Lawmakers Question Amazon's Efforts to Win $10 Billion Pentagon Contract

As the Defense Department prepares to solicit bids for cloud-computing work that could yield billions of dollars for Amazon, members of Congress are raising new questions about the company’s efforts to win a $10 billion contract during the Trump administration. Previously unreleased emails show that Pentagon officials in 2017 and 2018 lavished praise on several of the tech executives whose companies expressed interest in the original contract, especially Amazon, while concerns about the company’s access appear to have been glossed over, according to the emails, other documents and interviews.

France Fines Google $593 Million for Violating News Copyright Order

France's antitrust watchdog slapped a 500 million euro ($593 million) fine on Alphabet's Google for failing to comply with the regulator's orders on how to conduct talks with the country's news publishers in a row over copyright. The fine comes amid increasing international pressure on online platforms such as Google and Facebook to share more revenue with news outlets.

Twitter Removes Tweets, Suspends Accounts Targeting Black Soccer Players

Twitter said it is taking action on the growing score of racist posts targeting Black players on the English national soccer team after it lost the UEFA European Championship final to Italy. In a statement to The Hill, the social media company condemned the “abhorrent racist abuse” directed at the players and said the attacks have “absolutely no place” on its platform.

European Consumer Groups File Privacy Complaint Against WhatsApp

European consumer groups filed a complaint against WhatsApp over a controversial privacy policy update on Monday, alleging the platform’s “intrusive” notifications pushing the update breached European Union commercial practices. The European Consumer Organization (BEUC), an umbrella consumers group based in Brussels, along with eight of its members in various countries, filed the complaint against the platform, owned by Facebook, arguing it failed to explain in “plain and intelligible language the nature of the changes.”

Europe's Top Digital Enforcer Urges Great Cooperation on Competition

The tech industry’s top European adversary called for greater cooperation among democracies as regulators race to check the power of Silicon Valley titans. “We do not have a global competition enforcer, but we have global companies,” Margarethe Vestager, Europe’s top digital enforcer, said at a Washington Post Live interview. “The more we are aligned, the better chance we have.”

Biden Administration Asks Court to Dismiss Appeals in TikTok Cases

The Biden administration asked two federal appeals courts to dismiss the Justice Department's legal challenges to court rulings that barred a Trump-era effort to ban new downloads of Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok. Last month, President Joe Biden withdrew a series of executive orders issued by former President Donald Trump that sought to ban new downloads of WeChat, TikTok and other Chinese apps and ordered a new review.

Biden Warns Putin to Act on Ransomware Groups or Face Retaliation

President Biden warned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia that time was running out for him to rein in the ransomware groups striking the United States, telegraphing that this could be Mr. Putin’s final chance to take action on Russia’s harboring of cybercriminals before the United States moved to dismantle the threat. In Mr. Biden’s starkest warning yet, he conveyed in a phone call to Mr. Putin that the attacks would no longer be treated only as criminal acts, but as national security threats — and thus may provoke a far more severe response, administration officials said.

TikTok to Start Automatically Removing Content That Violates Some Policies

Short-video sharing app TikTok said it will use more automation to remove videos from its platform that violate its community guidelines. The ByteDance-owned company added that over the next few weeks it will begin automatically removing some types of content that violate policy over minor safety, adult nudity and sexual activities, violent and graphic content and illegal activities and regulated goods.

New York City Opens Center to Protect Against Cybersecurity Threats

New York City has become the first major American metropolitan area to open a real-time operational center to protect against cybersecurity threats, regional officials said. Set in a lower Manhattan skyscraper, the center is staffed by a coalition of government agencies and private businesses, with 282 partners overall sharing intelligence on potential cyber threats.

China Orders Removal of 25 More Apps from Didi, Citing Personal Data Issues

In its latest rebuke to the ride-hailing giant Didi, China ordered 25 more of the company’s apps removed from mobile stores, deepening the regulatory maelstrom that has engulfed the company since it went public on the New York Stock Exchange. The country’s internet regulator said in its announcement that the apps — which include Didi’s car-pooling app, its finance app and its app for corporate customers — showed problems related to the collection and use of personal data.

Swiss Online Consumer Outlet Files Suit Over Ransomware Attack

Swiss online consumer outlet Comparis has filed a criminal complaint over a ransomware attack that blocked some of its information technology systems, it said "As far as we know, most databases do not seem to be affected by the incident. Unfortunately, first detailed analyses suggest that the perpetrators had access to certain customer-relevant data of sister company Credaris, whose systems are partly operated in the same server environment," it said.

Wozniak Says He's 'Totally Supportive' of Right-to-Repair Movement

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak spoke out on the "right to repair" movement during an appearance on Cameo, a website that lets fans pay celebrities for video messages. In a post to Louis Rossmann, a YouTube personality and a right-to-repair advocate, Wozniak said that he was "totally supportive" of the cause — which gives consumers the right and information to fix their own devices — and somewhat "emotionally" affected by it.

  • Read the article: CNN

Biden Executive Order Targets Anti-Competitive Practices in Big Tech

President Joe Biden signed a new executive order aimed at cracking down on anti-competitive practices in Big Tech, labor and numerous other sectors. The sweeping order, which includes 72 actions and recommendations that involve more than a dozen federal agencies, is intended to reshape the thinking around corporate consolidation and antitrust laws, according to a White House fact sheet.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Huawei's Networking Technology Patent Suit Against Verizon Heads to Trial

Huawei Technologies Co. says it was treated unfairly when the U.S. government labeled it a security threat, yet China’s largest technology company is seeking redress from the American jury system in a major patent fight with Verizon Communications Inc. A trial is set tin Marshall, Texas, in Huawei’s case against Verizon over claims it is using Huawei’s patented networking technology without a license.

Cybersecurity Specialists Warn Against Counterattacks from Hacking Victims

Companies shouldn’t be allowed to strike back against hackers, cybersecurity specialists and former government officials warned, after senators introduced legislation floating the idea of such counterattacks. The work of attacking hackers should be left to government authorities that are better equipped to carry it out, the cyber experts said.

Cyberspace Administration of China to Regulate U.S.-Listed Chinese Companies

A powerful agency that China’s President Xi Jinping set up during his first term to police the internet is taking on a new role: regulating U.S.-listed Chinese companies. The Cyberspace Administration of China, which reports to a central leadership group chaired by Mr. Xi, is taking a lead role in Beijing’s just-announced push to strengthen interagency oversight of companies listed overseas, especially those traded in the U.S., and to tighten rules for future foreign listings, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Australian Court Allows Fortnite Maker to Sue Apple Over App Store Demands

The maker of the smash hit game Fortnite can sue Apple in Australia for illegally wielding control over its iPhones and iPads, the Federal Court has found. Epic Games originally sued Apple in November 2020, alleging Apple’s tight control of its App Store amounted to breaches of Australian Consumer Law and the Competition and Consumer Act because Apple illegally “forces Epic (and other app developers) to only use Apple’s App Store to distribute its software applications… and to only use Apple’s payment platform for purchases of their in-app content by iOS device users”.

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