Internet Governance
Deciding The Scope Of The “Right To Be Forgotten”: An advocate general for the European Court of Justice argued that Google and other search engines should not be forced to apply the “right to be forgotten” outside the European Union due to the risk that “other jurisdictions could use their laws to block information from being accessible within the EU”; a final ruling is expected to be reached in the coming months from the court, which typically follows the advocate general’s opinion.
LA Sues Weather Channel App Owner: The Los Angeles City Attorney filed a lawsuit against the Weather Company, the company behind the popular Weather Channel app, claiming the app deceptively collected, shared, and profited from selling millions of users’ location information; the lawsuit claims the app unfairly manipulated users by failing to disclose that their data would be shared for commercial purposes, such as targeting marketing and analysis by hedge funds.
Privacy
Senators Call On FCC To Investigate Telecoms: Senators are calling on the FCC to investigate telecommunications companies like T-Mobile, AT&T, and Sprint after a Motherboard story revealed that the major mobile carriers are selling customer location data to third parties, which then offer the sensitive information to bounty hunters and others not authorized to handle the data; some senators are also demanding regulation that would prevent unauthorized use and sale of phone location data and ensure that customers are properly informed about how their data is sold.
Information Security and Cyberthreats
Student Confesses To German Data Leak: A 20-year old German student reportedly confessed to exposing the personal details of Chancellor Angela Merkel and hundreds of Germany’s politicians, journalists, and entertainers last month; the student published the individuals’ contact information and personal details —including bank account statements, photos, and chat records — on his Twitter account because he was “angry with the public statements” made by his targets.
Intellectual Property
Potential Rise In Copyright Infringement Suit Costs: Filing a copyright infringement suit could become more expensive for creators if the Supreme Court, after hearing arguments in Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp. v. Wall-Street.com this week, finds that creators must first obtain approval of their copyright registration.
Free Expression and Censorship
Politicians’ Page Ruled A Public Forum: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a 2017 district court decision finding that the Loudoun County, Virginia, Board of Supervisors chair violated the First Amendment rights of a Facebook user who criticized board members and their relatives by banning him for 12 hours from her Facebook page.
On The Lighter Side
Older Users More Likely To Share Hoaxes: A study conducted by researchers at New York University and Princeton University reveals that Facebook users over the age of 65 were more likely to have shared fake news stories during the 2016 presidential campaign than users in any other age group.
Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Fordham CLIP
Tom Norton
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP
Tommine McCarthy
Subrina Chowdhury
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP