In December, New York became the first state to enact a “Right to Repair” law for electronics. Since then, other states like Oregon and Minnesota have passed similar legislation. However, a recent analysis reveals that user repairability of new gadgets remains challenging. On Monday, the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released its Leaders and…
Human Rights Watch (HRW) continues to reveal how photos of children, casually posted online years ago, are being used to train AI models, even when families use strict privacy settings. Last month, HRW researcher Hye Jung Han found 170 photos of Brazilian kids in LAION-5B, a popular AI dataset built from Common Crawl snapshots of…
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a Texas law that mandates age verification for users accessing pornographic websites. This announcement follows a list of orders released today, which includes a petition for certiorari filed by the Free Speech Coalition, an adult-industry lobby group. Earlier this year, the United States Court of Appeals for…
Keith Gill, known by his online personas “Roaring Kitty” and “DeepF—Value,” recently faced a lawsuit accusing him of orchestrating a pump-and-dump scheme involving GameStop securities. The lawsuit, filed by GameStop investor Martin Radev, claimed that Gill had deceived his followers on social media platforms like X and Reddit in order to profit from escalating stock…
The US Supreme Court has avoided making a final decision on challenges to the Texas and Florida social media laws, but the majority opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan criticized the Texas law and made it clear that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment. The Texas law "is unlikely to withstand First Amendment…
Meta continues to confront regulatory challenges with its controversial strategy to comply with the European Union’s stringent Digital Markets Act (DMA). This plan involves offering Facebook and Instagram subscriptions for privacy-conscious users who prefer to opt out of ad targeting. Today, the European Commission (EC) announced preliminary findings that Meta’s proposed ‘pay or consent’ model—requiring…
The Internet Archive (IA) presented its case before a three-judge panel on Friday to defend its controlled digital lending (CDL) practices, following a lawsuit from book publishers who claim that IA’s lending violates copyright laws. This hearing is a critical moment for IA, which was forced to remove 500,000 books from its collection after last…
Tesla has denied that "any defect in the Autopilot system caused or contributed" to the 2022 death of a Tesla employee, Hans von Ohain, whose Tesla Model 3 burst into flames after the car suddenly veered off a road and crashed into a tree. "Von Ohain fought to regain control of the vehicle, but, to…
The US Supreme Court has overturned the 40-year-old Chevron precedent in a decision that curtails the regulatory authority of federal agencies. The 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo will make it more difficult for agencies like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to issue regulations without explicit Congressional approval….
Brussels is preparing for an antitrust investigation into Microsoft’s $13 billion investment into OpenAI, following the European Union’s decision to not move forward with a merger review of the alliance between the two tech giants. The European Commission had explored a review under merger control rules but decided against it due to insufficient evidence that…
On Tuesday, a slim majority of the US Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling that places a stay on rules developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), aimed at curbing the spread of ozone-generating pollutants across state lines. The emergency decision was made without the benefit of evidence typically accumulated during lower court proceedings. This…
In 2017, Kathleen Odean believed she had found the last cell phone plan she would ever need. T-Mobile was offering a service plan for those aged 55 and over, including an “Un-contract” guarantee that prices would never rise. “I thought, wow, I can live out my days with this fixed plan,” Odean, a 70-year-old Rhode…
In a tight 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court on Thursday nullified a multibillion-dollar opioid settlement involving Purdue Pharma, makers of OxyContin, due to its provision granting the Sackler family lifetime immunity from future opioid-related litigation. The Court’s decision mandates that settlement negotiations begin anew, potentially delaying compensation for over 100,000 people affected by the…
Temu, the Chinese shopping app under scrutiny, is facing serious allegations from the Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin. Griffin claims the app is “dangerous malware” that monetizes unauthorized user data, as detailed in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday. The complaint cites reports suggesting that Temu covertly gains unrestricted access to users’ phone operating systems, including…
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court dismissed allegations that the Biden administration forced social media companies into censoring COVID-19 and election-related content. This decision overturns a lower court’s injunction that had previously restricted the administration’s communication with these platforms. This ruling reopens lines of communication just ahead of the 2024 elections, where officials will monitor misinformation…
Tesla has announced two additional recalls for its Cybertruck, impacting over 11,000 vehicles produced since the model’s debut late last year. Owners are being advised to bring their vehicles in for servicing due to issues with faulty windshield wiper motors and a cosmetic piece that could detach while driving. Earlier this year, Tesla issued recalls…
Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay a $1,050,000 penalty to the US Treasury as part of a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) following a 911 outage in December 2022. The outage, which lasted for one hour and 44 minutes, affected emergency services in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. According…
Microsoft finds itself under intense scrutiny from the European Union as the company risks substantial fines for allegedly bundling its Teams software with Office 365 and Microsoft 365 without adequate choice for its customers. The European Commission (EC) announced preliminary findings suggesting that this practice might unfairly limit competition within the software as a service…
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has consented to plead guilty to a single criminal charge, concluding his prolonged extradition tussle with the United States. Assange, who will reportedly avoid further jail time, is expected to return to his native Australia. Rather than appearing in the continental United States, Assange is slated to enter his plea in…
Universal Music Group, Sony Music, and Warner Records have filed lawsuits against AI music-synthesis companies Udio and Suno, alleging mass copyright infringement for using the labels’ recordings to train music-generating AI models, according to Reuters. These lawsuits, filed in federal courts in New York and Massachusetts, argue that the AI-generated music produced by these companies…
The European Commission has preliminarily determined that Apple’s App Store rules and fees are in violation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA). These rules allegedly restrict app developers from steering users to alternative sales channels, which the commission announced today. This finding initiates a formal process, allowing Apple to examine the investigation file and respond…
As a result of book publishers successfully suing the Internet Archive (IA) last year, the free online library that strives to keep growing online access to books recently shrank by about 500,000 titles. IA reported in a blog post this month that publishers abruptly forcing these takedowns triggered a “devastating loss” for readers who depend…
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has firmly dismissed AT&T’s request to terminate its landline phone service obligations. Instead, the state agency is urging AT&T to upgrade its copper network to fiber, as detailed in the official ruling on Thursday. AT&T sought relief from its Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligation, which mandates the company…
The Biden administration has announced a ban on the sale of Kaspersky antivirus software in the United States starting in July. According to Reuters and a filing by the US Department of Commerce (PDF), the action is rooted in national security concerns. The US government believes that software from Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab poses a risk…
Pornhub will soon be blocked in five additional states as the adult site continues to challenge age-verification laws that compel users to provide ID to access content. According to a blog post on the site, starting July 1, visitors in Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, and Nebraska will encounter a video featuring adult entertainer Cherie Deville…