% of known attacks today and have been around for years in different forms. "Fileless malware attacks are becoming much more common and circumvent most of the endpoint protection and detection tools deployed today," Gartner security analyst Avivah Litan said.

Facebook Moves to Stop Housing Discrimination Ads

Facebook said that it's making three changes to stop housing, employment and credit-related ads on its network that discriminate based on personal attributes. The company came under fire last fall, following a ProPublica article that showed it was possible to make housing ads on Facebook that explicitly excluded certain racial groups, in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Microsoft Lets Cloud Customers Use Its Patents for Defense

Microsoft has thought up another way to attract potential customers to its cloud computing service: deterrent against patent trolls. Companies new to the cloud are vulnerable to non-practicing entities, which do not make any products themselves but use their arsenal of broad technology patents to sue other firms in order to extract royalties or a cash settlement.

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.