Google Asks India's Supreme Court to Stop Restrictions on Android Devices

Google has urged India's Supreme Court to quash antitrust directives against it for abuse of the Android market, two sources said, as its presses its legal battle against the competition watchdog in one of its most important markets. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in October that Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers 97% of the 600 million smartphones in India, had exploited its dominant position.

Meta Says It Will Remove News Content from Facebook, Instagram in Canada

After the Senate passed the Online News Act, Meta confirmed it will remove news content from Facebook and Instagram for all Canadian users, but it remained unclear whether Google would follow suit for its platforms. The act, which was known as Bill C-18, is designed to force Google and Facebook to share revenues with publishers for news stories that appear on their platforms. By removing news altogether, companies would be exempt from the legislation.

Biden Meets with Civil Society Leaders to Discuss Concerns About AI

President Biden met with a group of civil society leaders who have been critical of Big Tech companies in the past to discuss the boom in artificial intelligence, part of a broader push by the U.S. government to get involved in conversations around AI tech and its potential risks. Biden, in brief remarks to reporters before the closed-door meeting in San Francisco, said that he was there to learn about the potential controls that could be put in place to protect people from the harms of the new tech.

YouTube Removes Interview with RFK Jr. for Violating Vaccine Guidelines

YouTube has removed an interview between commentator Jordan Peterson and 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for violating its guidelines against vaccine misinformation, the video-sharing platform said. “We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube’s general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities,” a YouTube spokesperson told The Hill in a statement.

Republican Lawmakers, Activists Seek to Stifle Studies of Disinformation

On Capitol Hill and in the courts, Republican lawmakers and activists are mounting a sweeping legal campaign against universities, think tanks and private companies that study the spread of disinformation, accusing them of colluding with the government to suppress conservative speech online. The effort has encumbered its targets with expansive requests for information and, in some cases, subpoenas — demanding notes, emails and other information related to social media companies and the government dating back to 2015.

Gannett Sues Google for Monopolizing Online Advertising Technology

Gannett, the largest U.S. newspaper chain and publisher of USA Today, sued Google for trying to corner the market for online advertising by monopolizing ad technology. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Gannett, which has more than 200 daily newspapers, said Google's control over tools for buying and selling online ads forces publishers to sell more cheap ad space to the Alphabet Inc. unit.

U.S. Federal Government Agencies Hit by Global Cyberattack

“Several” U.S. federal government agencies have been hit in a global cyberattack that exploits a vulnerability in widely used software. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “is providing support to several federal agencies that have experienced intrusions” affecting vulnerable software exploited by the hackers, Eric Goldstein, the agency’s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said in a statement to CNN.

  • Read the article: CNN

New Zealand Court Sentences Two Men to Prison for Running Megaupload

Two men who helped run the once wildly popular pirating website Megaupload were each sentenced by a New Zealand court to more than two years in prison. The sentencing of Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk ended an 11-year legal battle by the men to avoid extradition to the United States on more serious charges that included racketeering.

National Music Publishers' Association Files Copyright Suit Against Twitter

The National Music Publishers’ Association sued Twitter Inc. , alleging it violates the copyright of songwriters by using their music on its platform without permission. Twitter is one of the only major social media platforms that doesn’t pay music rights to holders for licenses to their work. YouTube, Facebook, Snap and TikTok all have agreements that collectively pay the music industry billions of dollars a year.

Court Issues Temporary Restraining Order for Microsoft's Activision Bid

A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order that will prevent Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard — at least for now. The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint on Monday seeking to get the restraining order and a preliminary injunction, and the court has agreed to the restraining order while it considers that injunction.

Bill Would Not Allow Section 230 Protections for Content Created by AI

Sens. Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal want to clarify that the Internet's bedrock liability law does not apply to generative AI, per a new bill that was shared exclusively with Axios. Legal experts and lawmakers have questioned whether AI-created works would qualify for legal immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, the law that largely shields platforms from lawsuits over third-party content.

Europe Accuses Google of Violating Antitrust Laws in Ad Business

Google was charged with violating European Union antitrust laws by using its dominance in online advertising to undercut rivals, the latest in a string of cases around the world that strike at the core of the internet giant’s business model. The case was brought by the European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation European Union, and marks the fourth time Google has been charged with violating European antitrust laws in recent years.

Google to Delay Launch of AI Chatbot in EU Amid Privacy Concerns

Google will have to postpone starting its artificial intelligence chatbot Bard in the European Union after its main data regulator in the bloc raised privacy concerns. The Irish Data Protection Commission said Tuesday that the tech giant had so far provided insufficient information about how its generative AI tool protects Europeans' privacy to justify an EU launch.

Lawmaker Plans Vote on Framework Cryptocurrency Regulation

A key House Republican lawmaker said that he intends to hold a committee vote on a comprehensive bill to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency products in the coming weeks. Representative Patrick McHenry, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he expects to put a bill forward for the panel to consider after lawmakers return to work on July 11.

FTC Seeks Restraining Order to Block Microsoft's Activision Deal

The Federal Trade Commission sought a restraining order to block Microsoft from closing its $69 billion purchase of the gaming company Activision Blizzard, the latest regulatory hurdle for the largest deal in the tech company’s history. The agency filed the request in Northern California District Court. The move brought the federal government and Microsoft’s months-long battle over the deal to federal court; the FTC last year filed a lawsuit challenging the deal through its own internal administrative process.

Instagram Aids Networks of Underage-Sex Content, Researchers Say

Instagram, the popular social-media site owned by Meta Platforms, helps connect and promote a vast network of accounts openly devoted to the commission and purchase of underage-sex content, according to investigations by The Wall Street Journal and researchers at Stanford University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Pedophiles have long used the internet, but unlike the forums and file-transfer services that cater to people who have interest in illicit content, Instagram doesn’t merely host these activities.

U.S. Cybersecurity Official Says Chinese Hackers Targeting Infrastructure

A top U.S. cyber official warned that Chinese hackers are likely to disrupt U.S. critical infrastructure, including pipelines and railways, if a conflict were to occur between the two nations, Reuters reported. Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), said the Chinese government is heavily investing in ways to sabotage U.S. infrastructure.

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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.