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These days, some of tech’s most important decisions are being made inside courtrooms. Google and Facebook are fending off antitrust accusations, while patent suits determine how much control of their own products they can have. The slow fight over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act threatens platforms like Twitter and YouTube with untold liability suits for the content they host. Gig economy companies like Uber and Airbnb are fighting for their very existence as their workers push for the protections of full-time employees. In each case, judges and juries are setting the rules about exactly how far tech companies can push the envelope and exactly how much protection everyday people have. This is where we keep track of those legal fights and the broader principles behind them. When you move fast and break things, it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise when you end up in court.

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Apple will face an AirTags class-action lawsuit.

Judge Vince Chhabria of California’s Northern District found that three plaintiffs had sufficiently claimed “negligence and product liability” in the suit, which alleges that AirTags “help stalkers track their victims,” Bloomberg reported Friday.

Bloomberg quotes Judge Chhabria:

“Apple may ultimately be right that California law did not require it to do more to diminish the ability of stalkers to use AirTags effectively, but that determination cannot be made at this early stage,”


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The Verge
Prosecutors recommend a 40- to 50-year sentence for Sam Bankman-Fried.

The former crypto billionaire was found guilty on all seven charges he faced in November, and the judge is scheduled to deliver a sentence on March 28th. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers suggested a 5- to 6-year prison sentence but a filing submitted by the prosecution on Friday disagrees: 

While a Guidelines sentence – which would exceed 100 years, effectively a life sentence – is not necessary, the Government urges the Court to impose a sentence that underscores the remarkably serious nature of the harm to thousands of victims; prevents the defendant from ever again committing fraud; and sends a powerful signal to others who might be tempted to engage in financial misconduct that the consequences will be severe.

A sentence of 40 to 50 years is necessary to serve such purposes. 


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Masimo jailbroke iPhones to try to keep the Apple Watch banned.

That’s according to the US Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) recently-published January 12th ruling that approved Apple’s modification meant to lift the Apple Watch ban.

CBP chief Dax Terrill wrote that Masimo installed “otherwise restricted software that, but for the jailbreaking, would not have been feasible.” He concluded that the software change “would appear to resolve the issue of infringement.”


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Three authors accuse Nvidia of using their books for AI training without permission.

The authors, Brian Keene, Abdi Nazemian, and Steward O’Nan, allege that Nvidia trained natural language aspects of its NeMo platform on a massive training dataset containing their work, according to Reuters. Their class-action suit, if certified, would cover anyone in the US with work involved in NeMo’s training.

Although Reuters doesn’t specify, the suit may be referencing the “Books3” dataset that other author lawsuits against OpenAI and Meta are based on.


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Discord military leaker agrees to plea deal that could include 16 years in prison.

National Guard member Jack Teixeira, who was arrested last year after leaking classified US government documents in a small Discord server, has entered into a plea agreement with the Massachusetts District Attorney.

Teixeira would plead guilty in exchange for no charges under the Espionage Act. In exchange, he agrees to face between 132 months (11 years) and 200 months (16 years and 8 months) in prison, along with fines and 3 years of supervised release.


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OpenAI execs think Musk sued because he’s upset he’s not along for the ride.

Chief strategy officer Jason Kwon said in a staff memo regarding Elon Musk’s lawsuit that Musk has “regrets about not being involved with the company today,” according to several reports.

Axios detailed claims that Kwon refuted, including whether GPT-4 represents artificial general intelligence that benefits humanity. In court, Musk would also need to prove a very wobbly claim that OpenAI was contractually bound to do so.


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X’s lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate sounds like it’s on the rocks.

The parties held a conference call to argue about whether the nonprofit’s anti-hate speech researchers illegally scraped data from Elon Musk’s social network, and a judge seems dubious.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer was skeptical that when the nonprofit entered the standard user contract governing all Twitter and X users, it could have foreseen that Musk would buy Twitter for $44 billion in 2022 and welcome back users it had banned for posting hateful content. [...] “I am trying to figure out, in my mind, how that’s possibly true, because I don’t think it is.”

Judge Breyer didn’t indicate when we might get a ruling, Reuters says.


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Apple is fighting to get “Reality Composer” trademarked.

In a lawsuit filed in a Virginia federal court, Apple pushed back on the US Patent and Trademark Office’s decision to reject its trademarks for its Vision Pro developer tools, “Reality Composer” and “Reality Converter.”

Apple argues that the two names won’t be confused with the “Reality Control” and “Reality Engine” products owned by Zero Density, the Turkish company that challenged the marks.


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Meta is defending its end-to-end encryption in a Nevada federal court.

State Attorney General Aaron Darnell Ford filed last week to stop Meta from offering end-to-end encryption to children as a matter of “extreme urgency,” claiming E2EE keeps police from protecting kids from predators.

This is just one of a slew of lawsuits filed against social media companies lately. Legal expert Riana Pfefferkorn, who discussed the case in Kim Zetter’s Zero Day blog and on Mastodon, calls it a particularly “bonkers assault on encryption.”

We’ve reached out to Meta and Nevada’s AG for more information.


Julius “Zeekill” Kivimäki, Lizard Squad hacker, is arrested (again).

Cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs reshared this post showing Kivimäki has been arrested in Helsinki after disappearing when a Finnish appeals court overturned his release from prison.

Kivimäki was initially arrested in France last year for allegedly hacking the Vastaamo online therapy center and leaking patient info online.


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Do Kwon, the Terra / Luna creator, is coming to a U.S. courtroom to face fraud charges

He might even arrive in time for the SEC’s fraud lawsuit, which is scheduled to begin jury selection in March. He’s also facing eight criminal counts.


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Three Arrows Capital cofounder on jail: “I think it’s definitely good for you.”

That’s Su Zhu; Kyle Davies is still on the lam. But their woes may not yet be over:

Among the most incriminating evidence brought forward against Zhu and Davies is a document they sent to at least one creditor as crypto markets were collapsing in May 2022, claiming 3AC had nearly $2.4 billion under management. Both lenders and people close to the liquidators now believe this number was false, grossly overstating the fund’s assets. “We firmly believe they committed fraud.”

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How AI copyright lawsuits could make the whole industry go extinct

The New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI is part of a broader, industry-shaking copyright challenge that could define the future of AI.

Squishmallows and Jazwares vs. Build-A-Bear and Skoosherz.

The Guardian reports that Squishmallows parent company Jazwares is suing Build-A-Bear over its new line of rotund, kawaii animals, Skoosherz, accusing it of copying their toys’ “simplified Asian-style kawaii faces.”

Not backing down, Build-A-Bear countersued Jazwares, saying Skoosherz extends its existing line of cute animal toys. This is not the first time the Warren Buffet-owned Jazwares has sued for copyright infringement, it filed a lawsuit last year against Alibaba for selling fake Squishmallows.


Side by side image showing two Squishmallows plush toys on the left and five plush Skoosherz toys on the right.
“Patty & Connor” Squishmallows (L), and Skoosherz (R)
Image (composite): Jazwares, Build-A-Bear
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Twitter
That’s not how you get into The Sphere.

Maison DesChamps climbed around and found out earlier today when he was removed from the top of The Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, and arrested, along with several others, reports ABC Channel 13 News.