U.S. Excludes Apple Watch, AirPods from New Tariffs on Chinese Goods

Apple Inc. dodged stinging duties on its smartwatches and wireless earbuds after the U.S. excluded those gadgets from tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, though the tech giant still faces retaliatory measures being weighed by China that could strike iPhone production there. The trade tensions are rattling companies in a range of industries, but Apple’s heavy dependence on the U.S. and China makes it especially vulnerable as the world’s two largest powers escalate their economic feud.

Italian Court Fines Man $9,300 for Fake Online Reviews

TripAdvisor, one of the world’s biggest travel review sites, wants the world to know that it won’t turn a blind eye to fake reviews. To get that point across, the Needham, Mass.-based site commended the nine-month jail sentence and $9,300 fine imposed on the owner of an Italian company who provided hotel and restaurant reviews for a fee.

Facebook Gives Political Campaigns Expedited Troubleshooting

Facebook announced a pilot program open to any U.S. political campaign for state or federal office that would offer additional security protections for their Facebook pages and accounts. Under the program, campaigns as well as campaign committees that opt in to the program would be designated potential high-priority users and be able to take advantage of expedited troubleshooting if they detect any unusual behavior involving their accounts.

North Koreans Using Technology, Social Media to Avoid U.S. Sanctions

North Korea operatives have sought to use U.S. technology and social media networks to evade U.S.-led sanctions and generate income, taking advantage of many of the same shortcomings that allowed Russians to interfere in the 2016 election. Cloaking their identities, the North Koreans have been able to advertise jobs and find clients on job-search exchanges such as Upwork and Freelancer.com.

New York Banking Regulator Sues to Stop Charters for Online Lenders

New York state’s top banking regulator sued the federal government to void its decision to award national bank charters to online lenders and payment companies, saying it was unconstitutional and put vulnerable consumers at risk. Maria Vullo, superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, called the July 31 decision by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to let financial technology companies, or fintech firms, obtain charters “lawless, ill-conceived, and destabilizing of financial markets.”

Vietnam Wants Facebook to Open Local Office to Comply with Law

Vietnam has asked Facebook to open a local office as the Communist-ruled country increases pressure on global technology firms to abide by a controversial cyber security law. Critics of the law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2019, say it gives Hanoi more power to crack down on dissent because it would require Facebook, Google and other global technology firms to store locally personal data on users in Vietnam and open offices in the country.

Lawmakers Question Google About Complying with Chinese Censorship

A bipartisan group of 16 U.S. lawmakers asked Alphabet Inc’s Google if it would comply with China’s Internet censorship and surveillance policies should it re-enter the Chinese search engine market. The questioning added to the pressure on Google to disclose precautions it would take to protect the safety of its users if Chinese regulators allow its search engine to operate.

Hurricane Florence Expected to Bring New Wave of Cyberattacks

Hurricane Florence could make companies vulnerable to cyberattacks as firms race to protect computer systems and networks ahead of the storm, cybersecurity experts say. Corporate technology managers should expect more phishing attacks and intrusion attempts as cybercriminals target companies that are moving computers to fallback sites and switching on backup networking equipment, experts said.

FTC Hearings Focus on New Antitrust Approach for Tech Companies

The Federal Trade Commission kicked off a series of hearings to discuss whether the agency’s competition and consumer protection policies should change to better reflect new technologies and companies. “The broad antitrust consensus that has existed within the antitrust community, in relatively stable form for the last 25 years, is being challenged,” said Joseph J. Simons, the agency’s chairman.

Facebook Expands Efforts to Identify Manipulated Photos, Videos

Facebook said it would expand its efforts to scan photos and videos uploaded to the social network for evidence that they've been manipulated, as lawmakers sound new alarms that foreign adversaries might try to spread misinformation through fake visual content. In 17 countries, including the United States, Facebook said it has deployed its powerful algorithms to “identify potentially false” images and videos, then send those flagged posts to outside fact-checkers for further review.

Senators Question State Department's Lax Cybersecurity Practices

In a letter sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a bipartisan group of five senators called out the department's poor cybersecurity practices. The agency was required to adopt multifactor authentication for all accounts with "elevated privileges" as part of the Federal Cybersecurity Enhancement Act, but an inspection found that only 11 percent of required agency devices actually enabled it, according to the letter.

  • Read the article: CNET

European Proposal Requires Immediate Removal of Terrorist Content

Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Twitter Inc., Facebook Inc. and other tech firms could be slapped with fines as high as 4 percent of annual revenue if they fail to remove terror propaganda from their sites quickly enough under new European Union legislative proposals. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, proposed new legislation forcing internet companies to wipe Islamic State videos and other terror content from their services within an hour of notification for removal by national authorities.

European Privacy Complaint Says Websites Violate GDPR

Brave, a privacy-focused web browser set up by Silicon Valley engineering guru Brendan Eich, filed privacy complaints in Britain and Ireland that could become a test case against search company Google and other digital advertising firms. The petitioners say they want to trigger an article in the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requiring an EU-wide investigation, making it a test case for a new European Data Protection Board created to give the privacy regime more teeth.

EU Lawmakers Approve Controversial Internet Copyright Law

European parliamentarians have passed a controversial overhaul of copyright law that could force tech giants to install filters that prevent copyright-protected content from being uploaded. Lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, voted in favor of the European Union's revamped directive, which is aimed at bringing the bloc's rules on copyright into the 21st century.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Blockchain Association Launches as Washington Lobbying Group

Tech veterans and a number of high-profile cryptocurrency companies said they are forming the Blockchain Association, the first fully fledged lobbying group in Washington representing entrepreneurs and investors who are building off the technology behind bitcoin. Joining the initial push are companies such as Coinbase and Circle, which operate some of the world's most popular virtual currency exchanges, as well as the technology start-up Protocol Labs.

Arizona Attorney General Probing Android Location-Tracking Practice

Google's alleged practice of recording location data about Android device owners even when they believe they have opted out of such tracking has sparked an investigation in Arizona, where the state's attorney general could potentially levy a hefty fine against the search giant. The probe, initiated by Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich and confirmed by a person familiar with his thinking but not authorized to speak on the record, could put pressure on other states and the federal government to follow suit, consumer advocates say — although Google previously insisted it did not deceive consumers about the way it collects and taps data on their whereabouts.

EU Executive Arm Argues Against Expanding 'Right to Be Forgotten'

The European Union’s executive arm joined Google and a group of free-speech advocates to oppose expanding the bloc’s “right to be forgotten” beyond European borders. In arguments before the EU’s top court, the executive arm as well as countries including Ireland and Greece argued that a global application of the EU right would stretch the EU’s privacy laws beyond their intended scope — echoing at least some of Google’s arguments.

Judge Rules Securities Laws Cover Initial Coin Offerings

Federal prosecutors won a key legal victory when a judge ruled that U.S. securities laws cover initial coin offerings. In what is believed to be the first criminal case of its kind, a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, refused to dismiss the case of a man charged with promoting digital currencies backed by investments in real estate and diamonds that prosecutors said didn’t exist.

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