New Organization Presents Alternative for Managing .org Domain

A group of respected internet pioneers and nonprofit leaders is offering an alternative to Ethos Capital’s bid to take over the .org top-level domain: a nonprofit cooperative corporation. The goal of the Cooperative Corporation of .ORG Registrants is not only to persuade the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees internet domain names, to stop the sale. It is also to persuade ICANN to hand it the management of dot-org instead.

Facebook to Delete Some 'Deepfakes,' Videos with Manipulated Media

Facebook Inc. said it will remove deepfakes and other manipulated videos from its platform if they have been edited, but not content that is parody or satire, in a move aimed at curbing misinformation ahead of the U.S. presidential election. It would also remove misleading media if it was a result of technologies like AI that "merges, replaces or superimposes content on to a video, making it appear to be authentic", the California-based company said in a blog post.

FBI Asks Apple to Help Unlock iPhones Owned by Shooter at Air Force Base

The FBI has asked Apple to help investigators access two iPhones believed to be owned by a 21-year-old man who killed three sailors in a shooting last month at a Pensacola Air Force base, a person familiar with the investigation said. Investigators believe Mohammed Alshamrani, a second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force and a student naval flight officer, left one phone in the car and was carrying the second phone while he fired on individuals at the base.

  • Read the article: CNN

ToTok App Returns to Google Play Store After Surveillance Accusations

Popular messaging app ToTok is back in the Google Play Store after it was removed when the app was accused of being a surveillance tool used by the United Arab Emirates to track the activities of people who download it. A "what's new" section on the Google Play app page says the app made several updates, including how it makes requests for user data and syncs contact list info.

  • Read the article: CNET

Iranian Hackers Seen as Aggressive Adversary After Fatal Airstrike

As Iran vows revenge for a recent airstrike that killed a top general, the U.S. faces an aggressive adversary in which digital warfare may be among its best options to strike directly at the American population. In recent years, Iranian hackers have continued their attacks, targeting a U.S. presidential campaign, universities, journalists, and even a dam in suburban New York.

YouTube Rolls Out Changes Limiting Targeted Ads on Children's Videos

YouTube executives have warned creators over the last few months that changes are coming to the platform to comply with a federal children’s privacy law. Now, those changes enter full effect: targeted ads will now be restricted from running on kids’ videos, and kids’ videos will lose access to comments and some other community features.

DHS Cybersecurity Chief Urges 'Close Attention' After Iranian Leader Killed

Soon after Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, Iran’s top military leader, was killed in a drone strike, the chief of cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security warned the public that it was “time to brush up” on Iran’s efforts to attack computer systems in the United States, even as the department’s acting secretary said that “no specific, credible threats” to the country had emerged since the general’s death. Chad F. Wolf, the department’s acting chief, convened senior officials to discuss how to respond to Iran’s threat of a “forceful revenge” against the United States for the death of the country’s second most powerful official.

Apple Sues Virtualization Vendor for Trafficking in Copyright-Protected Goods

Apple is suing an iOS virtualization vendor called Corellium for trafficking under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Apple initially sued the company for copyright infringement in August, alleging that Corellium’s virtualization of iOS was violating Apple’s ownership of the code. The more recent filing expands the case, alleging that Corellium’s sale of the virtualization software counts as trafficking in copyright-protected goods.

Southwire Files Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Suit Over Ransomware Attack

A Georgia wire and cable manufacturer has filed a federal lawsuit in Atlanta after its confidential business information was taken and posted online in the wake of a ransomware attack. The redacted complaint, filed Dec. 31 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, said the unknown defendant demanded several million dollars to keep the information stolen from Southwire Co. private.

WhatsApp Alerted Users to 'Cyber Actor,' Thwarting Surveillance of Terrorists

A team of European law-enforcement officials was hot on the trail of a potential terror plot in October, fearing an attack during Christmas season, when their keyhole into a suspect’s phone went dark. WhatsApp, Facebook Inc. ’s popular messaging tool, had just notified about 1,400 users — among them the suspected terrorist — that their phones had been hacked by an “advanced cyber actor.” An elite surveillance team was using spyware from NSO Group, an Israeli company, to track the suspect, according to a law-enforcement official overseeing the investigation.

TikTok Releases First Transparency Report on Government Requests

TikTok released its first transparency report, showing which countries have submitted requests for content removal as well as access to user data. China is notably absent from the report — the video sharing app, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, claims it did not receive a single takedown request from Communist Party of China in the first half of 2019.

Small Businesses Still Struggling to Comply with Online Sales Tax Ruling

Eighteen months after the Supreme Court gave states the green light to tax online transactions, small companies that sell things as diverse as recycled yarn and gold bullion are struggling to adjust. In its June 2018 ruling, the Supreme Court held that states had the authority to make online retailers collect sales taxes even if they didn’t maintain a store, warehouse or other physical presence.

YouTube to Limit Data Collected on Videos Designed for Children

YouTube will soon limit the data it collects on videos designed for children to comply with a federal privacy clampdown, pleasing consumer advocates but delivering a potential financial blow to creators of free children’s content on the video platform. The change, slated for early January, means the unit of Alphabet Inc.’s Google will stop showing data-driven personalized ads on videos for kids.

French Court Lets Authorities Review Social Media to Detect Tax Avoidance

France’s government can pursue plans to trawl social media to detect tax avoidance, its Constitutional Court ruled, although it introduced limitations on what information can be collected following a privacy outcry. The new rules, part of a broader law on tax changes passed by the lower house of parliament, add to the state’s surveillance powers by letting it collect masses of public data, as part of a three-year online monitoring experiment.

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.