Registrar Epik, Known for Keeping Extremists Online, Sold to New Company

A technology company that has been essential in keeping far-right and extremist websites online was acquired last year by a firm that operates an empire of shell companies across the United States, according to people familiar with the deal. Epik.com has been for years the go-to domain registrar for websites that other companies refuse to do business with.

Facebook Oversight Board Criticizes Policies on Manipulated Media

Meta was criticized by a company-funded oversight board for its “incoherent” and “confusing” policies on manipulated media after an altered video of President Biden spread on Facebook. The social media giant opted not to remove the video, which had been edited to show Biden appearing to touch his granddaughter inappropriately.

Dutch Intelligence Agencies Say Chinese Spies Accessed Military Network

Chinese state-backed cyber spies gained access to a Dutch military network last year, Dutch intelligence agencies said, calling it part of a trend of Chinese political espionage against the Netherlands and its allies. It is the first time the Netherlands has publicly attributed cyber espionage to China, as national security tensions grow between the two countries.

Judge Sets September Trial Date in Antitrust Advertising Case Against Google

A U.S. federal judge set a Sept. 9, 2024, date for the start of a jury trial in a lawsuit the U.S. Justice Department and a coalition of states filed last year against Google that accused the company of abusing its dominance of digital advertising technology. The lawsuit, filed in January 2023, accuses Google of monopolizing the market for digital advertising and undermining competition.

Judge Rules in Favor of Apple in Smartwatch Heart-Monitoring Tech Case

Apple Inc. won’t have to face a lawsuit alleging its smartwatch copied heart-monitoring technology from a Khosla Ventures LLC-backed startup, AliveCor, a federal judge ruled. The dispute was based on a meeting in 2015, when AliveCor co-founder David Albert was invited by Apple executives to show off his heart-monitoring device, dubbed the KardiaBand.

Meta to Start Labeling Images Created by Artificial Intelligence

Meta Platforms will begin detecting and labeling images generated by other companies' artificial intelligence services in the coming months, using a set of invisible markers built into the files, its top policy executive said. Meta will apply the labels to any content carrying the markers that is posted to its Facebook, Instagram and Threads services, in an effort to signal to users that the images — which in many cases resemble real photos — are actually digital creations, the company's president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, wrote in a blog post.

Policy Will Allow U.S. to Impose Visa Limits Related to Commercial Spyware

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced a new policy that will allow the U.S. to impose visa restrictions on individuals involved in the misuse of commercial spyware. The visa restrictions can be levied against those involved in the use of commercial spyware “to target, arbitrarily or unlawfully surveil, harass, suppress, or intimidate” journalists, activists, dissidents and members of marginalized or vulnerable communities.

Bill Would Allow Lawsuits Over Faked Pornographic Images

U.S. lawmakers have proposed letting people sue over faked pornographic images of themselves, following the spread of AI-generated explicit photographs of Taylor Swift. The Disrupt Explicit Forged Images and Non-Consensual Edits (DEFIANCE) Act would add a civil right of action for intimate “digital forgeries” depicting an identifiable person without their consent, letting victims collect financial damages from anyone who “knowingly produced or possessed” the image with the intent to spread it.

Senators Accuse Tech Platforms of Facilitating Child Sex Abuse Online

Senators accused five major tech platforms of facilitating child sexual abuse online, comparing the risks faced by consumers to the dangers that recently confronted passengers on aircraft made by embattled manufacturer Boeing. The high-profile hearing — featuring testimony from Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, TikTok’s Shou Zi Chew, Snap’s Evan Spiegel, Discord’s Jason Citron and X’s Linda Yaccarino — is the culmination of years of unsuccessful attempts by lawmakers to pass new federal safeguards to stamp out child sexual abuse material online, or CSAM.

FBI Director Says Chinese Hackers Plan to 'Wreak Havoc' on U.S. Infrastructure

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned about the growing threat of Chinese cyberattacks against U.S. electrical grids and other infrastructure during an appearance before the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. “China’s hackers are positioning on American infrastructure in preparation to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities, if or when China decides the time has come to strike,” the excerpts of Wray's prepared testimony released by the FBI said.

Proposed Class-Action Suit Accuses CNN of Using 'Trackers' on Website

A California woman filed a proposed class action suit against CNN on Jan. 25 and accused the media company of using three “trackers” to access its users’ IP addresses, in violation of state law. The complaint is part of a wave of cases accusing companies of using software on their websites to track visitors’ IP addresses in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA).

Italian Authority Says ChatGPT Breaches Data Protection Rules

Italy's data protection authority has told OpenAI that its artificial intelligence chatbot application ChatGPT breaches data protection rules, the watchdog said, as it presses ahead with an investigation started last year. The authority, known as Garante, is one of the European Union's most proactive in assessing AI platform compliance with the bloc's data privacy regime. Last year, it banned ChatGPT over alleged breaches of European Union (EU) privacy rules.

'Cybersecurity Incident' Targeted Fulton County Government

A “cybersecurity incident” targeted Fulton County government computer systems over the weekend, County Commission Chair Robb Pitts said. “At this time we are not aware of any transfer of sensitive information about Fulton County citizens or employees,” he said during a five-minute announcement from county commission chambers.

Ring to Stop Allowing Access to Video Camera Footage by Police Departments

Ring, a home security camera company owned by Amazon, said that it would stop letting police departments request users’ footage in its app amid longstanding concerns from privacy advocates about the company’s relationship with law enforcement. Eric Kuhn, the general manager of subscriptions and software for the Ring app Neighbors, announced that the company was shutting down a feature that allowed the police to request and receive videos from users of the app, a social platform similar to Nextdoor and Citizen where people can share alerts about crime near their home.

Apple Outlines Plan to Allow Software Distribution Outside App Store in EU

Apple outlined its plans to allow software developers to distribute their apps to users in the European Union outside of Apple's own App Store. The move is in response to a new EU law called the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which requires companies with more than 45 million monthly active users and a 75 billion-euro ($82 billion) market capitalization to, among other things, make their apps compatible with those of rivals and let users decide which apps to pre-install on their devices.

Class-Action Lawsuit Accuses 23andMe of Privacy Violations

The genetic testing company 23andMe is being accused in a class-action lawsuit of failing to protect the privacy of customers whose personal information was exposed last year in a data breach that affected nearly seven million profiles. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in San Francisco, also accused the company of failing to notify customers with Chinese and Ashkenazi Jewish heritage that they appeared to have been specifically targeted, or that their personal genetic information had been compiled into “specially curated lists” that were shared and sold on the dark web.

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.