Spain's Competition Watchdog Investigating Apple, Amazon

Spain's competition watchdog CNMC is investigating possible anti-competitive practices in Spain by Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. regarding online sales of electronic products. The CNMC said in a statement that it had opened disciplinary proceedings over possible unlawful conduct by both companies that would include possible restrictions on the Amazon website in Spain.

Russian Military Intelligence Using 'Brute Force' for Hacking, NSA Says

The Russian military intelligence is continuing its worldwide hacking campaigns, the National Security Agency announced , including "brute force" campaigns — a classic hacking technique that automates possible username or password combinations until the hacker gets access to a computer network. In a joint advisory with several other federal agencies and the United Kingdom, the NSA declared that a unit within Russia's GRU agency, responsible for some of the most prolific and impactful hacking attacks in history, has been behind a campaign to access "hundreds of government and private sector targets worldwide" since 2019.

Amazon Argues for FTC Chair to Recuse Herself from Antitrust Probe

Amazon demanded that Lina Khan, the new chair of the Federal Trade Commission and an avowed critic of the company, recuse herself from any antitrust investigation into the e-commerce giant. The company argued in a 25-page petition to the FTC that Ms. Kahn could not be impartial in antitrust matters involving the company because she had been intensely critical of Amazon as a scholar and writer and because she had worked on the staff of a congressional investigation of the company.

Federal Judge Blocks Florida Law Penalizing Social Media Firms

A federal judge blocked a Florida law that would penalize social media companies for blocking a politician’s posts, a blow to conservatives’ efforts to respond to Facebook and other websites’ suspension of former president Donald Trump. The law was due to go into effect Thursday, but in issuing a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle of the Northern District of Florida suggested that the law would be found unconstitutional.

Rulings for Facebook Pressure Lawmakers to Tackle Antitrust Changes

A pair of rulings dismissing federal and state antitrust lawsuits against Facebook renewed questions about whether the laws were suited to taking on tech power. The rulings have now put the pressure on lawmakers to push through a recently proposed package of legislation that would rewrite key aspects of monopoly laws to make some of the tech giants’ business practices illegal.

Google to Require Verification for U.K. Financial Services Advertisers

Alphabet Inc's Google announced measures to clamp down on financial fraud on its platform in Britain, saying it will require all financial services to be verified by the regulator before they are allowed to advertise. Google said in a blog post it will begin enforcing the new policy, which follows calls from the Financial Conduct Authority for the U.S. tech giant to vet paid promotions, from Sept. 6.

Parler Reportedly Refused Trump Relationship After Request to Ban Critics

The alternative social network Parler and representatives of former president Donald Trump were reportedly considering an idea to make Trump an active member of the platform after he left office, but Parler apparently pushed back on one key part of the proposed arrangement: the platform did not want to ban Trump’s detractors, according to an excerpt of Michael Wolff’s upcoming book about the last days of Trump’s presidency published in New York Magazine.

YouTube Bans 'Right Wing Watch,' Then Says It Was Mistakenly Suspended

After left-wing media watchdog Right Wing Watch had been informed that its channel had been permanently suspended from YouTube, the online video platform reversed course hours later and reinstated the channel. “Right Wing Watch’s YouTube channel was mistakenly suspended, but upon further review, has now been reinstated,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Daily Beast. The social-media site also suggested that the issue was a mistake due to high volume of content and that they attempted to move quickly to undo the ban.

White House Antitrust Executive Order Would Target More Than Tech Firms

The White House is working on an antitrust executive order that aims to push government agencies to consider how their decisions will impact competition in an industry, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The order goes after corporate monopolies across a broad swath of industries ranging from banking to airlines, one of the sources said.

Judge Dismisses Federal, State Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook

A federal judge dismissed antitrust lawsuits the federal government and most states filed against Facebook Inc., a major win for the company before the cases barely got off the ground. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington granted the social-media giant’s requests to dismiss lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general in December.

Microsoft Says Hackers Linked to Russia Installed Malware on Its Systems

Microsoft Corp. said hackers, linked by U.S. authorities to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, installed malicious information-stealing software on one of its systems and used information gleaned there to attack its customers. The hackers compromised a computer used by a Microsoft customer support employee that could have provided access to different types of information, including ”metadata” of accounts and billing contact information for the organization, a Microsoft spokesman said.

YouTube Removes Videos from Human Rights Group Targeting China

A human rights group that attracted millions of views on YouTube to testimonies from people who say their families have disappeared in China's Xinjiang region is moving its videos to little-known service Odysee after some were taken down by the Google-owned streaming giant, two sources told Reuters. The group, credited by international organizations like Human Rights Watch for drawing attention to human rights violations in Xinjiang, has come under fire from Kazakh authorities since its founding in 2017.

Agreed-Upon Infrastructure Bill Includes $65 Billion for Broadband

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris agreed to a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure plan that includes building out high-speed universal broadband across the nation. The infrastructure framework will invest two-thirds of the resources from Biden's proposed American Jobs Plan, and also includes provisions for clean transportation, clean water infrastructure, renewable energy infrastructure and climate change resilience.

  • Read the article: CNET

House Judiciary Committee Approves All Six Big Tech Antitrust Bills

In a marathon markup meeting that lasted 29 hours, the House Judiciary Committee approved all six of the bills in a sweeping antitrust package that takes aim at Big Tech and attempts to reel in the giants’ power. But the lengthy debate that began Wednesday and did not finish till Thursday afternoon illuminated the fissures within both parties as tech companies continue lobbying lawmakers, and some California delegates — whose districts encompass many tech headquarters — voiced skepticism.

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.