mnam2 – CLIP-ings

CLIP-ings: August 24, 2018

Internet Governance

Fight Over Net Neutrality Continues: This week saw 23 State Attorneys General file a brief for Government Petitioners in Mozilla Corp., et al., v. FCC, Docket No. 18-1051 (D.C. Cir. 2018) seeking to vacate the FCC’s roll back of net neutrality; the brief labels the FCC order as “arbitrary and capricious,” allowing “internet service providers to put their profits before consumers while controlling what we see, do, and say online.”

End Secret Profiling: Responding to the FTC’s request for public comments on “implications associated with the use of algorithmic decision tools, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics,” the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) advises the FTC to “increase accountability for the automated processing of personal data through algorithmic transparency.”

Alternatively – Self-Regulate: In its continued efforts to weed out fake news, electoral interference, and ideological actors (Alex Jones), Facebook has created a new, undisclosed, algorithm to predict user “trustworthiness;” the reputation score supposedly avoids the bias inherent in a user-dependent reporting scheme but prompts questions about composition and score sharing.

Privacy

The Constitution as a Privacy Shield: In the wake of a Reuters’ overview of the current state of China’s growing tech-based surveillance state, TechDirt highlights that the United States, an otherwise similarly security-inclined country, can still count on the Constitution to protect individual rights; is it enough? As put by one of its drafters, “Those who would give up Essential Liberty, to purchase a little Temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,” Benjamin Franklin.

Letting The Cameras Do The Work: Washington Dulles International Airport, one of the first 14 airports to implement a facial recognition technology, has caught its first imposter–a Brazilian man using a fraudulent French passport–merely three days after the launch of its facial comparison program; The US Customs and Border Protection is hoping to replace boarding passes and IDs with facial recognition in the future.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Microsoft v. Russian Hackers: Microsoft raised the alarm on Monday when it spotted and neutralized 6 websites attempting to impersonate conservative think tanks; the event marks the twelfth time Microsoft has used a U.S. court order to take down Russian group APT28-backed domains (84 fake websites removed thus far) attempting to hack politicians and spark discord online.

Australia bans Huawei: Following the advice of its security agencies, Australia has banned Chinese telecoms firm Huawei from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network; Australia cited risks of foreign interference and hacking in Australian politics as the reason for the decision.

Free Expression and Censorship

Apple Removes 25,000 apps from App Store: Following increasing negative state media coverage in China, Apple has reportedly removed thousands of apps running counter to Chinese regulations which label activities like gambling as illegal.

Taylor v. Twitter: The California Court of Appeal for the First District ruled in favor of Twitter last week stating that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects service provider’s decision to restrict third party content on its platform; Goldman discusses the implications of the decision in this blog post.

On The Lighter Side

There May Be Hope For This Generation: A report released by the Pew Research Center found that 54 percent of teens are concerned that they spend too much time on their smartphones; 52 percent of teens have also undertaken measures to cut down on their cell phone use, to the relief of the majority of parents that worry about their teens’ phone usage.

Announcements

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Bureau of Internet & Technology at the NYS Attorney General’s Office seeks tech-savvy Attorney and Engineer.

The Bureau of Internet & Technology at the NYS Attorney General’s Office investigates and litigates cutting-edge law & tech issues, e.g., bots, data security/breach, privacy, online safety, consumer protection, and more. This past year alone, our investigations and lawsuits have included:

– submission of fake comments on net neutrality to the FCC;

– data breaches at Equifax and Uber;

– bot-related fraud on social media and in the resale of concert tickets;

– online tracking of children;

– suing Charter/Time Warner for false claims about internet speeds;

– and more: http://on.ny.gov/2fuC1ei

Summary of position (engineer): Our office highly values engineers who make it possible for us to tackle complex, data-intensive problems that others are not capable of addressing. A substantial portion of the work will be on projects with the Bureau of Internet & Technology, one of the only government agencies focused exclusively on investigating and holding accountable people and entities that use technology for illegal ends; while the remainder of the work will be on tech-heavy matters for other bureaus within the office (for example, using Bayesian modeling to determine racial bias in online offerings to consumers; using machine learning to identify key communications and images relevant to cases). Ideal candidates are experienced with, and expert in, programming and web development tools (JAVA, Python, PHP, SQL, Ruby) and Linux command line tools and container tech (Docker, etc.).

To apply: https://goo.gl/dTTXTn

Summary of position (attorney): We seek an experienced, tech-savvy litigator to join our team. The ideal candidate has a technical education or background, or experience working in tech or with technology.

To apply: https://goo.gl/7ZJv2S

We intend to fill the positions quickly, so we hope to hear from interested candidates soon.

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

The Forum’s Data Policy project aims to define, through a process of international multi-stakeholder dialogue and cooperation baseline norms, principles and protocols for the collection, appropriate use, and protection of data. The Project Lead will be an integral part of the Data Policy project team and contribute to the successful delivery of the data policy project and workstreams.

For more information and the online application, click here.

http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk06/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=WEFORUM&cws=41&rid=337

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

Jointly organized by the Innovation Center for Law and Technology at New York Law School and the Center on Law and Information Policy at Fordham University School of Law, and generously sponsored by Microsoft, the Workshop offers privacy scholars from diverse fields the opportunity to receive extensive, constructive commentary on their works in progress.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

The Ringer Copyright Honors Program with the U.S. Copyright Office is accepting applications.

The Ringer Honors Program is a distinguished public service opportunity for attorneys in the early stages of their career who have strong interest and a demonstrated record of academic or practical success in copyright law.

For more information, see here. Applications are open through September 15th, 2018.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: August 17, 2018

Internet Governance

Cap on Cabs: Major De Blasio signed a bill on Tuesday that will cap the total number of drivers working for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services in NYC; the cap will last for a year while the city studies the effects of the ride-hailing industry on the city.

The Turkish Boycott: Turkish President Recep Erdogan has declared that sanctions will be placed on U.S. electronic goods, including iPhones, in an effort to promote production and exportation of the country’s own goods; Erdogan has also been calling on the Turks to exchange U.S. dollars into lira in order to “maintain the dignity” of the currency.

Privacy

Tracking Down Welfare Fraud: Sacramento welfare investigators with the Department of Human Assistance have been tracking license plates to identify fraud, reported the Sacramento Bee on Friday; Electronic Frontier Foundation noted that DHA had not implemented the mandated privacy and use policies for its use of the license plate data.

Behavioral Biometrics: A growing number of banks and online retailers are secretly tracking user’s behavior biometrics—which includes scrolling and typing behavior— in attempts to identify fraudulent users; while companies designing the underlying software laud the solution as an accurate and nonintrusive security measure, privacy experts are concerned about the lack of consumer protections.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Uber Seeks Help: After encountering a series of security-related scandals in the past year, Uber has hired Matt Olsen, the former general counsel of the NSA and director of the National Counterterrorism Center; Olsen’s priority is to increase transparency and unify the security team within the company.

“Dereliction of Duty”: Following last week’s report which found the alleged DDOS attack on the agency’s comment system to be made up, several lawmakers sent a letter to Chairman Ajit Pai stating that his ignorance of the falsehood signified a “dereliction of [his] duty”; the FCC has until August 28th to respond to several questions in the letter which includes the exact date when his office first became aware that the events were possibly not an attack.

Intellectual Property

When You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Steal Their Identity? Carol Becker, an elected official on the Minneapolis Board of Estimate and Taxations raised controversy by registering a business and a trademark for “Wedge LIVE,” the name of a blog that frequently criticized her; according to the records of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, her trademark filings were cancelled after an outpouring of support for the blog.

Free Expression and Censorship

Time-Out For Infowars: Following the lead of other social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, Twitter has temporarily disabled Alex Jone’s account to a read-only mode that only allows browsing; some are criticizing the actions that platforms have taken against Jones as internet censorship.

Google’s Secret Project: About a thousand Google employees have signed a letter opposing Google’s plan to build a censored search and news app for China; the letter called for increased transparency, arguing that the employees currently “do not have the information required to make ethically-informed decisions” about their work, projects, and employment.

Policy Against “Credible Violence”: Facebook is training AI to remove content calling for violence against Rohingya people in Myanmar; although Facebook had been reluctant to remove content in the past, it recently updated its policy to allow removal of content with the “potential to contribute to imminent violence or physical harm” and have been undertaking similar strategies in other countries like Sri Lanka and India.

On The Lighter Side

An Easy Fix? A new Kickstarter project called TechDen attempts to curve children’s smartphone addictions with a smart box that stores smartphones and sends notifications to parents.

Announcements

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Bureau of Internet & Technology at the NYS Attorney General’s Office seeks tech-savvy Attorney and Engineer.

– submission of fake comments on net neutrality to the FCC;

– data breaches at Equifax and Uber;

– bot-related fraud on social media and in the resale of concert tickets;

– online tracking of children;

– suing Charter/Time Warner for false claims about internet speeds;

– and more: http://on.ny.gov/2fuC1ei

To apply: https://goo.gl/dTTXTn

To apply: https://goo.gl/7ZJv2S

We intend to fill the positions quickly, so we hope to hear from interested candidates soon.

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

For more information and the online application, click here.

http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk06/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=WEFORUM&cws=41&rid=337

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

The Ringer Copyright Honors Program with the U.S. Copyright Office is accepting applications.

For more information, see here. Applications are open through September 15th, 2018.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: August 10, 2018

Internet Governance

Shipping Adopts Blockchain: From Singapore to Denmark, 94 port operators and shipping companies are joining a blockchain-run platform developed by IBM and Maersk; the platform, TradeLens, is still in its pilot phase but it aims to streamline data sharing in a traditionally paper trail heavy industry by digitizing the supply chain process.

Hold Your Ubers: Wednesday saw New York City Council pass regulations which will cap the number of ride-hailing vehicles on the road for one year and require that drivers be paid a minimum wage; critics worry that supply-and-demand meddling will cause ride shortages and raise prices.

More Scrutiny for Huawei: The use of aging US software set to expire in 2020 by the Chinese telecom giant has British officials concerned; the suspicion is that once security updates cease, British telecoms may become targets for cyberattacks or covert surveillance.

Privacy

Integration vs. Distrust: As Facebook holds talks with banks to promote Messenger as a customer-bank communication tool, critics have been quick to highlight data security and privacy issues with the company in the wake of its Cambridge Analytica scandal; at least one major US bank has left the talks.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Drone Strikes in Venezuela: Two drones armed with explosives allegedly attempted against President Nicolas Maduro’s life on Saturday; Maduro was quick to accuse the “far right,” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, and detractors in the United States – multiple detentions have since been made.

Intellectual Property

The Power of Tech: A study by The Corner points at China’s directed efforts to grow its technological sector as responsible for its recent ranking amongst the world’s 20 most innovative countries according to a World Intellectual Property Organization index; China’s R&D spending as a percentage of GDP (2.1%) now surpasses the Eurozone’s 1.9% average.

Free Expression and Censorship

What is Real? Pressures to suppress “foreign” meddling and “misinformation” took their toll on Facebook when it deleted an anti-right-wing event created by an “inauthentic” organization; Facebook’s admission that it did “[not] have all the facts,” and its page removal, without giving its very “real” planners and thousands of registered participants a chance to present evidence, have drawn public criticism.

More Info-Wars: This week saw censorship of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones escalate with Apple, YouTube, Spotify, and LinkedIn banning several of his podcasts as well as his personal and Infowars profiles; attempts to brand his outrageous comments as hate speech raise questions about tech giants’ ability to define and regulate free speech.

Practice Note

Two Strategies Against NPEs: Highlighting a rise in sports technology company targeting by “non-practicing entities,” also known as patent trolls, Mondaq highlights two useful defense strategies: recurring to Inter Partes Review and forming Joint Defense Groups.

On The Lighter Side

Sleepover Cancelled: In its latest round of contests, Airbnb sought to offer competitors a chance to win a sleepover in one of the Great Wall’s guard towers, Chinese authorities object; Airbnb says the campaign was “based on months of communication and agreement,” Chinese officials differ.

Announcements

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Bureau of Internet & Technology at the NYS Attorney General’s Office seeks tech-savvy Attorney and Engineer.

– submission of fake comments on net neutrality to the FCC;

– data breaches at Equifax and Uber;

– bot-related fraud on social media and in the resale of concert tickets;

– online tracking of children;

– suing Charter/Time Warner for false claims about internet speeds;

– and more: http://on.ny.gov/2fuC1ei

To apply: https://goo.gl/dTTXTn

To apply: https://goo.gl/7ZJv2S

We intend to fill the positions quickly, so we hope to hear from interested candidates soon.

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

For more information and the online application, click here.

http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk06/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=WEFORUM&cws=41&rid=337

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

The Ringer Copyright Honors Program with the U.S. Copyright Office is accepting applications.

For more information, see here. Applications are open through September 15th, 2018.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: August 3, 2018

Internet Governance

China Commands, Google Complies: Eager to return to the Chinese market, Google is getting ready to launch a censored version of its search engine following an agreement reached in December 2017 between CEO Sundar Pichai and a top Chinese government official; project “Dragonfly” will blacklist queries about human rights, democracy, religion, and prohibited literature amongst others.

Strikes End, Unrest Remains: Following six days of nationwide strikes and a government meeting on Wednesday, Spanish taxi drivers have decided to go back to work and lift their city blockades, for now…; the delicate truce was reached after the central government agreed to respect the 1:30 chauffeured vehicle (e.g. Uber) licenses to taxi ratio and to delegate regulatory power to regional governments.

My Data, My Rules: A draft National Policy document reviewed by Reuters shows that the Indian government is considering compelling foreign tech giants to store data locally; the proposal also calls for tightening scrutiny of mergers, big or small, in the e-commerce sector.

Privacy

The “Quiet Skies” Program: The Boston Globe reported on Saturday that TSA launched a new initiative in March called “Quiet Skies” which deploys air marshals to gather intelligence on civilians not on terrorist watch lists; the experts on civil liberties as well as air marshals expressed concerns about the legality of this domestic surveillance program.

Passing The Buck: After Amazon’s facial recognition system erroneously matched 28 members of Congress with criminal mugshots last week, Amazon published an official blog post inviting the US government to weigh and specify the confidence level that law enforcement agencies must use when using facial recognition technology.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

NSA Procrastinates: According to the audit conducted by the NSA Inspector Governor’s Office, many of the problematic security policies from the Snowden-era have not been addressed as of March 31, 2018; the audit also showed that the NSA has failed to adopt the latest federal security guidance as well as an accurate or finished computer security plan.

Intellectual Property

Unsavory Loss for KitKat: The South China Morning Post puts into perspective KitKat’s dismissed appeal to trademark its four-finger shape by highlighting other cross-border trademark battles between international rivals; China in particular may be challenging for firms like Apple, which has had to pay $60 million to use the “iPad” name on the mainland.

Free Expression and Censorship

Democratization of “Likes”: Facebook is introducing a “downvote” button to a wider group of users in the US which will allow them to “support comments that are thoughtful, and demote ones that are uncivil or irrelevant”; Reddit, another popular social platform, has long used the upvote-downvote system, which researchers believe causes a groupthink effect called the “hivemind.”

Ross v. City of Jackson: Professor Eric Goldman discusses the Eighth Circuit’s decision to revoke qualified immunity for police officers alleged to have committed deprivation of civil liberties; the plaintiff sued officers after he was jailed for several days for writing a sarcastic comment on Facebook that asked which gun he needed to shoot up a kindergarten.

Facebook Abides: A Facebook VP stated on Friday that the social network has removed 362 posts in compliance with NetzDG, a new German law against online hate speech which requires removal of offending posts within 24 hours of receiving a complaint; this statement comes after Mark Zuckerberg faced intense criticism last week for saying that posts by holocaust deniers should not be removed from Facebook.

Practice Note

WIPO ADR Guide Updated: A summary of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s updated guide highlights the numerous advantages of alternative dispute resolution in IP disputes, including: party autonomy, flexibility, time and cost savings, confidentiality, and finality.

On The Lighter Side

The Phone Cleanse: Comcast invites you to try seven tips and challenges to reduce phone use and exposure for a week, including a 24-hour Notification Fast and Sleep Separation.

Announcements

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Bureau of Internet & Technology at the NYS Attorney General’s Office seeks tech-savvy Attorney and Engineer.

– submission of fake comments on net neutrality to the FCC;

– data breaches at Equifax and Uber;

– bot-related fraud on social media and in the resale of concert tickets;

– online tracking of children;

– suing Charter/Time Warner for false claims about internet speeds;

– and more: http://on.ny.gov/2fuC1ei

To apply: https://goo.gl/dTTXTn

To apply: https://goo.gl/7ZJv2S

We intend to fill the positions quickly, so we hope to hear from interested candidates soon.

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

For more information and the online application, click here.

http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk06/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=WEFORUM&cws=41&rid=337

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

The Ringer Copyright Honors Program with the U.S. Copyright Office is accepting applications.

For more information, see here. Applications are open through September 15th, 2018.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: July 27, 2018

Internet Governance

Full Fibre Ahead! The United Kingdom has embarked on a mission to provide full fibre broadband coverage and 5G access to every resident by 2033; legislation and financial incentives will both be utilized to achieve this objective – all new homes must be equipped with full fibre broadband and £3-5 billion will be budgeted for reaching rural areas.

NSA Takes on Russian Hackers: NSA and Cyber Command Chief Paul Nakasone has unveiled the Russia Small Group, a specialized team dedicated to tackling Russian cyberattacks; the chief also has his sights on China, citing both countries’ election meddling, fueling of social tensions, and stealing classified information.

Privacy

Missouri Live-Streamed: Uber and Lyft are suspending a driver for live-streaming passengers without their knowledge or consent; the taping, however, was legal under Missouri’s one-party consent laws where only one party needs to give permission to record communications.

Politicians and Crooks? The ACLU said Thursday that Amazon’s facial recognition system erroneously matched the photos of twenty-eight Congressmen, including six members of the Congressional Black Caucus, with mugshots of criminals in a test; Amazon’s spokeswoman responded that Amazon recommends using a higher confidence threshold of 95 or above to those using facial recognition for law enforcement activities.

Hands Off My DNA: 23andMe, a popular DNA testing company that provides postal saliva tests, partnered with Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline in order to explore drug treatments for health issues such as Parkinson’s disease; while this partnership will allow the drug research community to access valuable DNS data on an unprecedented scale, some are concerned that the customers of 23andMe are being exploited.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Cyberattacks Incoming: The US Department of Homeland Security warned on Wednesday that hacktivists, cryptominers, and state-sponsored hackers are trying to exploit flaws in Oracle and SAP platforms which are heavily relied upon by US companies and consumers who use cloud services; a report from security companies recommends several prevention strategies which includes disabling unused APIs and unnecessary internet-facing logins.

Intellectual Property

The “Transportation Visionary”: Lyft was sued on Tuesday by a retired Georgia Tech professor who claimed that Lyft’s business model infringes on his ride-sharing patent filed in 2001; the complaint states that Lyft’s model is “indistinguishable” from Dickerson’s and crucial to its operations.

Free Expression and Censorship

Oxford Study on Global Social Media Manipulation: A new study from the University of Oxford surveys social media manipulation by government actors and their growing influence over it; the number of countries with formally organized social media manipulation campaigns has risen from 28 last year to 48 in 2018, where efforts to eliminate fake news may be used to increase censorship and shape online discourse.

The Community Strikes: Alex Jones stated on Wednesday that YouTube removed four Infowars videos and slapped his channel with a “community strike” that forbids him from broadcasting live on YouTube for 90 days; one of the removed videos featured Jones’ criticism of an online cartoon series called “Drag Tots” in which he compared the creators of the series to Satanists.

Discriminatory Ads: Facebook signed an agreement with the state of Washington promising to stop allowing advertisers to exclude protected classes such as races, religions, and sexual orientations from targeted ads within 90 days; Facebook is already facing a lawsuit from civil rights groups alleging that its ad-targeting tools violate the federal Fair Housing Act.

Practice Note

Operational Impacts of CaCPA – Part I: The California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 will come into effect on January 1, 2020; serving as a resource, the IAPP has begun a series of articles addressing the law’s scope, notice and transparency obligations, data disclosure requirements, consumers’ new rights of erasure, and consumers’ new cause of action.

On The Lighter Side

So Real You Can Almost Taste It: In honor of National Scotch Day (July 27), the Macallan Distillery has brought a 4D virtual experience to New York City’s Grand Central Terminal; the virtual reality presentation showcases the distillery’s Easter Elchies Estate and tempts the palate.

Announcements

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

For more information and the online application, click here.

http://chk.tbe.taleo.net/chk06/ats/careers/requisition.jsp?org=WEFORUM&cws=41&rid=337

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

The Ringer Copyright Honors Program with the U.S. Copyright Office is accepting applications.

For more information, see here. Applications are open through September 15th, 2018.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: July 20, 2018

Internet Governance

Google Fined $5 Billion: European antitrust regulators have fined Google and ordered it to stop using Android “as a vehicle to cement the dominance of its search engine” by coercing Android device manufacturers into pre-installing Google Search, its Chrome browser, and Google Play app store; the decision draws mixed criticism, some saying that it is too little, too late, while others (Google) claim stiff competition against Apple negates monopolistic concerns.

Budget Cuts Affect Online Medical Community: As of Monday, the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC) has ceased to receive funding; the online database vetted and compiled the best healthcare practices from medical societies and other research, aiding over 200,000 monthly visitors in their daily practice – multiple initiatives aim to restore the database.

Dear Government, Please Regulate Us: In a forceful article by Microsoft President Brad Smith, the company argues that advances in facial recognition technology, and its potential to harm “fundamental human rights protections like privacy and freedom of expression,” warrant government regulation; the blog post also highlights the deeply political nature of Silicon Valley-Government relations, including contracts with ICE, and the need for the government to proactively regulate forthcoming society-shaping technologies.

Privacy

Constant Monitoring: Uber has begun running constant background checks on its drivers, relying on companies Checkr and Appriss to use Social Security numbers, court records and municipality records to continuously monitor them; the move has some reconsidering the scope of privacy within the workplace.

Something Doesn’t Smell Right: Chinese police have begun using wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE)–testing wastewater for the presence of illegal substances–to locate and arrest illegal drug manufacturers; Chinese scientists originally developed WBE tech to assist governments evaluate the efficiency of drug reduction programs.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Rivals Cooperate: “[I]n the face of common cyber adversaries, all […] rivalry [between Airbus and Boeing] goes out of the window;” the collaboration between both aviation giants earns praise while highlighting technological risks in a highly consolidated industry.

Does Your Mother Know You’re on Facebook? After U.K.’s Channel 4 reported on Tuesday that Facebook content reviewers are instructed to pretend that they “don’t know what underage looks like,” Facebook made an operational change to its policy, authorizing its content reviewers to lock the accounts of any users appearing to be below the age of 13; Facebook prohibits users under 13 to comply with the U.S. Child Online Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits collecting data on children without parental consent.

Intellectual Property

Too Important to be Private: On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that non-profit organization did not violate the copyright of a private-sector organization by publishing its technical standards alongside the U.S. laws that reference the standards; the appellants successfully argued that privately developed technical standards necessarily become public when incorporated into U.S. law because everyone has the right to read, understand and share the law.

Say No to Terminators: More than 2,400 AI scientists and organizations joined the Lethal Autonomous Weapons Pledge this week, thereby declaring that they will not participate in the development or manufacture of lethal autonomous weapons—robots designed to attack people without human oversight; those who joined include Google Deepmind and its founders, and Elon Musk.

Free Expression and Censorship

“Best Way to Fight Offensive Bad Speech is With Good Speech”: Mark Zuckerberg generated a heap of backlash on Wednesday by saying that posts from Holocaust deniers should be allowed on Facebook because they are not “intentionally” getting their facts wrong and it is not right to ban people for getting things wrong; Zuckerberg clarified his statement later saying that any post “advocating for violence or hate against a particular group” will be removed.

Practice Note

Impact of Carpenter: TAP has re-published several articles by privacy law scholars discussing the impact of Carpenter v. United States, last month’s U.S. Supreme Court decision widely considered to be a “groundbreaking victory for privacy rights in the digital age”.

On the Lighter Side

Build Your Own Castle (with Legos): Bridging virtual and physical reality, LeoCAD allows your kids to build virtual Lego models before purchasing them online; the open source software offers simplified and advanced features for new users and experienced users alike to achieve their constructive designs.

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

For more information and the online application, click here.

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

The Ringer Copyright Honors Program with the U.S. Copyright Office is accepting applications.

For more information, see here. Applications are open thorough September 15th, 2018.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: July 13, 2018

Internet Governance

Are You A Human? A month after federal net neutrality rules expired, the FCC is taking steps to combat the comment fraud that plagued the agency’s net neutrality proceedings; Chairman Ajit Pai wrote to lawmakers that the FCC is planning to implement a CAPTCHA system and rebuild the Electronic Comment Filing System.

Customs IT System May Import Problems: Tasked with replacing the U.K.’s outdated CHIEF customs system, the Customs Declaration System (CDS) is drawing public concern as its August and November deadlines approach; the project highlights the political, fiscal, and technological pressures such projects face, especially where ongoing “Brexit” talks require readiness for various scenarios.

Privacy

Dear Facebook, Guess What Happened: The Federal Court of Justice in Germany has ruled that parents are entitled to access their daughter’s Facebook account after her death; the court compared online data to private diaries and letters that are typically passed down to heirs after death and stated that they should be treated the same.

Who’s Watching Who? Smart TV companies like Samba TV, the New York Times reports, are drawing public concern as their increasingly sophisticated tracking technology allows them to collect ever growing amounts of data from consumers and market it to advertisers; these TVs’ capabilities allow manufacturers to track everything appearing on the screen, deduce political leanings, and detect other connected devices – allowing advertisers to target consumers ever more precisely.

Trading Data for Oil: In a bid to entice consumers to share their driving data, Mitsubishi has released a new app which tracks driving patterns and rewards good drivers with badges they can trade in for prizes, like oil discounts; this information is then shared with insurance companies, potentially increasing or lowering rates according to a consumer’s risk profile.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Facebook Fined Over Cambridge Analytica Data Breaches: Following publication of its investigative report, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Facebook “£500,000 for lack of transparency and security issues relating to the harvesting of data,” in breach of the Data Protection Act 1998; Commissioner Denham warned that this “very serious contravention… would face a much higher fine [under the GDPR, effective as of May 25, 2018].”

A Dark Trade: U.S. Air Force MQ9 Reaper drone schematics, training courses on tanks, and live border camera footage are some of the sensitive military materials intelligence researchers say to have found for sale on the dark web – starting at as little as $150; it is believed hackers took advantage of a router vulnerability known since 2016, underscoring the importance of virtual, as well as physical, security.

Intellectual Property

Tattling on the Copycats: YouTube is rolling out a tool for creators that will allow them to see if their videos are being stolen and uploaded by other users; once alerted, the creators can either contact the thief, ask YouTube to remove the copy, or do nothing.

Free Expression and Censorship

Introducing “Real News”: On Wednesday, Facebook announced the first slate of news shows that aim to deliver “trustworthy, informative and local” news; Facebook will be airing daily briefings and deep coverage by handpicked outlets which includes ABC News, CNN, Bloomberg, Univision, Attn, Mic, and controversially—Fox News.

Popularity Should Not Be Bought: On Thursday, Twitter began removing tens of millions of accounts that appear automated or fake in an effort to remedy the pervasive problem of users buying fake followers on Twitter to bolster their reputation; Twitter is expecting the total combined follower count on the platform to drop by around 6 percent as a result.

Practice Note

Cyberthreats to Financial Services: IntSights Cyber Intelligence, a leader in enterprise cyber risk analytics useful to compliance and risk teams alike, released a report outlining five critical threats to financial services: state-sponsored cyberthreats, increased extortion through third party software providers, fake social media profiles and applications, hackers moving to private peer-to-peer channels, and phishing-as-a-service; the study also notes that existing laws and regulations tend to prioritize “direct […] already-known cyber attacks […] neglect[ing] indirect threats that target their customers.”

On the Lighter Side

Oops Shouldn’t Have “Liked” That Photo of the American Flag: Facebook’s algorithm for its advertising platform accidentally tagged 65,000 Russian users as “interested in treason;” Facebook has since removed the interest category.

Job and Fellowship Opportunities

From time-to-time, CLIP-ings will highlight career opportunities in the information law field. Please note the following:

Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is seeking a Project Lead to join their Data Policy Project Team in San Francisco.

For more information and the online application, click here.

The Second Northeast Privacy Scholars Workshop is calling for submissions.

For more information, see here. Online submissions are due September 7th, 2018 by 5pm Eastern.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: June 29, 2018

Internet Governance

Differing Approaches: In a bid to make the island of Hainan more tourist friendly, China will lift some internet censorship in its southernmost province, allowing visitors to access their Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube accounts; the policy is in sharp contrast to this week’s blocking of HBO’s website in China following presenter John Oliver’s humorous criticism of the nation’s President for life Xi Jinping.

Safe Space for Shopping: Amazon, Alibaba, eBay, and Rakuten signed an E.U. pledge this week, promising to speedily remove dangerous products being sold on their online marketplaces within the E.U.; other components of the pledge include cooperating with authorities, developing measures to act against repeat offenders, preventing reappearance of removed listings, and innovating new technologies to improve detection of unsafe products.

Privacy

Big Win for Consumer Privacy: In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement cannot access mobile phone location records from wireless providers without a warrant; the Court’s reasoning that “[j]ust because you have to entrust a third party with your data doesn’t necessarily mean you should lose all Fourth Amendment protections in it,” carving away a bit of the Third Party Doctrine.

Effect of Kennedy’s Retirement on Privacy: Justice Kennedy “did not always embrace a broad view of privacy rights,” but valued the importance of privacy in American democracy; his departure may make room for a justice who does not share Kennedy’s views in a time when interpretation of the Constitution is crucial for regulating the power of the government and tech companies.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Vault Left Wide Open: A security researcher discovered that data broker Exactis’s 2TB database containing nearly 340 million individual records was missing firewall protection, permitting anyone with basic cybersecurity prowess to hack its entire database; although there is no evidence of intrusion by hackers, sensitive personal data including home and email addresses, religious beliefs, habits, phone numbers, and even the number, age, and sex of subject’s children were left exposed.

Fool Us Twice, Shame on Us: Tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Twitter met with intelligence officials last month and discussed strategies to prevent repetition of the Russian interference that occurred during the 2016 elections; these companies have also been developing independent strategies to mitigate interference, e.g., Apple is introducing a curated 2018 midterm elections section in its News app and Twitter is developing algorithm for eliminating fake accounts with election-related content.

Intellectual Property

Worldwide Patent Damages? The Supreme Court’s opinion in WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. has interpreted Section 271(f) of the Patent Act, concerning exports of components, to include lost profits for the use of an invention overseas as a remedy; critics believe this will disincentivize U.S.-based innovators who may face liability for reasonable royalties on domestic and international sales, whereas foreign infringers would likely only be liable for royalties on their U.S. sales.

Free Expression and Censorship

Limits to Free Expression? Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia with a State Department terrorist designation, claimed on Saturday that its Facebook and Twitter accounts have been shut down; the Times of Israel reports that the move closely followed threats of criminal prosecution against Twitter staff by Israeli authorities citing Hezbollah’s calls to violence.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: June 22, 2018

Internet Governance

Made in China 2025 Meets U.S. Tariffs: In its latest attempt to foil Beijing’s plans for technological dominance, the U.S. is introducing 25% tariffs on $50 billion worth of strategic Chinese imports targeted at high-tech industries; the tariffs aim to provide a critical shield against unfair industrial practices, like dumping, which have prompted industry experts like Warren Buffett to warn that the U.S. is being “colonized by purchase rather than conquest.”

Pie in the Sky Gets Closer: Citing a lack of competition concerns, the European Commission has approved unconditionally Comcast’s $30 billion bid for European pay-TV leader Sky, allowing Comcast to challenge 21st Century Fox’s existing bid; who will get the bigger slice is to be determined.

Corporations Are Persons – Right? The proposed California Consumer Privacy Act seeks to address data-sharing concerns by requiring companies to disclose the types of information they collect and allow consumers to opt-out of having their information sold; state disclosure records show that a group opposing the initiative has already received hefty funding from Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, Google, Comcast, Facebook, and Verizon.

Privacy

Underrated Victory of the Week: After receiving heavy criticism from Oregon Senator Ron Wyden and the media, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile stated on Tuesday that they will stop sharing customer location data with location aggregators; in May, a report found that a Missouri sheriff used the location aggregation services to look up people’s real-time location without a warrant.

Is It a Bee? Is It a Fly? It’s a Drone! MIT researchers plan to unveil a computer chip as small as a LEGO minifigure’s footprint at a symposium this week that is smaller and more powerful than the version presented last year; this chip is capable of processing real-time camera images at up to 171 frames per second and may be used to power bee-sized drones in the near future, redefining the meaning of “being bugged.”

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Working for ICE Can Be Nice, for the Wallet at Least: It was reported this week that several high-profile data and tech companies such as HP, Thomson Reuters, Microsoft, Motorola Solutions, and Palantir are discreetly making millions of dollars from supplying ICE with state-of-the-art technology, including facial recognition, predictive data analytics, and tactical communications technology; the contract between Thomson Reuters and ICE stipulates that the company will support ICE in its “mission to locate, arrest and remove criminal aliens that pose a threat to public safety.”

Sino-Canberra Relations Meet Summer Heat: Citing information and infrastructure concerns, Australia is likely to ban Chinese network equipment and smartphone giant Huawei from participating in its 5G mobile telecommunications roll-out; fearing a repetition of its current U.S. ban, Huawei has refuted these concerns in an open letter on Monday.

Intellectual Property

“Thou Hast Seen Nothing Yet”: Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote. After 25 years of setbacks, a heart attack, and an 18 month legal battle, Terry Gilliam has lost the rights to his passion project, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, to ex-producer Paulo Branco, who allegedly bought the rights in 2016; the Paris Court of Appeal was not persuaded by Gilliam’s argument that Branco’s failure to fund the project voided the contract.

Say Bye to the Prequel Memes: The EU parliament’s legal affairs committee narrowly passed a highly controversial legislation that will require platforms such as Google and Microsoft to install filters that will block users from uploading copyrighted content–it is set to become law once approved by all EU countries; the opponents of the legislation fear that this measure would heavily curtail the internet users’ ability to share content such as news, memes, and even holiday photos, damaging the creativity of the internet.

Free Expression and Censorship

A New Robin Hood Story: Developer Sam Lavigne uploaded a database of 1,595 ICE employees that he gathered from LinkedIn to Github and published a Medium post asserting that people can “undermine entrenched power structures” by using the same tools that internet companies use to exploit them; both Github and Medium shut down the accounts of Lavigne as well as of the users who shared the ICE data, mimicking Twitter’s action this week of suspending users that shared the personal phone number of Stephen Miller.

Practice Note

Physical v. Virtual presence: Overturning its decision in Quill v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992), the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that states can require online retailers to collect sales tax; The 5-4 decision highlights how e-commerce has made the previous mail-order catalogues based ruling obsolete and the Government Accountability Office estimates that states missed out on over $13 billion in tax revenue last year.

On The Lighter Side

I Know It When I See It? China has classified sensory videos, a.k.a. ASMR videos, as pornography and began censoring them on the country’s biggest streaming sites such as Youku and Bilibili; China’s anti-pornography office claimed that the videos stimulate sexual sensations although a study found that the ASMR fans primarily use the videos for relaxation.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

CLIP-ings: June 15, 2018

Internet Governance

The End of Cyberbullying? In a controversial move to criminalize cyberbullying, New York’s Senate Bill 2318 was unanimously passed by the Senate, making it a crime to “knowingly engag[e] in a repeated course of cyberbullying of a minor;” its vague and potentially broad language raises alarms – a similar law was struck down in 2014.

Expansive Drone Bill Draws Scrutiny: A proposed bill allowing DOJ and DHS officials to “intercept, acquire or access [drone] communications,” define any “threat” broadly, and bypass established procedures – such as the Wiretap Act, Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act – is sparking criticism from many parties, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Privacy

You Can Run But You Can’t Hide: Researchers at MIT have developed a technology that uses wifi signals to penetrate walls and capture detailed physical information of people on the other side such as movements, breathing, and even heartbeat; the primary aim of the project is to improve monitoring of the elderly and automate emergency alerts in cases of injury, but potential applications of this technology are limitless.

China’s Marauder’s Map: China plans to implement a new vehicle identification system that will empower the government to track drivers throughout the country using radio frequency identification (RFID) chips placed in cars; compliance will be mandatory for new vehicles starting in 2019, expanding the growing breadth of China’s surveillance system.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Subaquatic Cyber Attack: In their latest bid to curtail U.S. naval supremacy in Southeast Asia, Chinese Ministry of State Security hackers stole 614 gigabytes of material from a Navy contractor, including: secret plans to develop supersonic anti-ship missiles, signals & sensor data, submarine radio room information, and an electronic warfare library; the incident adds one more success to a long line of Chinese hacking achievements – including snatched designs for the F-35 fighter, the Patriot PAC-3 missile system, the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship, and the Army’s anti-ballistic missile system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.

What Would Grandpa Do? In compliance with E.U. General Data Protection Regulation protocol, DNA testing and genealogy company MyHeritage revealed on Monday that its servers had been breached, compromising the emails and hashed passwords of over 92 million users; the company believes that the one-way hash of each user password it stores will not be of use to the culprit(s).

#SecurePhonesSaveLives: The forthcoming update to Apple’s iOS software will close the loophole, used extensively by law enforcement agencies, that permitted outsiders to access locked iPhones and obtain personal information; Apple’s CEO Tim Cook hails privacy as a “fundamental right,” which differentiates Apple from companies like Google and Facebook that show little qualms about extracting vast amounts of personal data from their users.

Intellectual Property

Blackberry in a Jam: Moving to dismiss Blackberry’s patent infringement claims against them, Facebook and Snap have both asked the court to apply the two-step Alice test to throw out six of the plaintiff’s patents on the grounds that they are too vague or represent attempts to patent everyday operations performed by mobile devices.

Go Home, You’re Drunk: Uber has a pending application for a patent that would use AI to identify drunk passengers by analyzing uncharacteristic user activities such as user location, typos, and even the angle the smartphone is being held; the application states that the patent aims to “reduce undesired consequences” but Uber said this week that it has no immediate plans to implement this technology.

Free Expression and Censorship

Skinny and Slippery: Pro-eating disorder online communities that promote dangerous behaviors are evading oversight by bypassing the filter algorithms; the users’ ability to avoid automated detection by developing new hashtags and other conventions, in addition to recommendation algorithms that unwittingly suggest problematic contents to users, highlight the limits of automated content curation.

My House, My Rules: This week, Vietnam passed a bill that requires tech companies to remove any offensive content within 24 hours of notice from the government authorities in addition to storing all user data domestically in order to do business in the country; protesters of the bill are concerned that the new law will stifle online dissent against the government since the law could also force tech companies to provide personal information of the dissenters to the government.

Practice Note

Johnson v. Twitter: California Superior Court ruled that Chuck Johnson, an infamous Twitter troll who was perma-banned from Twitter, failed to make a prima facie case against Twitter because Twitter is a private sector entity that may limit its service to users that abide by its TOS; the court found the analogy that Twitter is equivalent to an old town square unpersuasive.

On The Lighter Side

China Paves the Way for Smartphone Users: Literally. In an effort to increase pedestrian efficiency and protect “phubbers” – oblivious phone addicts – from themselves, the city of Xi’an has inaugurated a 100m walkway for their exclusive use.

Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Mindy Nam
William Ioas
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP