SEC Sues SolarWinds for Not Publicly Disclosing Alleged Cybersecurity Failures

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued software company SolarWinds for failing to publicly disclose alleged cybersecurity failures that led to one of history’s biggest computer breaches. In a complaint filed in the Southern District of New York, the SEC contends that SolarWinds and the company’s chief information security officer, Tim Brown, repeatedly violated the antifraud disclosure and internal controls provisions of federal securities law by not disclosing vulnerabilities that the company knew could lead to a hack.

Biden Signs Executive Order on Artificial Intelligence, Seeks Congressional Action

President Biden signed a far-reaching executive order on artificial intelligence, requiring that companies report to the federal government about the risks that their systems could aid countries or terrorists to make weapons of mass destruction. The order also seeks to lessen the dangers of “deep fakes” that could swing elections or swindle consumers.

Apple Faces Watch Ban After ITC Patent Ruling on Blood-Oxygen Feature

A U.S. federal trade agency found that Apple violated the patent of a rival tech company, a ruling that could lead to an import ban for certain models of the company’s smartwatch. The case revolves around medical technology company Masimo, which alleged in a 2021 complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission that Apple violated its patents related to measuring blood-oxygen levels.

Malaysian Official Warns TikTok, Meta About Blocking Palestinian Content

Malaysia's communications minister warned he could take firm action if social media firms TikTok and Meta are blocking pro-Palestinian content on their platforms. Meta said it was not deliberately suppressing voices on its Facebook platform, after Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said social media platforms had been accused of restricting content supporting the Palestinians.

Meta Rejects Oversight Board's Guidance on Posts About Psychedelic Drugs

Meta Platforms Inc., the owner of Facebook and Instagram, will ignore some of its ethics watchdog’s advice to tighten up its oversight of drug-related posts, in a decision with widespread ramifications for how people learn about psychedelic drugs. The Oversight Board’s guidance on drugs stems from a 2022 post tagged to a “paid partner” that described a ketamine treatment as a “medicine” and a “magical entry into another dimension.” Meta removed and reinstated the post three times.

Google Disables Live Traffic Conditions in Israel, Gaza Strip for Maps, Waze

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is disabling live traffic conditions in Israel and the Gaza Strip for its Maps and Waze apps at the request of the Israeli military, ahead of a potential ground invasion into Gaza. “As we have done previously in conflict situations and in response to the evolving situation in the region, we have temporarily disabled the ability to see live traffic conditions and busyness information out of consideration for the safety of local communities,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

At White House Event, Apple Says It Supports National Right-to-Repair Law

Apple said that it supports nationwide right-to-repair regulation that would make iPhone parts and tools available to customers, the latest sign of the company’s shift toward supporting independent repair. Apple is an important symbol for the right-to-repair movement because its products are so widely used and because so many users have encountered a cracked iPhone screen or used-up battery that required a trip to a repair or Apple store.

  • Read the article: CNBC

States Sue Meta, Allege Company Misled About Dangers for Young People

A coalition of 41 states and the District of Columbia are filing lawsuits alleging that Meta Platforms has intentionally built its products with addictive features that harm young users of its Facebook and Instagram services. The lawsuits, in federal and state courts, say Meta misled the public about the dangers of its platforms for young people.

Japanese Regulator Opens Antitrust Probe of Google for Mobile Search

Japan’s competition watchdog said it is investigating Alphabet-owned Google for alleged antitrust law violations in regards to its search practices on mobile platforms, ramping up regulatory pressure on the U.S. technology giant. The Japan Fair Trade Commission said it is examining whether Google made agreements with Android smartphone makers to share search ad-related revenue on the condition that the device manufacturer does not install a rival search engine.

  • Read the article: CNBC

Supreme Court to Hear Case Limiting White House's Contacts with Social Media

The Supreme Court paused a sweeping ruling from a federal appeals court that had prohibited thousands of Biden administration officials from engaging in many kinds of contact with social media platforms. The justices also agreed to hear the administration’s appeal in the case, setting the stage for a major test of the role of the First Amendment in the internet era, one that will require the court to consider when government efforts to limit the spread of misinformation amount to censorship of constitutionally protected speech.

Justice Department Seizes Domain Names Used by North Korean IT Workers

Thousands of information technology workers working remotely for U.S. companies have for years sent millions of dollars to North Korea under the radar to fund its weapons program, according to federal prosecutors. The Department of Justice (DOJ) in a statement said authorities seized 17 website domains used by North Korean IT workers in a scheme to defraud the U.S. and foreign businesses, evade sanctions and fund the the country’s ballistic missile program.

Huckabee, Religious Authors File Suit Over AI Tools Scraping Their Content

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and a group of religious authors filed a new lawsuit against a group of tech companies, arguing they trained artificial intelligence tools on the authors’ books without permission. The suit, filed in New York federal court, is the latest in a procession of lawsuits targeting tech companies for training their AI on text they scraped from the web, a practice that has helped OpenAI, Google and others create breakthrough chatbots like ChatGPT and kick off a competitive scramble to sell AI tools.

New York Sues Three Cryptocurrency Firms for 'Defrauding' Investors

New York Attorney General Letitia James sued cryptocurrency firms Genesis Global, its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Gemini for allegedly "defrauding" investors of more than $1 billion. The development underscores the challenges the crypto industry continues to face almost a year after the bankruptcy of Sam Bankman-Fried's exchange FTX, which led to a meltdown in the sector that overwhelmed several major firms.

Proposed Treasury Rule Targets Crypto Money Laundering Prompted by Hamas

The Biden administration proposed labeling a cryptocurrency practice that provides customers with anonymity as a money laundering concern, amid a larger effort to crack down on illicit uses of crypto in the wake of Hamas’ surprise attacks on Israel. The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said the rule would identify international crypto mixing — a practice that anonymizes crypto funds by mixing them with others — as a primary money laundering concern and would require financial institutions to report transactions involving crypto mixing.

Major Newspapers Consider Granting Access to OpenAI for ChatGPT

Since August, at least 535 news organizations — including the New York Times, Reuters and The Washington Post — have installed a blocker that prevents their content from being collected and used to train ChatGPT. Now, discussions are focused on paying publishers so the chatbot can surface links to individual news stories in its responses, a development that would benefit the newspapers in two ways: by providing direct payment and by potentially increasing traffic to their websites.

FCC Votes to Approve Process to Restore Net Neutrality Regulations

The Federal Communications Commission voted to move forward on a proposal to restore open internet rules, which were repealed during the Trump administration, with a final vote likely to come next year. The commissioners at the Democratic-led agency voted 3 to 2 along party lines to kick off a monthslong process to bring back so-called net neutrality regulations that prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing down services like Google and Netflix on their networks.

India Frequently Cuts Access to Internet, Citing Need to Contain Unrest

Between 2016 and this May, India accounted for more than half of all the shutdowns recorded worldwide by an international coalition of more than 300 digital rights groups led by Access Now, a nonprofit. On more than 680 occasions during that period, state and local officials in India issued legal orders requiring the country’s handful of telecommunication companies to suspend mobile data transmission from cell towers and freeze wired broadband connections.

Five Countries Accuse China of IP Theft, Using AI for Hacking, Spying

The Five Eyes countries' intelligence chiefs came together to accuse China of intellectual property theft and using artificial intelligence for hacking and spying against the nations, in a rare joint statement by the allies. The officials from the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — known as the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network — made the comments following meetings with private companies in the U.S. innovation hub Silicon Valley.

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.