Topic: legal proceedings
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Microsoft sued for misleading millions of Australians over 365 subscriptions
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is suing Microsoft for allegedly misleading 2.7 million customers by not disclosing a cheaper "Classic" plan option when introducing Copilot AI features and price increases. Microsoft's communications presented subscribers with only two choices: ...
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Krafton Used ChatGPT to Dodge $250M Subnautica 2 Bonus
Krafton allegedly consulted ChatGPT to avoid paying a $250 million contractual bonus tied to Subnautica 2's delayed release, leading to the termination of three founding developers and a studio takeover. Legal documents claim Krafton orchestrated the removal of Unknown Worlds' founders and refere...
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Nintendo's Pokémon Catching Patent Rejected in Japan
Nintendo's Japanese patent application for creature capture and battle mechanics was rejected due to lack of inventive step, citing prior art from games like ARK: Survival Evolved. The rejection could impact related patents in the same family and complicate Nintendo's legal position in its ongoin...
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Why It's So Hard to Break Up With Google
Google is defending its integrated ad technology business in court, arguing that a government-ordered breakup would be as complex as a mission to Mars and could harm customers and employees. The Justice Department contends that forcing Google to sell parts of its ad tech operations is necessary t...
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Portland's Reality Fractured by Influencers
The legal dispute over deploying National Guard troops to Portland highlights how social media influencers' curated narratives have distorted reality, influencing federal policy and judicial decisions, thereby threatening constitutional safeguards. Misinformation campaigns amplified by influencer...
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Google's Web Dominance: Why We Must Defend Independent Sites
Google's AI Overviews and chatbots are reducing traffic to independent websites by providing immediate answers, leading to significant revenue declines for publishers like WikiHow. Despite Google's role in creating this disruption, its ad tools and content licensing agreements provide essential s...
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Jon Prosser Paid $650 for iOS 26 Leak, Co-Defendant Claims
Apple alleges that leaker Jon Prosser paid $650 for a FaceTime demonstration of the unreleased iOS 26, though Ramacciotti claims the payment occurred after the call and was not pre-arranged. Ramacciotti admits accessing a development iPhone and demonstrating iOS features to Prosser but denies tra...
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Gamer pleads guilty to threatening Epic Games employees
Jayden Griffin, a 19-year-old from South Dakota, pleaded guilty to sending death threats to Epic Games employees in late 2024, facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He admitted in court that he intended the threats to be perceived as genuine and reversed his initial not-guilty pl...
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Is the Web Thriving or Dying? Google's Uncertain Stance
Google presents conflicting views on the health of the open web, with executives publicly claiming it is thriving while legal filings argue it is in rapid decline. The company's legal stance appears aimed at opposing regulatory actions, such as divesting parts of its advertising business, raising...
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FBI Subpoenas Archive.is Web Registrar in Data Probe
The FBI has subpoenaed domain registrar Tucows for records to identify the operator of Archive.today, seeking subscriber and contact details as part of a federal criminal investigation. Archive.today's owner remains anonymous, with registration listing a "Denis Petrov" in Prague, but it's unclear...
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How Bias Corrupts Medical Practice
The White House's "Make America Healthy Again" report was criticized for including fabricated citations, likely generated by AI, which undermines its recommendation to address the scientific replication crisis. AI's tendency to invent information, or "hallucinate," poses risks in legal and medica...
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Judge Halts Anthropic's $1.5B Book Piracy Settlement
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a $1.5 billion settlement between Anthropic and authors, citing concerns that authors felt pressured to accept terms negotiated without sufficient transparency. The judge questioned the fairness of the deal and demanded clearer data on the number of books i...
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Scientist's Guilty Plea: What Is Fusarium Graminearum?
A researcher's 2025 smuggling case involving Fusarium graminearum highlighted biosecurity concerns, though this fungal pathogen has long caused over $1 billion in annual losses to U.S. wheat and barley crops. Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight (scab), severely reducing yields by up ...
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UK & US Charge Alleged Scattered Spider Hackers
Two key members of the Scattered Spider cybercrime group, Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers, have been arrested and charged in the U.S. and U.K. for their roles in numerous damaging cyber intrusions, including attacks on critical infrastructure and corporate networks. The suspects are accused of usi...
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OpenAI Denies Blame in Teen Suicide Case, Cites ChatGPT 'Misuse'
OpenAI has responded to a lawsuit by the family of a teenager who died by suicide after using ChatGPT, denying responsibility and citing the platform's terms of use and Section 230 protections. The company claims the full chat history shows the AI directed the teen to suicide prevention resources...
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Lawmakers Propose Letting Users Sue Over Harmful Social Media Algorithms
The Algorithm Accountability Act, introduced by Senators Curtis and Kelly, would create a legal "duty of care" for large social media platforms, making them liable for physical harm caused by their recommendation algorithms and carving out an exception to Section 230 protections. The legislation ...
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DHS Held Chicago Police Records for Months, Violating Spy Rules
The Department of Homeland Security improperly retained Chicago Police Department records for seven months, violating intelligence oversight rules and raising surveillance concerns by keeping data on approximately 900 residents. The shared gang database was highly unreliable, containing errors li...
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PubMatic Sues Google for Alleged Monopoly Violations
PubMatic has filed a major lawsuit against Google, accusing it of maintaining an illegal monopoly in the ad technology sector and seeking billions in damages. This legal action follows a federal judge's ruling that Google illegally monopolized ad exchanges and ad servers, with a separate trial to...
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Trump Administration Halts Offshore Wind Project
The Trump administration has halted the nearly complete Revolution Wind offshore energy project, citing national security and maritime activity concerns, as part of a broader effort to restrict wind power development. The suspension follows a U.S. Commerce Department probe into whether wind turbi...
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NYT to Access Deleted ChatGPT Logs After Court Win Over OpenAI
A US court has ordered OpenAI to indefinitely preserve all ChatGPT logs, including deleted conversations, amid a copyright dispute with media organizations alleging paywall circumvention. The court dismissed OpenAI's privacy objections, citing its own terms allowing data retention for legal cases...
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Nintendo Sues Switch Piracy Reddit Mod for $4.5 Million
Nintendo is suing a Reddit moderator for $4.5 million, alleging they operated piracy platforms that distributed unauthorized Nintendo Switch games. The lawsuit claims the defendant reproduced and distributed thousands of copyrighted games through "Pirate Shops," leading to massive unauthorized di...
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DOJ: Arson Suspect Used AI to Create Burning City Image
Federal authorities have charged Jonathan Rinderknecht with deliberately igniting the Palisades wildfire, which resulted in 12 deaths and burned over 23,000 acres, making it California's third most destructive wildfire. Prosecutors presented an AI-generated image of a burning city created by the ...
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Deel Raises $300M, Hits $17.3B Valuation
Deel raised $300 million in Series E funding, reaching a $17.3 billion valuation, with investments led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz despite legal disputes with Rippling. The company is profitable with over $1 billion in annual recurring revenue, serving 35,000 clients and managing pa...
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New Road Safety Group Takes Aim at Self-Driving Cars
SAVE-US is advocating for stricter autonomous vehicle regulations, focusing on Tesla as a key example of inadequate safety oversight and pushing for clearer operational disclosures and crash data reporting. The organization plans to target large states like Illinois, New York, and New Jersey to i...
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Telstra hit with $18m fine over false broadband speed claims
Telstra has been fined $18 million by the Federal Court for downgrading the internet plans of nearly 9,000 Belong customers without their consent, reducing upload speeds from 40 Mbps to 20 Mbps. The ACCC emphasized that the penalty warns businesses against misleading consumers by altering service...
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$900K XSS Bounty, HybridPetya Attack, & Burger King Censorship
Restaurant Brands International issued a DMCA takedown against researchers who exposed data vulnerabilities, despite the issues being patched after private reporting. Google distributed $1.6 million in rewards at a cloud-focused bug bounty event, contributing to a total of $2.5 million in cloud-r...
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Epic and Google Settle Lawsuit, Reshaping Android's Future
Google and Epic Games have reached a settlement that will globally reduce Google's service fees to 20% or 9% and establish a "Registered App Store" program, allowing alternative app stores to integrate more easily on Android. The agreement mandates that alternative payment options be displayed al...
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Nintendo Wins Lawsuit Against Pirate Who Streamed Stolen Switch Games
Nintendo won a lawsuit against streamer EveryGameGuru for broadcasting pirated Switch games, resulting in damages and a permanent injunction against future copyright infringement. The defendant, Jesse Keighin, displayed defiance by destroying evidence, evading legal service, and encouraging pirac...
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UK Teens Charged in Scattered Spider Ransomware Case
A UK teenager, Thalha Jubair, faces serious federal charges for his alleged role in a ransomware conspiracy that extorted over $115 million from dozens of U.S. companies. Jubair is accused of being part of Scattered Spider, a cybercriminal group that breached 47 U.S. businesses, stealing data and...
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Samsung's Audio Empire: Now Home to Denon, Marantz & More
Samsung's subsidiary Harman has finalized the acquisition of Sound United for $350 million, significantly expanding its portfolio of audio brands. The deal brings legendary hi-fi brands like Denon, Marantz, Bowers & Wilkins, and Polk Audio under Samsung's control, joining existing brands such as ...
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Google: Open Web in "Rapid Decline"
Google's court filing admits the open web is in rapid decline, contradicting its public statements about a healthy online ecosystem. The company argues against breaking up its ad tech business, warning it would harm publishers reliant on advertising revenue. Despite public claims that AI search t...
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Atlassian Acquires The Browser Company for $610M
Atlassian acquires The Browser Company for $610 million in an all-cash deal to develop specialized, AI-enhanced browsers for professional productivity. The acquisition will focus on advancing the Dia browser project, with The Browser Company retaining operational independence while accelerating h...
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