China is investing “tremendous resources” in its cyber program with the sole purpose of disrupting critical infrastructure to gain competitive advantage, National Cyber Director Harry Coker said Tuesday. Speaking at CYBERUK in Birmingham, England, Coker recommended international partners use their “collective strength, focus and determination” to combat China’s global cyber effort. He noted the Biden administration is also prioritizing efforts to thwart Russian cyberattacks in Ukraine. Russia’s cyber campaign in 2024 “marks a new standard of aggression, persistence, and operational agility,” he said. "For Ukraine, improving the security of networks and communications will be fundamental to their battlefield success."
The U.S. Supreme Court distributed for the justices’ May 30 conference the cert petition of three former Twitter users who are seeking review of the 6th U.S. Circuit Appeals Court’s judgment affirming that they lacked Article III standing to bring First Amendment social media censorship claims against the Department of Health and Human Services (see 2403270011), said a text-only docket entry Tuesday (docket 23-1062). The Twitter accounts of petitioners Mark Changizi, Michael Senger and Daniel Kotzin were terminated or suspended by the platform for publishing COVID-19 tweets that were deemed to have run counter to HHS’ pandemic public information policy. They allege the same First Amendment government censorship claims as the five individual plaintiffs in Murthy v. Missouri (docket 23-411) who seek to affirm the 5th Circuit's social media censorship injunction against officials from the White House and four federal agencies.
Screen Media Ventures’ Dec. 27 complaint against RCN Telecom Services for secondary copyright infringement and secondary liability under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2312290005) is the latest development in SMV’s quest “to add itself and hundreds of its works to an unrelated copyright action,” said RCN’s motion to dismiss Monday (docket 3:23-cv-23356) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey. That unrelated action, Bodyguard Productions v. RCN Telecom Services (docket 3:21-cv-15310), was filed in the same district nearly three years ago. SMV’s complaint alleges that RCN’s subscribers, or those using their subscriptions, use software such as BitTorrent to infringe SMV’s “exclusive rights of reproduction and distribution.” Whatever the plaintiff’s motivation may be for seeking to join or consolidate this action with Bodyguard, its claims can’t survive a motion to dismiss because they are time-barred, said RCN’s memorandum of law in support of its motion to dismiss. All SMV’s claims are subject to a three-year statute of limitations, and SMV expressly alleges that the underlying acts of copyright infringement and violations of the DMCA occurred as early as August 2018, said the memorandum. The plaintiff doesn’t allege that any relevant act of infringement or violation of the DMCA “occurred within the limitations period,” it said. SMV’s secondary liability claims should be dismissed “for a host of other reasons as well,” it said. The U.S. Supreme Court recently recognized, in its 2023 decision in Twitter v. Taamneh, that it would run roughshod over the typical limits on tort liability to effectively hold any sort of communication provider liable for any sort of wrongdoing merely for knowing that the wrongdoers were using its services and failing to stop them, it said. That principle, which is consistent with decades of Supreme Court jurisprudence on secondary liability, “forecloses” SMV’s claims here, said the memorandum. The plaintiff has also failed to allege facts supporting necessary elements of its claims for contributory and vicarious liability, it said.
Carnival's cruise ships worldwide are now equipped with Starlink-delivered connectivity, Carnival said Tuesday. The fleet-wide rollout began in late 2022, Carnival said.
Broadband providers, broadcasters, satellite companies and the FirstNet Authority urged the FCC not to expand outage reporting requirements. Meanwhile, groups such as Public Knowledge, Next Century Cities and The Utility Reform Network (TURN) said increased reporting rules are a matter of public safety. Comments were filed in docket 21-346 by Monday’s deadline.
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New America's Open Technology Institute is raising concerns about the FCC's broadband consumer labels (see 2404100076). In a meeting with Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff, OTI asked the FCC to issue best practices for formatting and clarify that ISPs "should not block automated collection and access of CSV files by means other than human directed web browser actions," according to an ex parte filing Tuesday in docket 22-2. The group also found instances of "label implementation that either undermined the purpose of the rule or raised other concerns." OTI said some labels couldn't be accessed without providing a service address. One provider's plan directed a user to a "pop-up with a large block of 'fine print' rather than the label" on its website, OTI said. It also noted some consumers shopping for services in person "may not be aware" they can ask for a broadband consumer label to compare plans.
With the wireless industry pushing hard for additional spectrum, particularly in the lower 3 GHz and 7/8 GHz bands, which are being examined as part of the national spectrum strategy (see 2405060051), a top Verizon official said Tuesday the carrier isn’t in the market for additional spectrum. “We like the assets we have right now,” Sowmyanarayan Sampath, Verizon Consumer Group CEO, said at a MoffettNathanson investor conference. Verizon went big in the 2021 C-band auction, bidding $45.4 billion, plus $8 billion in incentive costs to satellite operators (see 2102250046). In markets where the carrier has deployed C-band it continues to see lower churn and a better mix of premium customers, Sampath said. He said Verizon has limited exposure with the loss of the affordability connectivity program, but also sees opportunities for gaining customers. “There could be an opportunity for us to get on the offensive and take some share,” he said. Verizon has “the largest collection of prepaid assets today, ranging from the discount to the mid-market, to the premium end,” he said: “We will have a service at every single price point.” About 15% of its wireless customers also buy broadband from Verizon, and it plans to double that figure, Sampath said. “We're never going to see it at the European levels of 50%, 60% convergence because the market structure is fundamentally different [in Europe] and the regulatory environment is very different there," he said. Sampath said Verizon believes it has the best U.S. wireless network, as a result of “better RF design” and “a better set of assets.” Verizon's tests show “it's a much better network,” he said. “At the end of the day, it comes down to reliability and coverage.”
Tech companies should share concrete examples of how they’re detecting and identifying AI-generated synthetic content, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., said Tuesday. Warner sent letters to every company that signed the Tech Accord to Combat Deceptive Use of AI in 2024 Elections. Signers include Amazon, Google, IBM, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Meta, OpenAI, Snap, TikTok and X. He asked them to describe how they’re labeling synthetic content, the resources devoted to the effort, communication with candidates, detection tools and third-party collaboration. “While the public pledge demonstrated your company’s willingness to constructively engage on this front, ultimately the impact of the Tech Accord will be measured in the efficacy -- and durability -- of the initiatives and protection measures you adopt,” he wrote.