Shutdown Renders Government Websites Insecure, Inaccessible

The U.S. government shutdown has taken a toll on public spaces — with garbage and human feces overflowing at National Parks — but now the deterioration is being felt online. More than 80 U.S. government websites have now become either insecure or inaccessible due to the sites not updating a security credential known as a TLS certificate, according to a report by Netcraft.

Ring Allowed Employees to Share Customer Videos, Reports Say

Smart doorbell company Ring allowed employees to share unencrypted customer videos with each other, according to reports by both The Intercept and The Information. The reports say that Ring, which was purchased by Amazon last year, gave various teams access to unencrypted customer video files on company servers and live feeds from some customer cameras, regardless of whether that access was necessary.

Despite Twitter's Ban in China, Police Questioning, Detaining Users

The Chinese police, in a sharp escalation of the country’s online censorship efforts, are questioning and detaining a growing number of Twitter users even though the social media platform is blocked in China and the vast majority of people in the country cannot see it. The crackdown is the latest front in President Xi Jinping’s campaign to expand the government’s suppression of Internet activity beyond China’s borders.

EU Court Adviser Says 'Right to Be Forgotten' Doesn't Apply Outside Borders

Google and other search engines shouldn’t be forced to apply the European Union’s “right to be forgotten” beyond the bloc’s borders, an adviser to the EU’s top court argued. The recommendation — if followed by the EU’s Luxembourg-based Court of Justice — would be a major victory for Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., which has for three years been fighting an order from France’s privacy regulator to apply the EU principle globally.

South Korean Court Sentences Woman to Four Years for Revenge Porn Site

The co-owner of a South Korean revenge porn site was sentenced to four years in prison, as women in the East Asian country continue to push back against spy cam and other nonconsensual pornography. A court in Seoul also ordered the woman, surnamed Song, to pay a fine of $1.26 million, and ordered her to take 80 hours of sexual violence education.

  • Read the article: CNN

Apple, Qualcomm Dispute CEOs’ Comments on Settlement Talks

Qualcomm Inc. has responded to comments made by Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook in an interview, in which he said there had been no recent settlement talks between the iPhone maker and chip supplier in their global legal battle, calling Cook’s remarks “misleading.” The two companies are disputing comments their respective CEOs have made over settlement talks.

Facebook Accused of Violating Law By Allowing Anti-Vietnamese Comments

Facebook has violated Vietnam’s new cybersecurity law by allowing users to post anti-government comments on the platform, state media said, days after the controversial legislation took effect in the communist-ruled country. Despite economic reforms and increasing openness to social change, Vietnam’s Communist Party retains tight media censorship and does not tolerate dissent.

Russian Cybersecurity Firm's Tip Led to Arrest of Former NSA Contractor

The 2016 arrest of a former National Security Agency contractor charged with a massive theft of classified data began with an unlikely source: a tip from a Russian cybersecurity firm that the U.S. government has called a threat to the country. Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab turned Harold T. Martin III in to the NSA after receiving strange Twitter messages in 2016 from an account linked to him, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation.

Facebook Investigates 'News for Democracy' Over Left-Leaning Messages

Facebook said it is investigating whether an organization backed by billionaire and Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman violated the social media giant’s policies when it set up a series of misleading news pages in a bid to target U.S. voters with left-leaning political messages. The probe focuses on News for Democracy, whose Facebook ads and affiliated pages about sports, religion, the American flag and other topics were viewed millions of times during the 2018 congressional midterm election, according to an analysis of the company ad archive conducted by New York University.

Amazon Removes Products After Complaint from Council on American-Islamic Relations

Amazon has pulled more than a dozen products off its website after receiving complaints that the items are offensive to Muslims. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, asked the online retailer to remove the products, which included doormats, bath mats and other items imprinted with Islamic calligraphy, references to the Prophet Muhammad and scripture.

  • Read the article: CNN

Blocking Politician's Critic on Facebook Violates First Amendment, Court Says

A federal appeals court said a Virginia politician violated the Constitution by temporarily blocking a critic from her Facebook page, a decision that could affect President Donald Trump’s appeal from a similar ruling in New York. In a 3-0 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Phyllis Randall, chair of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, violated the First Amendment free speech rights of Brian Davison by banning him for 12 hours from her “Chair Phyllis J. Randall” page.

Senate Confirms White House Head of Science and Technology Policy

Senate lawmakers confirmed Kelvin Droegemeier, an extreme-weather expert, as the White House’s top science and tech adviser, filling a critical administration role that had been vacant for nearly two years under President Trump. Droegemeier, who had served as a top meteorologist at the University of Oklahoma, is set to become leader of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, an arm of the White House that helps guide federal research spending and informs the government’s policies in areas such as artificial intelligence, climate change, precision medicine and online privacy.

Huawei Files Patent Licensing Lawsuit Against InterDigital in China

InterDigital Inc. said Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. filed a lawsuit against it in China, alleging the U.S. technology firm had not licensed its intellectual property on fair terms. The lawsuit, filed on Jan 2. in the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court, alleged InterDigital violated an obligation to license patents that are essential to 3G, 4G and 5G wireless telecommunication standards on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, InterDigital said in a regulatory filing.

U.S. Launches Campaign for Companies to Protect Against Foreign Hackers

The Trump administration launched a drive to push U.S. firms to better protect their trade secrets from foreign hackers, following a slew of cases accusing individuals and companies of economic espionage for China. The National Counter-Intelligence and Security Center, which coordinates counter-intelligence efforts within the U.S. government, launched the outreach campaign to address persistent concerns that many companies are not doing enough to guard against cyber theft.

Germany Seeks Help from U.S. NSA After Hackers Release Data on Politicians

German authorities sought help from the U.S. National Security Agency after discovering that hackers had released private data linked to Chancellor Angela Merkel and hundreds of other German politicians, Bild newspaper reported. Responding to the biggest data dump of its kind in the country, German investigators wanted the U.S. intelligence agency to lean on Twitter Inc. to shut down profiles with links to the data, Bild said, citing unidentified security officials.

FTC's Antitrust Trial Against Qualcomm Could Impact Patent Licensing

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s antitrust case accusing Qualcomm Inc. of abusing a monopoly on mobile chip technology kicked off in a California courtroom in a trial whose outcome could have a major impact on the smartphone industry. If the government prevails in the 10-day, non-jury trial before U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh, in San Jose, California, Qualcomm could be forced to change its practices for licensing a trove of patents to manufacturers like iPhone maker Apple Inc.

Senate Bill Would Fight State-Sponsored Technology Theft

Two U.S. lawmakers who have been active in congressional efforts to address technology threats from China introduced a bill to create a White House office to fight state-sponsored technology theft and defend critical supply chains. Senators Mark Warner, a Democrat and a vice chairman on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Marco Rubio, a Republican on the panel, introduced the legislation.

Marriott Confirms Passport Information Compromised in Data Breach

Marriott International Inc. said fewer customers were affected in a massive data breach than initially feared but confirmed that hackers had compromised the passport numbers of millions of people in what security analysts have described as a potential foreign-intelligence gold mine. Marriott, the world’s largest hotel company, disclosed in November that a hack in the reservation database for its Starwood properties may have exposed the personal information of up to 500 million guests.

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.