Amazon Urges Third-Party Sellers to Oppose Senate Antitrust Bill

Amazon made an appeal to its third-party sellers to oppose a Senate antitrust reform bill aimed at helping their businesses. In a post on Amazon’s internal forum for third-party merchants, the company’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services Dharmesh Mehta urged sellers to oppose The American Innovation and Choice Online Act (S.2992), and asked them to contact their senators.

U.S. Sanctions Called 'Catastrophic' to Some Ransomware Attacks

U.S. sanctions in recent months have hammered a handful of cryptocurrency services used by ransomware groups, suggesting Washington can effectively target some tools hackers use to convert digital ransom payments into cash. The Treasury Department since last year has sanctioned at least three Russia-based crypto exchanges, as well as a mixing service hackers allegedly used to help launder dirty money, barring U.S. companies from transacting with them.

Texas Attorney General Investigating Twitter Over Reports of Bot Accounts

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he opened an investigation of Twitter, claiming the social media platform may be misleading people with false reporting of its bot accounts, violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Republican attorney general announced the probe the same day Twitter would-be buyer, billionaire Elon Musk, threatened to pull out of his deal to purchase the company, saying it wasn’t meeting his demands for more information about spam and fake accounts.

Senate Bill Would Let Commodity Futures Trading Commission Regulate Crypto

A highly anticipated Senate proposal to bring the freewheeling cryptocurrency industry under federal oversight would deliver a win for the sector by empowering its preferred regulator, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), over the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bill’s sponsors, Sens. Cynthia M. Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), are touting it as the first serious effort to apply comprehensive regulation to the crypto industry, which has minted a new class of billionaires and promised to reinvent financial services while also spawning scams and investor wipeouts that have raised regulators’ alarms.

EU Lawmakers Reach Agreement on USB-C Requirement for Smartphones

European Union lawmakers have reached an agreement on legislation that will force all future smartphones sold in the EU — including Apple’s iPhone — to be equipped with the universal USB-C port for wired charging by fall 2024. The rule will also apply to other electronic devices including tablets, digital cameras, headphones, handheld video game consoles, and e-readers. Laptops will have to comply with the rule at a later date.

Tech Group Seeks One-Year Delay of Indian Cybersecurity Rules

Indian cybersecurity rules due to come into force later this month will create an "environment of fear rather than trust", a body representing top tech companies has warned the government, calling for a one-year delay before the rules take effect. The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), which represents firms including Facebook, Google and Reliance, wrote this week to India's IT ministry criticizing a directive on cybersecurity set out in April.

Sanctioned Ransomware Groups Finding Ways to Keep Receiving Payments

Ransomware groups that have been sanctioned by the U.S. government are switching their tactics to evade sanctions and continue to receive ransom payments, according to a report released by cybersecurity firm Mandiant. Hackers affiliated with a group known as Evil Corp, which was sanctioned in 2019, have since then changed the types of programs they use to target their victims.

U.S. Expands Sanctions Against Russia on Buying Advanced Technology

The Biden administration announced further sanctions and restrictions on Russia and Belarus, adding 71 organizations to a government list that prevents them from buying advanced technology. Since Western allies announced extensive restrictions on exports of semiconductors, computers, lasers, telecommunications equipment and other goods in February, Russia has had difficulty obtaining microchips to replenish its supply of precision-guided munitions, according to one senior U.S. official, who, along with most other officials interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss matters based on intelligence.

EU Lawmakers Set to Approve Single Charging Port for Mobile Devices

EU countries and EU lawmakers are set to agree on a common charging port for mobile phones, tablets and headphones on June 7 when they meet to discuss a proposal that has been fiercely criticized by Apple, people familiar with the matter said. The proposal for a single mobile charging port was first broached by the European Commission more than a decade ago after iPhone and Android users complained about having to use different chargers for their phones.

Amazon to Stop Selling Kindle Devices, Book Downloads in China

Amazon Inc. is closing its Kindle digital bookstore in China and has halted sales of Kindle devices to retailers in the country in the latest retreat by a U.S. tech company there. The pullback is the latest for American tech giants operating in China, which has some of the world’s most stringent censorship rules and a fiercely competitive homegrown technology ecosystem.

New York Senate Passes Bill to Limit Some Power Plants in Bitcoin Mining

The Bitcoin mining boom in New York state hit a roadblock as the State Senate passed a bill that will halt new permits for certain fossil fuel power plants to be used in Bitcoin mining. The measure, which also initiates a study on the environmental impact mining facilities are having in the state, passed in the State Assembly earlier this year.

Ex-Product Manager at NFT Marketplace OpenSea Charged with Insider Trading

U.S. prosecutors in Manhattan charged a former product manager at OpenSea, the largest online marketplace for non-fungible tokens, with insider trading, the first such case involving digital assets. Nathaniel Chastain, 31, of Manhattan, was accused of secretly buying 45 NFTs on 11 separate occasions based on confidential information that the tokens, or others by the same creator, would soon be featured on OpenSea's home page.

FBI Thwarted Iranian-Backed Cyberattack on Boston Children's Hospital

The FBI thwarted a planned cyberattack on a children’s hospital in Boston that was to have been carried out by hackers sponsored by the Iranian government, FBI Director Christopher Wray said. Wray told a Boston College cybersecurity conference that his agents learned of the planned digital attack from an unspecified intelligence partner and got Boston Children’s Hospital the information it needed last summer to block what would have been “one of the most despicable cyberattacks I’ve seen.”

Supreme Court Blocks Texas Law Limiting Bans by Social Media Companies

The Supreme Court blocked a Texas law that would ban large social media companies from removing posts based on the views they express. The court’s brief order was unsigned and gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The order was not the last word in the case, which is pending before a federal appeals court and may return to the Supreme Court.

Judge Refuses to Dismiss App Store Cydia's Lawsuit Against Apple

Apple Inc. lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit in California federal court from competing app store Cydia, which accused the iPhone maker of maintaining an unlawful monopoly over software distribution on its operating system. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, rejected Apple's contention that Cydia's allegations fell outside a four-year window allowed under federal antitrust law.

Russian Regulator Opens Case Against Google Over Personal Data Law

Russia's communications regulator Roskomnadzor said it had opened administrative cases against Alphabet Inc's Google and six other foreign technology companies for alleged violations of personal data legislation. Moscow has clashed with Big Tech over content, censorship, data and local representation in a simmering dispute that has erupted into a full-on information battle since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.

Yubo Livestreaming App Cooperating with Law Enforcement in Uvalde Shooting

Yubo, a livestreaming app marketed toward teenagers, is cooperating with law enforcement on the investigation into the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting as reports emerge that the gunman used the platform to discuss his plans before carrying out the attack. Salvador Ramos, the 18-year-old gunman who was killed by law enforcement during the shooting, exchanged messages on the platform with a 15-year-old girl in Germany earlier on the day of the attack saying he was going to shoot his grandmother and “shoot up” an elementary school, The New York Times reported, citing screenshots provided by the girl he spoke with, identified by her nickname Cece.

Only 19% of Cyber Risk Executives Prepared to Respond to Ransomware Attacks

Despite Washington’s recent attempts to expand cybersecurity rules and disrupt hacking gangs, ransomware continues to proliferate and executives report unease about their companies’ ability to ward off the threat. About 19% of cyber risk executives are highly confident in their organization’s ability to understand and respond to cyber threats, according to a more than 660-person survey published Thursday by Marsh & McLennan Co.’s insurance broking business and Microsoft Corp.

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.