U.S. Charges Chinese Intelligence Officers with Obstruction of Tech Case

The United States unveiled charges accusing two Chinese intelligence officers of attempting to subvert a criminal investigation into a China-based telecommunications company — one of three new cases that FBI Director Christopher A. Wray said shows Beijing is trying to “lie, cheat and steal” its way to a competitive advantage in technology. In total, the U.S. Justice Department said 10 individuals were Chinese intelligence officers or government officials engaged in criminal conduct, and in the most alarming case, accused two men of working on Beijing’s behalf to bribe a U.S. law enforcement official to share secrets about an ongoing prosecution of a major Chinese firm.

Australia to Seek Increased Penalties for Companies with Data Breaches

Australia will introduce laws to parliament to increase penalties for companies subject to major data breaches, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said, after high-profile cyberattacks hit millions of Australians in recent weeks. Australia's telco, financial and government sectors have been on high alert since Singtel-owned Optus, the country's second-largest telco, disclosed on Sept. 22 a hack that saw the theft of personal data from up to 10 million accounts.

Tech Industry Groups Ask Supreme Court to Review Florida Social Media Law

Tech industry groups asked the Supreme Court to hear a case on a Florida law that could help shape the future of how companies are allowed to moderate content online. The Computer and Communications Association (CCIA) and NetChoice petitioned the Supreme Court to review a case about Florida’s law, which would limit companies from being able to remove content and users that violate their policies.

Texas Files Privacy Suit Against Google Over Facial, Voice Recognition

The Texas attorney general filed a privacy lawsuit against Google, accusing the Internet company of collecting Texans’ facial and voice recognition information without their explicit consent. Ken Paxton, the state’s attorney general, said Google had violated a state consumer protection law that requires companies to inform citizens and get their consent before capturing their biometric identifiers, including fingerprints, voiceprints and a “record of hand or face geometry.”

Facebook Threatens to Block Sharing of News Content in Canada

Facebook warned that it may block sharing of news content on its platform in Canada over concerns about legislation that would compel digital platforms to pay news publishers. The Online News Act, introduced in April, laid out rules to force platforms like Meta's Facebook and Alphabet's Google to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content, in a move similar to a ground-breaking law passed in Australia last year.

FTC to Sanction CEO of Alcohol Delivery Company for Exposing Customers

The Federal Trade Commission plans to take the rare step of bringing individual sanctions against the CEO of alcohol delivery company Drizly for data privacy abuses, following allegations that the company’s security failures under his watch exposed the personal information of about 2.5 million customers. The proposed order will follow Drizly CEO James Cory Rellas to future businesses, requiring him to implement a security program at any companies he runs that collect information from more than 25,000 people.

Australia's Biggest Health Insurer Warns Customers About Data Breach

Australia's biggest health insurer Medibank Private Ltd said it expected the number of customers affected by a massive data breach to grow, after it discovered policy records of a further 1,000 customers had been stolen. Medibank, which provides coverage to one-sixth of Australians, said last week an unidentified person had shown the company stolen personal information of a 100 customers, including medical diagnoses and procedures.

Russian Lawmaker Urges 'Full Ban on WhatsApp Use for Official Purposes'

A Russian lawmaker urged state institutions to stop using WhatsApp messenger and the industry ministry sought to promote domestically produced software as Russia tries to wean itself off Western technology. WhatsApp owner Meta Platforms Inc. was found guilty of "extremist activity" in Russia in March and later added to financial monitoring agency Rosfinmonitoring's list of "terrorists and extremists".

N.Y. Attorney General Wants Law to Ban Live-Streaming of Homicides

The New York attorney general called on the state legislature to pass new laws to deter the live-streaming of homicides, following an investigation that concluded the alleged gunman accused of killing 10 people in Buffalo was radicalized online and then used social media to plan and promote his rampage. Attorney General Letitia James’s probe marks one of the most significant efforts by U.S. law enforcement to examine the role of the internet in a mass shooting after attacks in Uvalde, Tex., El Paso and Christchurch, New Zealand, drew public attention to the role of tech platforms in massacres.

Meta Agrees to Sell Giphy After Order from U.K.'s Top Competition Authority

Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. said it would sell its social-media animated-images company Giphy after the U.K.’s top competition authority affirmed an earlier order to undo the 2020 acquisition. Facebook’s announcement all but ends a yearslong saga in which a foreign regulator made a rare intervention in an already-consummated deal between two American companies.

Hackers Turn to Australian Companies After Attack on Telecom Operator

A data breach at Australia's second-largest telco may have raised the country's profile as a hacking target, cybersecurity experts said, as federal police began investigating a separate breach at the country's top health insurer. Since Singapore Telecommunications Ltd-owned Optus disclosed last month the theft of about 10 million customer records, equivalent to 40% of the country's population, the country's biggest companies and government bodies have been on high alert for repeat attacks.

Google Facing Possible Antitrust Charges in EU Over Digital Ad Business

Alphabet unit Google could face EU antitrust charges next year over its digital advertising business, putting the company at risk of its fourth fine in the EU of more than a billion euros, people familiar with the matter said. Google's ad business, which generated over $100 billion in sales last year, is Alphabet's biggest moneymaker. It accounted for about 80% of annual revenue, despite efforts over the past decade to push into selling hardware, subscription services and cloud computing technology.

Brazilian Court Fines Apple $19 Million for Not Including iPhone Chargers

A Brazilian court fined Apple Inc. 100 million reais ($19 million) and ruled that battery chargers must come with new iPhones sold in the country. The Sao Paulo state court ruled against Apple in a lawsuit, filed by the association of borrowers, consumers and taxpayers, that argued that the company commits abusive practices by selling its flagship product without a charger.

Google Approves Trump's Truth Social App for Distribution on Its App Store

Google approved Truth Social for distribution through its mobile-app store after the Donald Trump -backed social-media platform agreed to follow the tech company’s content-moderation guidelines. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., said Truth Social had recently improved the enforcement of its policies for user-generated content and agreed to police them going forward. Google in August declined Truth Social’s application to be listed in the Play Store, notifying the app of several policy violations.

Twitter Reportedly Reviewing Policies on Permanently Banning Users

Twitter Inc. is reviewing its policies around permanently banning users, possibly bringing its content moderation in line with Elon Musk's vision for the social media platform, the Financial Times reported. Twitter has been exploring if there are other content moderation tools that could replace a ban, its harshest penalty for violating rules, the newspaper said, citing multiple people familiar with the situation.

Appeals Court Blocks Texas Social Media Law from Going Into Effect

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a controversial Texas social media law from going into effect as industry groups seek to bring the case to the Supreme Court. The court granted a request from the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice to prevent the law’s implementation ahead of a potential Supreme Court hearing on the case, the tech associations said.

U.S. Company Ordered to Pay Fine for Firing Dutch Worker Who Objected to Webcam

A Florida-headquartered company has been ordered to pay about €75,000 (around $73,000) in compensation and other fees after firing a Netherlands-based remote worker who refused to keep their webcam on all day, NL Times reports. The company, Chetu, said the unnamed employee was required to attend a virtual classroom with their webcam turned on for the entire day and their screen remotely monitored.

Biden Issues Order Giving Europeans Rights to Challenge U.S. Data Storage

The U.S. is starting to implement a deal with the European Union aimed at allowing information about Europeans to continue to be stored on U.S. soil, reducing a looming threat to thousands of companies with trans-Atlantic operations. President Biden issued an executive order giving Europeans new rights to challenge U.S. government-surveillance practices against them, a central element of the preliminary deal that the U.S. and the EU first outlined in March.

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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.