Senators Question Bezos About Sale of Unsafe Items on Amazon

Three U.S. senators wrote a letter to Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos asking him to take action to stop the sale of unsafe items and to ensure accurate warning labels on his company’s giant sales platform. The letter, signed by Senate commerce committee members Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) and Ed Markey (D., Mass.), along with Bob Menendez (D., N.J.), detailed the findings from an article The Wall Street Journal published and asked for a response from Mr. Bezos.

Facebook Discusses Privacy Issues in 'Messenger Kids' App with FTC

Facebook Inc. said it had spoken to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which recently settled with the social media giant for $5 billion over allegations of privacy violations, about its Messenger Kids app that the company acknowledged had a flaw. “We are in regular contact with the FTC on many issues and products, including Messenger Kids,” Kevin Martin, the company’s vice president, U.S. public policy, wrote in a letter to Democratic Senators Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut dated Aug. 27.

U.S. Seeks to Block Undersea Internet Cable, Citing Security Concerns with China

U.S. officials are seeking to block an undersea cable backed by Google, Facebook Inc. and a Chinese partner, in a national security review that could rewrite the rules of Internet connectivity between the U.S. and China, according to people involved in the discussions. The Justice Department, which leads a multiagency panel that reviews telecommunications matters, has signaled staunch opposition to the project because of concerns over its Chinese investor, Beijing-based Dr. Peng Telecom & Media Group Co., and the direct link to Hong Kong the cable would provide, the people said.

Ring Partners with Police Departments to Provide Neighborhood Videos

The doorbell-camera company Ring has quietly forged video-sharing partnerships with more than 400 police forces across the United States, granting them access to homeowners’ camera footage and a powerful role in what the company calls the nation’s “new neighborhood watch.” The partnerships let police automatically request the video recorded by homeowners’ cameras within a specific time and area, helping officers see footage from the company’s millions of Internet-connected cameras installed nationwide, the company said.

Facebook to Require More Disclosures from Buyers of Political Ads

Facebook announced it would tighten some of its rules around political advertising ahead of the 2020 presidential election, requiring those who purchase ads touting candidates or promoting hot-button issues to provide more information about who actually paid for them. The changes seek to address a number of well-documented incidents where users placed misleading or inaccurate disclaimers on ads, effectively undermining a system for election transparency that the tech giant built after Russian agents spread disinformation on the site during the 2016 race.

Apple to Stop Listening to Siri Audio Without Users' Consent

Apple is making changes to the way that Siri audio review, or “grading,” works across all of its devices. It is making audio review an explicitly opt-in process in an upcoming software update, and only Apple employees, not contractors, will review any of this opt-in audio in an effort to bring closer to the company’s core processes any process that uses private data.

Secret U.S. Cyberattack on Iran Takes Out Military Communications Networks

A secret cyberattack against Iran in June wiped out a critical database used by Iran’s paramilitary arm to plot attacks against oil tankers and degraded Tehran’s ability to covertly target shipping traffic in the Persian Gulf, at least temporarily, according to senior American officials. Iran is still trying to recover information destroyed in the June 20 attack and restart some of the computer systems — including military communications networks — taken offline, the officials said.

Former Google Executive Charged with Stealing Self-Driving Car Trade Secrets

Former Google executive Anthony Levandowski, whose move to Uber prompted a bitter multimillion-dollar lawsuit more than two years ago, was charged by federal officials for his alleged theft of self-driving car trade secrets. The U.S. attorney’s office indicted Levandowski, 39, in federal court in San Jose over claims he stole or attempted to steal confidential files from Google subsidiary Waymo that helped him form an autonomous big-rig company he later sold to Uber for about $680 million.

Privacy Advocates Criticize Google for Not Allowing Cookies to be Blocked

After promising to offer tools to let users limit “cookies,” tiny files that help Internet and advertising companies track users, Alphabet Inc.’s Google suggested it won’t go any further, saying in a blog post that blocking cookies entirely could be counterproductive for user privacy. The post has drawn criticism in recent days from some privacy advocates who say Google’s Chrome internet browser should catch up to the stricter practices of rivals Firefox and Safari.

Judge Orders Alleged Bitcoin Creator to Surrender $4B of Cryptocurrency

The man who claims to have invented Bitcoin a decade ago submitted false documents and lied in a legal dispute with the estate of his former partner, a judge ruled, adding that Craig Wright has to surrender more than $4 billion of the cryptocurrency. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in West Palm Beach, Florida, ruled that the late Dave Kleiman owned half of all Bitcoins that Craig mined through 2013, and half of all intellectual property he created, according to a court transcript.

U.S. to Launch Program to Protect Voter Registration Databases

The U.S. government plans to launch a program in roughly one month that narrowly focuses on protecting voter registration databases and systems ahead of the 2020 presidential election. These systems, which are widely used to validate the eligibility of voters before they cast ballots, were compromised in 2016 by Russian hackers seeking to collect information.

U.S., France Reach Compromise on French Tax on Internet Companies

Officials from France and the United States have reached a compromise on a new French tax on services provided by large internet companies, potentially defusing the threat of a trade conflict between the two countries. Under the terms of the agreement, France would repay companies the difference between its digital tax and whatever taxes come from a planned mechanism being drawn up by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a spokesperson for France's Finance Ministry said.

  • Read the article: CNN

Australia to Block Domain Names Hosting Terrorist Material During Crises

Australia will block access to Internet domains hosting terrorist material during crisis events and will consider legislation to force digital platforms to improve the safety of their services, officials said. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who is in France to take part in the G7 leaders’ forum, said the government intended to prevent extremists from exploiting digital platforms to post extremely violent content.

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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.