Two Android Phone Makers Support Google in EU Antitrust Case

Alphabet unit Google’s fight against a record EU antitrust fine related to its Android mobile software received a boost after Europe’s second-highest court allowed Android phone maker Gigaset and HMD Global Oy to intervene in the lawsuit. Google is challenging the European Commission’s 4.34 billion euro ($4.8 billion) fine and an order to drop anti-competitive business practices aimed at blocking rivals in internet browsing at the Luxembourg-based General Court.

Senator Questions FTC About $5 Billion Privacy Settlement with Facebook

Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) is pressing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its controversial $5 billion settlement with Facebook, questioning whether the agreement sets a "dangerous precedent" for the future of the agency. In a letter to FTC Chairman Joseph Simons, Cantwell demanded more information about the settlement, particularly the sections that resolve any privacy violation allegations made against Facebook between 2012-2019.

Zuckerberg to Testify Before Congress on Libra Cryptocurrency Plans

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has agreed to testify before Congress on the social media giant’s plans to launch the Libra cryptocurrency, following pressure from lawmakers. The House Financial Services Committee is expected to grill Zuckerberg with questions on Facebook’s impact on both financial services and housing sectors at the Oct. 23 hearing.

Twitter Apologizes for Allowing Phone Numbers, Email Addresses for Ad Targeting

Twitter has apologized for what its said was a mistake that allowed the phone numbers and email addresses of some of its users to be accessed by advertisers for marketing purposes. Twitter said in a company blog post that its user data was obtained by advertisers involved in the company’s tailored audiences and partner audiences advertising systems.

EU Warns About Risks of Cyber Attacks from State-Backed Entities

The European Union warned of the risk of increased cyber attacks by state-backed entities but refrained from singling out China and its telecoms equipment market leader Huawei Technologies as threats. The comments came in a report prepared by EU member states on cybersecurity risks to next-generation 5G mobile networks seen as crucial to the bloc’s competitiveness in an increasingly networked world.

Facebook Refuses to Stop Showing Trump Campaign Ad About Biden Conspiracy

President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is running a false ad about former Vice President Joe Biden on Facebook, and there’s nothing the company is going to do about it. The Trump campaign has released a 30-second video ad accusing the former vice president of promising Ukraine money for firing a prosecutor investigating a company with ties to Biden’s son, Hunter Biden — essentially, the false conspiracy at the center of the impeachment inquiry President Trump is now facing.

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Republican Senators Tell Microsoft Huawei Poses 'Real and Urgent' Threat

Five Republican senators sent a letter to Microsoft stressing that Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei poses a “real and urgent” threat after an executive at the American tech giant complained the U.S. hasn't been open about why Huawei was blacklisted. The letter from GOP Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Rick Scott (Fla.), Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Mike Braun (Ind.) to Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith details several allegations of “espionage activities” and “technology theft and economic warfare."

Bipartisan Senate Committee Warns of Social Media Threat to Elections

A bipartisan panel of U.S. senators called for sweeping action by Congress, the White House and Silicon Valley to ensure social media sites aren’t used to interfere in the coming presidential election, delivering a sobering assessment about the weaknesses that Russian operatives exploited in the 2016 campaign. The Senate Intelligence Committee, a Republican-led panel that has been investigating foreign electoral interference for more than two and a half years, said in blunt language that Russians worked to damage Democrat Hillary Clinton while bolstering Republican Donald Trump — and made clear that fresh rounds of interference are likely ahead of the 2020 vote.

EU Finance Commissioner Vows New Rules to Regulate Cryptocurrencies

The European Union’s finance commissioner pledged to propose new rules to regulate virtual currencies, in a reaction to Facebook’s plans to introduce Libra, which the EU considers a risk to financial stability. France and Germany have said that Libra, whose size would dwarf cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, could limit their monetary sovereignty.

Court Says FBI's Electronic Surveillance Activities Violate Privacy Rights

Some of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s electronic surveillance activities violated the constitutional privacy rights of Americans swept up in a controversial foreign intelligence program, a secretive surveillance court has ruled. The intelligence community disclosed Tuesday that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court last year found that the FBI’s pursuit of data about Americans ensnared in a warrantless internet-surveillance program intended to target foreign suspects may have violated the law authorizing the program, as well as the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches.

Egyptian Authorities Use Cyberattacks to Thwart Dissent Amid Protests

Egyptian authorities are combining cyberattacks with random searches of phones and laptops on the street, as part of a campaign to thwart online dissent fueling rare protests against President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi. The intensified policing of social media has added a new dimension to the government’s sweeping clampdown, in which more than 3,000 people have been arrested since protests began on Sept. 20, according to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, a Cairo-based rights group.

New York Attorney General Meets with DOJ, FTC Over Facebook's Practices

New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who's leading a multistate antitrust investigation into Facebook, met with officials at the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to raise concerns about the company's market power. "As we have said in the past, we have grave concerns over potential anticompetitive practices by large tech companies," James said in a statement.

Supreme Court Won't Review University's Appeal in Patent Case Against Apple

The U.S. Supreme Court on refused to hear a bid by the University of Wisconsin’s patent licensing arm to reinstate its legal victory against Apple in a fight over computer processor technology that the school claimed the company used without permission in certain iPhones and iPads. The justices, on the first day of their new term, declined to review a lower court’s 2018 decision to throw out the $506 million in damages that Apple was ordered to pay after a jury in 2015 decided the company infringed the university’s patent.

Supreme Court Rejects Appeal in Case Over Website Access for Blind

The Supreme Court cleared the way for blind people to sue Domino’s Pizza and other retailers if their websites are not accessible to these people. In a potentially far-reaching move, the justices turned down an appeal from Domino’s and let stand a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling holding that the Americans With Disabilities Act protects access not just to restaurants and stores, but also to the websites and apps of those businesses.

Judge Debunks Concerns About Pixel Count in Suit Over iPhone's Notch

The iPhone’s notch may not be the prettiest thing in the world, but there’s now a lawsuit over it, which alleges that Apple’s advertised screen size and resolution for the iPhone X, XS, and XS Max count pixels that aren’t actually there due to the notch. A federal judge hearing the case, in an all-time great quote, thinks this may not be a big deal: “There doesn’t really seem to be anyone in America who seems to be concerned about it,” he said, according to Law360.

Facebook 'Can't Be a Policeman on the Internet,' Spokesman Says

Facebook Inc. has made mistakes in controlling the use of its data and has improved its monitoring of fake news but can’t be expected to police the global internet, spokesman Nick Clegg said in an interview in El Pais. Facebook’s vice president of global affairs and communication said the technology company can identify and warn users that certain content might be false, but that it’s not its role to provide alternatives to individuals so that they can get a more objective perspective.

California Law Aims to Protect Voters, Political Candidates from Deepfakes

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill that aims to protect voters and political candidates from deepfakes in time for the 2020 election. AB 730, written by Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, prohibits distribution of doctored video or audio of a candidate “with the intent to injure the candidate’s reputation or to deceive a voter into voting for or against the candidate” unless the media is clearly marked as fake.

House Judiciary Committee Questions Spotify in Apple Antitrust Probe

U.S. lawmakers have requested information from Apple critic Spotify as part of an antitrust probe, according to two sources briefed on the investigation into allegations the iPhone maker engages in anti-competitive behavior to support its own apps. The U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee reached out to the music streaming service with broad requests for information, according to one source, who added the request to the company was narrowed in follow-up telephone calls.

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