WeChat's Parent Company Seeks to Keep Info Confidential in Suit

WeChat’s parent company, Tencent Holdings Ltd., told a judge it will ask to have confidential business information protected in a lawsuit by users challenging the Trump administration’s ban on the Chinese-owned mobile messaging app. Tencent also said in a filing in San Francisco federal court that it will seek to keep certain unspecified information sealed from public view as the litigation plays out.

Trademark Judge Rules Against Application for '.sucks' Top-Level Domain

The company behind ".Sucks" websites cannot register the term as a trademark, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board said in a precedential ruling Thursday, because consumers view the name merely as a style of web address. The board ruled that the so-called generic top-level domain, or gTLD — which can be appended to any other term to form an address, like lawyers.sucks — did not function as a trademark for selling those addresses.

Despite Curbs, Trump Supporters Face Few Facebook Penalties

In the final months of the presidential campaign, prominent associates of President Trump and conservative groups with vast online followings have flirted with, and frequently crossed, the boundaries set forth by Facebook about the repeated sharing of misinformation. From a pro-Trump super PAC to the president’s eldest son, however, these users have received few penalties, according to an examination of several months of posts and ad spending, as well as internal company documents.

Commerce Department to 'Vigorously Defend' Order Banning TikTok

The U.S Commerce Department said it would “vigorously defend” an executive order that seeks to bar transactions with Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok after a federal judge halted the action. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone blocked the Commerce Department order set to take effect on Nov. 12 that would have effectively barred ByteDance-owned TikTok from operating in the United States.

Homeland Security Launches 24/7 Cyber War Room for Election Security

The Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity division is mounting the largest operation to secure a U.S. election, aiming to prevent a repeat of Russia’s 2016 interference and to ward off new threats posed by Iran and China. On Election Day, DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will launch a 24/7 virtual war room, to which election officials across the nation can dial in at any time to share notes about suspicious activity and work together to respond.

Twitter Unlocks New York Post's Account After Hunter Biden Dispute

The New York Post's Twitter account has been unlocked following a bitter standoff over the outlet's move to share an article about Hunter Biden, with the platform saying it would unlock the account after recently changing its hacked materials policy. The company’s safety account tweeted that it would end its previous practice of “not retroactively overturning prior enforcement,” meaning that “decisions made under policies that are subsequently changed & published can now be appealed if the account at issue is a driver of that change.”

Judge Blocks Commerce Department Order Banning TikTok

A U.S. judge in Pennsylvania blocked a U.S. Commerce Department order set to take effect on Nov. 12 that would have effectively barred Chinese-owned short video-sharing app TikTok from operating in the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Wendy Beetlestone enjoined the Commerce Department from barring data hosting within the United States for TikTok, content delivery services and other technical transactions.

Jury Orders Apple to Pay VirnetX $502.8 Million in Patent Lawsuit

Apple Inc. was told to pay VirnetX Holding Corp. $502.8 million, the latest jury verdict in a decade-long saga over patents for secure communications. The jury in Tyler, Texas, reached its verdict in about 90 minutes. It was asked to decide only how much Apple owes VirnetX in royalties for VPN on Demand, a feature that allows users access to virtual private networks.

Russian Hackers Target U.S. Hospitals for Ransomware Attacks

Hundreds of American hospitals are being targeted in cyberattacks by the same Russian hackers who American officials and researchers fear could sow mayhem around the election. The attacks on American hospitals, clinics and medical complexes are intended to take those facilities offline and hold their data hostage in exchange for multimillion-dollar ransom payments, just as coronavirus cases spike across the United States.

Hackers Stole $2.3 Million from Wisconsin Republican Party's Account

Hackers have stolen $2.3 million from the Wisconsin Republican Party’s account that was being used to help reelect President Donald Trump in the key battleground state, the party’s chairman told The Associated Press. The party noticed the suspicious activity on Oct. 22 and contacted the FBI, said Republican Party Chairman Andrew Hitt.

Two Former eBay Workers Plead Guilty to Cyber Stalking Campaign

Two former eBay Inc. employees pleaded guilty to participating in a cyber stalking campaign against a Massachusetts couple whose online newsletter was viewed by top executives as critical of the e-commerce company. Federal prosecutors in Boston said former eBay employees Stephanie Stockwell and Brian Gilbert and others harassed the couple through Twitter and sent them disturbing packages like a bloody Halloween pig mask and live spiders and cockroaches during the August 2019 campaign.

Republicans Blast Tech CEOs for Censorship While Democrats Cite 'Sham'

Lawmakers hammered the chief executives of Twitter, Facebook, Google and one another at a Senate hearing, with Republicans claiming the companies were suppressing conservative views while Democrats accused their colleagues of holding a “sham” hearing for political gain. For nearly four hours, members of the Commerce Committee pelted Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai with more than 120 questions about social media speech and the harm caused by their platforms, often framing their attacks through the lens of next week’s election.

British Group Threatens Suit Against Facebook Over Cambridge Analytica

Facebook Inc. risks being dragged into a U.K. legal dispute involving almost 1 million British users affected by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, two years after revelations about the misuse of private data caused a global backlash. A group -- Facebook You Owe Us -- sent a letter to the social media giant, kick-starting a legal process that may result in a lawsuit. The group said in a statement that legal action would allow consumers to be compensated for the misuse of their data.

Advertisers, Publishers File Complaint Against Apple in France

Advertising companies and publishers have filed a complaint against Apple Inc. with France’s competition authority, arguing that privacy changes the smartphone maker plans to roll out are anticompetitive. Starting in early 2021, Apple’s operating software will require apps to get opt-in permission from users to collect their advertising identifier, a key number used to deliver targeted ads and check how ad campaigns performed.

Italy's Antitrust Authority Investigates Google for Online Advertising

Italy's antitrust authority is investigating Alphabet's Google for alleged abuse of its dominant position in the Italian online display advertising market, it said. The investigation follows a complaint filed by Italian digital advertising lobby group IAB last year, and adds to regulatory scrutiny the Silicon Valley tech giant is facing worldwide.

TikTok to Limit Spread of Information Prematurely Claiming Election Victories

The widely popular video-sharing app TikTok said it will limit the spread of content that prematurely claims election victories before races are confirmed by The Associated Press. TikTok will also add a banner pointing viewers to its election guide on content with unverifiable claims about voting, premature declarations of victory or attempts to dissuade people from voting by “exploiting COVID-19 as a voter suppression tactic,” the company said in a blog post.

Democrats Ask FCC Chair About White House Role in Net Neutrality Decision

Two key U.S. House Democratic lawmakers asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai if the White House was involved in his decision to move forward with new regulations limiting key social media legal protections. Representatives Frank Pallone and Mike Doyle demanded Pai disclose if he had any contact with the White House or President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign before his announcement.

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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.