France Threatens to Ban Shein Over Sex Dolls 'Resembling Children'

The French government threatened to bar the Chinese fashion retailer Shein from selling its products online in the country and referred the company to the Paris prosecutor after an investigation found that sex dolls “resembling children” were being sold on the company’s platform in France. After receiving an anonymous tip, France’s consumer fraud agency said it had discovered the sale of lifelike dolls the size of little girls whose appearance “left little doubt as to the child pornography nature” of the items.

University of Southern California Files Patent Suit Over Google Maps

The University of Southern California has sued Google in Texas federal court, alleging that the tech giant's Google Earth, Maps and Street View applications violate its patent rights. USC said in the complaint, opens new tabfiled Monday that Google's map and navigation products infringe two patents related to technology for overlaying two-dimensional images onto three-dimensional models.

Celebrity Video Platform Cameo Files Trademark Suit Over OpenAI's 'Cameo'

The maker of celebrity video platform Cameo sued OpenAI in a California federal court, arguing that the new "Cameo" feature of OpenAI's Sora video generation app violates its trademark rights. Cameo said in the complaint that OpenAI's Cameo, which allows users to create and share their virtual likenesses on Sora, is likely to cause consumer confusion and dilute its brand.

People Flee to Thailand After Myanmar’s Military Shuts Online Scam Center

The number of people fleeing from Myanmar to Thailand after Myanmar’s military shut down a major online scam center has slowed to a trickle, a Thai regional army commander said Tuesday, after more than 1,500 had left in the past week. The KK Park site, identified by Thai officials and independent experts as housing a major cybercrime operation, was raided by Myanmar’s army in mid-October as part of operations starting in early September to suppress cross-border online scams and illegal gambling.

Judge Rejects OpenAI's Request to Dismiss Authors' Copyright Suit

A New York federal judge has denied OpenAI's early request to dismiss authors' claims that text generated by OpenAI's artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT infringes their copyrights. U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein said that the authors may be able to prove the text ChatGPT produces is similar enough to their work to violate their book copyrights.

Law Firm Admits Attorney Used AI, Created Fake Citations, Lied to Court

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani admitted that one of its attorneys lied to a bankruptcy court when she denied that generative artificial intelligence was used in filings that contained fabricated citations. The firm reimbursed more than $55,000 in legal fees to the law firms representing bankrupt Alabama-based Jackson Hospital & Clinic and its lender after they accused Gordon Rees of submitting filings with inaccurate and misleading citations, according to documents filed Thursday in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Judge Decertifies App Store Class-Action Suit Against Apple

A federal judge decertified a class action by tens of millions of Apple customers who accused the company of monopolizing the market for iPhone apps by banning purchases outside its App Store, leading to higher prices. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, reversed her February 2024 decision allowing Apple account holders who spent $10 or more on app or in-app content within the last 17 years to sue as a group.

Australia's Competition Regulator Sues Microsoft Over AI Bundling

Australia's competition regulator sued Microsoft, accusing it of misleading millions of customers into paying higher prices for its Microsoft 365 software after bundling it with artificial intelligence tool Copilot. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that from October 2024, the technology giant misled about 2.7 million customers by suggesting they had to move to higher-priced Microsoft 365 personal and family plans that included Copilot.

More Than 60 Countries Sign UN Treaty Targeting Cybercrime in Hanoi

Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to strengthen international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering.

  • Read the article: AFP

Two Federal Judges Admit Using AI to Prepare 'Error-Ridden' Orders

Two federal judges admitted in response to an inquiry by U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley that members of their staff used artificial intelligence to help prepare recent court orders that Grassley called "error-ridden." In letters released by Grassley's office, U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate in Mississippi and U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals in New Jersey said the decisions in the unrelated cases did not go through their chambers' typical review processes before they were issued.

OpenAI Loosened Rules for Discussing Suicide, Teen's Parents Allege

OpenAI twice loosened ChatGPT’s rules for discussing suicide in the year before 16-year-old Adam Raine took his own life using a method the chatbot advised him on, according to an amended lawsuit filed by his parents. Adam’s parents, Matthew and Maria Raine, sued OpenAI in August for the wrongful death of their son, saying he had spent more than 3½ hours a day conversing with ChatGPT, including about suicide, in the weeks before taking his own life by hanging in April.

Plaintiffs in Google Privacy Case Want Company to Forfeit $2.36B

U.S. Google users who won a $425 million jury verdict in a consumer privacy class action last month have asked a federal judge to force the Alphabet unit to forfeit an additional $2.36 billion in profits. The consumers in a court filing called the amount a "conservative approximation" of Google’s allegedly ill-gotten gains after the jury found the company secretly collected app activity data from millions of users who had disabled an account tracking feature.

Canada Issues Record $126 Million Fine Against Crypto Company

Canada's anti-money laundering regulator said it had imposed a C$176.9 million ($126.14 million) fine on money services business Xeltox Enterprises Limited, the largest-ever penalty doled out by the agency. The regulator, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), said Xeltox did not submit suspicious transaction reports when there were reasonable grounds to suspect transactions related to the laundering of money connected to trafficking in child sexual abuse material.

Reddit Sues Four Companies for Scraping Data from Google Search Results

The Internet message board Reddit filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York claiming that four companies had illegally stolen its data by scraping Google search results in which Reddit content appeared. Three of those companies — SerpApi; a Lithuanian start-up, Oxylabs; and a Russian company, AWMProxy — sold data to A.I. companies like OpenAI and Meta, according to the lawsuit.

Chinese Users File Complaint Against Apple Over App Distribution

A group of 55 Chinese iPhone and iPad users filed a complaint with China's market regulator, a lawyer representing the group said, alleging that Apple abuses its market dominance by restricting app distribution and payments to its own platforms while charging high commissions. The complaint to China's State Administration for Market Regulation scrutinizes Apple at a time when trade tensions between Beijing and Washington have been intensifying, with both governments deploying tariffs and technology restrictions as policy tools.

Cybersecurity Provider Blames Breach on State-Backed Chinese Hackers

A potentially “catastrophic” breach of a major U.S.-based cybersecurity provider has been blamed on state-backed hackers from China, according to people familiar with the matter. Seattle-based F5 Inc. disclosed in a regulatory filing Wednesday that nation-state hackers had breached its networks and gained “long-term, persistent access” to certain systems.

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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.