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European Parliament

European Parliament votes in favour of new EU Copyright Rules

The European Parliament has voted in favour of the EU’s first update of copyright rules in nearly two decades, as MEPs in Strasbourg on Tuesday voted by a margin of 348 votes to 274 to back rules that will force internet groups such as YouTube and Google to take out licences to show copyrighted content and make them liable to take down material that breaks intellectual property rules.
News
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European Commission

Google fined 1.49 billion euro for further Antitrust Violations

The European Commission has fined Google €1.49bn following an antitrust investigation into Google's ‘anti-competitive’ behaviour in online ad market. The probe, led by the European Union’s antitrust czar Margrethe Vestager, looked into accusations that Google had spent 10 years trying to prevent websites from using the advertising services of its rivals.
NewsGoogleUK
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Data Breach

Two workers in Birmingham fined for data protection breaches

Employees could face a criminal prosecution if they access or share personal data without a valid reason, the Information Commissioner’s Office has warned.The warning came after Birmingham Magistrates' Court fined two workers in separate cases for breaching data protection laws.
NewsUK
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US Court tells Qualcomm to pay Apple nearly $1billion in Rebate Payments

The never-ending mess of Apple and Qualcomm legal disputes continued today.  While a court in California was awarding Qualcomm $31 million in damages against Apple, a Federal court in the US was ruling that Qualcomm owes Apple nearly a billion dollars, or £754 million from previous payment agreements.
USApple
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Qualcomm

Qualcomm awarded $31 million in Apple Patent Infringement Case

A jury in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California has found that Apple iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, 8 Plus and X infringe two Qualcomm patents, U.S. Patent No. 8,838,949, and U.S. Patent No. 9,535,490, and Apple iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X infringe Qualcomm's U.S. Patent No. 8,633,936.
USApple
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Apple Music

Apple responds to Spotify antitrust complaint

Apple has accused Spotify of “misleading rhetoric” in a response to Spotify's antitrust complaint in Europe, pulling no punches as it accused Spotify of “trying to squeeze” artists, musicians and songwriters, in the same way that it was trying to “make more money off others’ work” in the App Store, pointing to Spotify’s appeal against a proposed increase to its US royalty payments.
Apple
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Huawei Sues United States Government

Huawei has filed a lawsuit against the United States government over a provision (Section 889) to the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that effectively bans all US government agencies from using products manufactured by the company (as well as ZTE), over spying concerns.
USChinaHuawei
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patent trademark

BlackBerry sues Twitter over Patent Infringement

Back in March 2018, BlackBerry sued Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp over messaging patents. Within months, Facebook counter-sued BlackBerry for similar reasons. Both cases are still in litigation, but BlackBerry has now filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Twitter.
BlackBerry
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Facebook

Facebook is a Digital Gangster that requires regulation: UK Lawmakers

Facebook is a “digital gangster” that violated its users’ privacy for profit, exploited its market power to kill or prefer businesses and has resisted scrutiny by governments around the world, a British parliamentary committee has found. UK MPs stated that Facebook needs far stricter regulation, with tough and urgent action necessary to end the spread of disinformation on its platform.
UKNews
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US files fraud charges against Huawei

The US justice department has filed charges against Chinese company Huawei.  A 13-count indictment was unsealed in New York charging Huawei, two of its affiliates and a senior executive at the company. The charges include bank fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
USHuawei
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France’s CNIL fines Google €50 million for breach of GDPR

France's National Commission for Information Technology and Civil Liberties (CNIL) has fined Google €50 million for a breach of GDPR. The CNIL’s restricted committee imposed the penalty for "lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding the ads personalisation.”.
GoogleNews
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Qualcomm

German Court finds Apple iPhone doesn’t infringe Qualcomm patent

A German court has ruled that Apple didn't infringe on a Qualcomm hardware patent, declaring that the iPhone isn't violating any of Qualcomm's power management patents. The judge ruled the suit in question groundless, declaring that Apple's iPhone wasn't standing in violation in an initial verbal ruling. A full filing with rationale is expected in the future.
GermanyApple
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ICO issues first fines to organisations who have not paid data protection fee

Organisations across the business services, construction and finance sectors are among the first to be fined by the ICO for not paying the data protection fee. All organisations, companies and sole traders that process personal data must pay an annual fee to the ICO unless they are exempt. Fines for not paying can be up to a maximum of £4,350.
UKNews
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ICO fines Marketing agency EDML £60,000 for Spam emails

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Everything DM Ltd (EDML), based in Stevenage, £60,000 for sending 1.42 million emails without consent. The investigation found that, between May 2016 and May 2017, the firm used its direct marketing system called ‘Touchpoint’ to send emails on behalf of its clients for a fee.
NewsUK
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Security

US Supreme Court rules a warrant must be obtained to access Phone Location Data

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Friday that police must get a warrant in order to obtain your phone’s location data over an extended period of time. The decision is a major victory for privacy advocates, who have long argued that the law has failed to keep pace with the amount of intrusive data we voluntarily hand over to private companies.
NewsUS
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BlackBerry

BlackBerry Announces Election Results for Company’s Board of Directors

BlackBerry announced today that the eight nominees listed in the Company’s management information circular dated May 4, 2018 for the Company’s annual and special meeting of shareholders held on June 20, 2018, were elected as directors to serve until the next annual meeting of shareholders of the Company or until their successors are elected or appointed.
BlackBerry
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Telegram

Russia bans Telegram messaging app

A Russian court in Moscow court has banned the popular Telegram messaging app. The court ruling on Friday came after Telegram refused to give Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) encryption keys that would grant access to user messaging data.
Apps
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Snapchat

BlackBerry files patent infringement lawsuit against Snap Inc

BlackBerry has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Snap Inc. SImilar to the companies lawsuit against Facebook last month, BlackBerry says that Snap has infringed on intellectual property, including innovations on real-time activity location for maps, message notification techniques and methods for integrating advertising on mobile devices.
BlackBerryUS
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BlackBerry 10 Jam

BlackBerry to face amended lawsuit over Misleading BlackBerry 10 prospects

Back in March of 2015, BlackBerry won the dismissal of a U.S. lawsuit accusing it of fraudulently inflating its stock price by painting a misleadingly upbeat picture of the prospects for its BlackBerry 10 smartphones. However, after the plaintiffs submitted an amended lawsuit, over statements related to blackberry 10, a US Judge has rejected BlackBerry's request to dismiss the amended lawsuit.
USBlackBerry
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Facebook

US and EU urge probes of Facebook data practices

UK privacy regulators are seeking a warrant to search the offices of the political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, following reports that the company may have improperly gained access to data on 50 million Facebook users.
NewsUSUK
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Broadcom

Trump kills off Broadcom’s attempted takeover of Qualcomm with national security order

Donald Trump has blocked Broadcom's $142bn (£102m) takeover of US rival Qualcomm, killing the biggest technology deal ever under the assertion that it would be a threat to U.S. national security. In an order issued on Monday evening, the US president said there was "credible evidence" that led him to believe that, in buying Qualcomm, Broadcom "might take action that that threatens to impair the national security of the United States".
NewsUS
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Patent Fight

BlackBerry files lawsuit against Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram

BlackBerry has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Facebook and its companies WhatsApp and Instagram for their use of instant messaging. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook "created mobile messaging applications that co-opt BlackBerry's innovations, using a number of the innovative security, user interface, and functionality enhancing features.
BlackBerry
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Carphone-Warehouse

ICO fines Carphone Warehouse £400,000

Carphone Warehouse has been issued with one of the largest fines by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), after one of their computer systems was compromised as a result of a cyber-attack in 2015.
NewsUK
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Hacker

San Francisco sues Equifax over massive data breach

Equifax is being sued by the city of San Francisco. City Attorney Dennis Herrera has filed a lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court for “failing to protect the personal data of more than 15 million Californians,”.
NewsUS
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WhatsApp Video Calling

Saudi Arabia lifts ban on Internet Messaging Services

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), Saudi Arabia’s telecommunications regulatory authority, has announced that Saudi Arabia will open up the country to online calling services, lifting a longtime ban.
News
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Russia passes law banning VPNs

On July 29 Russian president Vladimir Putin formally signed a law prohibiting the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) and other internet proxy services. The law was published on July 30, and will be implemented from November 1.
Connected
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Hacker

Wonga Data Breach could affect nearly a quarter million UK customers

Payday loan firm Wonga are warning more than a a quarter of a million customers that personal data may have been stolen in a data breach at the firm. The online lender said it was “urgently investigating illegal and unauthorised access” to personal data of some of its customers in the UK and Poland.
UKNews
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patent trademark

BlackBerry files patent suit against Nokia

In what could be perceived as a surprise move, BlackBerry launched an infringement suit against Nokia Corp. in a US court Tuesday for allegedly using 11 of BlackBerry's patents that describe proprietary technology.
BlackBerryUS
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BlackBerry

BlackBerry wins nine domain names at WIPO

BlackBerry has had a win at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), having nine domain names ownserships transferred to the company. All nine domains had been used to sell unauthorised BlackBerry products.
BlackBerry
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Ofcom

Ofcom orders BT to legally split from Openreach

Ofcom has announced that it is proceeding with a formal notification to require the legal separation of Openreach from BT, after BT failed to offer voluntary proposals that address our competition concerns.
UK
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End of roaming charges in the EU in 2017

The European Commission announced today that Europeans will be able to make calls, use data, and send texts without any additional roaming charges anywhere in the European Union once new rules come into force next June.
NewsUK
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Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 billion

Microsoft and LinkedIn have announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn for $196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion, inclusive of LinkedIn’s net cash.
Microsoft
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BlackBerry

BlackBerry to continue services in Pakistan

On Monday this week, we reported how BlackBerry would not be shutting down services in Pakistan on December 30 but would allow the service to continue while negotiations with the Pakistan authorities were still ongoing.
BlackBerry
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