Trump Promises to Expand Broadband Internet Service in Rural Areas

President Donald Trump said that expanded access to broadband internet service in rural areas will be part of the infrastructure plan he will submit to Congress, helping to bridge a digital divide that leaves small towns behind. "I will be including a provision in our infrastructure proposal -- $1 trillion proposal, you’ll be seeing it very shortly -- to promote and foster, enhance broadband access for rural America also," Trump said in remarks at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Facebook Testing Privacy Tool to Protect Users' Profile Pictures

Facebook is introducing new privacy tools to users in India, adding further protection to a user's profile pictures, as women in that country have reported that others have repurposed their image without their permission. The problem of online impersonation is a big one — ask anyone who's ever been "catfished," or found that their face was being used to trick others into becoming "friends," or forming an online relationship with an impersonator.

Officials Report One Successful Attempt to Alter Voter Records in 2016

The hacking of state and local election databases in 2016 was more extensive than previously reported, including at least one successful attempt to alter voter information, and the theft of thousands of voter records that contain private information like partial Social Security numbers, current and former officials tell Time. In one case, investigators found there had been a manipulation of voter data in a county database but the alterations were discovered and rectified, two sources familiar with the matter tell Time.

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Watchdog Groups Sue Trump for Destroying Emails

Two government watchdog groups sued President Donald Trump over his record keeping, accusing the president of violating federal law and the Constitution by destroying presidential records instead of preserving them so they could eventually be made public. The groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive, filed the lawsuit in federal court in the District of Colombia.

Trump Administration to Undo Obama's International Entrepreneur Rule

The Trump administration plans to dismantle a regulation that would have helped more foreign-born entrepreneurs build startups in the U.S. without a traditional visa, according to people briefed on the administration’s plans. The International Entrepreneur Rule, enacted during the final days of the Obama administration and set to go into effect next month, would have let foreign entrepreneurs apply to work in the U.S., provided their startup raised $250,000 from established U.S. investors.

Honda Halts Production at Plant After Finding Ransomware

Honda Motor Co. said it halted production at a domestic vehicle plant for a day after finding the WannaCry ransomware that struck globally last month in its computer network. The automaker shut production at its Sayama plant, northwest of Tokyo, which produces models including the Accord sedan, Odyssey Minivan and Step Wagon compact multipurpose vehicle and has a daily output of around 1,000 vehicles.

German Police Raid Homes of People Accused of Hateful Posts

In a coordinated campaign across 14 states, the German police raided the homes of 36 people accused of hateful postings over social media, including threats, coercion and incitement to racism. Most of the raids concerned politically motivated right-wing incitement, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office, whose officers conducted home searches and interrogations.

After Terror Attacks, Britain Prepares Plans to Regulate Internet

After deadly terrorist attacks and a nationwide election, Britain is once again focusing on a controversial plan: to regulate the internet. Lawmakers from across the political spectrum are promoting some of the widest-ranging plans anywhere in the western world to rein in the likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter, setting up a likely standoff.

Apple Adds Allegations to Patent Complaint Against Qualcomm

Apple Inc. said in a legal filing that there is “mounting evidence” Qualcomm Inc. is operating an “illegal business model” designed to extract high patent royalties on every wireless device sold.The iPhone maker said it was adding more allegations to a complaint filed in January that accuses Qualcomm of trying to monopolize the chip market for wireless devices.

California Bill Puts Privacy Restrictions on Internet Service Providers

Nearly three months after Congress struck down federal regulations that aimed to protect internet users from having their online activities secretly tracked and sold, state lawmakers are unveiling new legislation that would require companies to follow such rules in California.The proposed rules — amended into an obscure bill about video arcades — would prevent broadband providers such as Comcast and AT&T from collecting or selling certain personal information unless customers “opt in” to policies, among other requirements.

Trump Seeks Help from Executives in High-Tech Industries

President Donald Trump called for a “sweeping transformation of the federal government’s technology,” beginning his push to update the dated inner workings of Washington that drew some praise — and then some public requests — from the top tech executives at Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft. After a day of meetings at the White House with those and other tech leaders -- some of whom have been his fiercest corporate critics in the past— Trump admitted that the feds had to “catch up” with the private sector.

RNC Contractor Exposed Database of 200 Million Potential Voters

A data analytics contractor employed by the Republican National Committee (RNC) left databases containing information on nearly 200 million potential voters exposed to the internet without security, allowing anyone who knew where to look to download it without a password. "We take full responsibility for this situation," said the contractor, Deep Root Analytics, in a statement.

FTC Opposes Merger of DraftKings, FanDuel Fantasy Sports Sites

The proposed merger between fantasy sports rivals DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc. is facing a challenge from the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of California and Washington, who say the combined company would control more than 90 percent of the U.S. market for paid daily fantasy sports. “This merger would deprive customers of the substantial benefits of direct competition between DraftKings and FanDuel,” Tad Lipsky, acting director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a statement.

Video Game Publisher Take-Two Forces Hacking Tools Offline

Just days after shutting down popular Grand Theft Auto V modding tool OpenIV, publisher Take-Two Interactive has forced three major GTA Online hacking tools to go offline. Lexicon, Force Hax, and Menyoo were all subscription-based paid hacking tools that let GTA Online players spawn infinite piles of cash, teleport other players to arbitrary locations, become invulnerable, or walk through walls while playing with other people.

Colorado Ballot Initiative Would Ban Smartphone Sales to Children

In February, Colorado dad and Denver-area anesthesiologist Tim Farnumformed the nonprofit PAUS (Parents Against Underage Smartphones) with a few other medical professionals and began drafting a ballot initiative that, if passed, would make Colorado the first state in the nation to establish legal limits on smartphones sales to children. Farnum’s proposal, ballot initiative no. 29, would make it illegal for cellphone providers to sell smartphones to children under the age of 13.

YouTube Creates New Rules for Deleting Terrorism Videos

Google, YouTube’s parent company, announced a set of policies aimed at curbing extremist videos on the platform. For videos that are clearly in violation of its community guidelines, such as those promoting terrorism, Google said it would quickly identify and remove them. The process for handling videos that do not necessarily violate specific rules of conduct is more complicated.

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.