Courts

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has made it illegal to buy or sell fake reviews in return for payment. The new rule also outlaws lying about who wrote a review and includes several other measures designed to make reviews more trustworthy. The ... "Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials" was approved unanimously by the FTC and, once formally published, will take effect after 60 days. It follows a consultation and review spanning nearly two years. Threats Outlawed The rule is wide-ranging, banning the following actions based on creating, buying or selling a fake ... (view more)

Google has acted unlawfully to maintain its monopoly in the search market, according to a US court ruling. Whether it will face any practical consequences remains to be seen. The ruling was in a case brought by the Department of Justice alleging ... violations of the Sherman Act. That makes it a felony to intentionally act or conspire to have or maintain a monopoly in a particular market. Previous cases have established that this isn't simply about market share but rather the ability to exploit monopoly power. The judge in the case did not mince his words, stating that "Google is a monopolist, ... (view more)

Major tech companies say spyware victims should be able to sue attackers in the US even if the attack physically happens outside the country. They say its particularly important for highly targeted attacks. The companies have put out their position ... by filing an amicus brief in an ongoing case involving Israeli cyber intelligence firm NSO Group, makers of the infamous Pegasus spyware . An amicus brief is where people not directly involved in a case, usually subject matter experts, provide an opinion or information to help the court. The case was brought by a news organization based in El ... (view more)

The US government is suing Adobe for allegedly tricking users into subscriptions. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) says the company doesn't do enough to warn users about cancellation charges and makes it too hard to cancel. The court case is ... against both Adobe as a company and individually against the company's vice president and its president of digital media business. The key complaint is that Adobe has breached federal consumer protection laws and thus harmed consumers. The individuals are named because they had the authority to make decisions about Adobe's subscriptions policies. ... (view more)

It's no surprise TikTok has challenged a law that bans it operating in the US under Chinese ownership. But what wasn't expected was individual users suing to block the law. The US government recently passed a law giving TikTok's Chinese-based owners ... ByteDance until January 19, 2025 to sell to a non-Chinese company. If it doesn't, app stores will be barred from distributing the app and hosting companies would not be allowed to serve the business. TikTok says the deadline is so short and the conditions so strict that the law is effectively an outright ban. It's already started a legal challenge ... (view more)

Florida law now says under-14s can't use social media while 14 and 15-year-olds need parental permission. The controversial law takes effect from the start of 2025 but may still be challenged in the Supreme Court. The new state law says social media ... platforms must delete any existing account held by somebody aged under 14 as well as prevent under 14s from opening a new one. Supporters of the law said children of this age weren't mature enough to understand the "addictive technologies" of such sites and make an informed choice whether to use them. Hefty Penalties For those aged 14 or 15, ... (view more)

Major tech companies including Microsoft and Meta say Apple is trying to weasel out of a court ruling on the way it handles app payments. They've weighted in on a court dispute about how to enforce a judgment against Microsoft. The case centers on ... in-app payments where people who've already installed an app give extra money to the app developers. Common examples include subscriptions to a digital service or payments for additional content in games. Apple demands a cut of either 15 or 30 percent of such payments made through its payment handling services. Critics, including games maker Epic, ... (view more)

Two state laws governing the way social media companies moderate content could be under threat. Questioning by Justices in a Supreme Court cases suggested they may not be convinced the laws are constitutional. The case, examining laws in Florida and ... Texas, covers one of the most longstanding dilemmas of the Internet age: whether website owners are publishers or a platform. This affects questions such as whether the site owner is responsible for defamation or other breaches of the law involving content, plus the extent to which the First Amendment applies. In this case, both states brought in ... (view more)

Two new models of the Apple smartwatch were briefly banned from sale in the US. The ban related to intellectual property, rather than any safety or security concerns. The ban affected the Series 9 and Ultra 2, which are the latest versions of the ... two more expensive models in the range. It didn't affect the "standard" SE model. Both sales and imports of the devices were barred by the US International Trade Commission (US ITC). Among other powers, it can ban sales where there's a dispute over intellectual property which have an international element. That's what happened in this case with a ... (view more)

Apple says it will demand a court order before handing over details of a user's push notifications. It follows revelations that foreign officials were using the tactics for surveillance, with questions asked about whether the Department of Justice ... does the same in the US. A push notification is a message created by an app and shown on the phone screen even if the app itself is closed. This could be anything from a summary of a new email to a breaking story from a news app. Senator Ron Wyden wrote to the DOJ earlier this month to report a tip that both US and foreign governments (said to be ... (view more)