| Internet Governance Senate Rejects Cryptocurrency Tax Amendment To Infrastructure Bill: The amendment would have clarified and narrowed the definition of a “broker” to exclude entities such as miners and stakers from gains-reporting requirements; the proposal failed to reach the unanimous Senate vote required to pass. |
| Privacy TikTok Adds More Privacy Features For Teens: After making the accounts of users under 16 private by default earlier this year, the popular video-sharing app rolled out additional privacy features for teenagers, including turning direct messaging off by default, imposing limits on times of day when teens will receive push notifications from the app, and providing just-in-time privacy notices when certain app functionalities are used. |
| Information Security and Cyberthreats Hackers Steal, Return, Hundreds Of Millions In Cryptocurrency: Earlier this week, the hackers pulled off one of the biggest crypto heists to date to steal over $600 million in crypto tokens by exploiting a vulnerability in the digital contracts used by Poly Network, a company that facilitates crypto transactions across blockchains; the hacker, who is “not very interested in money” and perpetrated the hack “for fun,” has already returned $260 million. |
| Intellectual Property Apple, Corellium, Settle Copyright Suit: Apple alleged in the suit that the company infringed its copyrights by replicating Apple’s operating systems and apps for security testing, while Corellium argued that the suit was an effort by Apple to smother a competitor; the settlement’s terms are confidential, but Corellium said in a statement that it would continue to offer its virtual Apple systems. |
| Free Expression and Censorship Facebook Oversight Board Orders Restoration Of Post Critical Of Myanmar’s Relationship With China: The post was originally removed because it contained a Burmese word that Facebook content moderators determined amounted to hate speech against Chinese people; upon review, the Board found that the term, which can have multiple meanings depending on context, was instead used as a reference to the Chinese state and thus did not violate Facebook’s policies. Senator Paul And Representative Greene Suspended From YouTube For Spreading Covid-19 Misinformation: Each lawmaker had their account suspended for one week after posting videos casting doubt on the efficacy of masks and vaccines in curbing the spread of the virus. |
| Practice Note Amazon Will Compensate Customers In Products Liability Cases: In a blog post, the company announced that it will begin offering up to $1,000 to customers who suffer property damage or personal injury as a result of defective products sold by third-party merchants on its marketplace; the policy comes in the wake of recent lawsuits that could potentially result in Amazon facing greater liability for selling defective goods. |
| On the Lighter Side Swipe Right On Your New Pet: An animal shelter in Germany is hoping to increase pet adoptions by creating Tinder profiles for potential adoptees (complete with professional headshots). |
| Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP |