Judge Dismisses Some of Apple's Claims Against Epic Games

A federal judge in California dismissed some of Apple Inc's counterclaims against Epic Games, Bloomberg News reported, narrowing the scope of a dispute that has seen the online game maker's "Fortnite" game removed from the iPhone maker's App Store. Apple and Epic have been in a legal battle since August, when the maker of the popular game launched its own in-app payment system to circumvent what it called Apple’s monopolistic practices.

China Releases Draft Antimonopoly Rules for Online Platforms

China has released new draft antimonopoly rules for its online platforms, signaling an increased appetite by Beijing authorities to rein in its dominant technology companies. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said it would seek feedback on rules covering a host of potential anti-monopolistic practices on the country’s digital platforms, including offering different prices to different consumers for the same product.

Cryptocurrency-Related Losses Decline Thanks to Security Procedures

Losses from cryptocurrency thefts, hacks, and fraud declined to $1.8 billion for the first 10 months of the year compared with last year, but crime in the hot “decentralized finance” sector rose, according to a report from crypto intelligence company CipherTrace. “What we have seen is that exchanges and other cryptocurrency players have implemented more security procedures,” Dave Jevans, CipherTrace’s chief executive officer, told Reuters.

EU Regulators File Antitrust Charges Against Amazon for 'Dual Role Platforms'

European Union regulators brought antitrust charges against Amazon, saying the online retail giant broke competition laws by unfairly using its size and access to data to harm smaller merchants that rely on the company to reach customers. The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, said Amazon had abused its dual role as both a store used by scores of vendors and a merchant that sells its own competing goods on the platform.

Zoom Agrees to New Security Program in Settlement with FTC

Zoom Video Communications Inc. must implement a new information security program as part of its proposed settlement with U.S. regulators over user privacy issues, the Federal Trade Commission said. The resolution did not have any financial component but the agency said Zoom would face fines of up to $43,280 for each future violation under the agreement.

Biden to Stick with Trump's Harsh Policies Toward Chinese Tech Giants

When he enters the White House in January, Joe Biden will likely stick with the Trump administration’s harsh policies toward Chinese tech giants like Huawei Technologies, bowing to anti-China sentiment among U.S. lawmakers from both parties. Analysts said Biden, a Democrat who defeated Republican President Donald Trump in a nail-biting race, would take a more measured approach to Chinese tech threats but was unlikely to unwind Trump’s measures even as he enlists allies to try to force China to adhere to international rules.

Data on Millions of Hotel Guests Exposed by Reservations Company

Website Planet reports that Prestige Software, the company behind hotel reservation platforms for Hotels.com, Booking.com and Expedia, left data exposed for “millions” of guests on an Amazon Web Services S3 bucket. The 10 million-plus log files dated as far back as 2013 and included names, credit card details, ID numbers and reservation details.

Twitter Labels Trump's Post on Election Fraud as 'Disputed'

President Trump took to Twitter to falsely claim he had won the 2020 presidential election, airing a fresh barrage of baseless attacks mere hours after Democratic candidate Joe Biden had achieved victory. His post — coming after major media networks said Trump lost the election — prompted Twitter to immediately slap a label on the tweet, saying “This claim about election fraud is disputed.”

Trump to Lose Twitter's 'Public Interest' Protections When He Leaves Office

President Donald Trump will lose Twitter privileges he enjoys as a world leader when President-Elect Joe Biden takes office on January 20th, 2021. Twitter confirmed that Trump’s @realDonaldTrump account will be subject to the same rules as any other user — including bans on inciting violence and posting false information about voting or the coronavirus pandemic.

Facebook Takes Down Seven Networks of Fake Accounts Active in Iran, Elsewhere

Facebook said it has dismantled seven separate networks of fake accounts and pages on its platform that were active in Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Myanmar, Georgia, and Ukraine due to "coordinated inauthentic behaviour". The social media platform announced it had taken down the new networks as part of its monthly report into “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”, which also noted Facebook had removed nearly 8,000 pages involved in deceptive campaigns around the world in October.

Facebook Plans New Fight Against Election Misinformation, Bans 'Stop the Steal'

Facebook is planning to enact new measures to make it more difficult for election misinformation to spread virally across its platform, two people with knowledge of the matter said, as the outcome of the presidential race remained uncertain. As part of a heightened campaign against election-related disinformation and calls to violence, the company also took down a new Facebook group, Stop the Steal, which had more than 320,000 members and which Facebook said had been “organized around the delegitimization of the election process,” and that a number of the group’s members had originated calls for real-world violence.

Twitter Removes Tweets from Student Criticizing Proctoring Company

A series of tweets by one Miami University student that were critical of a proctoring software company have been hidden by Twitter after the company filed a copyright takedown notice. Erik Johnson, a student who works as a security researcher on the side, posted a lengthy tweet thread in early September about Proctorio, an Arizona-based software company that several U.S. schools — including his own — use to monitor students who are taking their exams remotely.

Justice Department Seizes $1 Billion of Bitcoin Associated with Silk Road

The U.S. Justice Department announced it had seized over $1 billion worth of bitcoin associated with the underground online marketplace Silk Road. The Justice Department said it was seeking the forfeiture of the cryptocurrency, which had been in the possession of an unnamed hacker who stole them from the “notorious” website. It is the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever made by the U.S. government, the department added.

California Voters Approve Proposition Creating Privacy Protection Agency

A controversial California ballot measure regarding data privacy appears to have been passed by voters in the election, and it is likely to have a national impact by regulating how tech giants based in The Golden State must operate. Proposition 24, known as the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020, seeks to amend and expand on provisions of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) that was passed in 2018. The proposition would establish a California Privacy Protection Agency with the power to enforce CCPA, and changes would go into effect in 2023.

Subscribe

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.