Cyberattack on Health-Care Company Creating Widespread Problems

The fallout from the hack of a little-known but pivotal health-care company is inflicting pain on hospitals, doctor offices, pharmacies and millions of patients across the nation, with government and industry officials calling it one of the most serious attacks on the health-care system in U.S. history. The Feb. 21 cyberattack on Change Healthcare, owned by UnitedHealth Group, has cut off many health-care organizations from the systems they rely on to transmit patients’ health-care claims and get paid.

EU Fines Apple Almost $2 Billion, Says App Store Violates Antitrust Rules

The European Union fined Apple almost $2 billion, saying the iPhone maker set unfair rules for developers of music-streaming apps, in what could be the start of a wider battle between the bloc’s antitrust watchdog and the tech giant. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said a yearslong investigation into Apple’s app-store practices found the company violated antitrust rules by restricting app developers from telling users about alternative ways to subscribe to music-streaming services.

Judge Seems Skeptical of Musk's Suit Against Center for Countering Digital Hate

A federal judge in San Francisco appears poised to toss a lawsuit brought by Elon's Musk's X against a nonprofit that found the platform allowed hate speech to spread on the site once known as Twitter. Last year, lawyers for X sued the Center for Countering Digital Hate, claiming the group improperly scraped X to prepare damning reports about the proliferation of hate speech on the site.

  • Read the article: NPR

Apple Says EU Government Agencies Concerned About iPhone App Stores

A number of government agencies in the European Union and elsewhere have voiced concerns about security risks as Apple opens up its iPhones and iPads to rival app stores to comply with EU tech rules, Apple said. Under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), from March 7 Apple will be required to offer alternative app stores on iPhones and allow developers to opt out of using its in-app payment system, which charges fees of up to 30%.

U.S. Court Orders NSO Group to Disclose Code for Spyware Products

NSO Group, the maker of one the world’s most sophisticated cyber weapons, has been ordered by a U.S. court to hand its code for Pegasus and other spyware products to WhatsApp as part of the company’s ongoing litigation. The decision by Judge Phyllis Hamilton is a major legal victory for WhatsApp, the Meta-owned communication app which has been embroiled in a lawsuit against NSO since 2019, when it alleged that the Israeli company’s spyware had been used against 1,400 WhatsApp users over a two-week period.

Musk Sues OpenAI, Altman for Prioritizing Profits Over Humanity Benefits

Elon Musk sued OpenAI and its Chief Executive Sam Altman, alleging they broke the artificial-intelligence company’s founding agreement by giving priority to profit over the benefits to humanity. The lawsuit, filed in a San Francisco court, marks a dramatic escalation of a long-simmering feud between tech industry titans over the future of AI.

Cyberattack Disrupts Insurance Processing at Pharmacies

A week after a cyberattack disrupted insurance processing at pharmacies across the United States, health care professionals from Maryland to New York tell CNN that the hack continues to upend their businesses, potentially cutting into revenue. Raeya Disney, a psychotherapist who treats trauma victims in Maryland, said she worries she is “at risk of having to give up my office space” if the billing outage continues much longer.

  • Read the article: CNN

Nintendo Sues Video Game Emulator Yuzu for Illegal Circumvention

The video game emulator Yuzu circumvents encryption on Nintendo Switch games, making them available on other platforms like personal computers and mobile phones in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, according to a lawsuit from Nintendo of America Inc. Nintendo alleges that Yuzu, made by Tropic Haze LLC, “provides any Internet user in the world with the means to unlawfuly decrypt and play virtually any Nintendo Switch game — including Nintendo’s current generation and most popular games — without ever paying a dime for a Nintendo console or for that game.”

Apple Meets with Justice Department as Antitrust Lawsuit Looms

Apple Inc. representatives met with the Justice Department in a final bid to persuade the agency not to file an antitrust suit against the company, according to people familiar with the matter. The company and its lawyers met with Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter, who will make the final call on whether to file a suit, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the confidential meeting.

TikTok Removes Songs from Universal Music Group in Licensing Dispute

The bruising battle over royalties between Universal Music Group and TikTok entered a new and more severe stage as songs published by UMG began to be removed from the platform. The standoff, which began earlier this month, initially saw recordings owned or distributed by UMG removed from the platform, but now is extending to a much larger number of songs by including those published by the company.

Supreme Court Justices Appear Skeptical of State Laws on Social Media

A majority of the Supreme Court seemed broadly skeptical that state governments have the power to set rules for how social media platforms curate content, with both liberal and conservative justices inclined to stop Texas and Florida from immediately implementing laws that ban the removal of certain controversial posts or political content. Even as justices expressed concern about the power of social media giants that have become the dominant modern public forum, a majority of the court seemed to think the First Amendment prevents state governments from requiring platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to host certain content.

Ad Fraud Campaign Uses Expired Domains from Reputable Companies

A massive ad fraud campaign named "SubdoMailing" is using over 8,000 legitimate internet domains and 13,000 subdomains to send up to five million emails per day to generate revenue through scams and malvertising. The campaign is called "SubdoMailing, as the threat actors hijack abandoned subdomains and domains belonging to well-known companies to send their malicious emails.

About 100 Afghan Domains Suspended After French Firm Fails Payment

More than 100 Afghan websites have been suspended after a French Internet services firm failed to make payments to the Taliban-controlled Ministry of Communications, officials said, a blow to mischievous Internet users who used the ".af" appended to Afghan web domains to give their sites an edgy feel. Country-specific domains — like Canada's .ca or France's .fr — are typically used by individuals or organizations in that country, but some — such as Tuvalu's .tv or Libya's .ly — also see wide use internationally because they can be used to create unique or evocative domains like "twitch.tv" or "bit.ly."

Supreme Court Set to Hear Arguments Over State Control of Social Media

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to make a pivotal decision about what Americans can see on social media as it takes up two cases this week that could transform the internet as we know it. The court will consider arguments on whether to give Texas and Florida significantly more control over social media platforms and their content, highlighting the central role that those services now play in modern American life.

  • Read the article: CNN

Historical 'Inaccuracies' Prompt Google to Suspend AI Tool's Image Feature

Images showing people of color in German military uniforms from World War II that were created with Google’s Gemini chatbot have amplified concerns that artificial intelligence could add to the internet’s already vast pools of misinformation as the technology struggles with issues around race. Now Google has temporarily suspended the A.I. chatbot’s ability to generate images of any people and has vowed to fix what it called “inaccuracies in some historical” depictions.

Documents Show Chinese State-Linked Hackers Targeting Governments

A trove of leaked documents from a Chinese state-linked hacking group shows that Beijing’s intelligence and military groups are attempting large-scale, systematic cyber intrusions against foreign governments, companies and infrastructure — with hackers of one company claiming to be able to target users of Microsoft, Apple and Google. The cache — containing more than 570 files, images and chat logs — offers an unprecedented look inside the operations of one of the firms that Chinese government agencies hire for on-demand, mass data-collecting operations.

Florida Legislature Approves Bill Banning Children from Using Social Media

Florida’s Legislature has passed a sweeping social media bill that would make the state the first to effectively bar young people under 16 from holding accounts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The measure — which Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would “be wrestling with” over the weekend and has not yet signed — could potentially upend the lives of millions of young people in Florida.

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.