Month: May 2017

Internet Governance

Wake-Up Call: Congress recently proposed a bill that would require the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) to inform representatives of other government agencies about security holes it finds in software like the recent WannaCry ransomware attacks; in a recent blog post Microsoft called out governments for stockpiling vulnerabilities instead of reporting issues to vendors.

Privacy

Implied Consent? Google’s AI subsidiary DeepMind was given access to the personal medical records of over 1.6 million National Health Service (NHS) patients in the U.K., but the data sharing agreement between the Royal Free NHS Trust and DeepMind to create a new medical app was found to have been conducted on an “inappropriate legal basis.”

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Makes Us Wanna Cry: Intelligence officials and security experts are pointing to North Korea as the source of WannaCry, the ransomware that affected over 200,000 computers in 150 countries; the ransomware locks people out of their data and demands a ransom.

More Bad News for United: A United Airlines flight attendant mistakenly posted cockpit door access codes, the codes needed to request entry to the flight deck, on a public website.

Sign Here: DocuSign, the owner of eSignature, a digital signature service, said that a database of customer email addresses was breached and used in a phishing campaign.

Intellectual Property

Google It: The Ninth Circuit ruled that “Google” has not become a generic trademark, like “aspirin”, rejecting the claim that the company lost control of its name because of widespread use of “google” as a verb.

The End of the MP3: The research company Fraunhofer IIS that holds the patents on MP3 encoders and decoders announced it had ended the “licensing program for certain mp3 related patents and software”, leading many to believe that MP3 may now be a “dead format.”

Free Expression and Censorship

Bring a Book: The Department of Homeland Security is expected to ban laptops and other large electronic devices from carry-on bags on flights from Europe to the United States.

On the Lighter Side

Bad Date: A man is suing his date for texting while they were watching a showing of the movie Guardians of the Galaxy 2; he is asking for $17.31, the cost of the 3D movie ticket.

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

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Fellow, CLIP
Elizabeth Martin

Internet Governance

Clash With Cabbies: The Advocate General of the Court of Justice of the European Union advised that Uber operates a transport service, not as an ‘information society service’, and so should be subject to taxi licensing regulations.

Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands: Seattle’s mayor implemented a rule requiring that cable internet providers obtain opt-in consent before sharing web browsing history and other data whenever it is needed for something besides essential service.

Privacy

Smile for the Camera: Google has created a “Street View ready” standard certification program so users can use 360-degree cameras to capture and upload Street View imagery directly to Google; so far 20 cameras have been certified.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Hackers, Spammers, and Comedians: The Federal Communications Commission said its website was hit by deliberate denial of service attacks and not caused by comedian John Oliver’s popular television segment urging viewers to submit online comments to the FCC to save its current net neutrality rules; additionally, a bot may be behind the posting of over 58,000 identical comments supporting the FCC’s proposal.

Election Hacking: Two days before France’s presidential election, hackers leaked emails from Emmanuel Macron’s campaign and the director of the NSA confirmed that the NSA had warned French cybersecurity officials of Russians hackers attempts to compromise some elements of the election.

Intellectual Property

“Dancing Baby”: The US solicitor general and the US Copyright Office recommended against the Supreme Court taking the Lenz v. Universal copyright case; the case has been going on for nearly a decade.

Practice Note

Choices on Geoblocking: With recent uncertainty in courts with regard to geolocation and territorially limiting conduct on the internet, internet content providers or service providers should consider the pros and cons of geoblocking, blocking access to content on the internet based on a user’s physical location, as a practice to avoid personal jurisdiction.

Free Expression and Censorship

Totally Fake: Facebook has increased its efforts to tackle fake news by burying links to low-quality websites; in preparation for the UK general elections, Facebook removed accounts it believes were involved in the spread of misinformation and published advertisements in British newspapers educating readers on fake news.

On the Lighter Side

Entertain Your Tastebuds: Smalt, the salt shaker with Bluetooth and music streaming capabilities you didn’t know you needed.

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

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Fellow, CLIP
Elizabeth Martin

Internet Governance

Net Neutrality Rollback: The chairman of the FCC released his plan to roll back the FCC’s rules prohibiting ISPs from treating online traffic in a discriminatory manner and, shortly after, judges on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear the case en banc that upheld the FCC’s 2015 Open Internet Order.

UK Crackdown: UK government issued a warning that sellers and consumers will face severe penalties and possibly jail time if they sell or purchase Kodi boxes, media players that permit third party add-ons which allow a user to stream illegally copied films and TV shows.

Privacy

Transparency in New York: A privacy group sued the New York Police Department over its failure to release documents related to its use of facial-recognition technology.

Silent Trackers: Researchers found that over 200 Android apps use ultrasound cross-device tracking, technology that embeds high-frequency tones in advertisements which are detected by devices that reveal information about the ads a user watches.

Information Security and Cyberthreats

Do Not Click: Google is investigating a phishing email scam that affected as many as one million users; recipients of the email that clicked on a shared Google document risked giving the sender access to their Google contact lists and Google Drive.

What’s Your Number? In 2016 the National Security Agency collected more than 151 million records about Americans’ phone calls despite a law passed last year intended to curb bulk surveillance.

Intellectual Property

Up Next: Music Lawsuits: The Eagles are suing a hotel for trademark infringement for using the name “Hotel California” and Eminem’s lawsuit begins this week against a New Zealand political party for using his song “Lose Yourself”.

Free Expression and Censorship

Hiring Content Cops: Facebook announced a plan to hire 3,000 new employees to screen and remove inappropriate content and graphic videos, such as live videos of murders or suicides.

On the Lighter Side

Trolling Apple Fans: The dictionary entry for Merriam-Webster’s newest word: “sheeple”, meaning people who are easily influenced, uses Apple fans as an example.

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

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Fellow, CLIP
Elizabeth Martin