legal

Judge Rejects Elon Musk’s Lawsuit Against Anti-Hate Research Organization

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A federal judge sided against Elon Musk today, dismissing a lawsuit brought by Musk and X that targeted a nonprofit that researches online hate. In the lawsuit, X claimed that it lost “tens of millions of dollars” as a direct result of the CCDH’s research. Musk, who personally directed the lawsuit, called the CCDH “an evil propaganda machine” in replies on X. The nonprofit, formed in 2018, researches trends in hate speech, extremism and misinformation on major social networks. Unlike the CCDH lawsuit, X is suing Media Matters for America in Texas, which doesn’t share California’s protections against frivolous lawsuits designed to stifle free speech.

“Truth Social SPAC: Covering Trump’s Exorbitant Legal Expenses Pending Board Approval”

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Donald Trump’s beleaguered SPAC deal is finally going through, and just in time to pay nearly half a billion dollars owed over several legal actions — if the board agrees to let him sell. And that’s without reckoning with the questionable success of Truth Social, the partisan social network hurriedly stood up after the former President was booted from Twitter. TMTG reportedly had a net loss of around $49 million in 2023, on revenues of under $4 million — not exactly hot numbers. There’s no doubt that many, many shareholders in the newly public TMTG will sell their shares as soon as possible. But if Trump wanted to finance his current liabilities, he’d have to sell some 12 million shares at the current price — around 15% of his total stake.

on cryptocurrency Breaking News: Worldcoin Takes Legal Action Against Spain’s Cryptocurrency Suspension

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A German subsidiary involved in Sam Altman’s controvercial crypto blockchain digital identity business, Worldcoin, was reported Friday to have filed a legal challenge against a suspension order from Spain’s data protection authority. Here’s Worldcoin’s statement in full:Worldcoin is fully compliant with all laws and regulations governing biometric data collection and data transfer, including Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). Nor to confirm whether Worldcoin and its operators in Spain have complied with the local order to stop scanning and processing data of people from the market. If that happens, disputes over decisions are either resolved via majority votes or, if DPAs remain split, the European Data Protection Board gets a casting vote. The article also notes that “several” EU authorities are currently investigating whether Worldcoin complies with the GDPR.

“AI and Privacy: A Senior Counsel’s Perspective on the Role of Women in the Field”

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Rashida Richardson, senior counsel, AI at MastercardBriefly, how did you get your start in AI? On the second point, law and policy regarding AI development and use is evolving. How can investors better push for responsible AI? Investors can do a better job at defining or at least clarifying what constitutes responsible AI development or use, and taking action when AI actor’s practices do not align. Currently, “responsible” or “trustworthy” AI are effectively marketing terms because there are no clear standards to evaluate AI actor practices.

“Feminine Forces in Artificial Intelligence: A Spotlight on Lee Tiedrich, Global Partnership on AI’s Leading Specialist”

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It’s very gratifying to help prepare the next generation of AI leaders to address multidisciplinary AI challenges. I recently called for a global AI learning campaign in a piece I published with the OECD. To reduce potential liability and other risks, AI users should establish proactive AI governance and compliance programs to manage their AI deployments. Furthermore, in our increasingly regulated and litigious AI world, responsible AI practices should reduce litigation risks and potential reputational harms caused by poorly designed AI. Additionally, even if not addressed in the investment agreements, investors can introduce portfolio companies to potential responsible AI hires or consultants and encourage and support their engagement in the ever-expanding responsible AI ecosystem.

Spain Challenges Legality of Meta’s Use of Content Moderating Subcontractors

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The Barcelona court accepted that the mental problems suffered by the worker are not a common illness but a work accident, per the newspaper. Meta’s subcontractor had processed his absence from work as common ailment and sought to deny responsibility for any psychological harms suffered from reviewing violent content uploaded to Facebook and Instagram. Meta also noted it provides technical solutions to subcontractors which are intended to enable content reviewers to limit their exposure to graphic material they are being asked to moderate as much as possible. In the article the newspaper quotes a worker describing the support provided by their employer, and Meta’s subcontractor, as “very insufficient”. Legal rulings that impose requirements on third party content reviewers to take care of workers’ mental health could put limits on the model, however.

Meta Takes on Another EU Privacy Challenge Regarding ‘Pay for Privacy’ Consent

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What then followed, last fall, was a claim from Meta that it would be switching to a consent basis for tracking. Facebook and Instagram users who wish to continue to get free access to the services have to “consent” to its tracking — which Meta claims is valid consent under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Withdrawing consent in the scenario Meta has devised requires users to sign up for a monthly subscription. So noyb’s follow-up complaint targets the inherent friction in Meta charging users money to protect their privacy. However, by then, Meta had already shifted its claimed basis to consent, meaning it could just sidestep the regulatory intervention.

Legal Blunders Commonly Made by New Business Owners

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Some of the trickiest and most foreign are legal because the legal world is unfamiliar and ever changing. What are some of the impactful legal mistakes founders make, what are the implications, and how can they avoid them or mitigate risk? For example, a founder might promise early employees equity in percentages without clarifying what vesting terms apply or what type of stock will be issued. Founders or early employees frequently claim that promises were made orally or by email. Founders or early employees frequently claim that promises were made orally or by email.

Judge Allows Lawsuit Against Snap for Fentanyl Deaths to Move Forward

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A lawsuit blaming Snapchat for a series of drug overdoses among young people can proceed, a Los Angeles judge ruled this week. A group of family members related to children and teens who overdosed on fentanyl sued Snapchat maker Snap last year, accusing the social media company of facilitating illicit drug deals involving fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times deadlier than heroin. In the ruling on Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lawrence Riff rejected Snap’s effort to get the case dismissed. Riff did dismiss four counts against Snap but overruled the company’s efforts to throw out more than 10 others, including negligence and wrongful death. The depth of disagreement is revealed by the parties’ inability jointly to label Snap’s social media presence and activities: “service,” “app,” “product”, “tool,” “interactive course of conduct,” “platform,” “website,” “software” or something else.

Germany’s Fading Green Dreams and the Impending Consolidation of Cannabis Enterprises

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As 2023 comes to an end, it is only natural to reflect on what happened in the markets we cover. But when it comes to cannabis, the answer is “not much,” which won’t help cannabis startups that are already facing a challenging funding environment. Namely, 2023 wasn’t the year that Germany legalized adult recreational cannabis use. That matters because that’s not what the legal cannabis market once anticipated, and whenever there is misalignment between reality and what investors expected, especially when public companies boosted said expectations, it is rarely good news. “Companies have spent significant capital in preparation for a sizable commercial market in Germany.