Month: January 2022

Internet Governance Major Tech Companies File Brief in Support of the EPA: A group of companies, including Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, and Tesla, filed an amicus brief in West Virginia v. EPA, asking the Supreme Court to uphold the Agency’s authority to regulate CO2 emissions. According to the brief, EPA action would create more regulatory certainty at the federal level, which would help the companies meet their own climate goals.

Privacy Four State AGs Sue Google Over “Deceptive” Location Tracking Practices: According to one of the complaints, Google misled users about how to opt-out of location tracking and circumvented users’ expressed preferences with workarounds to determine location by other means. The parallel lawsuits, filed by a bipartisan group of attorneys general in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Texas, and Washington State, call for an injunction blocking the allegedly illegal conduct and disgorgement of profits linked to the allegedly misleading practices.

Information Security and Cyberthreats COVID Test Related Scam Emails Increased by 521% in Three Months: Though cyber criminals have been exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic since its early days by deploying phishing attacks related to COVID tests and vaccines, the prevalence of such scams has jumped exponentially between October 2021 and January 2022, fueled in part by the Omicron variant.

Intellectual Property Neil Young Pulls Music from Spotify in Protest of Joe Rogan’s Podcast: The iconic musician requested that Spotify remove his catalog from its streaming platform following his objections to podcast host Joe Rogan’s false and misleading statements about the COVID-19 vaccine. The streaming service, which has exclusive distribution rights to “The Joe Rogan Experience,” has agreed to remove Young’s music, but would “welcome him back” if he chooses to return.

Free Expression and Censorship Following Suspension, YouTube Permanently Bans Right-Wing Media Personality Dan Bongino: YouTube issued a week-long suspension of one of Bongino’s accounts on January 14, after he violated the company’s misinformation policy by posting a video calling cloth and surgical masks useless in stopping the spread of COVID-19. YouTube decided to bar him from the service permanently on Wednesday after he posted videos on two additional accounts in the following weeks in an attempt to skirt suspension in violation of YouTube’s terms of service.

Practice Note FTC Fines Online Retailer Fashion Nova $4.2 Million for Blocking Negative Product Reviews: The company allegedly declined to publish hundreds of thousands of negative product reviews between late 2015 and November 2019. Along with the settlement, which was the conclusion of the FTC’s first case involving a company’s efforts to conceal negative reviews, the Commission also released new guidance for online retailers regarding the collection and publication of customer reviews.

On the Lighter Side Company Deploys AI in its Quest to Perfect Plant-Based Meat Substitutes: In an attempt to enter into the plant-based meat substitute market, Swiss company Firmenich uses machine learning to train an AI robot to develop flavors. Even without a true sense of taste, Sam, the robot sous chef, uses the knowledge it gains from his human “flavorist” co-workers to create new flavor formulas.

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Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP Elyssa Diamond Editorial Fellow

Internet Governance Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Big Tech Antitrust Bill: If passed, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act would prohibit tech companies from promoting their own products or services over their competitors’ and would require the companies to apply their terms of service uniformly across users; Big Tech companies have come out against the bill, arguing that it will make their services less effective and will risk users’ privacy and security, while other lawmakers have introduced amendments to cover issues of privacy, censorship, and national security.  Spain To Implement Transparency Rules For Cryptocurrency Promoters: In an effort to curb a recent wave of crypto scams, the country will require influencers and other cryptocurrency promoters with more than 100,000 followers to notify the National Securities Market Commission, as well as publish warnings about the risks of crypto investments alongside paid promotions; rule violators may face fines of up to €300,000.

Privacy IRS Introduces Face Recognition Verification To Access Taxes Online: Beginning this summer, users who wish to file their taxes or make payments online via IRS.gov will have to submit a selfie, their government-issued photo ID, and other documents to third-party identity verification company ID.me, who will perform face matching to verify users’ identities; in addition to potential complications with the technology itself, the plan may complicate tax filing for individuals who wish to verify their identification through non-biometric means.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Biden Signs National Security Memorandum To Improve The Federal Government’s Cyberdefenses: The memorandum requires that the National Security Agency, the Department of Defense, and other intelligence-gathering organizations implement cybersecurity measures that are up to par with those implemented in the federal civilian networks, including encryption and multifactor authentication, incident reporting, and tools for sharing data between classified and unclassified systems.  Crypto.com Cryptocurrency Exchange Confirms Hack: After earlier statements from the company vaguely referred to a security “incident,” the exchange’s CEO this week confirmed that nearly 400 users had their accounts breached and their funds stolen.

Intellectual Property German Court Rules That Ad Blocker’s Alteration Of Code Doesn’t Amount To Copyright Infringement: The court sided with the creator of an ad blocker in a suit alleging that the blocker’s AdBlock Plus browser extension altered the defendant-publisher’s websites in violation of copyright law; a similar ongoing suit in the U.S. alleges that Google’s superimposing its own footer element, which blankets the plaintiff’s website with ads from its competitors when clicked, amounts to trespass to chattels.

Free Expression and Censorship UK Royal Society Challenges Efficacy Of Science Misinformation Bans: In a report published this week, the Society suggests that content removal and bans may simply force misinformation peddlers into unreachable corners of cyberspace, and that “collective resilience” that pushes back on scientific disinformation may be more effective than other tactics such as demonetization and displaying fact-checking labels.

On the Lighter Side So Simple A Seven-Year-Old Could Read It: A project called “tl;dr papers” uses AI-driven language processing techniques to generate “accurate and pithy” summaries of academic article abstracts.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance FTC Defeats Facebook Motion To Dismiss In Antitrust Case: After dismissing the Commission’s original complaint earlier this year, the court found that an amended complaint’s “more robust and detailed” allegations that the company formerly known as Facebook employed a “buy and bury” technique to eliminate competition “cleared the pleading bar”; the court rejected both the Commission’s claim that the company also acted anti-competitively by restricting access to its APIs as well as the company’s argument that FTC Chair Lina Khan be recused.

Privacy Austrian Data Protection Authority Finds Website’s Use Of Google Analytics Violated GDPR: In a ruling that raises red flags for the use of U.S.-based cloud services in the EU, the data watchdog found that an unnamed German publisher violated data-transfer provisions of the GDPR in light of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision in the Schrems II case by transferring users’ IP and cookie information to Google through the use of Google Analytics; Max Schrems, who brought the complaint, said that his nonprofit filed 101 similar complaints in almost all EU member states, and that additional rulings are expected to issue soon.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Washington To Meet With Tech Firms To Discuss Open-Source Software Security: In light of the recent Log4j vulnerability, representatives from the major tech companies and the Linux and Apache open-source software organizations will meet with the Biden administration to discuss how open source code can be made more secure. Cyberattack On New Mexico County Incapacitates Jail And Forces Lockdown: The attack crippled government services in Bernalillo County, home of Albuquerque, and forced building closures, including a lockdown at the County’s Metropolitan Detention Center, which lost access to key security features such as camera feeds and automated doors.

Intellectual Property Apple Removes Wordle Clone Apps From App Store: After numerous publications wrote about the many copycat versions of the popular web-based word game that appeared on the App Store, Apple seems to have cracked down and removed the unauthorized copies.

Free Expression and Censorship Nigeria Restores Twitter Access After Seven-Month Ban: President Muhammadu Buhari imposed the ban in the interests of national security and cohesion after Twitter deleted one of his tweets in which he threatened to kill rebels, but lifted it after Twitter made a number of concessions to restore service in the country, which include establishing a physical presence there.

Practice Note FCC Proposes New Data Breach Notification Rules: The Commission issued a proposal for a new rulemaking to craft stricter data breach notification rules that would, among other things, require notification to customers impacted by “inadvertent” breaches, do away with a mandatory one-week waiting period for notifications, and impose upon carriers a duty to disclose breaches to the FCC, FBI, and Secret Service.

On the Lighter Side AI-Powered App Turns You Into A Composer: This music-making app allows users to create songs using AI and send them to music streaming sites to be heard.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Antitrust Class Action Alleges Google Pays Apple To Forego Search Business: The suit alleges that the companies held “clandestine meetings” to form agreements that Apple would make Google’s search engine the default on its devices, avoid developing its own search functionality so as to not compete, and receive a share of Google’s search ad profits.

Privacy CNIL Fines Google And Facebook Over Cookie Consent: The data protection authority fined Google €150 million and Facebook €60 million after finding that the companies’ practice of offering users a single button to accept cookies, while requiring “several clicks” to refuse them, nudged users to agree to the cookies in violation of data protection rules mandating that consent be freely given.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Morgan Stanley To Settle Data Breach Class Action For $60 Million: The suit alleges that Morgan Stanley failed to wipe clean decommissioned data center equipment, and that a software flaw on the old servers left vulnerable the remaining data, which included Social Security numbers and birth dates.

Intellectual Property Snap Sues USPTO For Rejecting Application To Trademark “Spectacles”: The suit is the latest development in the company’s five-year battle to trademark the term in connection with its camera-equipped eyewear; while the Office has determined that the term is generic, Snap maintains that the product’s media coverage, coupled with the term’s declining popular usage, makes “Spectacles” distinctive to Snap.

Free Expression and Censorship Twitter, Facebook, Suspend Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Over Covid Misinformation: Twitter permanently banned the Republican lawmaker’s personal account after she posted false claims about the safety of Covid vaccines, while Facebook removed a similar post and suspended her account for one day.

Practice Note FTC Urges Organizations To Patch Log4j Vulnerability: In an alert issued this week, the Commission urged organizations to patch the vulnerability, which Microsoft says remains “complex and high-risk,” to reduce the likelihood of harm to consumers and avoid legal action for failing to take reasonable steps to protect consumer data.

On the Lighter Side Sicilian Police Arrest Mobster After Spotting Him On Google Maps: The mafia boss, who had been on the lam for 20 years, was perplexed about how the police found him, as he purportedly hadn’t contacted even his family in over a decade.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP