India's Internet Shutdown Paralyzes Kashmir, Threatening Healthcare

As the Indian government’s shutdown of internet and phone service in Kashmir enters its 11th day, the contested region has become paralyzed. The information blockade was an integral part of India’s unilateral decision last week to wipe out the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, an area of 12.5 million people that is claimed by both India and Pakistan and has long been a source of tension.

Microsoft's New Privacy Policy Says It Collects Users' Voice Data

Microsoft Corp. said it updated its privacy policy to let customers know that it had been collecting voice data of its users with the help of employees and contractors. A spokesperson for Microsoft said the company collects voice data to provide voice-enabled services for Skype and Cortana and sometimes uses vendors to assist in improving these services.

Chairman Says FTC Prepared to Break Up Tech Firms 'If You Have To'

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is prepared to break up major technology companies if necessary by undoing past mergers, Chairman Joe Simons said in an interview with Bloomberg, as the regulator probes anti-competitive practices in the sector. Simons said in the interview that breaking up a company is challenging, but could be the right remedy to rein in dominant companies and restore competition.

FAA Bans Some MacBook Pro Laptops on Flights, Citing Fire Risk

U.S. airline safety regulators banned select MacBook Pro laptops on flights after Apple Inc. recently said that some units had batteries that posed a fire risk. In a statement, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said it was “aware of the recalled batteries that are used in some Apple MacBook Pro laptops” and stated that it alerted major U.S. airlines about the recall.

U.S. Delays Proposed Tariffs on Consumer Electronics from China

The United States will delay proposed tariffs on many consumer electronics imported from China, the Trump administration said today, giving a reprieve to gadget makers that are hoping to wait out a trade war between the two countries. The Office of the United States Trade Representative said in a statement that it was moving forward with plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion in Chinese goods. President Trump said in August that, after negotiations with China had stalled, the tariffs were set to be imposed on September 1st, a timeline that the trade representative said was still in place.

European Job Sites Complain About Google to EU Competition Commissioner

Google is facing another possible anti-trust investigation overseas: Nearly two dozen European companies have signed a letter sent to European Union officials accusing the search giant of using its position to stifle competition in the online job listing market. The group of 23 European job sites signed a letter to Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition commissioner, asserting that Google is favoring its own job-search tool over other sites when individuals look for jobs.

Facebook Changes Behavior to Thwart Potential Break-Up Attempts

Facebook has started to modify its behavior — in both pre-emptive and defensive ways — to deal with threats that it should be broken apart. Late last year, the world’s biggest social network halted acquisition talks with Houseparty, a video-focused social network in Silicon Valley, for fear of inciting antitrust concerns, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.

Senators Want Internet Companies to Close Loopholes for Online Gun Sales

Eight Democratic U.S. senators signed letters to the chief executives of Google, Amazon and eBay demanding they close the loopholes allowing the sale of firearm accessories on the sites, after a rash of carnage by armed gunmen. The senators, led by New Jersey’s Robert Menendez, were responding to media reports, including in The Washington Post, that demonstrated how shoppers could easily find ammunition, rifle magazines and other firearm components, in violation of the companies’ own policies.

Read the article: The Washington Post

Schools Struggle to Combat Websites That Help Students Cheat

Colleges and high schools are struggling to combat a growing form of cheating in which students find someone online to do their homework. Hundreds of websites offer the service, with costs ranging from $15 for quick math assignments to a few hundred dollars to complete entire online courses. The websites often advertise their services as tutoring.

FBI Push for Online Threat Monitoring May Conflict with Facebook Settlement

An effort by the FBI to more aggressively monitor social media for threats sets up a clash with Facebook Inc.’s privacy policies and possibly its attempts to comply with a record $5 billion settlement with the U.S. government reached last month. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is soliciting proposals from outside vendors for a contract to pull vast quantities of public data from Facebook, Twitter Inc. and other social media “to proactively identify and reactively monitor threats to the United States and its interests.”

White House Officials Meet with Tech Leaders to Discuss Online Safety

Top officials in the Trump administration expressed interest in tools that might anticipate mass shootings or predict attackers by scanning social media posts, photos and videos during a meeting with tech giants including Facebook, Google and Twitter. The technology could serve as an early-warning system for potential attacks, White House officials proposed at the brainstorming session, perhaps compiling information from across social sites to identify deadly incidents before they occur, according to three people familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss a private gathering on the record.

Russia Asks Google to Stop Advertising 'Illegal Mass Events' on YouTube

Russia’s state communications watchdog has asked Google to stop advertising “illegal mass events” on its YouTube video platform, it said. Tens of thousands of Russians staged what observers called the country’s biggest political protest for eight years, defying a crackdown to demand free elections to Moscow’s city legislature. Multiple YouTube channels broadcast the event live.

White House Order Would Require FCC to Create Internet Content Regulations

A draft executive order from the White House could put the Federal Communications Commission in charge of shaping how Facebook, Twitter and other large tech companies curate what appears on their websites, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. The draft order, a summary of which was obtained by CNN, calls for the FCC to develop new regulations clarifying how and when the law protects social media websites when they decide to remove or suppress content on their platforms.

  • Read the article: CNN

Luxembourg's Privacy Regulator Questions Amazon About Alexa

Luxembourg’s privacy regulator has asked Amazon for information regarding its Alexa voice assistant, an indication of rising regulatory unease over companies’ use of personal data. The increasing popularity of Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant has triggered concerns from politicians and privacy enforcers over how some companies handle recordings from users interacting with their voice assistants.

Appeals Court Allows Facial Recognition Lawsuit Against Facebook

Facebook has to face a class-action lawsuit over whether it violated user privacy with its facial recognition tools, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. The three-judge panel agreed that Facebook can be sued under an Illinois law that requires businesses to obtain consent before using people's biometric information, including their fingerprints or face scans.

Police in Philippines Open Negligence Investigation of 8chan

Police in the Philippines said they had opened an investigation into 8chan, an online message board whose American owner lives in the country, following allegations that the site’s no-exceptions embrace of free speech has made it a platform for far-right ideologies linked to several mass shootings. The investigation is in its earliest stages and seeks to establish whether 8chan and its owner, Jim Watkins, had been negligent in their moderation of the fringe site, which was founded in 2013.

Republicans Stop Advertising on Twitter After McConnell Campaign Blocked

Major Republican committees and President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign are pulling all advertising money from Twitter as after the platform locked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) campaign account for violating the platform’s rules. Trump’s campaign, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) are promising to not spend any money on future Twitter campaign ads.

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.