Tag Archives: Company Legal & Law Matters

Starlink’s local bank accounts are frozen as X prepares to be shut down in Brazil

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A judge in Brazil has blocked Starlink’s bank accounts in the country amid a deepening dispute with X. The move comes as the same Supreme Court judge has threatened to shut down X in the country, and is a direct response to the ongoing legal battle with the social media company, Reuters reported.

X owner Elon Musk has been feuding with Brazil Supreme Court judge Alexandre de Moraes for months over demands to block certain accounts in the country. The company closed down its operations in Brazil earlier this month as a result of the court orders, which X has characterized as “censorship orders.”

Now, Moraes is apparently attempting to use one of Musk’s other companies, SpaceX-owned Starlink, in an attempt to get X to comply with the court order. “This order is based on an unfounded determination that Starlink should be responsible for the fines levied—unconstitutionally—against X,” Starlink wrote in a statement on X. “It was issued in secret and without affording Starlink any of the due process of law guaranteed by the Constitution of Brazil. We intend to address the matter legally.”

Moraes has also threatened to shut down X in the country entirely. On Wednesday, the judge said X would be shut down in Brazil if they didn’t appoint a legal representative in the country. X said in an update Thursday, shortly after that deadline had passed, that it “soon” expects Moraes to order the shutdown.

“We are absolutely not insisting that other countries have the same free speech laws as the United States,” the company wrote in a statement published in English and Portuguese. “The fundamental issue at stake here is that Judge de Moraes demands we break Brazil’s own laws. We simply won’t do that.” The company said it planned to publish Moraes' "illegal demands and all related court filings" in the coming days. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/starlinks-local-bank-accounts-are-frozen-as-x-prepares-to-be-shut-down-in-brazil-234046493.html?src=rss

Yelp files antitrust lawsuit against Google

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Yelp has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google. As CNN reports, the move caps off years of animosity between the two companies, with Yelp alleging that Google has leveraged its control over online searching to dominate local queries and prioritize its own reviews. 

"Google abuses its monopoly power in general search to keep users within Google’s owned ecosystem and prevents them from going to rival sites," Yelp Co-founder and CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said in a blog post announcing the suit. "This anticompetitive conduct siphons traffic and advertising revenue from vertical search services, like Yelp, that provide objectively higher quality local business content for consumers."

The US lawsuit could carry extra weight following a Department of Justice case where the judge deemed Google a monopolist over search. The August ruling did not place any sanctions on Google, but it's likely that Yelp's case will be the first of many brought by the tech company's competitors.

In response to a request for comment, a Google spokesperson told Engadget:

“Yelp’s claims are not new. Similar claims were thrown out years ago by the FTC, and recently by the judge in the DOJ’s case. On the other aspects of the decision to which Yelp refers, we are appealing. Google will vigorously defend against Yelp’s meritless claims.”

While this lawsuit centers on the US, Yelp has also been sounding off about Google's practices overseas. The European Digital Markets Act was meant to loosen some of the company's stranglehold over search results with rules to prevent massive tech businesses from favoring their own services. But Yelp argued that Google's attempt at DMA compliance actually made users less likely to leave the Google ecosystem.

In a statement regarding the suit, Yelp’s General Counsel Aaron Schur said:

"Yelp’s antitrust lawsuit against Google addresses how Google abuses its illegal monopoly in general search to engage in anticompetitive conduct, including self-preferencing its own inferior local product, to dominate the local search and local search advertising markets. For years, Google has leveraged its monopoly in general search to pad its own bottom line at the expense of what’s best for consumers, innovation, and fair competition. By willfully engaging in exclusionary, anticompetitive conduct, Google has driven traffic and revenue away from competitors, made it harder for them to scale, and increased their costs, while degrading consumer choice, to grow its own market power.

Judge Amit Mehta’s recent ruling in the government’s antitrust case against Google, finding Google illegally maintained its monopoly in general search, is a watershed moment in antitrust law, and provides a strong foundation for Yelp’s case against Google. In addition to injunctive relief, Yelp seeks a remedy that ensures Google can no longer self-preference in local search. The harms caused by Google’s self-preferencing are not unique to Yelp, and we look forward to telling our story in court."

Update, August 28, 8:15PM ET: This story was updated after publish to include a comment from a Google spokesperson and an additional comment from Yelp's General Counsel.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/yelp-files-antitrust-lawsuit-against-google-230228737.html?src=rss

Telegram CEO charges include distributing CSAM and money laundering

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French authorities have now shared the why behind the August 24 arrest of Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov. His arrest came in response to a series of charges, including complicity in "distributing, offering or making available pornographic images of minors, in an organized group." The charges stem from a judicial investigation opened on July 8 against an unnamed individual.

The release, penned by Prosecutor of the Republic Laure Beccuau, details 12 charges in total, including money laundering, drug trafficking, fraud, running an online platform that allows illegal transactions and possessing child pornography. Durov can be held in custody until Wednesday, August 28.

The arrest has raised questions about how much leaders are responsible for what happens on their platforms. Telegram shared a post stating the company "abides by EU laws" and "It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform." There have also been outcries from individuals like Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), who posted "#FreePavel" on X, and NSA whistleblower and now Russian citizen Edward Snowden, who called it politically motivated. Telegram is especially popular in Russia and Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron responded on X (formerly Twitter) to "false information" that the arrest was politically motivated. "France is deeply committed to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation, and to the spirit of entrepreneurship. It will remain so," Macron shared on August 26. "In a state governed by the rule of law, freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights. It is up to the judiciary, in full independence, to enforce the law."

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/telegram-ceo-charges-include-distributing-csam-and-money-laundering-125336547.html?src=rss

Uber gets slapped with €290 million fine

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Uber has received its largest fine to date, with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) issuing a €290 million ($324 million) penalty to the rideshare company. The regulatory body announced it had issued the fine in response to Uber transferring the personal data of European taxi drivers into the United States without properly safeguarding the information. The complaint came from France, but the case was moved to Holland, where Uber's EU headquarters are located. 

The Dutch DPA found that Uber took account details, taxi licenses, location data, photos, payment details, identity documents and more from European drivers and transferred them to servers at their US headquarters for over two years. During this period, Uber didn't use any transfer tools, a decision the Dutch DPA has deemed caused insufficient protection. "In Europe, the GDPR protects the fundamental rights of people, by requiring businesses and governments to handle personal data with due care," Dutch DPA chairman Aleid Wolfsen said in a statement. "Uber did not meet the requirements of the GDPR to ensure the level of protection to the data with regard to transfers to the US. That is very serious."

The Dutch DPA has fined Uber twice before, first imposing a €600,000 ($670,000) fine in 2018 after the company failed to report a data breach that occurred two years earlier within a 72-hour timeframe. In 2023, the Dutch DPA fined Uber €10 million ($11.2 million) for not fully detailing its data retention periods (regarding information about European drivers) or the non-European countries where it shares data. Uber objected to the latter fine and has made its intentions clear to fight the €290 million.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/uber-gets-slapped-with-%E2%82%AC290-million-fine-123039726.html?src=rss

The DOJ files an antitrust suit against a software company for allegedly manipulating rent prices

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The Department of Justice and eight states’ attorney generals filed an antitrust lawsuit against rental software company RealPage on Friday, accusing it of using algorithms to drive up rent prices nationwide. The suit alleges RealPage’s software, YieldStar, gathers sensitive information from landlords and rental companies, which it feeds into algorithms that recommend prices and practices that limit competition and force renters to pay more.

“Americans should not have to pay more in rent because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law,” Attorney General Merrick Garland wrote in a DOJ press release.

RealPage’s software reportedly manages more than 24 million rental units globally. The DOJ’s complaint accuses the Texas-based company of contracting with competing landlords who agree to share “nonpublic, competitively sensitive information” about rental rates and other lease terms. RealPage then trains YieldStar’s algorithms, which generate pricing and other competitive recommendations “based on their and their rivals’ competitively sensitive information,” according to the DOJ.

The DOJ was joined in its suit by the attorney generals of North Carolina, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington. It filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, accusing the company of violating Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Act. The 1890 law is considered the bedrock of US antitrust actions.

In addition, the lawsuit accuses RealPage of monopolizing the rental market in a feedback loop that “strengthens RealPage’s grip on the market,” making it harder for “honest businesses to compete on the merits.”

The DOJ’s complaint cites internal documents and sworn testimony from the company, along with landlords who have used the software to allegedly price-gouge renters. The agency says RealPage admitted its software was designed to maximize rent prices, saying its product excels at “driving every possible opportunity to increase price,” “avoid[ing] the race to the bottom in down markets” and “a rising tide raises all ships.”

In addition, the DOJ quotes a RealPage executive as observing that its software helps landlords avoid competing. The executive allegedly opined that “there is greater good in everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete against one another in a way that actually keeps the entire industry down.” (Perhaps the executive doesn’t consider renters part of “the greater good.”)

The DOJ also quotes a RealPage executive as explaining to a landlord that its competitor data can help spot situations where they “may have a $50 increase instead of a $10 increase for the day.” The suit even cites a landlord’s comment that YieldStar helps the supply side control the market. “I always liked this product because your algorithm uses proprietary data from other subscribers to suggest rents and term. That’s classic price fixing.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/the-doj-files-an-antitrust-lawsuit-against-a-software-company-for-allegedly-manipulating-rent-prices-154230054.html?src=rss

DC’s antitrust case against Amazon comes back to life

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An appeals court has revived an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon filed by the Attorney General of Washington, DC more than three years ago. The online retailer must now face allegations that it illegally raised prices for consumers.

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2021 and cited Amazon’s practices related to third-party sellers on its platform. Specifically, it called out a provision in the company’s agreements with third-party sellers that allowed it to punish businesses that offered its products at lower prices on non-Amazon platforms. Karl Racine, the AG at the time, said these agreements allowed the company to “impose an artificially high price floor across the online retail marketplace.” Racine later expanded the case to include Amazon’s pricing tactics for wholesalers.

Amazon has disputed those allegations, and the case was dismissed in 2022. But an appeals court has now reversed that decision. “Viewed as a whole, the District’s allegations about Amazon’s market share and maintenance of its market power through the challenged agreements plausibly suggest that Amazon either already possesses monopoly power over online marketplaces or is close to a ‘dangerous probability of achieving monopoly power,’” the judge wrote.

“We disagree with the District of Columbia’s allegations and look forward to presenting facts in court that demonstrate how good these policies are for consumers," Amazon spokesperson Tim Doyle told Engadget in a statement. "Just like any store owner who wouldn’t want to promote a bad deal to their customers, we don’t highlight or promote offers that are not competitively priced. It’s part of our commitment to featuring low prices to earn and maintain customer trust, which we believe is the right decision for both consumers and sellers in the long run.”

The reversal adds to Amazon’s antitrust woes. The company is also facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission and more than a dozen states. The UK’s antitrust regulator has also opened an investigation centered around the company’s $4 billion investment into Anthropic.

In a statement, DC's current AG Brian Schwalb noted that the district “was the first jurisdiction to take antitrust enforcement action” against the company. “Now, our case will move forward, and we will continue fighting to stop Amazon’s unfair and unlawful practices that have raised prices for District consumers and stifled innovation and choice across online retail.”

Update, August 22 2024, 7:13 PM ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Amazon.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/dcs-antitrust-case-against-amazon-comes-back-to-life-194314355.html?src=rss

X is closing its operations in Brazil immediately, but its service will remain live for users

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X says it's ending business operations in Brazil effective immediately, but the service will remain available to users in the country. The company says Alexandre de Moraes, the president of the Superior Electoral Court and a justice of the Supreme Federal Court, threatened one of X's legal representatives with arrest if it did not "comply with his censorship orders." 

According to Reuters, de Moreas demanded that X remove certain content from its platform. Rather than comply, X has opted to end its local operations "to protect the safety of our staff." 

According to X, de Moraes made the threat in a "secret order," which it shared publicly. X owner Elon Musk claimed that the demand "would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law." He added that, "The decision to close the 𝕏 office in Brazil was difficult, but, if we had agreed to @alexandre’s (illegal) secret censorship and private information handover demands, there was no way we could explain our actions without being ashamed."

"Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process," X said in a statement on its Global Government Affairs account. "[de Moraes'] actions are incompatible with democratic government. The people of Brazil have a choice to make — democracy, or Alexandre de Moraes."

Musk has been railing against de Moraes for months. In April, he said he would defy orders from the legislator to block certain accounts in Brazil, claiming that they were unconstitutional. In response, de Moraes opened an obstruction of justice inquiry against Musk. X said later in April it would comply with every order issued by Brazil's top courts.

That same month, the House Judiciary Committee released an interim staff report claiming that the Brazilian government was trying to force X (and other social media platforms) to censor more than 300 accounts. It said that the accounts included those belonging to former Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro, a member of the country's federal senate and a journalist.

X does not have a public relations team that can be reached for comment.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/x-is-closing-its-operations-in-brazil-immediately-but-its-service-will-remain-live-for-users-165224020.html?src=rss

San Francisco aims to take down AI undressing websites in new lawsuit

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San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced he intended to shut down 16 of the most popular AI “undressing” sites at a press conference on Thursday.

The Verge reported that the City Attorney is accusing these sites of violating federal laws regarding revenge pornography, deepfake pornography and child pornography. Chiu’s office also accused the sites of violating the state of California’s unfair competition law because “the harm they cause to consumers greatly outweighs any benefits associated with those practices,” according to the complaint for injunctive relief filed in a California superior court.

The complaint focuses on a total of 50 defendants Chiu intends to prosecute for operating undressing websites. Some of the defendants’ and websites’ names were redacted but it also publicly identifies a few companies that operate “some of the world’s most popular websites that offer to nudify images of women and girls” such as Sol Ecom located in Florida, Briver in New Mexico and the UK-based Itai Tech Ltd. The only identified defendant in the complaint is Augustin Gribinets of Estonia, who is accused of owning an AI undressing site featuring unconsented images of women and children.

These websites have generated over 200 million visits in a six-month period. The nonconsensual images of women and children on these sites “are used to bully, threaten and humiliate women and girls” as they gain more visitors “and this distressing trend shows no sign of abating,” according to the complaint.

The city’s attorney cites one case in its legal complaint from February in which an AI undressing site generated images of 16 eighth grade students at a California middle school. The incident possibly refers to one that occurred at a Beverly Hills high school in which 16 students were circulating fake nude images of other students. The school district expelled five students for their involvement in disseminating the illicit images, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Deepfake technology has become a major legal concern especially on the federal level. Last month, the US Copyright Office published a report on digital replicas and concluded that “a new law is needed.” Just a few days later, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the NO FAKES Act that would institute a new law protecting individuals from having their voice, face or body recreated with AI without their consent.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/san-francisco-aims-to-take-down-ai-undressing-websites-in-new-lawsuit-185202792.html?src=rss

Former Twitter chairman is suing X for $20 million over pay he says was ‘wrongfully withheld’

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Omid Kordestani, who was Twitter’s executive chairman from 2015 to 2020 and served on the board until Elon Musk acquired it in 2022, is suing X over $20 million worth of shares he says the company is refusing to pay. Kordestani filed the lawsuit on Friday with a California superior court.

Per the lawsuit, Kordestani left a high paying job at Google to join Twitter, which offered him a “significantly lower” salary of just $50,000 but sweetened the deal with stock options, performance-based restricted stock units and restricted stock units. These — amounting to $20,112,000 — were supposed to have been paid out when Musk acquired Twitter and replaced the board, but X has failed to do so, according to the lawsuit. “X Corp. seeks to reap the benefits of Mr. Kordestani’s seven years of service to Twitter without paying him for it, despite clear contractual language requiring X Corp. to do so,” it says.

Multiple lawsuits have been filed in the wake of Musk’s Twitter acquisition from employees alleging they were not paid properly after they were laid off or fired. Former Twitter executives sued Musk and X earlier this year, claiming they were fired “without reason” and are owed millions of dollars in unpaid severance. The latest lawsuit says that “Mr. Kordestani is one of many former Twitter employees whose compensation has been wrongfully withheld by X Corp. following Elon Musk’s purchase of the Company in October 2022.”

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/former-twitter-chairman-is-suing-x-for-20-million-over-pay-he-says-was-wrongfully-withheld-155407305.html?src=rss

Google and Meta reportedly teamed up for ads targeting young teens

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Google worked with Meta to roll out ads that targeted young teens even if it's against the former's rules, according to the Financial Times. Based on the documents seen by the publication, Google worked on a marketing project designed to advertise Instagram to YouTube users within the 13- to 17-year-old age range. Google had blocked age-based ad targeting for users under 18 years ago, but the company reportedly found and used a loophole. 

Since they couldn't go for the demographic they wanted to reach, they instead targeted a group of users Google had labeled as "unknown." Google's staff proposed the group to Meta, The Times said, because the company had data points to prove that a large number of users under the label are below 18 years in age. The company even reportedly told Meta that the daily engagement it gets from 13- to 17-year-old users exceeds TikTok's and Instagram's. The Information says using this loophole is against Google's rules, as well, since it has policies against proxy targeting. 

Meta and Google worked with media agency Spark Foundry to launch the marketing program in Canada between February and April, according to the report. When it did well, they kicked off a trial in the US in May and had made plans to expand it to other regions, as well as to include other Meta apps in the campaign. 

However, Google had investigated and ultimately cancelled the project after being contacted by the Times. "We prohibit ads being personalized to people under-18, period," the company told the publication. It said that its safeguards worked properly in this case because it didn't directly target registered YouTube users know to be 18. That said, it didn't outright deny using the loophole and only said that it will take "additional action to reinforce with sales representatives that they must not help advertisers or agencies run campaigns" that attempt to work around its policies.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/google-and-meta-reportedly-teamed-up-for-ads-targeting-young-teens-130024683.html?src=rss