Amazon, FTC Agree to End Legal Appeals Over In-App Purchases

Amazon.com Inc. can begin refunding as much as $70 million to consumers for in-app purchases made by children, following the end of a legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC said it and the Seattle-based retailer agreed to end appeals related to a federal court decision last year that found Amazon was liable for in-app purchases children made over the course of about five years without their parents’ authorization due to the lack of sufficient safeguards.

Google Sees No Impact from Change in H-1B Visa Program

Google anticipates that new guidance on H-1B visas will not affect its own employees, according to an email obtained by Recode. “Wanted to quickly weigh in on behalf of the immigration team to let you all know that we’re following this and for now, don’t anticipate an impact to Googlers,” says the email to Google staff from an employee in human resources.

Visitors to U.S. May Have to Disclose Passwords

Foreigners who want to visit the U.S., even for a short trip, could be forced to disclose contacts on their mobile phones, social-media passwords and financial records, and to answer probing questions about their ideology, according to Trump administration officials conducting a review of vetting procedures. The administration also wants to subject more visa applicants to intense security reviews and have embassies spend more time interviewing each applicant.

Trump Signs Bill Allowing ISPs to Sell Users' Data

After his press secretary blasted it as an example of rampant government overreach, President Donald Trump signed a bill into law that could eventually allow internet providers to sell information about their customers' browsing habits. The bill scraps a Federal Communications Commission online privacy regulation issued in October to give consumers more control over how companies like Comcast, AT&T and Verizon share that information. Critics have argued that the rule would stifle innovation and pick winners and losers among internet companies.

N. Korea Computer Linked to Bangladesh Bank Cyberattack

A newly discovered digital clue links the hacking group blamed for a multimillion-dollar cyberattack on Bangladesh’s central bank to a computer in North Korea, according to the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab ZAO. Kaspersky announced at its security conference on the Caribbean island of St. Maarten that its researchers had obtained digital records showing a European server used by the group to launch its attacks exchanged data in January with a computer that had an internet address belonging to North Korea’s state-owned internet service provider.

Best Buy's 'Geek Squad' Employees Allegedly 'Paid by FBI'

Technicians for Best Buy’s “Geek Squad City” computer repair facility had a long, close relationship with the FBI in “a joint venture to ferret out child porn,” according to claims in new federal court documents, which also note that Best Buy’s management “was aware that its supervisory personnel were being paid by the FBI” and that its technicians were developing a program to find child pornography with the FBI’s guidance.

FCC Reverses Order Requiring Expansion of Broadband Service

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is reversing a requirement imposed under the Obama administration that Charter Communications Inc. extend broadband service to 1 million households already served by a competitor. The decision was a win for a group representing smaller cable companies that sought to overturn the "overbuild" requirement and marked the latest reversal of Obama-era requirements by the new Republican-led FCC under President Donald Trump.

Computer Programmers Face New Limits on H-1B Visas

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency issued a memorandum that makes it harder for companies to bring foreign technology workers to the U.S. using the H-1B visa process. The new guidelines require additional information for computer programmers applying for the work visa to prove the jobs are complicated and require more advanced knowledge and experience.

White House Technology Office Remains Without a Leader

Ten weeks into his nascent administration, Trump’s Office of Science and Technology Policy isn’t much of an office at all. As Trump forges ahead with his controversial economic agenda, he’s done so without the support of the White House’s army of engineers and researchers, who are best equipped to assess what his cuts mean for the future of the United States.

Big Internet Providers Say They Won't Sell Customer Data

Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. said they would not sell customers’ individual internet browsing information, days after the U.S. Congress approved legislation reversing Obama administration era internet privacy rules. The bill would repeal regulations adopted in October by the Federal Communications Commission under former President Barack Obama requiring internet service providers to do more to protect customers' privacy than websites like Alphabet Inc's Google or Facebook Inc.

Trump Administration to Reverse Net Neutrality Rules

The Trump administration served notice that its next move to deregulate broadband internet service companies would be to jettison the Obama administration’s net neutrality rules, which were intended to safeguard free expression online. The net neutrality rules, approved by the Federal Communications Commission in 2015, aimed to preserve the open internet and ensure that it could not be divided into pay-to-play fast lanes for web and media companies that can afford it and slow lanes for everyone else.

States Start to Pursue Taxes from Amazon's Third-Party Sellers

After spending years fighting Amazon.com Inc. to force it to collect sales taxes, U.S. states are turning their attention to the individuals and small companies that account for a growing share of the online marketplace’s sales. Most third-party sellers remain elusive, giving them a pricing advantage -- about 10% in some cases -- over local brick-and-mortar retailers and products sold directly by Amazon.

Web Forum Not Liable for Users' Infringement, Court Says

The Fifth Circuit ruled that a web forum was not directly liable for copyright-infringing images uploaded by its users, becoming the latest appeals court to reject the argument that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Aereo ruling eliminated the “volitional-conduct” requirement for such claims. The ruling came in a case filed by BWP Media USA, a frequent copyright plaintiff, that accused T&S Software Associates Inc., the operator of a hair and beauty website called HairTalk, of direct infringement over three images of celebrities uploaded to the site.

Repeal of Internet Privacy Prompts Interest in VPNs

The Republican-led House voted 215-205 to repeal rules adopted last year by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under the Obama administration that required internet service providers to obtain consumer consent before using their data for advertising or marketing purposes. For many who want to keep their web surfing private, the repeal has generated renewed interest in virtual private networks, or VPNs, as a way to hide their browsing history and personal information from prying corporate eyes.

FCC Drops Defense of Broadband Subsidy Program

The Federal Communications Commission is dropping its legal defense of a new system for expanding broadband subsidies for poor people, and it will not approve applications from companies that want to offer the low-income broadband service. The decision announced by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai would halt implementation of last year's expansion of the Lifeline program.

European Court Hears Case on Luxury Brand Sales Online

Europe's top court will begin a landmark case which could determine whether luxury goods companies can stop retailers from selling their products via marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay. Owners of luxury brands have been fighting with online retailers for the last decade, arguing that they should have the right to choose who distributes their products to protect their luxury image and exclusivity.

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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.