President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday designed to limit the legal protections that shield social media companies from liability for the content users post on their platforms. Axios reports: “Currently, social media giants like Twitter received unprecedented viability shield based on the theory that they are a neutral platform, which they are not,” Trump said in the Oval Office….
Tag: justice
Leaked Senate Talking Points Say Internet Surveillance Warrants Would Force FBI To Let Terrorists Bomb Things
Requiring federal agents to have “probable cause” to eavesdrop on the internet activities of American citizens poses a direct threat to national security and would force the FBI to stand by while terrorist plots unfold on U.S. soil, according to a leaked copy of talking points distributed to Senate lawmakers this month. From a report: The talking points, which were distributed…
Justice Department, State Attorneys General Likely to Bring Antitrust Lawsuits Against Google
phalse phace shares a report from The Wall Street Journal: Both the Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general are likely to file antitrust lawsuits against Alphabet’s Google (Warning: source paywalled; alternative source) — and are well into planning for litigation. The Justice Department is moving toward bringing a case as soon as this summer, some of the people…
US Marshals Service Breach Exposed Personal Data of 387,000 Prisoners
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Nextgov: The U.S. Marshals Service suffered a cyberattack that exposed the personal information of approximately 387,000 current and former prisoners at the end of last year, according to an agency official. “The attackers were able to exploit a vulnerability in the system to extract sensitive personally identifiable information on approximately 387,000 individuals,” a Marshals…
Court Fines YouTuber For Posting IPTV Piracy Tutorials
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TorrentFreak: Operated by Bruno Gustavo Januario, the ‘Jorge Dejorge’ channel is packed with technology-focused videos offering reviews, unboxing videos, tips and tutorials, most of which are entirely non-problematic. However, a decision to publish advice on how to obtain TV channels via pirate IPTV services attracted the attention of ABTA, the powerful Brazilian Pay TV…
Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments Remotely
The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments remotely for the next two weeks, and for the first time in history, the audio will be available, live, to the public. From a report: The arguments include high-profile cases about birth control access, religious freedom, the Electoral College and President Trump’s financial records. They are scheduled to take place Monday through Wednesday on…
The ACLU Wants To Know Why Facebook Beat a 2018 Wiretap Case
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Facebook in 2018 beat back federal prosecutors seeking to wiretap its encrypted Messenger app. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking to find out how. The entire proceeding was confidential, with only the result leaking to the press. Lawyers for the ACLU and the Washington Post on Tuesday asked a San Francisco-based…
Georgia Loses Legal Code Copyright Clash At Supreme Court
schwit1 writes: Georgia lost a close U.S. Supreme Court case over the state’s ability to copyright its annotated legal code, in a ruling that dissenting justices said would shock states with similar arrangements. Copyright protection doesn’t extend to the annotations in the state’s official annotated code, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for a 5-4 majority on Monday that crossed ideological lines….
Supreme Court To Consider Limiting America’s ‘Anti-Hacking’ Law
America’s Supreme Court “is finally considering whether to rein in the nation’s sweeping anti-hacking law, which cybersecurity pros say is decades out of date and ill-suited to the modern Internet,” according to the Washington Post’s cybersecurity writer:
The justices agreed to hear a case this fall that argues law enforcement and prosecutors have routinely applied the law too broadly and used it…
The Jury Is Still Out On Zoom Trials
As cities across the United States continue shelter-in-place orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some in-person court proceedings are now taking place over Zoom. “It’s an unprecedented moment for the justice system, which is typically slow to adapt to new technology,” writes Zoe Schiffer from The Verge. “No one is sure if that’s a good thing.” From the report: Critics worry…