Courts

Wed
15
Nov
John Lister's picture

Google Sues Over Fake AI Download

Google has launched sets of two legal cases against scammers. The cases involve artificial intelligence tools and copyright claims, though could have wider implications for malicious online activity as a whole. The first case is against scammers who ... are trying to take advantage of interest in generative AI tools that can "create" text and images. They've made online posts and ads encouraging people to download Google's AI tool, Bard. The problem is that Bard isn't something you've downloaded, but rather an online service accessed through a website. What victims are actually downloading is ... (view more)

Wed
08
Nov
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Apple Faces $1B Trial Over iPhone Slowdown

Apple is facing a billion dollar penalty for allegedly slowing down iPhones to extend battery life. It's failed in a bid to stop a trial in a class action case. The lawsuit alleges that Apple issued an iOS update that intentionally made apps run ... slower. Apple says it did so to extend battery life and to avoid batteries draining so quickly that the phone unexpectedly shut down. In some cases phones ran 58 percent slower. However, the man bringing the case claims this harmed consumers by misleading them into thinking their handsets were slowing down 'naturally'. The lawsuit alleges consumers ... (view more)

Fri
29
Sep
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Amazon Faces Antitrust Case

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed an antitrust lawsuit accusing Amazon of "illegally maintaining monopoly power." Critics argue the lawsuit is too vague, while redacted sections make it hard to assess in full. The FTC has filed the ... complaint alongside 17 state attorneys. It says Amazon "violates the law not because it is big, but because it engages in a course of exclusionary conduct that prevents current competitors from growing and new competitors from emerging." It also alleges that Amazon acts illegally to "wield monopoly power to inflate prices, degrade quality, and stifle ... (view more)

Wed
28
Jun
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Microsoft Sued for $1.75M Over Email Bug

A lawyer is suing Microsoft for $1.75 million after being locked out of his email account. David M Schlachter says a bug meant he couldn't verify his identity, making the account useless. According to Schlachter, the problem was with his paid Office ... 365 account. After using it for six years, he was locked out in May by a two-step verification check. The check would send a verification code to his phone, either via a text message or an automated voice call. However, when Schlachter tried to choose one of these options and initiate the check, he'd simply see a message reading "Sorry, we're ... (view more)

Wed
15
Feb
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Facebook 'Drained User Batteries Deliberately'

A former Facebook employee says the company deliberately drained the batteries of users as an experiment. George Hayward made the claims in a lawsuit that he has now withdrawn. Hayward says he was fired for refusing to work on the experiments. He ... originally sued the company, but has now withdrawn the case because of a rule that says he must go to arbitration. The lawsuit said the possibility of completely draining a battery and making phones inoperable put users at risk. This was especially the case "in circumstances where they need to communicate with others, including but not limited to ... (view more)

Mon
30
Jan
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AI Image Firm Accused of Copyright Infringement

The makers of an artificial intelligence tool for "creating" art are being sued by a photo licensing company. The case could set a precedent for how copyright law works with modern technology. The case involves Stability AI, the company behind a ... "deep learning, text-to-image model." It's designed mainly to create images based on a text description provided by the user. As well as being a neat trick in itself, the idea of the model is to develop computer learning. That means that rather than humans providing a set of rules to follow, the computer model figures out rules itself. Imagery is a ... (view more)

Mon
28
Nov
John Lister's picture

$3.36B in Bitcoin Hidden in Bathroom

The Department of Justice has found $3.36 billion of stolen money in a popcorn tin. But more than $2 billion of it no longer exists. It's not a case of corrupt law enforcement, but rather a spectacular example of the bizarre world of cryptocurrency. ... It raises head scratching questions about what money really is in 2022. The money was seized in a raid of the home of James Zhong. He's now admitted to stealing it in a hacking attack on the controversial online marketplace Silk Road. That's a site where goods and services, many of them illegal, were bought and sold using cryptocurrency. Bogus ... (view more)

Tue
01
Nov
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Remote Worker Fired For Switching Off Webcam

A court says an employee who refused to keep a webcam switched on was wrongly fired. He was awarded around $72,000 USD in compensation. The man, whose name was not revealed in the case, worked remotely in the Netherlands for a Florida-based IT ... company called Chetu. After working in the role for almost three years, he was told to take part in a "Corrective Action Program - Virtual Classroom." This involved keeping a webcam switched on throughout his nine-hour working day. (Source: bbc.co.uk ) The employee refused to do so, arguing that he was already sharing his screen with ... (view more)

Tue
25
Oct
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YouTube Algorithm Sparks Supreme Court Case

The Supreme Court will rule on a key challenge to the way tech companies are responsible for user content. The outcome could affect the long-running "publisher vs platform" debate. The case centers on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, ... which broadly says Internet companies aren't legally responsible for content they post, including cases of defamation. The validity and interpretation of that rule has been challenged many times since it was created in 1996, partly because technology has evolved. Critics of the rule say it was written when the main issue was whether web ... (view more)

Mon
20
Jun
John Lister's picture

Supreme Court Debates Social Media, Deplatforming

The Supreme Court has blocked a Texas law that would have stopped social media companies from banning users based on political views. A 5-4 majority of judges said the law violated the First Amendment. In this case, the right to free speech in ... question is not that of individual users, but that of the social media companies. They had argued that they have the right to decide what content does and doesn't appear on their platforms. The verdict doesn't throw the law out. Instead, it means it cannot take effect until ongoing lawsuits about its measures have been resolved. Because it was an ... (view more)

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