German Price-Comparison Service Cites EU Antitrust Decision in Google Suit

A German price-comparison portal has become the first major company to sue Alphabet Inc.’s Google while invoking a 2017 European antitrust decision to fine the U.S. technology giant for abusing its dominant position in the search-engine market. In the suit filed in a Berlin court , Idealo internet GmbH, a leading price-comparison service that is majority-owned by publisher Axel Springer, alleged that Google made it harder for users of its search engine to find links to Idealo after the U.S. company started promoting its own price-comparison offering, now called Google Shopping.

Illinois Senate Passes Bill Limiting Audio Collection from Internet Devices

The Illinois State Senate passed the "Keep Internet Devices Safe Act," a bill that would ban Internet device manufacturers from collecting audio from Internet-connected devices without disclosing it to consumers. But the bill was substantially neutered after a fierce lobbying effort by an industry association backed by Amazon and Google.

Russian Lawmakers Approve Bill Giving Government More Internet Control

Russian lawmakers approved a bill on to bolster government control of the Internet, sparking fears among detractors of increased censorship. The bill would help implement equipment across the country to route Internet traffic through servers, making it more difficult for users to skirt government restrictions, according to The Associated Press.

ICE Agents Violated Facebook Policy by Creating Fake Profiles

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated Facebook policy by creating fake social media profiles tied to the University of Farmington, a sham university it created to identify people committing immigration fraud. More than 600 students, nearly all Indian citizens, were caught up in the scheme, which the Guardian has found included fake Facebook profiles created by the nation’s second largest federal investigative agency, Ice’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division.

Nepal Bans Video Game, Citing Violence, Addiction for Children

Nepal banned the popular online game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), saying its violent content had a negative impact on children, an official said. “We have ordered the ban on PUBG because it is addictive to children and teenagers,” Sandip Adhikari, deputy director at Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA), the nation’s telecoms regulator, told Reuters.

Internet Archive Reports Inaccurate 'Terrorist Propaganda' Takedown Notices

The Internet Archive, a nonprofit that saves old copies of web pages and other digital information, said that it received more than 550 takedown notices from the European Union in the past week “falsely identifying hundreds of URLs on archive.org as ‘terrorist propaganda’.” The notices came from Europol’s European Union Internet Referral Unit (or EU IRU) and its French counterpart.

Dutch Competition Agency Probes Apple for Favoring Its Own Apps in Store

Apple, already the subject of EU antitrust scrutiny, became the target of a Dutch investigation for allegedly favoring its own apps on its popular App Store. Dutch competition agency ACM suggested the investigation may be expanded to Google’s Play Store in future because of similar business practices by the company. Both services are lucrative money spinners for Apple and Google.

At Hearing, Republicans Accuse Social Media of Censoring Conservatives

Republicans led by Sen. Ted Cruz pilloried Facebook, Google and Twitter over allegations they censor conservative users and content online, threatening federal regulation in response to claims that Democrats long have described as a hoax and a distraction. The tensions played out over more than three hours at a Senate hearing where Cruz, the leader of the Judiciary Committee’s constitution-focused panel, pointed to reports that he said showed a “consistent pattern of political bias and censorship on the part of big tech.”

House Approves Bill to Bring Back Net Neutrality Regulations

The House passed legislation that would guarantee broadband Internet users equal access to online content, in a crucial step toward bringing back so-called net neutrality regulations overturned at the start of the Trump administration. In a 232-to-190 vote, divided along party lines, the Democratic majority made good on a promise that became a rallying cry in many progressive circles during the 2018 election.

Bill Would Require Tech Firms to Detect, Remove Discriminatory Models

U.S. lawmakers proposed a bill that would require major tech companies to detect and remove any discriminatory biases embedded in their computer models, underscoring Washington’s growing interest in regulating Silicon Valley. The bill, entitled the Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2019, would grant new power to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and force companies to study if race, gender or other biases underpin their technology.

Court Enters Permanent Injunction Against 'Grand Theft Auto' Cheat Coder

A U.S. district court has granted video game developer Take-Two Interactive's request for a permanent injunction against a coder who profited by creating cheats for the “Grand Theft Auto” series (“GTA”). In a consent judgment and stipulation, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said that David Zipperer developed computer programs that allowed users to create unauthorized derivatives of the game.

  • Read the article: TBO

Bipartisan Bill Would Outlaw Misleading Internet Information Collection Tactics

Two U.S. senators introduced a bill to ban online social media companies like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. from tricking consumers into giving up their personal data. The bill from Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Deb Fischer, a Republican, would also ban online platforms with more than 100 million monthly active users from designing addicting games or other websites for children under age 13.

Man Gets Six Years for Installing Malware on Computers of Porn Site Visitors

A 24-year-old cyber criminal, who blackmailed computer users worldwide has been jailed for six years for his role with what U.K. investigators described as one of most sophisticated cyber crime groups they have ever investigated. An investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), the UK’s agency to stop serious organized crime, found that Zain Qaiser, was member of an international, Russian-speaking crime group that made huge profits from victims in more than 20 countries.

  • Read the article: Time

China's Economic Planning Body to Ban Cryptocurrency Mining

China is planning new steps that could put a stop to making Bitcoin there, a move that could cut off one of the world’s largest sources of the popular but unstable cryptocurrency. The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planning body, added cryptocurrency mining to a list of about 450 industries that it proposes to eliminate.

Facebook Agrees to Address EU's Concerns About Its Terms of Service

Facebook Inc. has bowed to demands from European Union regulators to change what the bloc had called misleading terms of service, the latest example of efforts by governments globally to exercise more control over tech firms. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said that the company has agreed to address a list of outstanding concerns that the commission and a group of national consumer-protection authorities had articulated about the terms of service for Facebook users.

As Google Testifies, White Nationalism Comments Appear on YouTube

A tense congressional hearing to explore the spread of white nationalism on social media quickly served to illustrate the problem Silicon Valley faces after anonymous users on YouTube began posting vitriolic attacks that targeted others on the basis of race and religion. The hearing — held by the House Judiciary Committee — was streamed live on the video site owned by Google, which testified. Alongside the stream, a live chat featured posts from users, some of whom published anti-Semitic screeds and argued that white nationalism is not a form of racism.

Yahoo Reaches $117.5 Million Settlement for Largest Data Breach

Yahoo has struck a revised $117.5 million settlement with millions of people whose email addresses and other personal information were stolen in the largest data breach in history. The proposed class-action settlement was designed to address criticisms of U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, who said the original settlement was not “fundamentally fair, adequate and reasonable” because it had no overall dollar value and did not say how much victims might expect to recover.

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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.