Court Affirms Copyright Ruling Against Internet Archive's Book Lending

In a swift decision, a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has unanimously affirmed a March 2023 lower court decision finding the Internet Archive's program to scan and lend print library books is copyright infringement. In an emphatic 64-page decision, released on September 4, the court rejected the Internet Archive’s fair use defense, as well as the novel protocol known as “controlled digital lending” on which the Archive’s scanning and lending is based.

Justice Department Seizes 32 Domain Names in Russia's Election Interference

The Biden administration announced sanctions targeting Russian government-backed efforts to manipulate American opinion leading up to the 2024 election. The DOJ said it was seizing 32 Internet domains “used in Russian government-directed foreign malign influence campaigns colloquially referred to as ‘Doppelganger,’ in violation of U.S. money laundering and criminal trademark laws.”

  • Read the article: CNBC

Chinese Government-Backed Trolls Targeting U.S. Voters, Research Shows

Chinese government-backed trolls are targeting U.S. voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, assuming fake identities of politically engaged voters on social media to promote divisive narratives around issues including gun control, racial inequality and the Israel-Hamas war, according to new research. The propaganda push, which researchers attributed to a prolific influence network known as Spamouflage that has been previously linked to the Chinese government, has sought to undermine confidence in U.S. elections, a new report said.

Halliburton Says Unauthorized Third Party Removed Data in Cyberattack

U.S. oilfield services firm Halliburton said an unauthorized third party had accessed and removed data from its systems, providing details regarding the cyberattack in August first reported by Reuters. The company said it is evaluating the nature and scope of information that was removed, but added that the incident is not reasonably likely to have a material impact.

Read the article: Reuters

South Korean Authorities Investigating Surge of Sexually Explicit Content

The authorities in South Korea are investigating a surge of sexually explicit images and video clips that have spread online and shocked the nation, leading the police to detain seven male suspects — six of them teenagers — the police said. The South Korean authorities began investigating the images and videos late last month after local media reported the spread of the content, which was created using deepfake apps.

Federal Judge Blocks Texas Law Requiring Age Verification, Filters

A federal judge issued a last-minute partial block on a Texas law that would require some large web services to identify minors and filter what they see online. Called HB 18 or the Securing Children Online Through Parental Empowerment (SCOPE) Act, it was signed into law last year and was set to take effect over the weekend on September 1, but a court ruling determined that the “monitoring and filtering” requirements posed a significant threat to online speech.

Brazilian Supreme Court Justices Uphold Judge's Ban on X

A panel of Brazilian Supreme Court justices voted to uphold a decision by one justice block the social network X across the country because its owner, Elon Musk, refused to comply with court orders to suspend certain accounts. The five-justice panel voted unanimously to back the order, issuing strongly worded opinions saying that the blackout of X complied with Brazilian law and that it was necessary to enforce the nation’s rules against a foreign company that was flouting them.

Yelp Sues Google for Giving Preference to Its Own Reviews

Online reviews company Yelp sued Google, alleging the search giant has used its power over the web to benefit its own reviews business and unfairly shut out the smaller company. Yelp, a pioneer of online reviews for local businesses, has long accused Google of anti-competitive conduct, lobbying for stricter oversight of how the giant handles searches for restaurant and business reviews.

Appeals Court Says Mother Can Pursue Death Claim Against TikTok

A U.S. appeals court has revived a lawsuit against TikTok by the mother of a 10-year-old girl who died after taking part in a viral "blackout challenge" in which users of the social media platform were dared to choke themselves until they passed out. While a federal law typically shields internet companies from lawsuits over content posted by users, the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, the law does not bar Nylah Anderson's mother from pursuing claims that TikTok's algorithm recommended the challenge to her daughter.

California Lawmakers Pass Artificial-Intelligence Safety Bill

California lawmakers passed a hotly contested artificial-intelligence safety bill, after which it will need one more process vote before its fate is in the hands of Governor Gavin Newsom, who has until Sept. 30 to decide whether to sign it into law or veto it. Tech companies developing generative AI — which can respond to prompts with fully formed text, images or audio as well as run repetitive tasks with minimal intervention — have largely balked at the legislation, called SB 1047, saying it could drive AI companies from the state and hinder innovation.

Telegram Founder Charged in France with Not Stopping Illegal Activity

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born entrepreneur who founded the online communications tool Telegram, was charged in France with a wide range of crimes for failing to prevent illicit activity on the app, and barred from leaving the country. His indictment was a rare move by legal authorities to hold a top technology executive personally liable for the behavior of users on a major messaging platform, escalating the debate over the role of tech companies in online speech, privacy and security and the limits of their responsibility.

Iranian Government Hackers Accused of Targeting Presidential Campaigns

Iranian government hackers accused of breaching the Trump campaign with deceptive emails also used WhatsApp accounts to try to trick former Biden and Trump administration officials, parent company Meta said. Meta said it discovered the effort after users reported suspicious messages in which the hackers posed as customer support representatives from Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and AOL.

OpenAI Supports California Bill Requiring Labels on AI Content

ChatGPT developer OpenAI is supporting a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content, which can range from harmless memes to deepfakes aimed at spreading misinformation about political candidates. The bill, called AB 3211, has so far been overshadowed by attention on another California state artificial intelligence (AI) bill, SB 1047, which mandates that AI developers conduct safety testing on some of their own models.

Founder of Telegram Arrested in France in Probe of Child Porn

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born founder of messaging app Telegram, was arrested in France as part of an investigation into crimes related to child pornography, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions on the platform, French prosecutors said. French President Emmanuel Macron, making the first official confirmation of Durov's arrest since he was detained at Le Bourget airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, said there was no political motive in the arrest, despite many false comments online.

Zuckerberg Says White House Pressured Meta to 'Censor' Covid-19 Content

Mark Zuckerberg, chairman and CEO of the social media company Meta, said in a letter to the House Judiciary committee that his teams were “pressured” by the Biden White House to censor some content around the Covid-19 pandemic. “In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree,” Zuckerberg said.

  • Read the article: CNN

Chinese Government-Backed Hackers Allegedly Penetrate U.S. ISPs

Chinese government-backed hackers have penetrated deep into U.S. internet service providers in recent months to spy on their users, according to people familiar with the ongoing American response and private security researchers. The unusually aggressive and sophisticated attacks include access to at least two major providers with millions of customers as well as to several smaller providers, people familiar with the separate campaigns said.

Internet Speeds Slow in Pakistan as Some Blame 'National Firewall'

Across Pakistan, Internet speeds have ground to a crawl in recent days, stoking uproar and fueling claims that the government is secretly testing a new firewall-like system to better surveil and control the country’s internet. The government denies responsibility for the slowdown, which has affected millions of users and disrupted businesses across the country.

X Says It Will Close Operations in Brazil After 'Censorship Orders'

Media platform X said it would close its operations in Brazil "effective immediately" due to what it called "censorship orders" by Brazilian judge Alexandre de Moraes. X, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, claims Moraes secretly threatened one of the company's legal representatives in the South American country with arrest if it did not comply with legal orders to take down some content from its platform.

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.