Neowin News Feed for: Legislation

Utah's new law is about to make life very difficult for VPN users

Paul Hill — Fri, 01 May 2026 04:42:01 +0000

A looming legal shift in Utah could force websites to block VPNs or mandate universal age checks. Here is how this landmark bill threatens the digital privacy of every resident. Read more...

UK begins testing social media bans and curfews on hundreds of families

Paul Hill — Wed, 25 Mar 2026 02:36:01 +0000

Is a total social media ban actually enforceable at home? The UK is testing various restrictions to find out, despite warnings from UNICEF about the risks involved. Read more...

EFF responds to Republican bill that could jail citizens for downloading DeepSeek

David Uzondu — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 08:02:01 +0000

EFF has responded to a recent bill proposal that, if passed, could lead to jail time or fines for using Chinese AI models like DeepSeek. Read more...

The UK could follow Australia's footsteps in banning social media for those under 16

David Uzondu — Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:48:01 +0000

In an effort to protect kids, the UK government is considering banning social media for those under 16. Read more...

The UK government is working on rules to increase the transparency of AI training data

Paul Hill — Sun, 19 May 2024 07:06:01 +0000

The UK government is formulating proposals to help rights holders learn if their content has been used to train AI models. It aims to have these proposals ready before the election in autumn. Read more...

UK passes law that could see unruly tech bosses jailed

Paul Hill — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 18:58:01 +0000

The UK has finally passed the Online Safety Bill. It's a wide-reaching piece of legislation that aims to improve child safety online. It threatens tech bosses who don't comply with fines and jail. Read more...

Online exploitation and abuse targeted in a new UK investigation

Paul Hill — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 19:34:02 +0000

The UK government is going to conduct a review to ensure existing legislation appropriately tackles exploitative and abusive online content. This review is separate from the Online Safety Bill. Read more...

Spotify has been fined $5.4 million due to GDPR violations

Steve Bennett — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 18:44:01 +0000

Spotify has fallen foul of the EU's General Data Protection Regulations and has been fined SEK 58 million (equivalent to $5.4 million) by a Swedish regulator due to how it handles personal data. Read more...

New UK law could make it easier to avoid subscription traps and fight fake reviews

Paul Hill — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 02:00:01 +0000

A new bill in the UK could help to fight subscription traps and fake reviews that cost UK consumers £1.6 billion every year. It will also help restrain big tech and give smaller companies a chance. Read more...

U.S. chipmakers receive $52.7 billion as President Biden signs the CHIPS and Science Act

Anushe Fawaz — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 18:28:02 +0000

President Joe Biden has signed the U.S. CHIPS and Science Act that provides subsidies worth $52.7 billion for the country's chip manufacturing industry and helping it compete against China. Read more...

Tired of being ghosted? A Philippine politician wants to make ghosting a criminal offense

Usama Jawad — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 11:58:02 +0000

A Filipino lawmaker has presented a bill that declares ghosting a criminal offense that could be punishable by community service. The ludicrous document has little chance of being passed as law. Read more...

Bipartisan U.S. legislation would make crypto more suitable for everyday purchases

Paul Hill — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 19:48:01 +0000

Bipartisan legislation being proposed would make small crypto transactions exempt from capital gains taxes in the U.S. This could help cryptocurrencies better perform their namesake task. Read more...

Putin signs legislative amendment to ban cryptocurrency payments in Russia

Anushe Fawaz — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 14:42:01 +0000

Russia's President Putin signed a law to enact suspension of certain provisions of Federal Law “On Banks and Banking Activity”, and bans the use of digital assets as a payment mode in Russia. Read more...

Amazon Prime changes its cancellation process to comply with EU consumer rules

Steve Bennett — Sat, 02 Jul 2022 10:26:01 +0000

EU and EEA residents can now cancel Amazon Prime with a much more streamlined process, following complaints from the European Commission in April 2021, resulting in less confusion. Read more...

USB-C to become charging standard for most electronics in EU by 2024

Usama Jawad — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 13:37:44 +0000

The European Union has agreed to make USB-C the charging standard for a wide range of electronics, including phones and tablets, by 2024. The legislation will also apply to laptops around 2026. Read more...

Vodafone wants big tech to shoulder growing infrastructure costs

Paul Hill — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:32:01 +0000

Vodafone wants big tech, which is driving up data usage, to shoulder the burden of upgrading mobile networks as it and other operators are failing to do this and turn much of a profit. Read more...

These are the Open App Store Principles for Microsoft and Xbox Store

Usama Jawad — Thu, 10 Feb 2022 10:42:01 +0000

Microsoft has unveiled the "Open App Store Principles" for storefronts. All of them apply immediately to the Microsoft Store while some are gradually being enforced for the Xbox Store. Read more...

New York City passes legislation to protect food delivery workers

Usman Khan Lodhi — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 02:28:01 +0000

The sweeping legislation includes new rights and protections for delivery workers. NYC has become one of the first cities in the U.S. to regulate food delivery apps in such a massive way. Read more...

Most devices, including iPhones, could soon be forced to use USB-C charging

Usama Jawad — Thu, 23 Sep 2021 13:46:01 +0000

Today, the European Parliament will be voting on a new legislation by the European Commission to standardize USB-C charging across most devices. If it becomes law, OEMs will have two years to comply. Read more...

UK turning to legislation to get rid of mobile not-spots

Paul Hill — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 17:00:01 +0000

The UK government said it's looking to change legislation to allow for the construction of bigger mobile masts to boost coverage in rural areas, ultimately aiming to eradicate mobile not-spots. Read more...

Polish government eyeing free speech social media law

Paul Hill — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 22:52:01 +0000

The Polish government has proposed a new law which would see the establishment of a free speech council that could fine social media firms if they delete content that's not illegal in Poland. Read more...

UK House of Commons committee finds helicopters most at risk from drones

Paul Hill — Fri, 11 Oct 2019 03:18:01 +0000

A new report from a House of Commons committee in the UK has found that drones pose a disproportionate danger to helicopters than other aircraft. Contributors recommended new legislation in response. Read more...

California bill identifies gig economy workers as employees

Namerah Saud Fatmi — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 16:18:01 +0000

The California State Assembly is one step closer to passing a new bill which will make it legally obligatory for companies in the gig economy to recognize their workers as employees. Read more...

Sundar Pichai's speech to Congress released ahead of event, denies political bias

Paul Hill — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 01:56:01 +0000

Google's CEO, Sundar Pichai, is due to go before Congress on Tuesday. The speech that he is set to deliver has already been published so you'll be able to read it in advance of the event itself. Read more...

Tech giants join forces to combat Australia's effort to weaken encryption

Jay Bonggolto — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 10:22:01 +0000

Alphabet, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple will jointly throw their weight behind a lobbying effort to oppose Australia's proposed law seeking to gain access to encrypted data of suspected criminals. Read more...

Senate resolution that could overturn FCC's net neutrality repeal to get a vote

John Keefer — Mon, 08 Jan 2018 21:18:01 +0000

The FCC's repeal of net neutrality is still more than 60 days away, which has given Senators seeking to overturn the ruling time to gather enough co-sponsors on a bill to force a full Senate vote. Read more...

GOP's net neutrality bill opens option for "fast lane" plans

John Keefer — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 00:48:01 +0000

The loss of net neutrality has Congress scrambling for a bill to take the onus off the FCC and make regulation of ISPs a law. But the first bill introduced does little to offer consumers protection. Read more...

MPs considering blocking adult sites which don't add age verification

Paul Hill — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 02:10:01 +0000

British MPs are considering new amendments to the Digital Economy Bill 2016-17 which could see adult sites that don't implement age verification being blocked in the country. Read more...

India proposes legislation to ban unapproved map and satellite data

Jack Wilkinson — Fri, 13 May 2016 00:56:01 +0000

India is working to introduce legislation that would ban map or satellite data of the country unless they are approved by the government. Incorrect map information will also be prohibited. Read more...

Apple concerned over draft UK surveillance bill

Jack Wilkinson — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 07:46:01 +0000

Apple has responded to the UK government's draft surveillance bill, 'Investigatory Powers Bill'. It details concerns that Apple has over the proposed legislation. Read more...

UK to escalate emergency phone and internet data storage law

Steven Parker — Thu, 10 Jul 2014 08:26:49 +0000

The UK is rushing through an emergency law following a ruling from the European Court of Justice which abolished the requirement of Telecom and Internet Service Providers to retain customer data. Read more...

Google: "we need more time to 'forget' people"

James Walker — Sat, 17 May 2014 08:28:32 +0000

Google has warned that it could be 'several weeks' before they will be able to properly deal with the huge backlog of 'right to be forgotten' requests that are currently piling up against the company. Read more...

Google already receiving 'right to be forgotten' requests

James Walker — Thu, 15 May 2014 09:48:01 +0000

Google is reportedly receiving scores of 'right to be forgotten' requests from citizens living in the EU who do not want their personal data to be visible in the website's search results. Read more...

Russian 'anti-terrorism' laws will ban Skype, Facebook, Gmail if companies don't comply

Brad Sams — Wed, 23 Apr 2014 19:26:48 +0000

Under new 'anti-terrorism' legislation in Russia, Skype, Facebook, Gmail and other services could be banned for failing to comply with new laws unless the companies changes where user data is stored. Read more...

Jake Durasamy — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 20:07:59 +0000

Under a draft code published today by UK communications regulator Ofcom, ISPs could be eligible to send warning letters to copyright infringers by 2014. This gives ISPs rights to monitor user activity. Read more...

DNS blocking to be removed from SOPA

Tyler Holman — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 04:29:29 +0000

Digital activists are cheering after the author of SOPA has decided to drop DNS blocking provisions from the law, a controversial bill in the US Congress that is encountering staunch opposition. Read more...

Mixed messages, the UK broadband commitment

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:37:36 +0000

Finland have recently passed legislation which secures their citizens a "legal right" to broadband. This step forward for Finland has resulted in a right to 1mbps broadband for all homes. This passing of law has... Read more...

Canada's New Anti-Camcording Legislation Finds First Victim

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:16:18 +0000

After being caught trying to record the movie 'Dan in Real Life' last month, a man from QuÃ©bec now faces up to two years in jail, if convicted, thanks to Canada's new anti-camcording legislation. Should... Read more...

Proposed DRM legislation criticized as too harsh

Daniel Fleshbourne — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:46:03 +0000

Consumer rights groups have voiced opposition to legislation introduced in the U.S. Congress last week that would require Internet broadcasters to deploy DRM (digital rights management) technology to prevent listeners from making unauthorized copies of... Read more...

Legislation to Require ESRB Play Entire Game

Mike Brown — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 18:02:03 +0000

Direct from the "It sounded like a great idea at the time" files comes the latest development in video game ratings legislation. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) is currently attempting to move the Truth in Video... Read more...