CLIP-ings

Internet Governance European Commission Proposes To Make Crypto Transactions More Transparent: Proposed rules designed to curb money laundering and terrorism financing would require that crypto-asset transfers be treated like wire transfers so that transactions include certain information about senders and recipients.

Privacy Mobile Device Data Purchased From Data Broker Outs Priest For Alleged Sexual Misconduct: A high-ranking member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops resigned following an investigation and report by a Catholic-focused media outlet that claimed that data from the priest’s mobile device showed that he frequented gay bars and often used the gay dating app Grindr; the story sheds light on the propriety of being able to track individuals using “national security-style surveillance technology.”

Information Security and Cyberthreats Fourth Hacker Arrested In Connection With July 2020 Twitter Hack: The 22-year-old hacker known to deal in usernames was arrested for his role in last year’s plot to take over celebrity Twitter accounts to perpetrate a bitcoin scam.

Intellectual Property FTC Pledges To Enforce Competition In Repair Market: In a unanimously-approved policy statement, the Commission announced that it plans to make unlawful repair restrictions an enforcement priority by, among other things, evaluating whether they violate antitrust laws or amount to unfair or deceptive practices.

Free Expression and Censorship Twitter Suspends Account Of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene For Spreading Covid Misinformation: The congresswoman from Georgia saw her account disabled for twelve hours after she posted incorrect information about Covid’s dangerousness; Greene called the ban “a Communist-style attack on free speech.” Facebook Blocks #VaccinesKill Hashtag Following Backlash: After long concluding that the hashtag did not violate its policies, the social network has reversed course and blocked content containing it; the move comes in the wake of recent criticism from President Biden that social media companies’ failures to curb misinformation are “killing people.”

Practice Note Compelled Biometric Decryption Features In Insurrection Case: A federal judge granted a Department of Justice request to compel a defendant held in connection with the January 6 riot to use facial recognition to unlock his laptop, which prosecutors believe stores 6 gigabytes of video footage that the defendant took while at the Capitol.

On the Lighter Side Skip The Trip To The Eye Doc With Warby Parker’s New Vision Test App: The popular eyeglasses company will help customers see if their prescription is up-to-date using an app-based vision test.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Facebook Petitions FTC For Kahn Recusal In Antitrust Suit: The company argues that the recently-elevated Chair of the Commission “has already drawn factual and legal conclusions and deemed [Facebook] a lawbreaker,” pointing to her prior work and public statements about the company’s position with respect to antitrust law. India Bans Mastercard From Issuing New Cards: The Reserve Bank of India issued the ban after Mastercard allegedly failed to comply with data storage rules requiring that certain data be maintained in the country; while the ban will not affect existing customers, it is expected to impact banks and businesses, who must now strike new deals with other networks.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Ring Rolls Out End-To-End Encryption Globally: The opt-in feature, which ensures that footage from the home-security camera is viewable only on its owner’s enrolled device and can’t be accessed by Ring itself, is now available on 13 different Ring products and is rolling out globally. Prominent Cybercriminal Group Goes Offline: REvil, the hacking group that is largely blamed for the cyberattack that affected software used by hundreds of businesses just before the Fourth of July, inexplicably went offline; signs suggest that the disappearance is not the result of an offensive campaign or government action against the group

Intellectual Property French Competition Regulator Fines Google €500 Million For Violating News Copyright Order: The fine was levied after Google was found to have violated an April 2020 ruling requiring that it negotiate in good faith with publishing and news companies to license their copyrighted content for reuse on the basis that Google’s licensing deals with the French press failed to contemplate remuneration for uses of content covered by the press’s “neighboring rights.”

Free Expression and Censorship Twitter Account Verification Hits Snags As Fake Accounts Are Verified: The company claims that gaps in training and procedures in a verification process rolled out in May have led to a number of fake accounts being verified; verification is designed to help users determine whether an account is authentic.

Practice Note Texas AG Paxton Stops Blocking Twitter Critics: Attorney General Paxton and the Knight First Amendment Institute filed a joint stipulation in Texas federal court to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that Paxton’s blocking of critics on his official Twitter account is unconstitutional.

On the Lighter Side Clippy The Paperclip Lives Again: The cartoon-paperclip virtual assistant that famously guided users through Microsoft Office’s features until the mid-2000s has been resurrected as the newest emoji in Microsoft 365 products.

Olivier Sylvain, Academic Director, Fordham CLIP
Tom Norton, Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Three Dozen States Sue Google Over Alleged App Store Monopoly: Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia argue in the suit that the company uses anti-competitive tactics to limit competition in Android app distribution to preserve its 30 percent commission from developers who make their apps available on the Google Play app store; the company counters that the suit ignores Google’s openness to alternative means of app distribution and is designed to benefit a handful of major app developers. Twitter Purportedly Stripped Of Immunity For User-Generated Content In India: A filing by the Modi administration in a defamation case against the company announced that Twitter has lost its protection from liability as a result of its repeated failure to comply with the country’s IT rules.

Privacy EU Allows Tech Companies To Screen Messages For Child Sex Abuse: The temporary emergency measures, which were passed after last year’s European Electronics Communications Code inadvertently prohibited companies from screening for content related to child sex abuse, allow companies to resume such screening; although the screening must be conducted under human oversight, including by data protection authorities, lawmakers express concern that the measures threaten privacy.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Russian Hackers Target GOP Systems: State-backed hackers affiliated with the Cozy Bear hacking group attacked Synnex, a contractor that provides tech services to the Republican National Committee; the hack bears similarities to the SolarWinds attack, and comes in the wake of numerous other recent attacks on U.S. infrastructure.

Intellectual Property Biden To Issue Executive Order Supporting Right-To-Repair: The order will ask the Federal Trade Commission to establish rules that prohibit companies from preventing consumers from performing their own repairs or having repairs performed by third-parties; while the order will be focused on the agriculture industry, it may ultimately have an impact on everyday tech.

Free Expression and Censorship Trump Sues Facebook, Twitter, And Google Over Alleged Censorship: In suits against the tech companies and their CEOs, the former president alleges that the companies’ bans of his social media accounts following the January 6th insurrection violate his First Amendment rights; consensus among legal experts is that the suits are meritless, and the pro-Trump nonprofit America First Policy Institute has used the suits as a fundraising opportunity. Big Tech Companies Threaten To Cease Operations In Hong Kong Over Doxxing Law: Through the tech alliance Asia Internet Coalition, companies such as Facebook, Google, and Twitter have communicated to Hong Kong authorities that they may stop operations in the territory if amendments to its data protection law that would make them liable for doxxing campaigns come into effect.

On the Lighter Side Get A Job With #TikTokResumes: Nearly three dozen companies are participating in a pilot program that lets people apply to jobs by submitting a video resume via TikTok.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Antitrust Complaints Against Facebook Dismissed: The Federal Trade Commission’s initial antitrust complaint against Facebook was dismissed on the basis that the FTC failed to plead enough support for its claim that Facebook is a monopoly; a similar, separate antitrust suit brought by the attorneys general of 48 states was also dismissed. Adequacy Decisions Allow For Data Flow Between EU And UK: The European Commission adopted two decisions finding that the United Kingdom provides an adequate level of data protection, which ensures that data can lawfully flow between the UK and the bloc after the expiration of a post-Brexit transition phase; the adequacy decisions are set to expire after four years, but will be renewed upon a showing that the UK continues to ensure an adequate level of protection.

Privacy Report Finds That Federal Agencies Lack Transparency Around Facial Recognition Use: A report by the Government Accountability Office found that thirteen of the twenty U.S. federal agencies that use facial recognition technology have little awareness of which private or non-federal systems their employees use. Maine Passes Country’s Strongest Ban On Government Use Of Facial Recognition Tech: The new law prohibits most government use of the technology, plugs loopholes that previously allowed law enforcement to run searches via unofficial channels, and requires that logs of searches be maintained as public records.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Second LinkedIn Breach Exposes 700 Million Users’ Information: Following a similar breach in April, LinkedIn has once again been breached, and the hackers have posted user information including phone numbers, geolocation data, and inferred salaries for sale online; the hackers obtained the data by misusing the site’s official API.

Free Expression and Censorship Florida Social Media Law Enjoined: The law, which would punish social media companies for deplatforming or banning politicians or political candidates for violating the companies’ terms, was found to threaten free-speech rights by “[compelling] providers to host speech that violates their standards—speech they otherwise would not host—and forbids providers from speaking as they otherwise would.”

Practice Note SCOTUS Narrows Scope Of FCRA Class Action Based On Standing: In TransUnion v. Ramirez, the Court determined that over three-quarters of an 8,185-plaintiff class in a Fair Credit Reporting Act case lacked standing because they did not suffer a concrete injury as a result of the FCRA violations alleged.

On the Lighter Side This Beer Bot Keeps You Refreshed Wherever You Go: Just in time for summer, Heineken’s limited-edition BOT (Beer Outdoor Transporter) carries twelve cold ones and can follow you almost wherever you’re headed.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Google Faces Antitrust Investigation In EU Over Advertising Business: After initiating a preliminary probe in 2019, EU antitrust regulators have launched a formal investigation into whether Google leverages its position in the digital advertising marketplace to restrict competition from competing online advertising businesses; the company is already under investigation for similar practices in the United States. Revel’s Ride-Hailing Plans Fall Through After NYC Closes Licensing Loophole: The moped company planned to exploit an electric-vehicle exemption to the city’s cap on for-hire vehicles to introduce a Tesla-based ride-hailing service in Manhattan, but the City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to eliminate the exemption; the Commission defended its vote as protecting drivers and limiting congestion, while critics call the decision a “step backward” on fighting climate change.

Privacy EU Regulators Advocate For Biometric-Based AI Ban In Public Spaces: In response to the recent AI regulatory framework published by the European Commission, the European Data Protection Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor issued a join opinion urging the EU to ban the use of AI for biometric identification in publicly accessible areas, and also for social scoring.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Hackers Using Fake Microsoft Customer Support To Install Ransomware: The BazarCall cybercrime group has been tricking users into installing ransomware by posing as Microsoft customer support; the hackers will first send targets phishing emails with instructions to call a fake customer support number to purportedly cancel a renewing subscription, and then instruct victims via phone to download an infected Excel file.

Intellectual Property NFT Of Rapper Jay-Z’s Debut Album Sparks Copyright Suit: A lawsuit by Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records against its co-founder Damon Dash alleges that Dash is unlawfully attempting to sell his share of the copyright to Jay-Z’s debut album as an NFT; Dash counters that he’s simply attempting to sell his share of Roc-A-Fella Records, and not the album itself.

Free Expression and Censorship DOJ Seizes Domains Of Iranian, Yemeni, And Palestinian News Outlets: The American-owned domains of 36 news outlets in the countries were seized because the outlets promoted misinformation campaigns and violated U.S. sanctions against certain terrorist groups, according to a DOJ press release. SCOTUS Finds That School District Violated Student’s First Amendment Rights In Suspending For Snapchat Posts: The Court ruled that a Pennsylvania high school went too far when it suspended a student from the varsity cheerleading squad after she posted profanity-laced content related to the school on Snapchat; in the decision, the Court reaffirmed that schools have limited power to regulate students’ off-campus speech and found that the posts at issue warranted First Amendment protection because they amounted to criticisms of the poster’s community and didn’t significantly interfere with school.

On the Lighter Side Facebook Enters The Augmented-Reality Wearables Game: A newly-published patent shows that Facebook has designed an AR hat, which appears to be just a baseball hat with an AR screen suspended from the brim.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Lina Khan Named FTC Chair Shortly After Confirmation: In an unusual move, President Biden elevated the newly confirmed commissioner to chair mere hours after her confirmation, which potentially signals that the administration plans to take an aggressive antitrust enforcement approach against Big Tech companies.

Privacy CJEU Clarifies One-Stop-Shop Rule For Privacy Investigations: In a ruling that could expose tech companies to more GDPR cases in the EU, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that despite the one-stop-shop rule, which provides that companies are subject to GDPR enforcement only by the supervisory authorities of the member states in which they have their main establishment, other member states’ supervisory authorities may also take enforcement action if certain conditions are met.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Second Major Internet Outage In Ten Days Cripples Websites: This time, a system failure at content delivery network Akmai Technologies caused outages at banks, airlines, and stock exchanges around the globe; affected companies reported minor disruptions and have returned to service. Peloton Bike+ Vulnerable To Hacking: A cybersecurity company reported a vulnerability that allows hackers to potentially install apps to steal users’ login information and spy on riders via remote access to a bike’s camera and microphone; public-facing bikes, such as those in gyms and hotels, are most at-risk, as hackers need to physically access the bike’s USB port to exploit the vulnerability.

Free Expression and Censorship Facebook Removes Fake Accounts In Lead-Up To Ethiopia’s Election: The accounts, which were linked to individuals associated with the country’s Information Network Security Agency and which posted about the Prosperity Party, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and U.S. sanctions, were removed for violating the platform’s rules against misleading and inauthentic behavior.

Practice Note SCOTUS Gives LinkedIn Second Crack At Preventing Scraping: The 9th Circuit previously rejected the company’s allegation that competitor hiQ’s scraping publicly available information off LinkedIn’s platform violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, but the Court remanded the case in light of its recent ruling in Van Buren v. United States, which limited the Act’s applicability.

On the Lighter Side “Warning Lights” For Your Body: The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated research into the extent to which wearable devices such as Apple Watches, Oura rings, and Fitbits can operate as predictors of illness.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Senate Passes Comprehensive Tech And Manufacturing Bill: The bipartisan legislation, which responds to increasing competition from China, would authorize $250 billion for technology research and development and would restrict the purchase and use of certain technologies from the country. El Salvador Becomes First Nation To Adopt Bitcoin: The cryptocurrency is now legal tender after the country’s legislature adopted it in an effort to make it easier for Salvadorans across the world to send money back home to family and friends; most Salvadorans lack traditional banking and rely on remittances that account for nearly a quarter of the country’s GDP.

Privacy Report Finds Privacy Tech Industry At “Inflection Point”: A report by the Future of Privacy Forum finds that as consumers become more connected, and as regulatory compliance becomes a growing need for companies, privacy technology has become a multi-billion-dollar market sector.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Major Websites Briefly Forced Offline After Bug Triggered: The vast outage took place as a result of a hidden bug in a software deployment from Fastly, a cloud computing service provider used by many web publishers; Fastly immediately patched the bug and has initiated system reviews to prevent against future outages, but the incident draws attention to the potential dangers of the consolidation of cloud services. Biden Revokes Trump-Era Ban On Chinese Apps, But Calls For Supply Chain Security: President Biden revoked the executive order intended to ban TikTok, WeChat, and other Chinese apps on the basis that they share Americans’ information with Chinese authorities; in his own executive order, Biden called for an evaluation of threats to the information supply chain and instructed the Commerce Department to develop recommendations for protecting Americans’ information from foreign adversaries.

Intellectual Property Facebook Delays Taking Cut Of Creators’ Revenue: The company announced that it will wait until 2023 before taking a portion of earnings generated by users who share content or promote events, and stoked its ongoing feud with Apple by noting that when revenue sharing does begin, Facebook’s cut will be less than the 30 percent that Apple takes from app developers.

Practice Note FTC Settles With MoviePass Over Deceptive Practices: The now-defunct company, which once allowed subscribers to see unlimited movies in theaters for $10 per month, is alleged to have changed customer passwords and blocked accounts outright to keep users from being able to take advantage of the service; under the settlement, the company’s parents and principals are barred from further misrepresenting their business practices.

On the Lighter Side Apple Nearly Revives The Away Message For Texts: Apple’s Focus, a feature that allows users to set notification filters for certain apps to minimize distraction, now notifies texters when you have Focus mode engaged so they know you’re away.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Digital Wallets Coming Soon To The EU: Within a year, the EU plans to roll out bloc-wide technology that will allow citizens to store things like driver’s licenses, payment cards, and passwords digitally to make access to public and private services more efficient. SCOTUS Limits Computer Fraud And Abuse Act Scope: In Van Buren v. United States, the Court overturned the conviction of a police officer who searched his department’s license plate database for purposes outside the scope of his official duties, concluding that the CFAA’s “exceeds authorized access” clause applies to only “those who obtain information from particular areas in the computer—such as files, folders or databases—to which their computer access does not extend,” and “does not cover those who . . . have improper motives for obtaining information that is otherwise available to them;” the Court noted that to adopt a broader reading of the statute would criminalize a vast swath of ordinary computing activity.

Privacy Privacy Advocacy Group Issues Cookie-Banner Complaints To 500 Companies: The Max Schrems-led privacy group NOYB issued the complaints, alleging that the companies’ cookie banners violate the GDPR by making it difficult for users to opt out of tracking cookies; NOYB has developed an automated system to analyze cookie banners and generate complaints for GDPR noncompliance, and plans to issue draft complaints to 10,000 of Europe’s most-visited sites in an effort to get them to change their practices before resorting to formal proceedings. Amazon Ring’s Neighbors App Gets Transparency Update: In response to concerns about law enforcement access to Ring home-surveillance-device information, beginning on June 7th, law enforcement agencies will no longer be permitted to email Ring users directly to solicit footage; law enforcement will only be able to request footage via a public bulletin, through posts by verified profiles that include criteria such as case number and agency contact information.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Russian Cybercrime Group REvil Responsible For JBS Hack: The White House and the FBI have confirmed that the notorious group was behind the recent attack that crippled JBS, a Brazilian company that supplies nearly one-fifth of the world’s meat.  NYC’s MTA Hacked: The Metropolitan Transit Authority, which operates the New York City subway system, announced that it was the victim of a cyberattack; the hackers, who are suspected of being part of a Chinese espionage operation, exploited a vulnerability in the Pulse Connect Secure VPN system and made their way into the MTA’s systems, but did not make away with any data.

Free Expression & Censorship Instagram And Facebook Respond To Accusations Of Suppressing Pro-Palestinian Viewpoints: In the wake of the recent conflict in Gaza, Instagram will change its algorithm to give equal weight to original and shared content after employees complained that the old algorithm, which favored original posts over shared ones, had the effect of suppressing pro-Palestinian content; at Facebook, employees have called for a third-party audit of the company’s moderation practices related to Muslim and Arab content.

Practice Note Amazon Nixes Arbitration And Allows Consumers To Sue In Court: After receiving thousands of individual arbitration demands from customers who use the company’s Echo device, Amazon did away with the arbitration clause in its terms of service, and now invites aggrieved customers to file suit in court.

On the Lighter Side Another Famous Meme Sells As NFT: The 14-year-old “Charlie bit me” video, which is one of the most-viewed internet videos of all-time, has sold as an NFT for over £500,000; the brothers who appear in the video plan to use the money to attend university.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance D.C. Attorney General Brings Antitrust Suit Against Amazon: The suit alleges that Amazon’s practice of blocking third-party sellers from selling their products on other platforms amounts to a monopoly practice that violates the District of Columbia’s Antitrust Act.

Privacy WhatsApp Sues India’s Government Over Message-Traceability Law: The country’s Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, which is intended in part to track the origins of misinformation, requires messaging apps such as WhatsApp to identify the “first originator of information”; WhatsApp argues that a requirement that it trace messages would threaten end-to-end encryption and jeopardize user privacy. Privacy Groups In EU And UK Sue Clearview AI: The lawsuits in the UK, France, Austria, Greece, and Italy allege that the controversial facial-recognition company’s practice of scraping photos from across the internet to populate its database of more than three billion images violates the GDPR.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Crime App Citizen Targeted In Large-Scale Scraping Incident: A hacktivist scraped from the crime-reporting app and posted online data including incident location information, police radio audio files, images, and more; while the data is publicly accessible on the app itself, the aggregation and centralization of it on the web reveals how much data Citizen processes, and could potentially be useful for tracking the app’s adoption and use.

Free Expression & Censorship Florida Law Prohibits Tech Companies From Banning Politicians: The new law, which is intended to curb the “censorship” of conservative individuals and viewpoints by tech companies, makes it unlawful for such companies to de-platform political candidates or news outlets and grants Floridians the right to sue over content moderation decisions; violators are subject to daily fines of up to $250,000, but the law is likely to be challenged. Facebook Plans To Limit Distribution Of Content Of Users Who Post Misinformation: While the social network already limits the visibility of posts containing misinformation, it will now begin to limit the reach of all content from users found to routinely post misinformation on the platform.

Practice Note USPTO Makes .DOCX Preferred Filing Format: The move is part of an effort to “modernize and streamline [the] patent application system,” by, among other things, making it easier for the Office to automatically process submissions; users who wish to file using .PDF format will be subject to a fee.

On the Lighter Side TikTok Gets A New Voice: The popular video-streaming platform updated the audio of its text-to-voice feature after the actor whose voice was used for the original version of the feature sued, alleging that TikTok used her voice without authorization.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Cryptocurrency Values Plummet As China Reinforces Ban: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrency values dropped by up to 30% after China’s Internet Finance Association announced that the country’s financial institutions cannot engage in business related to cryptocurrencies on account of their volatility.  FTC, States, Allege Frontier Communications Misrepresented Internet Speeds: In a new lawsuit, the Commission and six state attorneys general allege that the company charged or attempted to charge consumers for internet rates that the company did not actually provide.

Privacy Amazon Extends Ban On Law Enforcement Use Of Facial Recognition Software: After announcing nearly a year ago that it would prohibit law enforcement agencies from using the controversial Rekognition system for at least one year, Amazon has now extended the ban indefinitely.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Consumer Reports And Advocacy Organizations Create Dark Patterns Tipline: The newly created tipline is designed to be a resource for consumers and a tool for collecting examples of dark patterns to inform advocacy work. Colonial Pipeline Confirms Paying $4.4m Ransom To Resume Service: The company’s CEO acknowledged the payment, noting that the decision to pay came after consultation with experts familiar with DarkSide, the criminal group behind the hack.

Free Expression & Censorship Twitter Scraps Image-Cropping Algorithm Over Bias: The social media company will largely abandon the algorithm, whose automatically generated previews of photos accompanying tweets were found to favor white people over black people and women over men.

Practice Note Apple Moves To Dismiss Epic’s “Essential Facilities” Claim: As the antitrust trial between the companies wages on, Apple argues that Epic has failed to offer proof that it has violated the essential facilities doctrine, an element of antitrust law that prevents companies from implementing bottlenecks to exclude competitors, by preventing Epic from accessing iOS.

On the Lighter Side New Deepfake Technique May Make Film Overdubbing A Thing Of The Past: A new deepfake technology syncs actors’ lips and facial movements with foreign-language dialogue to make it appear that the actor is delivering their lines in the foreign language.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP