Reuters: U.S. and States’ Google Antitrust Probe Nears Finish Line. “The U.S. Justice Department is seeking the final documents to complete an antitrust investigation of Alphabet Inc’s Google , said three sources familiar with the probe, which is expected to end with a lawsuit this summer.”
US Justice Department
USA Today: DOJ warns Nevada its plan to reopen discriminates against religious groups
USA Today: DOJ warns Nevada its plan to reopen discriminates against religious groups. “The Justice Department on Tuesday warned Nevada that its plan allowing certain businesses to gradually reopen amid coronavirus threats discriminates against religious organizations and places of worship. Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband, who heads the department’s Civil Rights Division, told Gov. Steve Sisolak that his plan to let businesses, such as restaurants and hair and nail salons, to reopen, while banning religious gatherings of 10 or more people may violate constitutional rights for free expression.”
Politico: Justice Department centralizes control of sensitive insider-trading probes
Politico: Justice Department centralizes control of sensitive insider-trading probes. “Multiple U.S. Attorney’s offices — including the Southern District of New York — wanted to handle insider trading investigations of lawmakers, one of the sources said, but all the probes have been centralized in D.C. It would have been logical for SDNY to have jurisdiction: Wall Street is located there, and the district has extensive experience investigating and prosecuting complex financial cases. Other offices that telegraphed interest were the residences of potential targets. Spokespersons for the Justice Department and SDNY declined to comment.”
The Register-Guard: How Chinese military hackers allegedly pulled off the Equifax data breach
The Register-Guard: How Chinese military hackers allegedly pulled off the Equifax data breach. “The criminals identified a flaw in the credit agency’s security system, executed a plan of attack to penetrate it and devised a scheme to cover their tracks on their way out, according to a criminal indictment unsealed Monday. Those alleged criminals, four members of the Chinese military, exploited a flaw in software that allowed U.S. consumers to dispute problems with their Equifax credit reports. That gave the hackers access to Americans’ personal information, according to the indictment.”
Washington Post: Justice Department investigates Sci-Hub founder on suspicion of working for Russian intelligence
Washington Post: Justice Department investigates Sci-Hub founder on suspicion of working for Russian intelligence. “The Justice Department is investigating a woman who runs a major Internet piracy operation on suspicion that she may also be working with Russian intelligence to steal U.S. military secrets from defense contractors, according to people familiar with the matter. Alexandra Elbakyan, a computer programmer born in Kazakhstan, is the creator of Sci-Hub, a website that provides free access to academic papers that are usually available only through expensive subscriptions.”
U.S. Justice Department to review Google’s deal for Fitbit: source (Reuters)
Reuters: U.S. Justice Department to review Google’s deal for Fitbit: source. “The U.S. Justice Department will review plans by Alphabet Inc-owned (GOOGL.O) Google to buy fitness tracker maker Fitbit Inc (FIT.N) for possible antitrust issues, a source told Reuters on Tuesday.”
MSN News: Citing ‘unprecedented’ surveillance, ACLU sues federal agencies over facial-recognition scans
MSN News: Citing ‘unprecedented’ surveillance, ACLU sues federal agencies over facial-recognition scans . “The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday sued the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI for records detailing their use of facial-recognition software, arguing the agencies have secretly implemented a nationwide surveillance technology that threatens Americans’ privacy and civil rights.”
Los Angeles Times: Justice Department and SEC drop investigation of Snap
Los Angeles Times: Justice Department and SEC drop investigation of Snap. “According to a regulatory filing published by the social media company Wednesday morning, U.S. authorities have officially dropped investigations into whether Snap misled investors about the threat posed by Facebook-owned Instagram at the time of its IPO.”
BuzzFeed: The Justice Department Deleted Language About Press Freedom And Racial Gerrymandering From Its Internal Manual
BuzzFeed: The Justice Department Deleted Language About Press Freedom And Racial Gerrymandering From Its Internal Manual. “Since the fall, the US Department of Justice has been overhauling its manual for federal prosecutors. In: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tough-on-crime policies. Out: A section titled ‘Need for Free Press and Public Trial.’ References to the department’s work on racial gerrymandering are gone. Language about limits on prosecutorial power has been edited down.”
Feds: Iranian hackers compromised more than 8,000 academic email accounts (Fast Company)
Fast Company: Feds: Iranian hackers compromised more than 8,000 academic email accounts. “The Justice Department released an indictment Friday accusing nine Iranians of taking part in a massive hacking campaign targeting hundreds of universities around the world, as well as 30 U.S. companies, the United Nations, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.”
Sunlight Foundation: Tweets by @realDonaldTrump are official statements of the @POTUS, says Justice Department
Sunlight Foundation: Tweets by @realDonaldTrump are official statements of the @POTUS, says Justice Department. “The question of whether the personal or campaign social media accounts of elected officials are official statements has been debated for a decade now, with increasing relevance to our politics as more politicians and member of the public join. This week, federal government lawyers helped to put the debate to rest, at least for the presidency, when their filing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stated that President Donald J. Trump’s tweets at @realDonaldTrump are ‘official statements of the President of the United States.’ (Hat tip National Law Journal)”
Gizmodo: Justice Department Drops Request for Names of People Who ‘Liked’ Anti-Trump Facebook Page
Gizmodo: Justice Department Drops Request for Names of People Who ‘Liked’ Anti-Trump Facebook Page. “In a court hearing today, the Department of Justice dropped its request for the names of an estimated 6,000 people who ‘liked’ a Facebook page about an Inauguration Day protest, the American Civil Liberties Union said. The ACLU challenged several warrants related to protests against President Trump’s inauguration on Friday, one of which included the search, claiming they were over-broad.”
Ars Technica: Justice Department goes nuclear on Google in search warrant fight
Ars Technica: Justice Department goes nuclear on Google in search warrant fight. “The Justice Department is demanding that a federal judge sanction Google for failing to abide by court orders to turn over data tied to 22 e-mail accounts. ‘Google’s conduct here amounts to a willful and contemptuous disregard of various court orders,’ the government wrote (PDF) in a legal filing to US District Judge Richard Seeborg of California.”
