ByteDance Agrees to $92 Million Privacy Settlement with TikTok Users

ByteDance has agreed to a $92 million class-action settlement to settle data privacy claims from some U.S. TikTok users, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Illinois. ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns the short video app that has more than 100 million U.S. users, agreed to the settlement after more than a year of litigation.

D.C. Attorney General Sues AT&T for Overcharging Cell, Internet Services

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine filed a lawsuit against AT&T Mobility National Accounts, alleging that the company overcharged the city millions of dollars for cellphone and internet services, Racine’s office said in a statement. Racine’s office said AT&T was contractually required to give the city the cheapest data and wireless phone services available.

Twitter Removes Hundreds of Accounts linked to Iran, Russia, Armenia

Twitter announced that it had removed hundreds of accounts linked to Iran, Russia and Armenia for violating its platform manipulation policies. In a blog post, the social media giant said the accounts, which were permanently suspended, attempted to interfere with the 2020 presidential election and in some cases posed as government officials.

Biden Signs Executive Order to Address Global Chip Shortage

President Joe Biden signed an executive order meant to address a global chip shortage impacting industries ranging from medical supplies to electric vehicles. The order includes a 100-day review of key products including semiconductors and advanced batteries used in electric vehicles, followed by a broader, long-term review of six sectors of the economy.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Security Breach Prevents CD Projekt from Updating Cyberpunk 2077 Game

CD Projekt SA said it will delay a promised update to the much-criticized role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077, pinning the blame for its slow progress on a recent security breach. What the Polish publisher didn’t say is that most of its employees have been locked out of their workstations for the past two weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

SolarWinds, Microsoft Defend Conduct After Breaches by Russian Hackers

Top executives at Texas-based software company SolarWinds Corp, Microsoft Corp and cybersecurity firms FireEye Inc and CrowdStrike Holdings Inc defended their conduct in breaches blamed on Russian hackers and sought to shift responsibility elsewhere in testimony to a U.S. Senate panel. One of the worst hacks yet discovered had an impact on all four. SolarWinds and Microsoft programs were used to attack others and the hack struck at about 100 U.S. companies and nine federal agencies.

Judge Rules Against Challenge to California's Net Neutrality Law

California may soon begin enforcing its first-in-the-nation net neutrality law after a federal judge ruled against broadband providers that had sought to scuttle the state’s open-Internet safeguards. The ruling amounts to a major victory for advocates of rules that require AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other telecom giants to treat all Web traffic equally, potentially setting the stage for states nationwide to follow California’s lead and adopt tough new protections of their own.

Biden to Meet with Lawmakers for Discussion About Semiconductor Shortage

President Biden will meet with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to confront growing concern about a global shortage of semiconductors that is hobbling automakers and other manufacturers and has led to production cutbacks. News of the meeting, confirmed by people familiar with the matter, came as Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) called for Congress to appropriate funds it previously had authorized for domestic semiconductor manufacturing, calling the current lack of production capacity “a dangerous weak spot in our economy and in our national security.”

Myanmar Military Shuts Off Country from Internet During Coup

Data center raids in Yangon and other cities in Myanmar were part of a coordinated strike in which the military seized power, locked up the country’s elected leaders and took most of its internet users offline. Since the coup, the military has repeatedly shut off the internet and cut access to major social media sites, isolating a country that had only in the past few years linked to the outside world.

French Antitrust Investigators Accuse Google of News Violations

French antitrust investigators have accused Alphabet Inc’s Google of failing to comply with the state competition authority’s orders on how to conduct negotiations with news publishers over copyright, two sources who read the investigators’ report said. In the 93-page report, known as a statement of objections, the investigators wrote that Google’s failure to comply was of an exceptionally serious nature, the sources said.

Facebook Reverses Ban on News Sharing in Australia After Amendments

Facebook will walk back its block on Australian users sharing news on its site after the government agreed to make amendments to the proposed media bargaining laws that would force major tech giants to pay news outlets for their content. It follows days of negotiations between the government and the social media company, including discussions between Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg.

Lawmakers Renew Call for Cyber Ambassador in State Department

A group of congressional lawmakers is renewing its call for a cyber ambassador in the State Department, reviving a bill that created friction between Congress and the Trump administration. Lawmakers including Reps. Michael McCaul, (R., Texas), Gregory Meeks, (D., N.Y.) and Jim Langevin (D., R.I.) planning to introduce an updated version of the Cyber Diplomacy Act.

Mysterious 'Silver Sparrow' Malware Found on 30,000 Mac Computers

Nearly 30,000 Macs worldwide have been infected with mysterious malware, according to researchers at security firm Red Canary. The malware, which the company calls Silver Sparrow, does not "exhibit the behaviors that we've come to expect from the usual adware that so often targets macOS systems," Tony Lambert, an intelligence analyst at Red Canary wrote.

  • Read the article: CNN

FCC Chair Proposes $3.2 Billion to Subsidize Low-Income Broadband Service

The acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission announced a proposal to use $3.2 billion in emergency funds to significantly subsidize broadband service for millions of households, an attempt to narrow the digital divide that has punished low-income families during the pandemic. The chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, announced that under her proposal, qualifying households would receive $50 a month in discounts for high-speed internet service.

UK Antitrust Tribunal Rules Against Epic in Apple Payment System Case

The UK antitrust tribunal ruled that Epic Games, the creator of popular game Fortnite, will not be allowed to pursue its case against Apple Inc in the United Kingdom over its App Store payment system and control over app downloads. The two companies have been at loggerheads since August, when the game maker tried to avoid Apple’s 30% fee on the App Store by launching its own in-app payment system, which led to Apple’s subsequent ban of Fortnite from its store.

Nigerian Social-Media Celebrity Helped North Korean Hackers, U.S. Says

A Nigerian social-media celebrity helped North Korean hackers launder money stolen from a Maltese bank, U.S. officials said. Ramon Olorunwa Abbas — widely known as “Hushpuppi” — played a supporting role in cyber-scams perpetrated by three computer programmers accused of extorting more than $1.3 billion of cash and cryptocurrency, the Justice Department said on Feb. 17.

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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.