Neowin News Feed for: Laws

Indian government proposes law to intercept and read encrypted messages

Alap Naik Desai — Thu, 22 Sep 2022 20:44:01 +0000

The Indian government has proposed a new law which could grant the administration sweeping powers to bypass end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and intercept messages and calls on platforms such as WhatsApp. Read more...

U.S. government employees are now barred from writing crypto policies if they are invested

Usama Jawad — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 11:52:01 +0000

The U.S. government has banned employees from participating in public matters related to cryptocurrencies, such as the formulation of laws, if they have invested in cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. Read more...

Uber and Lyft will pay fines for drivers affected by Oklahoma's anti-abortion laws

Paul Hill — Sat, 30 Apr 2022 20:48:02 +0000

Uber and Lyft will cover the legal costs of their drivers who get fined for assisting someone to get an abortion by driving them to a clinic. Lyft announced measures to help customers too. Read more...

The U.S. could regulate social media to protect troubled teens, suggests Instagram chief

Alap Naik Desai — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 20:02:01 +0000

Instagram chief suggests U.S. lawmakers should create laws that govern or regulate social media platforms to address teen mental health issues, perhaps because they themselves aren't doing enough? Read more...

NYU Ad Observatory will testify against Facebook in U.S. Congress hearing today

Usama Jawad — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 05:56:02 +0000

Supported by Mozilla, the NYU Ad Observatory will testify in Congress today, emphasizing the need for better laws for researchers. Its study on political ads was banned by Facebook over a month ago. Read more...

Consumers with crypto-backed debit and credit cards could face hefty tax bills

Paul Hill — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 23:56:01 +0000

Accountants and financial advisors have warned that people may unknowingly be accruing high capital gains tax bills by using crypto-based debit and credit cards to make purchases in stores. Read more...

Microsoft urges organizations to ensure data privacy instead of relying on state legislature

Usama Jawad — Sat, 17 Oct 2020 06:38:01 +0000

Microsoft has encouraged organizations to rebuild trust with customers by ensuring data privacy themselves rather than solely relying on state legislature in the path to economic recovery. Read more...

Qualcomm fined over $850 million for antitrust violations

Usama Jawad — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 08:16:01 +0000

Qualcomm has been fined over $850 million in South Korea for violating antitrust laws. The company has publicly complained against the decision and aims to file an official appeal soon. Read more...

Russian authorities and entertainment industry working on new anti-piracy laws

Paul Hill — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 06:00:01 +0000

Russian lawmakers and anti-piracy bodies are working on laws which will take protection away from social media sites over pirated content that users upload. The Civil Code protects them currently. Read more...

Oracle won't give up: Asks judge to find Google guilty of stealing Java

Christopher White — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 17:08:01 +0000

In a case that has lasted for over six years, Oracle is still trying to convince the courts that Google stole their Java code and that the company has damages in excess of $9 billion dollars. Read more...

Internet trolls will face up to two years in prison under new UK bill

Jett Goldsmith — Sat, 18 Oct 2014 22:28:01 +0000

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling stated his intentions to raise the criminal penalty for cyber trolling in the UK up to a maximum two-year sentence, following several high profile harassment cases. Read more...

California passes smartphone "kill switch" law

James Woodfin — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 06:56:01 +0000

Smartphone theft has been an issue, especially with high end phones, such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy line. Now California has decided to pass a new law to deal with and hopefully fix the issue. Read more...

California politician: Hands off the Internet!

Christopher White — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 04:43:52 +0000

A new four letter bill, the IAMA, looks to protect the Internet from other bad four letter bills like SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA. But will the Internet American Moratorium Act gain traction? Read more...

Regarding SOPA, government says users “poisoned the well”

Christopher White — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 17:21:37 +0000

Some in the government believe that corporations tricked citizens into protesting against SOPA and PIPA in order to protect their own profits. Read more...

US looks to ban cell phone use while driving

Christopher White — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:35:42 +0000

The United States government is looking to propose a federal law that bans the use of cell phones while driving. The hope is to to reduce the number of fatalities caused by distracted driving. Read more...

New Zealand piracy laws in effect starting tomorrow

Owen Williams — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 01:29:54 +0000

Tomorrow, new anti-piracy laws specifically targeting peer to peer file sharing come into effect in New Zealand, even though the government has no idea what they're doing. Read more...

New EU laws change cookie permissions, protects users

Piers Hausjell — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 01:39:35 +0000

From May 25 European law, due to the e-Privacy directive, will force change in the UK meaning consent must be granted from websites before they store cookies on a users computer. The only exception to... Read more...

Canada: Facebook violates privacy laws

Tom Warren — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:00:54 +0000

Canada's privacy commission has published a report claiming that Facebook is breaching Canadian law by holding on to users' personal information indefinitely. Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart says Facebook should hang on to the data only... Read more...

Europe votes on anti-piracy laws

Tom Warren — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 09:09:05 +0000

Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels. The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations... Read more...

Google calls for web privacy laws

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:43:25 +0000

Search site Google has called on governments and business to agree a basic set of global privacy rules. Without global standards the health of the internet was at risk, the firm's privacy chief Peter Fleischer... Read more...

Why does Google retain data? Nonexistent laws tell it to.

Mon, 14 May 2007 22:05:20 +0000

Google wants to know what you search for, and plenty of people have wondered why. According to the company's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, log data is used to improve core Google search services, including... Read more...

Europe Seeks to Tighten Some Online Laws

Sun, 25 Feb 2007 18:00:05 +0000

The German and Dutch governments have taken the lead on crafting legislation that would make it illegal to provide false information to ISPs and require phone companies to save detailed records on customer usage. The... Read more...

UK copyright laws "outdated"

Daniel Fleshbourne — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 15:17:19 +0000

OUTDATED COPYRIGHT LAWS in the UK need a re-think, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research, or the IPPR. The research body is mulling over the idea of a personal "private right to copy,"... Read more...

UK Urged to Update Copyright Laws

Sun, 29 Oct 2006 23:31:39 +0000

In the United Kingdom burning CDs and DVDs for personal use is common. Now the ministers of the UK are being urged now to modify copyright laws to allow users to legally rip CDs and... Read more...

Foxconn Admits to Breaking Chinese Employment Laws

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 14:46:18 +0000

Apple's iPod supplier Foxconn has admitted to breaking Chinese employment law. The Hon Hai Industry-owned company has been under the microscope since the Mail on Sunday published claims that many workers on its iPod... Read more...

Music biz to 'hijack' Europe's data retention laws

Daniel Fleshbourne — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 14:40:54 +0000

The entertainment industry is trying to commandeer the proposed European directive on data retention to help it prosecute filesharers in the European Union, it has emerged. The newly-formed Creative and Media Business Alliance (CMBA), an... Read more...

Calif. OKs Anti-Spyware, Swapping Laws

Thu, 30 Sep 2004 20:43:48 +0000

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed separate legislation designed to combat spyware and the illegal online swapping of copyright material. One bill requires people who share movies, videos and recordings on file-sharing services to provide... Read more...

Experts: Microsoft tweaks, new laws won't make '04 safer

Wed, 24 Dec 2003 22:58:28 +0000

For computer security experts, 2003 started with the Slammer Internet worm and went downhill from there. The year, which included four major worm and virus outbreaks just in August, has been labeled the "year of... Read more...

Quebec Enforces Language Laws on Video Games

Marcel Klum — Sun, 09 Nov 2003 10:16:05 +0000

The Canadian province of Quebec has decided to begin enforcing Quebec's Law 101 on retailers selling video games within the province. Law 101 is the law within Quebec that states that all commercial displays (including... Read more...

UK surveillance laws may be illegal

Wed, 31 Jul 2002 18:33:12 +0000

The United Kingdom's Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), which gives U.K. law enforcement agencies access to consumers' mobile phone and Internet data, may be illegal, according to UK information commissioner Elizabeth France. ... Read more...

US Laws on backups to be shook up?

Fri, 12 Jul 2002 15:23:50 +0000

Us Legislators are readying a bill that could sharply limit Americans' rights relating to copying music, taping TV shows, and transferring files through the Internet. Quelle surprise!! At... Read more...

Europe data laws to cover media player 'spyware'

Tue, 18 Jun 2002 08:52:41 +0000

Over the past few days it has been reported in various places that the European Union is extending its privacy investigations to include music players, meaning that Microsoft is in the frame again, this time... Read more...