| Internet Governance Apple Faces Scrutiny from EU Competition Regulators Over Contactless Payments: The European Commission has accused Apple of abusing its dominant market position by restricting third-party access to technology necessary to develop a mobile wallet to rival Apple Pay. Apple denies the claims. |
| Privacy Outlawing Abortion Could Lead to Digital Privacy Crisis, Senator Warns: Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) warned that if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, digital data may be utilized to track women who have had abortions. Already, in at least two states, women have been charged with murder after miscarrying, in part due to evidence gathered from the women’s internet search history and phone messages indicating that they considered purchasing abortion pills. |
| Information Security and Cyberthreats UK’s National Health Service Hit By Phishing Scam: A phishing operation compromised over one hundred NHS email accounts over the course of about six months starting in October 2021. The attackers harvested online credentials from their victims and, in a few cases, tricked them into sending money. |
| Intellectual Property Apple Sues Start-Up for Allegedly Stealing Trade Secrets: According to a complaint filed in the Northern District of California, a California-based start-up that builds computer chips poached Apple employees and convinced them to copy confidential documents before leaving the company. |
| Freedom of Expression and Censorship European Court of Justice Upholds Use of Content Filters: The Court issued a ruling that recognizes the tension between Article 17 of the EU’s Copyright Directive, which imposes liability on big tech companies that allow copyright-infringing material on their platforms, and the Charter on Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union, which guarantees freedom of expression. The Court acknowledged that the obligation to review content creates a “de facto requirement” to use automatic recognition and filtering tools, but argues that there are enough safeguards in place to ensure that any technology being utilized will not otherwise violate EU law. |
| Practice Note Federal Judge Orders Every ISP in America to Block Three Pirate Streaming Services: After none of the Doe defendants in a DMCA case filed in the Southern District of New York responded to the complaints or showed up to court, a federal judge issued an order requiring every internet service provider in the country to block the offending websites, as well as an injunction against the defendants and others who provided services to the defendants or may do so in the future. |
| On the Lighter Side AI Helped Scientists Design a Plastic-Eating Enzyme: The synthetic enzyme, designed by researchers at University of Texas Austin, can break down plastic in as little as 24 hours in ambient temperatures that can mirror real-world environments. |
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| Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP Elyssa Diamond Editorial Fellow |