Consumer Product Safety Commission Investigating AmazonBasics

The federal agency responsible for overseeing consumer product safety is investigating Amazon-branded electronic products highlighted in a CNN investigation last year, according to records and interviews. CNN reported last year that dozens of AmazonBasics electronics remained for sale on Amazon.com, despite customers reporting the products had melted, exploded or burst into flames.

  • Read the article: CNN

Supreme Court Dismisses Ruling Against LinkedIn in Scraping Case

The U.S. Supreme Court gave Microsoft Corp’s LinkedIn Corp another chance to try to stop rival hiQ Labs Inc from harvesting personal data from the professional networking platform’s public profiles — a practice that LinkedIn contends threatens the privacy of its users. The justices threw out a lower court ruling that had barred LinkedIn from denying hiQ access to the information that LinkedIn members had made publicly available.

Teamsters Union Refused to Pay in Ransomware Attack Case in 2019

When the Teamsters were hit by a ransomware attack over Labor Day weekend in 2019, the hackers asked for a seven-figure payment. But unlike many of the companies hit by high-profile ransomware attacks in recent months, the union declined to pay, despite the FBI's advice to do so, three sources familiar with the previously unreported cyberattack told NBC News.

Lawmaker Questions Why JBS Paid $11 Million Ransom to Hackers

The chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee is pressing JBS USA to explain why it paid $11 million in ransom to a criminal group earlier this year. In a letter, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) asked JBS chief executive Andre Nogueira to turn over all documents related to the ransomware attack and records of its communications with REvil, the group the FBI believes to be responsible, by June 24.

Japanese Government to Investigate Apple, Google Over Phone Deals

The Japanese government will start investigating how Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google deal with Japanese smartphone makers, which could lead to tightening antitrust regulations, the Nikkei newspaper reported Sunday, without saying where it got the information. A government panel, which consists of officials, bureaucrats and external experts, will kick off the discussion this month as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android software stands at more than 90% of the Japanese smartphone market, the paper said.

Democrats, Republicans Agree on Competition Law Changes Targeting Tech

House Democrats and Republicans introduced sweeping bills intended to check the power of Silicon Valley giants, marking a new chapter in their years-long efforts to hold tech companies accountable. The rare cooperation in a bitterly divided Congress underscores the mounting bipartisan interest in overhauling federal competition laws to address long-running allegations that Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google have engaged in monopoly-style tactics.

YouTube Suspends Senator After Remarks About Covid-19 Treatments

YouTube suspended Sen. Ron Johnson’s account after the Wisconsin Republican posted his recent remarks about alternative therapies to treat Covid-19. “We removed the video in accordance with our COVID-19 medical misinformation policies, which don’t allow content that encourages people to use Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement.

Justice Department's Inspector General Probes Seizure of Data from Democrats

The Justice Department’s independent inspector general opened an investigation into the decision by federal prosecutors to secretly seize the data of House Democrats and reporters as investigators hunted down who was leaking classified information early in the Trump administration. At the same time, top Senate Democrats demanded that the former attorneys general Jeff Sessions and William P. Barr testify publicly before Congress about the leak investigations, including about subpoenas issued to tech companies in 2017 and 2018 for the records of at least a dozen people tied to the House Intelligence Committee.

Ransomware Attacks on Hospitals Traced to Eastern European Cybercriminals

Multiple attacks were carried out in recent months against U.S. hospitals, suspending some surgeries, delaying medical care and costing hospitals millions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal tracked the most disruptive attacks to one group: a notorious gang of Eastern European cybercriminals once called the “Business Club,” with ties to Russian government security services, according to threat analysts and former law-enforcement officials who closely follow Eastern European cybercrime operations.

Music Publishers Sue Roblox for Using Songs Without Permission

A group of music publishers representing the songwriters of hits from Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and the Rolling Stones is suing Roblox Corp. for copyright infringement, alleging the videogame company used their musical works without permission or payment. The publishers, including Universal Music Publishing, and artist DJ Deadmau5, say the company hasn’t licensed the music many of its creators have used in their games, resulting in lost income.

EU Privacy Regulator Proposes $425 Million Fine Against Amazon

A European Union privacy regulator has proposed a fine of more than $425 million against Amazon.com Inc., part of a process that could yield the biggest-yet penalty under the bloc’s privacy law, people familiar with the matter said. Luxembourg’s data-protection commission, the CNPD, has circulated a draft decision sanctioning Amazon’s privacy practices and proposing the fine among the bloc’s 26 other national authorities, the people said.

ISP Frontier Communications Sued by Record Labels for Not Fighting Piracy

Frontier Communications, an ISP that serves around 3 million subscribers, has been sued by Warner, Sony, and Universal’s record labels for allegedly not taking action against its users who pirate music (via Ars Technica). The record labels allege in their complaint that not only did Frontier fail to disconnect people who repeatedly pirated, but it even encouraged them by advertising the ability to “download 10 songs in 3.5 seconds” and profited from the result.

Hackers Trying to Sell 780 GB of Data Stolen from Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts, publisher of video games such as "Madden NFL," was hit by a data breach that reportedly included source code for "FIFA 21" and tools for the Frostbite engine, which powers games including "Battlefield." Hackers say they have stolen 780 gigabytes of data and are advertising it for sale on underground forums, according to posts viewed by Vice's Motherboard, which first reported the incident.

Schumer Launches Review of Recent High-Profile Cyber Attacks

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is initiating a review of recent high-profile cyber attacks on governments and businesses to find out whether a legislative response is needed. "Today I am asking Chairman Gary Peters of our Homeland Security Committee and our other relevant committee chairs to begin a government-wide review of these attacks and determine what legislation may be needed to counter the threat of cyber crime and bring the fight to the cyber criminals."

Apple Paid Multimillion Settlement After Techs Posted Customer's Sex Video

Apple paid a multimillion dollar settlement to a woman after iPhone repair techs posted risque pictures from her phone to Facebook, one of the most severe customer privacy breaches yet to be made public, according to legal documents obtained by the Telegraph. The tech behemoth agreed to cover the amount for Apple-approved repair contractor Pegatron following a 2016 incident in which an unnamed Oregon college student sent her phone to Apple for repairs after it stopped working.

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.