Appeals Court Affirms Prison Sentence Over Microsoft 'Restore Disks'

A California man who built a sizable business out of recycling electronic waste is headed to federal prison for 15 months after a federal appeals court in Miami rejected his claim that the “restore disks” he made to extend the lives of computers had no financial value, instead ruling that he had infringed Microsoft’s products to the tune of $700,000. The appeals court upheld a federal district judge’s ruling that the disks made by Eric Lundgren to restore Microsoft operating systems had a value of $25 apiece, even though they could be downloaded free and could be used only on computers with a valid Microsoft license.

Democrats Raise Security Concerns About Trump's Cell Phone Usage

Democrats are demanding answers from the Trump administration on steps being taken to prevent the president from falling victim to foreign hackers, suggesting his personal cellphone use poses a national security threat. A pair of Democratic congressman sent a letter to high-level officials pressing them on reports that Trump frequently relies on his personal cellphone for conversations with those outside the White House.

Facebook Declines Invitation to Testify at House Hearing on Social Media

Facebook said it has declined an invitation to testify at a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on filtering practices by social media companies, a company spokesman said. The company said that even though it will not appear, it looks “forward to a continuing dialogue with members of the committee about Facebook’s strong commitment to being a platform for all voices and ideas.”

Altaba (Formerly Yahoo) to Pay $35 Million Fine Over Breach Disclosure

The company formerly known as Yahoo is paying a $35 million fine to resolve federal regulators' charges that the online pioneer deceived investors by failing to disclose one of the biggest data breaches in Internet history. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the action against the company, which is now called Altaba after its email and other digital services were sold to Verizon Communications for $4.48 billion last year.

Ireland to Start Collecting $15.9 Billion in Back Taxes from Apple

Ireland says it will begin collecting more than 13 billion euros ($15.9 billion) of back taxes from Apple, 19 months after the European Commission ruled that a tax deal with the tech giant amounted to illegal state aid. The Commission ordered Ireland to collect back taxes for the years 2003-2014, which it estimated at 13 billion euros, plus interest. 

Supreme Court Approves of 'Inter Partes' Reviews for Patents

The U.S. Supreme Court gave its stamp of approval to a government review process prized by high technology companies as an easy and cheap way to combat “patent trolls” and others that bring patent infringement lawsuits. The justices ruled 7-2 that a type of in-house patent review at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office does not violate a defendant’s right under the U.S. Constitution to have a case adjudicated by a federal court and jury. 

Hacker Group 'Orangeworm' Targets U.S. Healthcare Organizations

A hacker group, dubbed Orangeworm, is mainly targeting American healthcare organizations, though there are a number of victims worldwide, including in Asia and Europe. But rather than do anything destructive, Orangeworm is likely using leverage on those medical devices -- designed to process and view images from X-Ray and MRI machines -- to learn more about them as part of an ongoing corporate espionage operation, Symantec said.

EU Raises Concerns About Apple's Takeover of Shazam Music Service

Apple Inc.’s takeover of music-identification service Shazam faces an extended European Union probe as antitrust regulators raised concerns that the iPhone maker could use the app’s data to lure customers to its own music service. The EU set a Sept. 4 deadline to investigate whether Apple might get unfair access to commercially sensitive information about users of rival music-streaming services.

Britain's Financial Firms Urged to Work Together Against Cyber Crime

Britain’s financial firms need to pull together to fight cyber crime, working with government and law enforcement to attack criminals’ infrastructure and put them out of business, a report by KPMG and industry body UK Finance said. The report argues the growing threat cyber crime poses to the financial sector cannot be countered just by spending more money, and that a revamped approach is needed.

Texas Appeals Court Says 'Revenge Porn' Ban Violates First Amendment

An appeals court has struck down Texas’ “revenge porn” law, ruling that the statute is overly broad and violates the First Amendment.The 2015 state law targets what author state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston, called “a very disturbing internet trend” of posting a previous partner's nude or semi-nude photos to the web without the partner's permission, often with identifying information attached.

Germany's Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Ad-Blocking Software

Germany’s Supreme Court threw out a case brought by Axel Springer seeking to ban a popular application that blocks online advertising, in a landmark ruling that deals a blow to the publishing industry. The court found in favor of Adblock Plus adblockplus.org, an app marketed by a firm called Eyeo that has been downloaded more than 100 million times by users around the world seeking protection from unwanted or intrusive online advertising.

North Korea Cultivates Elite Hackers, Posing Greater Threat

North Korea’s cyber army, long considered a midlevel security threat, is quietly morphing into one of the world’s most sophisticated and dangerous hacking machines. Over the past 18 months, the nation’s fingerprints have appeared in an increasing number of cyberattacks, the skill level of its hackers has rapidly improved and their targets have become more worrisome, a Wall Street Journal examination of the program reveals. 

Trackers Using Facebook's Login Feature to Gain Users' Data

Third-party tracking code, used across the Internet to track user behaviors on websites, optimize ads and other purposes, has been grabbing Facebook user information on websites that support logging in through the social media platform, Princeton researchers report. When users log in to websites using Facebook’s Login feature, trackers can grab Facebook user IDs and in some cases other information such as email address or gender, potentially without the knowledge of the operators of the websites where the trackers are installed, according to the researchers.

Thousands of Android Apps Found to Violate Children's Privacy Law

Thousands of free, popular children's apps available on the Google Play Store could be violating child privacy laws, according to a new, large-scale study, highlighting growing criticism of Silicon Valley's data-collection efforts. Seven researchers analyzed nearly 6,000 apps for children and found that the majority of them may be in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

EU Competition Commissioner Says Case Against Google 'Advancing'

Investigations into how Google may be using its Android smartphone operating system and its AdSense advertising service to thwart rivals are advancing, Europe’s antitrust chief said on Wednesday, amid concern about the lengthy proceedings. The European Commission opened its investigation into Android in 2015, following a complaint two years earlier from the lobbying group FairSearch.

Facebook Unveils New Privacy Tools to Comply with EU Regulation

Facebook is introducing new privacy controls to each of its 2 billion users as part of compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that will come into effect on May 25th. Facebook will ask every user, regardless of where they live, to review their privacy choices, from the information they add to their profile to how Facebook uses their data to target ads.

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