Courts

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)

Google has lost a major court battle with respect to the way people pay for mobile app services. It's a surprise verdict as Apple prevailed in an extremely similar case against the same opponent. Both cases involved antitrust cases brought by Epic ... Games, which makes the hugely popular game Fortnite. In both cases, Epic complained about the way Apple and Google take a cut of payments from app developers. In this case, Epic said Google's cut of 30 percent for apps in the official Play Store was too high. It said Google was able to set the rate because of a lack of alternative routes to ... (view more)

A federal judge has blocked a Montana state ban of the video sharing app TikTok. The case centers on a clash between security concerns and free speech. The app, which largely features short videos produced by users, is particularly popular with ... younger people. Compared with other video sharing sites, it strongly emphasizes an algorithm showing videos likely to appeal to a specific user, rather than the user actively searching for a particular video or creator. TikTok has come under strong criticism in the US because of its Chinese ownership and questions about how much data it collects about ... (view more)

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. Tech giants including Facebook and Google must go to court to fight claims they cause physical and mental harm to children. The companies failed in a ...ref="/news/11317/tech-companies-face-child-user-lawsuits" class="more-link">view more)

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)

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)