Updates

A court in Paris has ruled that Google was not liable for tax in France, after the French authorities demanded Google to pay back 1.1bn euros in taxes. The company booked its advertising contracts to be displayed in France through its subsidiary in Ireland. According to the court, the authorities' bill couldn't be justified, as Google did not have a 'permanent establishment' or 'sufficient taxable presence' in France. As a result, 'Google Ireland Ltd isn't taxable in France over the period 2005-2010.'

As part of the Independent Review Process (a procedure mandated by ICANN bylaws) initiated by Amazon over ICANN’s decision to reject the company’s application for the .amazon new generic top-level domain (and its equivalents in Chinese and Japanese), an Independent Review Panel recommended that the ICANN Board re-evaluates Amazon’s application. The Panel determined that the ICANN Board acted in a manner inconsistent with ICANN bylaws, and that the Governmental Advisory Committee - GAC (whose objection to .amazon determined the Board to reject the application) ‘failed to allow the applicant to submit any information to the GAC and thus deprived the applicant of the minimal degree of procedural fairness before issuance of its advice’. According to the Panel, the ICANN Board ‘should make an objective and independent judgment regarding whether there are, in fact, well-founded , merits-based public policy reasons for denying Amazon’s applications’.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has published the Global Cybersecurity Index (CGI) 2017, a new edition of its assessment of the commitments of its members to cybersecurity. The GCI 2017 records capabilities in 134 member states, by focusing on five factors related to the ITU Global Cybersecurity Agenda: legal, technical, organizational, capacity building and international cooperation. This version increased the visibility of what countries are doing to improve cybersecurity. According to findings, CGI has motivated countries to improve their work related to cybersecurity and raised awareness in countries for the need to start bilateral, multilateral and international cooperation. The research revealed that, while increased Internet access and technological development is correlated with improvement in cybersecurity at the global level, this is not necessarily true for countries with developing economies and lower levels of technological development. Developing countries lack well-trained cybersecurity experts, and necessary education on cybersecurity issues for law enforcement, and thus more cooperation should be initiated between developed and developing countries to assist them in cybersecurity development. Yet the research also showed that poorer nations can be stronger in their overall commitment to cybersecurity than rich ones: while Singapore ranked as the most committed country, it is followed by US and then Malaysia, Oman, Estonia, Mauritius, Australia, Georgia and France, Canada and Russia.

According to minister of science and technology Wan Gang, cited in media reports, China has been working on an artificial intelligence (AI) development plan that is to be soon made public. The plan is said to be focused on four areas: the building up of AI capabilities, the application of AI technologies, the introduction of policies to handle risks brought by AI, and international collaboration. The plan will also contain provisions on financial resources for funding activities in these areas. Earlier this year, minister Wan said that the Chinese government would establish a special fund for research in the field of AI.

A new ransomware, named Petya, spread around Ukraine, then Europe and the world, infecting and disabling Windows systems in various industries, from airports and shipping ports, to petrol and the financial industry, to supermarkets and law firms. According to Microsoft, the infection was identified in at least 65 countries, including Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Russia, and the USA. Petya is based on a code of a ransowmare developed in 2016, which locks the master boot records of the disk, effectively rendering the disc and computer dysfunctional until a ransom of USD$300 in Bitcoins is paid. Unlike its older version, the 2017 version – also dubbed ‘notPetya’ by some researchers – spreads like a worm through the infected systems (that is without a need for a user to activate it by opening an infected link or an attachment) by exploiting the same vulnerability that WannaCry did, and for which Microsoft issued a patch in March. NotPetya also uses a range of other tools, such as recovering administrator passwords on the infected systems and gaining top access privileges. While the malware has all the features of a ransomware, it appears the attackers have put relatively little effort in ensuring that payments are received, since there is only one Bitcoin wallet used for all the infected computers (which makes it easier to track and possibly locate the criminals when the funds are eventually withdrawn). In addition, the e-mail address offered for communication with the attackers was hosted on a public platform by German company Posteo, which immediately suspended it after the infection broke out. This is why some experts believe that the malware is not designed to make money, but to spread fast and cause damage, The Register reports.

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Microsoft have announced the formation of a Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. This cooperation includes sharing technical solutions, research to inform their efforts, and working with counter-terrorism experts - including the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate and the ICT4Peace Foundation - to establish a knowledge-sharing network. The Forum does not only consist of the large social media companies, but will also include 'smaller tech companies, civil society groups and academics, governments and supranational bodies such as the EU and the UN'.

Facebook launched the Online Civil Courage Initiative in the UK, which trains organisations on how to monitor and counter extremist content, and which includes the creation of a dedicated support desk at Facebook. The social media platform has already launched the initiative in Germany and France.

In March 2016, on his visit to Cuba, then US President Obama said, speaking of the need for greater Internet access: 'It also depends on the free and open exchange of ideas ... [I]f you can't access information online, if you cannot be exposed to different points of view, you will not reach your full potential, and over time, the youth will lose hope'. Catherine Powell references this speech in her blog post What Expanding Internet Access in Cuba Could Mean for Women. She notes that 'Broadening access to the internet and other information and communication technology, such as mobile phones and social media, could be an important tool for women’s rights (and other human rights) in Cuba'. She explains four particular ways that increased access will improve women's access to the workforce: first, expanding opportunities to work from home; second, improved communications with children and caregivers during working hours; third, an easier balance of work and home responsibilities with a stronger Internet economy easing some tasks such as shopping; and fourth, increased access to information and communication technologies will create job opportunities for women.

Fraugster, a German-Israeli payment security company, has launched a fraud prevention solution, Fraud Free Product, using artificial intelligence technology to detect cases of fraud. The product is is connected to the largest payment gateways, requiring no additional integration or setup for online merchants. Some of the world’s largest payment companies such as Ingenico ePayments, Wirecard and Credorax are already successfully using the product.