| Internet Governance State Attorneys General Back Epic in its Antitrust Suit Against Apple: A coalition of 35 state attorneys general, as well as Microsoft, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and others, have filed amicus briefs on Epic’s behalf in its appeal from a decision that the Apple App Store does not violate antitrust laws. Epic, the maker of the popular video game Fortnight, is challenging the up-to-30-percent cut that Apple takes from in-app purchases. |
| Privacy Crisis Text Line to Stop Sharing Conversation Data with AI Company: Following a report from Politico examining a data-sharing relationship between nonprofit Crisis Text Line, which provides “mental health crisis intervention services,” and AI company Loris.ai, the 24/7 hotline service announced that it will stop sharing conversation data with Loris.ai. |
| Information Security and Cyberthreats FBI Urges Winter Olympic Participants to Leave Their Cellphones at Home: Citing potential “malicious cyberattacks,” the FBI suggested that those traveling to Beijing for the Olympics use burner phones instead of their personal cell phones. While the FBI is not aware of any specific threats, the warning comes amid rising concerns about Chinese espionage. |
| Intellectual Property Blackberry Sells Mobile Patents to Non-practicing Entity: The former smartphone giant agreed to sell its non-core patent assets to a company called Catapult IP Innovations for $600 million. Catapult IP Innovations will likely earn a return on its investment by enforcing the patents it acquired. |
| Free Expression and Censorship Spotify to Put Content Advisories on Podcasts that Talk About COVID-19: The advisory will direct users to a COVID-19 information hub, which will include data-driven and accessible information about the virus. This announcement came after artists including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell removed their music from the streaming service in protest of misinformation. |
| Practice Note Posting Nude Photos Is an Ethics Violation, Says Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct: The Kansas Supreme Court accepted a disciplinary panel’s ruling that a county judge violated the rules of judicial conduct by posting nude photos of himself on a swingers’ dating website. According to the Commission, the judge, who had already stepped down prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, failed to “avoid impropriety or the appearance of impropriety in [his] personal life,” casting a negative light on the public image of the judiciary. |
| On the Lighter Side iOS Software Update Enables Face ID to Work While Wearing a Mask: The update isn’t perfect—Apple warns that Face ID is less accurate when users are wearing a mask, and glasses-wearers might run into some unique issues—but it will still be convenient while out in public during our third pandemic year. |
| 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 Elyssa Diamond Editorial Fellow |