Justice Department Preparing to Sue Google Over Dominance in Online Ad Market

The U.S. Justice Department is poised to sue Alphabet Inc.’s Google as soon regarding the search giant’s dominance over the digital advertising market, according to people familiar with the matter. The case is expected to be filed in federal court before the end of the week, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing a confidential matter.

Supreme Court Seeks White House Input on State Social Media Laws

The Supreme Court asked the Biden administration for its views on whether the Constitution allows Florida and Texas to prevent large social media companies from removing posts based on the views they express. The practical effect of the move was to put off a decision on whether to hear two major First Amendment challenges to the states’ laws for at least several months.

FBI Blames Hackers Linked to North Korea for $100 Million Crypto Theft

Two hacker groups associated with North Korea, the Lazarus Group and APT38, were responsible for the theft last June of $100 million from U.S. crypto firm Harmony's Horizon bridge, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. On Jan. 13, the groups used a privacy protocol called Railgun to launder over $60 million worth of ethereum stolen during the theft in June, the FBI said in a statement.

FBI Investigating After Senator's Campaign Paid Cybercriminals $690,000

An FBI investigation is underway after cybercriminals targeted an accounting firm employed by a U.S. senator’s reelection campaign last year, according to a spokesperson for the senator. Kansas Republican Sen. Jerry Moran’s campaign sent two wires for fraudulent invoices totaling $690,000 this past fall, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.

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T-Mobile Investigating Data Breach Affecting 37 Million Accounts

U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile said it was investigating a data breach that may have exposed 37 million postpaid and prepaid accounts, and hinted at incurring significant costs related to the incident. It's the second major cyberattack in less than two years and comes months after the carrier agreed to upgrade its data security to settle a litigation related to a 2021 incident that compromised information of an estimated 76.6 million people.

Brazil’s Antitrust Watchdog Opens Investigation of Apple

Brazil’s antitrust watchdog Cade has started an investigation into Apple Inc. for alleged abuse of a dominant position. Cade opened the probe on Jan. 12 following a complaint filed by Latin America’s e-commerce and fintech giant MercadoLibre Inc, the agency said in a statement. The complaint adds to a series of antitrust cases around the world, including in the US, EU, UK, South Korea, Japan, India and Indonesia, Cade added.

University of Texas Blocks TikTok on Network, School-Issued Devices

The University of Texas at Austin, a sprawling campus with more than 52,000 students, said it has blocked the social media app TikTok from its networks and is in the process of removing the app from university-issued devices because of digital security concerns. Jeff Neyland, adviser to the university’s president for technology strategy, said in an email to students Tuesday that the university was taking the steps to comply with Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s directive last month banning the use of TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, on any government-issued devices.

Harassment of Religious and Ethnic Minorities Rises on Twitter Outside U.S.

Elon Musk’s overhaul of Twitter has been accompanied by an increase in digital harassment of religious and ethnic minorities in some of its largest markets outside the United States — and it’s beginning to wreak havoc in the physical world as well, according to current and former employees and experts studying the issue. Musk has fired or accepted resignations from about three-fourths of Twitter’s employees since his $44 billion takeover at the end of October.

Supreme Court Asks Biden Administration for Input on Apple-Broadcom Case

The U.S. Supreme Court asked for the Biden administration's views on Apple Inc. and Broadcom Inc'.s bid to revive their challenges to patents owned by the California Institute of Technology, in a dispute in which Caltech previously won $1.1 billion in damages from the companies. The justices asked for the U.S. solicitor general's input on a lower court decision that prevented Apple and Broadcom from arguing the patents were invalid at trial.

Meta’s Independent Oversight Board Issues Decision on Nudity

Meta’s independent Oversight Board overturned the social media giant’s decision to remove bare chest photos of transgender and non-binary people on Instagram, and urged the company to redefine its rules around nudity in a way that is clear and does not discriminate based on gender. The board’s decision overturned Instagram’s original decision in 2021 and 2022 to remove two photos posted by the same U.S.-based couple who identify as transgender and non-binary.

Google Argues Against Limitations on Section 230 Protection at Supreme Court

A case before the Supreme Court challenging the liability shield protecting websites such as YouTube and Facebook could “upend the internet,” resulting in both widespread censorship and a proliferation of offensive content, Google said in a court filing. In a new brief filed with the high court, Google said that scaling back liability protections could lead internet giants to block more potentially offensive content — including controversial political speech — while also leading smaller websites to drop their filters to avoid liability that can arise from efforts to screen content.

New Jersey, Ohio Join Ban on TikTok on Government-Owned Devices

New Jersey and Ohio said they were joining other states in banning use of the popular video app TikTok on government-owned and managed devices. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said in addition to banning the short-video app owned by Chinese technology conglomerate ByteDance from state devices he also was banning software vendors, products, and services from more than a dozen vendors including Huawei, Hikvision, Tencent Holdings, ZTE Corporation and Kaspersky Lab.

Ukrainian Official Says Russian Cyberattacks on Civilians Amount to War Crimes

One of Ukraine's top cyber officials said some cyberattacks on Ukrainian critical and civilian infrastructure could amount to war crimes. Victor Zhora, chief digital transformation officer at the State Service of Special Communication and Information Protection (SSSCIP) of Ukraine, said Russia has launched cyberattacks in coordination with kinetic military attacks as part of its invasion of Ukraine, arguing the digital warfare is part of what Kyiv considers war crimes committed against its citizens.

Hackers Disrupt Access to Denmark's Central Bank, Seven Private Banks

Hackers have disrupted access to the websites of Denmark's central bank and seven private banks in the country this week, according to the central bank and an IT firm that serves the industry. The websites of the central bank and Bankdata, a company that develops IT solutions for the financial industry, were hit by so-called distributed denials of service (DDoS), which direct traffic towards targeted servers in a bid to knock them offline.

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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.