Ninth Circuit Denies FTC's Appeal to Stop Microsoft-Activision Deal

In a victory for Microsoft, the U.S. Appeals Court for the 9th Circuit denied the Federal Trade Commission’s motion to temporarily stop Microsoft from closing its $68.7 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. Microsoft is still working to resolve concerns about the transaction from the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Twitter Sues Four Entities in Texas for 'Unlawfully Scraping Data'

Twitter has filed a lawsuit against four unnamed entities in Texas for data scraping, a move that showed why the Elon Musk-owned social network recently placed daily limits on the number of tweets a user could read. The complaint by Musk's X Corp, which owns Twitter, alleged that the entities indulged in "unlawfully scraping data" and sought monetary relief of more than $1 million, the lawsuit said.

Lawsuit Says Texas Ban on TikTok on State Devices Violates First Amendment

A ban of TikTok on state devices and networks in Texas was challenged by First Amendment lawyers, who said that the law violated the Constitution by limiting research and teaching at public universities. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University filed the lawsuit on behalf of a group called the Coalition for Independent Technology Research, whose members include Texas college professors who say their work was compromised after they lost access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi and university-issued computers.

FTC Opens Consumer Protection Investigation of ChatGPT's Maker, OpenAI

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an expansive investigation into OpenAI, probing whether the maker of the popular ChatGPT bot has run afoul of consumer protection laws by putting personal reputations and data at risk. The agency this week sent the San Francisco company a 20-page demand for records about how it addresses risks related to its AI models, according to a document reviewed by The Washington Post.

Britain's Competition Regulator May Approve 'Modified' Microsoft-Activision Deal

Britain's competition regulator said a restructured deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard could satisfy its concerns, subject to a new investigation, marking a climbdown in its opposition to the biggest gaming deal in history. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in April became the first regulator to block the $69 billion deal, but it appeared to offer an alternative outcome after a U.S. court ruling saying the deal could go ahead left Britain's regulator isolated.

Chinese Hackers Target Specific U.S. Government Email Accounts, Microsoft Says

Chinese hackers intent on collecting intelligence on the United States gained access to government email accounts, Microsoft disclosed. The attack was targeted, according to a person briefed on the intrusion into the government networks, with the hackers going after specific accounts rather than carrying out a broad-brush intrusion that would suck up enormous amounts of data.

Judge Denies FTC's Motion to Stop Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision Blizzard

A federal judge in San Francisco has denied the Federal Trade Commission's motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Microsoft from completing its acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. The deal isn't completely in the clear, though. The FTC can now bring the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, and the two companies must find a way forward to resolve opposition from the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Justice Department Seeks to Stop Court's Limit on U.S. Contact with Social Media

The Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to stay a preliminary injunction that puts extraordinary limits on government communications with social media companies, arguing that the sweeping order could chill law enforcement activity to protect national security interests. The Justice Department’s filing signaled that it could seek the intervention of the Supreme Court, saying that at a minimum, the 5th Circuit should put the order on pause for 10 days to give the nation’s highest court time to consider an application for a stay.

U.S. Lawmakers Considering Changes to Bill That Could Ban TikTok

U.S. lawmakers are considering changes to address concerns about a bill that would give the Biden administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned TikTok, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has cosponsored the legislation said. Democratic Senator Mark Warner told Reuters that aggressive lobbying by the ByteDance-owned short video app TikTok against the Restrict Act "slowed a bit of our momentum" after it was introduced in March.

EU Approves Decision Allowing Transatlantic Data Transfers with United States

The European Union approved a new deal governing transatlantic data transfers after it said U.S. President Joe Biden addressed warnings from EU courts that American security agencies could unfairly access citizens’ data. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s executive adopted a so-called adequacy decision, allowing thousands of firms to safely ship data to the U.S. without fear of violating EU privacy law.

Comedian Sarah Silverman Joins Class-Action Copyright Suit Against OpenAI

The comedian Sarah Silverman has joined a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI and another against Meta accusing the companies of copyright infringement, saying they “copied and ingested” her protected work in order to train their artificial intelligence programs, according to court papers. The lawsuits, in which she joined the authors Christopher Golden and Richard Kadrey, were filed in the San Francisco Division of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California.

Canadian Judge Says Using a Thumbs-Up Emoji Can Create a Contract

A Canadian court has found that the ubiquitous thumbs-up emoji can affirm that a person is officially entering into a contract. The ruling pointed to what a judge called the “new reality in Canadian society” that courts would have to confront as more people express themselves with hearts, smiley faces and fire emojis — even in serious business dealings or personal disputes.

Complaint Accuses Judge of Posting TikTok Videos Lip-Syncing Rap Songs

For two years, a judge in New Jersey used a pseudonym to post TikTok videos of himself lip-syncing lyrics from popular rap songs. The court system said it had filed a complaint against the Superior Court judge, Gary N. Wilcox, who will now face a hearing that could lead to discipline ranging from a reprimand to dismissal from the bench.

Twitter Threatens to Sue Meta for Hiring Employees to Work on Threads

Twitter is threatening Meta with a lawsuit after the blockbuster launch of Meta’s new Twitter rival, Threads — in perhaps the clearest sign yet that Twitter views the app as a competitive threat. An attorney representing Twitter sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter that accused the company of trade secret theft through the hiring of former Twitter employees.

  • Read the article: CNN

Canadian Government to Stop Buying Facebook Ads in Dispute Over News

The Canadian government will stop buying ads on Facebook and Instagram amid a dispute over a new law on paying online news publishers that the Meta-owned platforms have opposed, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez said. The Online News Act, or Bill C-18, was passed into law last month, triggering Meta and Alphabet's Google to say they would end news access on their platforms in Canada.

State Department Cancels Meetings with Facebook About Election Preparation

One day after a Louisiana federal judge set limits on the Biden administration’s communications with tech firms, the State Department canceled its regular meeting with Facebook officials to discuss 2024 election preparations and hacking threats, according to a person at the company. State Department officials told Facebook that all future meetings, which had been held monthly, have been “canceled pending further guidance,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve working relationships.

Judge Orders White House to Limit Communications with Social Media Firms

A federal judge in Louisiana restricted the Biden administration from communicating with social media platforms about broad swaths of content online, a ruling that could curtail efforts to combat false and misleading narratives about the coronavirus pandemic and other issues. The order, which could have significant First Amendment implications, is a major development in a fierce legal fight over the boundaries and limits of speech online.

Cyberattack Takes Down Russian Military's Satellite Communications System

A satellite communications system serving the Russian military was knocked offline by a cyberattack, in an incident reminiscent of an attack on a similar system used by Ukraine at the start of the war between the countries. Dozor-Teleport, the satellite system’s operator, switched some users to terrestrial networks during the outage, according to JD Work, a cyberspace professor at the National Defense University.

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.