Photos of Brazilian children—sometimes spanning their entire childhood—have been used without their consent to power AI tools, including popular image generators like Stable Diffusion, Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Monday. This act poses urgent privacy risks to kids and seems to increase risks of non-consensual AI-generated images bearing their likenesses, according to HRW’s report….
Internet service providers are once again advocating for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to impose new fees on Big Tech companies in an attempt to subsidize broadband network deployment and affordability programs. The proposal, made by USTelecom—a lobby group representing AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink/Lumen, and smaller telcos—suggests that Big Tech firms should contribute to the FCC’s…
A recent survey suggests that some US companies enforced return-to-office (RTO) policies with the hope that it would lead to voluntary resignations by employees. Conducted by HR software provider BambooHR, the survey indicates this tactic, while potentially aimed at boosting productivity, may not be as effective as intended. BambooHR’s study, conducted between March 9 and…
Google has circumvented a potential jury trial by remitting a $2.3 million payment to the U.S. government, according to recent reports. The unexpected check, sent to the Justice Department, allows Google to secure a bench trial instead, a scenario generally viewed as more favorable for large corporations. This strategic move enables the tech giant to…
Tesla Board Chairperson Robyn Denholm has called on shareholders to re-approve CEO Elon Musk’s $46 billion compensation package, stating the necessity of the plan to maintain Musk’s engagement with the company. In a letter to shareholders on June 5, Denholm emphasized that the vote is “not about the money” and suggested that Musk might leave…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) aims to ensure that Internet service providers (ISPs) bolster their defenses against vulnerabilities in the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). On Wednesday, the FCC unanimously approved a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that obliges ISPs to submit confidential reports outlining their progress and plans for implementing BGP security measures using the Resource…
The European Center for Digital Rights, known as Noyb, has lodged complaints in 11 European countries, attempting to halt Meta’s plan to begin training new AI technologies on the personal posts and pictures of Facebook and Instagram users based in the European Union. Noyb contends that Meta’s latest privacy policy permits the company to leverage…
The US Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission have reportedly agreed to conduct investigations into whether Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI are stifling competition in the artificial intelligence sector. The New York Times reported that the Justice Department will focus on Nvidia, while the FTC will concentrate on Microsoft and OpenAI. According to Ars Technica, one…
T-Mobile is targeting home internet users who experience frequent service interruptions with a new $30-a-month “Home Internet Backup” plan. This service, announced today, is designed to provide a backup 5G connection to ensure that households remain online when their primary internet service fails. The plan includes 130GB of 5G data each month, which T-Mobile claims…
After the United States’ most downloaded local news app, NewsBreak, disseminated an AI-generated story about a fabricated New Jersey shooting last Christmas Eve, New Jersey police had to issue an online statement to reassure citizens that the story was “entirely false,” Reuters reported. New Jersey authorities clarified on Facebook that “nothing even similar to this…
Canada has ordered large online streaming services to pay 5 percent of their Canadian revenue to the government in a program expected to raise $200 million per year to support local news and other home-grown content. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced its decision yesterday after a public comment period. “Based on the…
Australia’s safety regulator has concluded a legal battle with X (formerly Twitter) after previously threatening significant fines for not removing certain violent content. The eSafety commissioner, enforcing Australia’s Online Safety Act, had argued that the videos could incite further violence. Elon Musk, however, resisted the removal orders, deeming them dangerous and unlawful as they allowed…
Keith Gill, known in the social media sphere as ‘Roaring Kitty’ and ‘DeepF—-Value,’ may lose access to his E-Trade account soon, according to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). E-Trade, owned by Morgan Stanley, is caught between concerns that Gill’s trading activities could be seen as market manipulation and the potential backlash…
Adult content has always proliferated on Twitter, now rebranded as X, but the platform recently clarified its policy to officially permit “consensually produced and distributed adult nudity or sexual behavior.” X’s rules are straightforward: as long as content is “properly labeled and not prominently displayed,” users are allowed to share materials—including AI-generated or animated content—that…
TikTok is disputing a Reuters report that claims the short-video app is cloning its algorithm to potentially offer a separate version for US users. Sources “with direct knowledge” of the project reported that this effort began late last year, involving hundreds of engineers working to separate millions of lines of code. This initiative appears aimed…
The New York Times is making moves to take down a geography-based game called Worldle, according to a legal filing reviewed by the BBC. The Times argues that the game’s name is too similar to Wordle, and causes confusion among users. The Times contended that Worldle is “nearly identical in appearance, sound, meaning, and imparts…
After months of vehemently resisting a subpoena, Elon Musk has conceded to testify in the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation into his acquisition of Twitter, now rebranded as X. Musk contended that the SEC had already deposed him twice, arguing that the latest subpoena exemplified a “long string of SEC abuses of its investigative…
YouTube’s Content ID system, known for automatically detecting registered content, has come under fire once again. A popular YouTuber and Twitch streamer, Albino, recently expressed frustration on X (formerly Twitter) after his video was demonetized due to a washing machine chime sound. The chime, which signaled the end of a laundry cycle during a Fallout…
On Monday, Amazon failed to persuade a US district court to dismiss the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit alleging that the company misled consumers into signing up for its Prime service. The FTC accuses Amazon of employing deceptive tactics to enlist users and complicating the cancellation process to retain them. The lawsuit asserts that Amazon’s Prime…
Google needs to pump the brakes when it comes to tracking sensitive information shared with DMV sites, a new lawsuit suggests. Filing a proposed class-action suit in California, Katherine Wilson has accused Google of using Google Analytics and DoubleClick trackers on the California DMV site to unlawfully obtain information about her personal disability without her…
The families of several victims from the 2022 Uvalde school shooting have filed a lawsuit against Activision, the company behind the Call of Duty video game series. They allege that the games operate as a “training camp for mass shooters.” According to the lawsuit, Call of Duty’s marketing is compared to the cigarette industry’s use…
Some of the most infamous so-called shadow libraries, such as Z-Library and Library Genesis (Libgen), have faced increasing legal pressure to cease operations or risk being pushed to the dark web. Among their key critics are the US Department of Justice, which has charged Z-Library with criminal copyright infringement, and textbook publishers who sued Libgen…
Minnesota has rescinded two laws that previously made it challenging for cities and towns to construct their own broadband networks. Governor Tim Walz signed the omnibus commerce policy bill this week, which eliminated the state-imposed restrictions. Previously, Minnesota was one of approximately 20 states that placed significant limits on municipal broadband efforts. The law now…