Federal Judge Blocks Parler’s Bid To Be Restored on Amazon Web Services

A federal judge has denied Parler’s request for a court order blocking Amazon from kicking the social media app off its platform, marking yet another setback in Parler’s efforts to get back online. From a report: Judge Barbara Rothstein issued a ruling on Thursday saying that Parler had not met the legal requirements for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction….

CBP Refuses To Tell Congress How It’s Tracking Americans Without a Warrant

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: U.S. Customs and Border Protection is refusing to tell Congress what legal authority the agency is following to use commercially bought location data to track Americans without a warrant, according to the office of Senator Ron Wyden. The agency is buying location data from Americans all over the country, not just in border…

Apple Says Epic Is ‘Saboteur, Not a Martyr’ in App Store Battle

Apple is asking a court to reject Epic Games’s latest bid to get Fortnite back on the App Store, saying the game maker is acting as “a saboteur, not a martyr” in its challenge to Apple’s payment system. From a report: In an overnight filing, Apple said “Epic started a fire, and poured gasoline on it, and now asks this court…

Apple Threatens To Terminate Epic Games’ Developer Accounts on August 28

Apple is planning to terminate Epic Games’ entire access to its App Store and app development tools, Epic Games said today. Apple told Epic that by August 28, all access will be ended. From a report: That includes Epic’s access to the development tools necessary to create software for the Unreal Engine that Epic offers to third-party developers for their games….

Fraud Charges, Lost Patents: How an Auto Legend’s China Venture Crashed

“Steve Saleen claims that China has stolen 40 years’ worth of intellectual property from him in launching the Saleen brand in China,” reports the site Carscoops. More information from the Los Angeles Times: Saleen’s Chinese backers have accused his business partner of fraud and embezzlement and taken over the company, freezing its accounts and forcing hundreds of employees out of work….

New York Bans Use of Facial Recognition In Schools Statewide

The New York legislature today passed a moratorium banning the use of facial recognition and other forms of biometric identification in schools until 2022. VentureBeat reports: The bill, which has yet to be signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo, appears to be the first in the nation to explicitly regulate the use of the technologies in schools and comes in response to…

Microsoft Seizes Six Domains Used in COVID-19 Phishing Operations

Microsoft has obtained a court order this month allowing the company to seize control of six domains that were used in phishing operations against Office 365 customers, including in campaigns that leveraged COVID-19 lures. From a report: According to court documents obtained by ZDNet, Microsoft has targeted a two-person phishing operation that has been targeting the company’s customers since December 2019….

Amazon Halts Activity At French Warehouses After Court Order

Amazon said it will stop activity at its fulfillment centers in France for five days after a court order banned the sale of non-essential goods. Bloomberg reports: The world’s largest online retailer is “temporarily” suspending sales from April 16 through April 20, a spokeswoman for the company said. The court concluded the retailer isn’t doing enough to protect staff from the…

Turkey To Require Social Media Giants To Appoint Local Representatives

Turkey will require foreign social media companies with high internet traffic to appoint a representative in the country to address concerns raised by authorities over content on their platforms, a draft law seen by Reuters showed. From the report: Companies that do not comply with the new measure could face having their bandwith halved after 30 days by court order, and…

Popcorn Time, the ‘Netflix For Piracy,’ Is Back Online

Popcorn Time, the highly popular and extremely-easy-to-use “Netflix for piracy” service, came back Tuesday after a years-long hiatus. The move comes as people around the world are quarantined or being asked to stay in their homes during the coronavirus pandemic. Motherboard reports: Popcorn Time allows people to stream movies using BitTorrent, without actually downloading the movies or worrying about finding a…