EU Regulators Accuse Apple of Antitrust Violations on App Store

European Union regulators accused Apple of violating antitrust laws by imposing unfair rules and fees on rival music-streaming services that depend on the App Store to reach customers. Amid growing scrutiny of the tech industry worldwide, the case will be an important test of a government's ability to force one of Silicon Valley’s most powerful companies to change its behavior. Europe is seen as a global bellwether on tech policy, but Apple has vowed to fight the charges.

Amazon’s Algorithms Promote Conspiracy Theories to Some Users, Report Says

A new report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue says Amazon’s algorithms steer people to books about conspiracy theories and extremism, sometimes introducing them to the work of conspiracy theorists who’ve been banned by other online platforms. People browsing a book about one conspiracy on Amazon are likely to get suggestions for more books on that topic as well as books about other conspiracy theories about everything from QAnon to the COVID-19 vaccine, the report found.

China Imposes Tighter Data Regulation on Large Tech Companies

China is reining in the ability of the country’s internet giants to use big data for lending, money-management and similar businesses, ending an era of rapid growth that authorities said posed dangers for the financial system. China’s central bank and other regulators ordered 13 firms, including many of the biggest names in the technology sector, to adhere to much tighter regulation of their data and lending practices.

U.S. Government Investigates Hack Against Federal Agencies Using VPN

For at least the third time since the beginning of this year, the U.S. government is investigating a hack against federal agencies that began during the Trump administration but was only recently discovered, according to senior U.S. officials and private sector cyber defenders. It is the latest so-called supply chain cyberattack, highlighting how sophisticated, often government-backed groups are targeting vulnerable software built by third parties as a stepping-stone to sensitive government and corporate computer networks.

Supreme Court Hears Free Speech Arguments in Student's Snapchat Case

The Supreme Court explored the extent of protections for student speech that occurs off campus, in a case that could break new First Amendment ground in the social media age. Hearing arguments by phone, the court grappled with a dispute pitting a teen cheerleader against her Pennsylvania high school district, which imposed a yearlong suspension from the squad after she made a profane Snapchat post off campus and outside of school hours.

Microsoft President Says Google Has Broken Promise of 'An Open Web'

Microsoft Corp. President Brad Smith said Google has hurt the concept of the open web and impaired content creators’ ability to make money, continuing an attack the software maker began earlier this year over whether internet companies need to pay news organizations for content they re-share. “The reality is that Google has fundamentally sucked most of the oxygen out of the opportunities for people who create content to actually earn a living through advertising,” said Smith, who is also Microsoft’s chief legal officer, in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Officials Consider Cryptocurrency Regulation to Fight Ransomware

Government and industry officials confronting an epidemic of ransomware, where hackers freeze the computers of a target and demand a payoff, are zeroing in on cryptocurrency regulation as the key to combating the scourge, sources familiar with the work of a public-private task force said. In a report, the panel of experts is expected to call for far more aggressive tracking of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. While those have won greater acceptance among investors over the past year, they remain the lifeblood of ransomware operators and other criminals who face little risk of prosecution in much of the world.

Senators Probing Whether Google Tried to Influence Critic at Hearing

Senators are probing whether Google tried to influence a top critic’s testimony at a high-profile hearing about the future of app stores. Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) are demanding more details about an alleged phone call between a Google employee and a Match Group employee on the eve of a key hearing before the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee.

EU's Competition Chief Plans to Issue Charges Against Apple

Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s competition chief, will issue charges against Apple stating that its App Store rules break EU law, according to several people with direct knowledge of the situation. The charges relate to a complaint brought two years ago by Spotify, the music streaming app, that Apple takes 30 percent commission to distribute apps through its iPhone App Store and forbids apps from directing users to pay for subscriptions elsewhere.

Ransomware Gang Threatens to Leak Sensitive Files from D.C. Police Department

A ransomware gang is threatening to leak sensitive police files that may expose police investigations and informants unless the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia agrees to pay a ransom demand. “We are aware of unauthorized access on our server,” Sean Hickman, a public spokesperson for DC Police, told The Record in an email today after screenshots of the department’s internal files and servers were published on the website of the Babuk Locker ransomware gang.

German Advertising Federation Files Antitrust Complaint Against Apple

The German Advertising Federation filed an antitrust complaint against Apple over the tech giant’s rollout of its App Tracking Transparency feature. The ZAW, the advertising federation, filed the complaint with a German competition regulator, arguing Apple is abusing its market power and violating antitrust law through the launch of its antitracking feature, according to the federation’s press release.

China's Internet Watchdog Releases New Rules to Regulate Live Streaming

China’s internet watchdog and six other regulators have jointly released new rules to regulate live streaming in the country’s booming e-commerce sector, set to go into effect on May 25, in Beijing’s latest move to tighten oversight of the powerful digital economy. Live-streaming service providers will be required to create a list specifying the categories of products and services that are either unlawful or unsuited for sales through live-streaming, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on its official website.

Twitter Removes Tweets Critical of Indian Government's Pandemic Response

Twitter has removed more than 50 tweets critical of the Indian government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and did so at the request of the Indian government. First reported by Indian news site MediaNama, the Indian government sent Twitter an emergency order to censor 52 tweets, according to a disclosure notice on the Lumen database.

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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.