ITC Discloses Google Investigation After Patent Complaint from Sonos

The U.S. International Trade Commission disclosed an investigation into Google and its parent company Alphabet, after a complaint from Sonos that Google imported patent-infringing products. The investigation will cover “certain audio players and controllers, components thereof, and products containing the same,” according to a press release.

  • Read the article: CNBC

SEC Commissioner Suggests Allowing Initial Coin Offerings

Technology trading startups may be exempted from current securities law restrictions to raise capital using digital currencies or “tokens,” a top U.S. financial regulator proposed, but a transition plan would be required after three years. The plan must show whether those products can continue to be traded as securities, or if they change characteristics over time and no longer meet that definition, said Hester Peirce, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner, at an industry conference in Chicago.

Security Researchers Find Ways to Hack Into Home Networks Via Smart Lights

Security researchers from Check Point tested the Philips Hue models of popular smart lights brand, and says it successfully hacked into a home's computer network. It went to Philips to show its findings and says Philips has now fixed the issue, but Yaniv Balmas, Head of Cyber Research at Check Point Research, says consumers of off-brand lights may not be as lucky.

Facebook Issues Security Advisory for Flaw in WhatsApp Desktop

Facebook has issued a security advisory for a flaw in WhatsApp Desktop that could allow an attacker to use cross-site scripting attacks and read the files on MacOS or Windows PCs by using a specially crafted text message. The attacker could retrieve the contents of files on the computer on the other end of a WhatsApp text message and potentially do other illicit things.

Justice Department Expands Probe of Google's Advertising Tools

The Justice Department has reached out to more than a dozen companies in its antitrust probe of Google, including publishers, advertising technology firms and advertising agencies, as the company’s online ad tools become a major focus of the investigation, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent months, the department has been posing increasingly detailed questions — to Google’s rivals and executives inside the company itself — about how Google’s third-party advertising business interacts with publishers and advertisers, the people say.

Federal Reserve Considers Benefits of Issuing Its Own Digital Currency

The Federal Reserve is looking at a broad range of issues around regulations and protections for digital payments and currencies, including the costs and potential benefits of issuing its own digital currency, Governor Lael Brainard said. “By transforming payments, digitalization has the potential to deliver greater value and convenience at lower cost,” Brainard said in remarks prepared for delivery at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Apple Update Patches Bug That Could Allow Reading Encrypted Emails

Apple released macOS Catalina 10.15.3 last week, and the update apparently patched a bug that could let you read some text from encrypted emails as if they were unencrypted, according to IT specialist Bob Gendler. A longtime Mac fan, Gendler originally found the bug in July and privately disclosed it to Apple months before publicly writing about it last November, only after the company failed to fix the issue.

DOJ's Chief Antitrust Enforcement Official Recuses Self in Google Probe

The Justice Department’s chief antitrust enforcement official has recused himself from the department’s investigation into whether Alphabet Inc.’s Google is unlawfully suppressing competition. The department said that as the probe progressed, Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim came to realize that he needed to recuse himself because of his past work in private practice.

Justice Department Interviews App Developers in Apple Antitrust Probe

The U.S. Justice Department has reached out to app developers as part of its investigation into Apple Inc., one of the four big tech companies being probed for alleged anti-competitive behavior, according one of the developers and another person familiar with the investigation. The chief executive of developer Mobicip, Suren Ramasubbu, told Reuters he was interviewed in November by a U.S. investigator who asked about the company’s interactions with Apple.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission Investigating Google, Tinder

Irish regulators have launched separate inquiries into Google and dating app Tinder over how they process user data, in a new round of regulatory scrutiny aimed at tech companies. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said that it decided to look into how Google handles location data after a number of consumer groups across the European Union filed complaints.

Despite State Complaints, Google Allowed Ads for Fake Fishing Licenses

Google failed to stop a network of predatory websites from buying ads to promote "scam" fishing licenses to people across the country even after multiple state agencies repeatedly complained to the company about the ads, those states told CNN Business. After being contacted by CNN Business, Google conducted an internal investigation and confirmed that it did receive reports from two state agencies.

  • Read the article: CNN

YouTube to Ban Misleading Videos That Could Impact Elections

YouTube said it will ban misleading or doctored videos that could impact elections, tightening its rules ahead of the presidential election. The video-streaming site said in a blog post that it will remove altered videos such as “deepfakes” and videos with patently false information, such as clips that report a living candidate is dead.

Hackers Prey on Coronavirus Fears to Spread Malicious Software

As the coronavirus continues to spread across the globe sickening thousands of people in its wake, a malicious strain of software is seeking to take advantage of people's fears. Researchers with IBM X-Force and Kasperky have discovered that hackers are sending spam emails to people in the hopes of infecting smartphones and computers with malicious software.

FCC Approves $20.4 Billion Fund to Expand Rural Broadband Access

The Federal Communications Commission voted to approve a $20.4 billion fund designed to ensure that residents in rural areas of the US have access to broadband internet connections. The move was the agency's "single biggest step to date to close the digital divide," the FCC said in a press release Thursday, but two of the five agency commissioners dissented in part to the plan, saying, among other things, that it relies on faulty data.

  • Read the article: CNET

Supreme Court Sets Date for Oral Arguments in Oracle-Google Java Case

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a new argument calendar, setting March 24 as the day for justices to hear oral arguments in the decade-long lawsuit by Oracle against Google over Google’s use of Oracle’s Java code to create Google’s Android operating system. Oracle in 2010 sued Google over Google’s use of Java code, claiming up to $9 billion in damages.

Trump Signs Executive Order to Reduce Counterfeit Products Online

President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at preventing counterfeit products from abroad from being sold to U.S. citizens who shop online using Amazon.com, Walmart.com or other ecommerce websites, the White House said. Presidential trade adviser Peter Navarro urged Amazon, Walmart and digital commerce sites to take steps to ensure that the goods they sell are safe and legal.

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