Internet Law Center

This was long overdue.

Instagram removes 63,000 's*xtortion' accounts in Nigeria The scammers were posing as young women online to trick people into sending s*xually explicit material.

Enjoyed speaking at the conference on .

Presentation on Data Scraping at IP Section Conference on Emerging Technologies I was excited to return to the California Lawyers Association’s IP Section’s IP and Emerging Technologies Conference (formerly IP and the Internet Conference). I have spoken at this con…

Congratulations to Dr. Ferrier and Trollbusters.

Congratulations to Trollbusters.com and Dr. Michelle Ferrier Visit the post for more.

Use of deep-fake Washingtonp**n getting attention in Washington after incident in New Jersey high school. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/01/sharing-deepfake-could-lead-to-lengthy-prison-time-under-proposed-law/

Sharing deepfake p**n could lead to lengthy prison time under proposed law Teen “shouting for change” after fake n**e images spread at NJ high school.

FTC upholds order against Intuit/TurboTax - "free means free —not "free for a few." https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/01/ftc-says-dishonest-intuit-violated-us-law-by-advertising-turbotax-as-free/

Stop telling everyone that TurboTax is “free,” FTC orders Intuit FTC bureau chief: "Free" means free—not "free for a few."

Ohio law requiring parental consent for social media use struck down.

US judge blocks Ohio Republicans’ “troublingly vague” social media law Judge calls law "breathtakingly blunt instrument" for reducing harm to children.

Utah extends effecting date for law imposing social media curfew for minors until October 1, as legal challengs mount.

Utah to Revise Social Media Limits for Youth as Lawsuits Loom Utah's Republican legislative leaders are revising new social media laws to ensure they hold up in court

Pope Francis expresses concerns about AI-generated fake images and audi0. "The technology of simulation behind these programs can be useful in certain specific fields, but it becomes perverse when it distorts our relationship with others and with reality."

AI-generated puffy pontiff image inspires new warning from Pope Francis Francis fears "the creation and diffusion of images that appear perfectly plausible but false."

I get several calls a month from victims. Once they pay (always a mistake) the predators are ruthless and barrage them with calls and messages. I've talked to victims pushed to their breaking point. More needs to be done. https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/video/fbi-warns-parents-as-s*xtortion-cases-involving-minors-surge/ *xtortion

FBI warns parents as s*xtortion cases involving minors surge S*xtortion is a cybercrime where scammers trick someone into send s*xually explicit photos and videos .Once they have them, the scammers then threaten the victim saying they will release them if they don't send money.

23andMe: Its users' fault for trusting us. Is there a shameless chromosome? SMH. https://gizmodo.com/23andme-data-breach-hackers-cybercrime-lawsuits-1851137002

23andMe to Data Breach Victims: It's Your Fault! As droves of pi**ed off customers attempt to sue the genomics giant, it's disavowing responsibility and turning the blame back on them.

It looks like Santa has been naughty.

76% Of Apps Intended For Kids To Call Santa Request Access To Camera Three-quarters of the 231 apps in Google's and Apple's app stores intended for kids to call Santa Claus during the holidays request access to the user's camera, a Pixalate study found.

Bravo! https://time.com/6550108/p**nhub-s*x-trafficking/ **nhub **n *xtrafficking

Pornhub Agrees to Pay Fine for Profiting From S*x Trafficking The website’s parent company reached a deferred prosecution agreement and will pay more than $1.8 million to the U.S. government as well as make separate payments to individual women harmed by trafficking.

Battle over Maine privacy legislation demonstrates the complexities of legislating online privacy because of the number of stakeholders involved. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/18/ll-bean-joins-the-national-privacy-wars-00132120

L.L. Bean tips the scales in state privacy fight In Maine, a new data-privacy law stirred up a surprising opponent — and shows the power of local-national business alliances.

Automakers face Congressional scrutiny of data collection practices.

Automakers’ data privacy practices “are unacceptable,” says US senator OEMs collect too much personal data and share it too freely, says Senator Markey.

Amazon fails to dismiss product claim. "Because "Amazon approved product descriptions suggesting consumers use" the spycam "to record private moments in a bathroom," US district judge Robert Chambers wrote, "Amazon cannot claim shock when a consumer does just that." https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/12/amazon-faces-trial-after-selling-bathroom-spycam-used-to-abuse-minor/

Judge: Amazon “cannot claim shock” that bathroom spycams were used as advertised A West Virginia judge largely denied Amazon's motion to dismiss lawsuit.

FTC warns about QR Code malware. https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/12/ftc-warns-consumers-to-beware-of-qr-codes-used-in-malware-and-payment-scams/

The growing abuse of QR codes in malware and payment scams prompts FTC warning The convenience of QR codes is a double-edged sword. Follow these tips to stay safe.

This is a landmark decision for tech. Google lost an antitrust lawsuit filed by video game maker Epic Games, with a jury finding the tech giant’s mobile-phone app store is an illegal monopoly.

Jury finds Google’s app store broke anti-monopoly laws In a landmark decision, a jury found Google broke competition laws in how it ran its app store.

This is alarming. https://wapo.st/3RC0Nbz

China’s cyber army is invading critical U.S. services The intrusions are part of a broader effort to develop ways to sow chaos or snarl logistics in the event of a U.S.-China conflict in the Pacific, officials say.

Lawmakers balked after learning that canceled the critically acclaimed streaming talk show, The Problem with Jon Stewart, last month—reportedly over issues with the show's planned programming related to both and artificial intelligence.

Apple’s China ties under Congressional scrutiny after Jon Stewart cancellation Lawmakers demand that Apple commit to not censoring content critical of China.

Judge Rogers (ND-Cal) rejects defense in lawsuit alleging social media platform's design defects harmed teens. Design defects "do not implicate publishing or monitoring of third-party content," and "can be fixed by defendants without altering the publishing of third-party content".

Judge tosses social platforms’ Section 230 blanket defense in child safety case Judge: Section 230 doesn’t cover platform design defects allegedly harming kids.

Google sues fraudsters who "created at least 65 Google accounts so they could submit thousands of fraudulent notices of copyright infringement against more than 117,000 third-party website URLs."

Google sues people who “weaponized” DMCA to remove rivals’ search results Google says DMCA fraudsters filed copyright takedown notices for 600,000+ URLs.

Alexa, what is your favorite swear word? https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/11/alexa-just-cost-amazon-another-46-7-million/

Alexa just cost Amazon another $46.7 million "Alexus" voice assistant demoed 6 months before Alexa reveal, patent lawsuit said.

Authoritarian regimes frequently cut access to the internet to control their populations and throttle the flow of information. But the country that most frequently deploys the tactic is a "democracy" - India. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/18/india-internet-blackouts/

India uses widespread internet blackouts to mask domestic turmoil Indian officials say tactic is needed to combat unrest and prevent the spread of online rumors. But critics say the measures, more extensive than in any other country, stifle dissent, cover up abuses and impose a heavy toll on ordinary citizens.

AI and the Internet's third rail have State AGs calling for action.

AI-generated child s*x imagery has every US attorney general calling for action "A race against time to protect the children of our country from the dangers of AI."

I stepped away from Cyber Law and Business Report in 2019 after over 330 episodes. One of my most impressive guests was Kashmir Hill, who has been one of the top privacy journalists in America for a decade. This week, her first book comes out. "Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup's Quest to End Privacy as We Know It," covering the growth of Clearview AI and the use of facial recognition technology.

“Kashmir Hill all but invented the tech dystopia beat, and no one is a more exuberant and enjoyable guide to the dark corners of our possible future than she is. Reaching deep into the past to paint a terrifying portrait of our future, Hill’s thorough, awe-inspiring reporting and compelling storytelling paint a fascinating tale of tech’s next chapter. This is the most fun you can have reading a real-life nightmare.”—Garrett Graff, author of The Only Plane in the Sky.

Congratulations to Kashmir, and I hope you'll check out her book.

Your Face Belongs to Us by Kashmir Hill: 9780593448564 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books The story of a small AI company that gave facial recognition to law enforcement, billionaires, and businesses, threatening to end privacy as we know it “The dystopian future portrayed in some science-fiction...

The FCC is back in business with all 5-seats filled. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/senate-confirms-biden-fcc-nominee-finally-giving-democrats-a-3-2-majority/

Senate confirms Biden FCC pick as 5 Republicans join Democrats in 55-43 vote Anna Gomez confirmation means "FCC can act swiftly to restore net neutrality."

Cyberattacks are now prosecutable as war crimes before the ICC. https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/09/the-international-criminal-court-will-now-prosecute-cyberwar-crimes/ .

The International Criminal Court will now prosecute cyberwar crimes Russia’s cyberattacks against civilian infrastructure in Ukraine may be the first case.

The FTC has long been clear - Free must mean Free. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/ftc-judge-rules-intuit-broke-law-must-stop-advertising-turbotax-as-free/

FTC judge rules Intuit broke law, must stop advertising TurboTax as “free” Intuit plans appeal, slams FTC's "predetermined decision."

Interesting strategy, I once worked on an antitrust case where one witness wrote in an email to "stomp out" the competition. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/google-hid-evidence-by-training-workers-to-avoid-words-monopolists-use-doj-says/

Google hid evidence by training workers to avoid words monopolists use, DOJ says "We don't 'lock up'... our customers," and "we do not 'leverage' anything."

Musk, with anti-union history, temporarily strips UAW's paid blue check after union calls strike against Big Three automakers. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/09/musks-x-revokes-paid-blue-check-from-united-auto-workers-after-strike-called/

Musk’s X revokes paid blue check from United Auto Workers after strike called [Updated] After a report called out Musk's union-busting, UAW's blue check got reinstated.