Internet Governance
Stay Tuned: After modified WiFi routers caused interference problems at airports, the FCC is seeking comment on new restrictions that would limit consumers’ ability to alter those devices for operation beyond their licensed frequency parameters.
Privacy
That Stings! A new DOJ policy requires that federal enforcement agencies establish probable cause and obtain warrants before using stingray cellphone tracking technology for criminal investigations.
T.M.I.: Uber riders who used the service’s “share your ETA” feature had their sensitive ride-related data hosted online and made accessible through search engines; Uber changed the feature so that links to pages displaying the data deactivate after 48 hours.
Information Security And Cyberthreats
Impenetrable Vault? A “hobbyist” hacking team discovered programming errors in the “bcrypt” encryption algorithm protecting Ashley Madison user passwords that make the otherwise formidable algorithm “orders of magnitude faster to crack.”
Intellectual Property
As Awkward As It Gets: Getty Images is suing bloggers who publish without permission pictures utilizing the “Socially Awkward Penguin”, one of the company’s stock images; the string of suits raises questions about the ownership rights to memes collectively recontextualized by the Internet community.
Free Expression And Censorship
Parody Patrol: An Illinois city settled with a man who brought a civil rights suit after he was arrested for “impersonating” the city’s mayor through a parody Twitter account.
Practice Note
VPPA Claims Dismissed: The Ninth Circuit dismissed a plaintiff’s failure to purge and impermissible transfer claims against Sony, holding that the statute neither allows for a “private cause of action for mere improper retention of covered information” nor prohibits intra-corporate transfers between “intra-household” entities.
On The Lighter Side
Spy Kids: This baby car seat “doubles as a fully functional spying rig.”
Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law and Founding Academic Director, CLIP
N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP
Thomas B. Norton
Privacy Fellow, Fordham CLIP
Noelle Park & Inés Spinnato
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP