Sony Limits Sexually Explicit Content in PlayStation 4 Video Games

Sony Corp. is cracking down on sexual content in PlayStation 4 video games globally, reflecting concerns in the U.S. about the depiction of women in games but also irritating some software developers. New in-house standards that limit sexually explicit content distinguish Sony from other game-hardware makers that allow more leeway as long as the software carries a rating from a national industry body.

Google Blocks TikTok in India After Court Links App to Sexual Predators

Google has blocked access to the hugely popular video app TikTok in India to comply with a state court’s directive to prohibit its downloads, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said. The move comes hours after a court in southern Tamil Nadu state refused a request by China’s Bytedance Technology to suspend a ban on its TikTok app, putting its future in one of its key markets in doubt.

Apple, Qualcomm Launch Jury Trial Over Patent Licensing Practices

Apple Inc. and its allies kicked off a jury trial against chip supplier Qualcomm Inc. in San Diego, alleging that Qualcomm engaged in illegal patent licensing practices and seeking up to $27 billion in damages. Qualcomm, for its part, alleges that Apple forced its longtime business partners to quit paying some royalties and is seeking up to $15 billion.

Southeast Asian Nations Adopting Chinese Approach to Controlling Internet

A swathe of the world is adopting China’s vision for a tightly controlled internet over the unfettered American approach, a stunning ideological coup for Beijing that would have been unthinkable less than a decade ago. Vietnam and Thailand are among the Southeast Asian nations warming to a governance model that twins sweeping content curbs with uncompromising data controls -- because it helps preserve the regime in power.

EU Governments Approve New Copyright Rules for Digital Market

Google will have to pay publishers for news snippets and Facebook filter out protected content under new copyright rules aimed at ensuring fair compensation for the European Union’s $1 trillion creative industries. EU governments backed the move launched by the European Commission two years ago to protect Europe’s creative industries, which employ 11.7 million people in the bloc.

Insurers Cite 'War Exclusion' to Avoid Paying for Cyber Attack Damages

When the United States government assigned responsibility for the so-called NotPetya cyberstrike in 2017 to Russia in 2018, insurers were provided with a justification for refusing to cover the damage, citing a common, but rarely used, clause in insurance contracts: the “war exclusion,” which protects insurers from being saddled with costs related to damage from war. Now, a number of legal fights will set a precedent about who pays when businesses are hit by a cyberattack blamed on a foreign government.

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.

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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.