DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ A bank exec set to be sentenced for securities fraud faked a letter from his ex-fiancee calling him 'greatest man I will ever know' to get a lighter sentence
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A former bank exec from Silicon Valley faked six out of 12 character reference letters. One letter claiming to be from his ex-fiancée called him the "greatest man I will ever know." He had submitted the letters at a sentencing hearing for a prior securities fraud conviction. Gad's ex-fiancée found out about the fake letter shortly after his hearing and ratted him out to his own attorney, according to the press release. Along with spending 15 months in prison, Gad was sentenced to serve 36 months on supervised release and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and a $1,300 special assessment fee.

Meta and Dfinity asked the court Monday to dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be revived. Dfinity sued Meta last year, alleging the logo Meta adopted after changing its name from Facebook would cause confusion with Dfinity's infinity-symbol trademarks. Meta is still facing trademark lawsuits from virtual-reality company MetaX and investment firm Metacapital over its name change. The case is Dfinity Foundation v. Meta Platforms Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. For Dfinity: Dennis Ellis, Keith Wesley and Katherine Murray of Ellis George Cipollone O'Brien AnnagueyFor Meta: Bobby Ghajar and Angela Dunning of CooleyRead more:Meta hit with trademark lawsuit over new infinity-symbol logoMeta defeats trademark lawsuit over infinity-symbol logoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Part of the clash included a Hagens Berman partner accusing Quinn Emanuel of discounting her views based on her gender. Quinn Emanuel denied the allegation, calling it a "mystery." The two law firms on Friday night submitted their pitches to Donato about why he should appoint them solely rather than jointly to lead the consumer class. A representative from Hagens Berman did not immediately comment, and a Quinn Emanuel spokesperson declined to comment. Hagens Berman and Quinn Emanuel have been on opposite sides in other cases.

☆ U.S. senators question Meta on Chinese, other developers' access to sensitive data
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Facebook app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022. The letter said an internal Meta document showed that nearly 90,000 developers in China had been given access to information about users, including profile data, photos and private messages even though Facebook had never been able to operate in China. More than 42,000 developers in Russia and thousands in Iran and North Korea also had access to the information, they wrote. The unsealed documents came to light as part of litigation in the Northern District of California that was filed in 2018. "We have grave concerns about the extent to which this access could have enabled foreign intelligence service activity, ranging from foreign malign influence to targeting and counter-intelligence," the two senators wrote.

☆ U.S. FTC will not appeal decision allowing Meta to purchase VR content maker Within
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said it will not appeal its loss in federal court in its fight to stop Meta Platforms (META.O) from buying VR content maker Within Unlimited, but could still pursue the case with an internal FTC administrative law judge. Judge Edward Davila of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California last week declined to stop Meta from acquiring the VR content maker, rejecting the regulator's concerns the deal would reduce competition in a new market. An FTC official said that no decision had yet been made as to whether the agency would try to stop the deal in a process before an FTC administrative law judge. Meta declined to comment on the decision not to appeal last week's ruling in federal court. The FTC sued Meta in July to stop the Within deal, asking the judge to order a preliminary injunction, saying Meta's "campaign to conquer VR" began in 2014 when it acquired Oculus, a VR headset manufacturer.

☆ U.S. judge denies FTC request to stop Meta from acquiring VR firm Within
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - A judge on Friday released a ruling denying the Federal Trade Commission's request to stop Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) from buying virtual reality content maker Within Unlimited, rejecting the regulator's concerns the deal would reduce competition in a new market. A Meta spokesperson said the Facebook and Instagram owner was "pleased that the Court has denied the FTC’s motion to block our acquisition of Within." "Though Meta boasts considerable financial and VR engineering resources, it did not possess the capabilities unique to VR dedicated fitness apps, specifically fitness content creation and studio production facilities," the judge wrote. The decision is good news for Meta boss and founder Mark Zuckerberg, who defended the acquisition in testimony in December, arguing that his company was helping to build but not dominate the virtual reality industry. The FTC sued Meta in July to stop the Within deal, asking the judge to order a preliminary injunction, saying Meta's "campaign to conquer VR" began in 2014 when it acquired Oculus, a VR headset manufacturer.

☆ Grocery consumers sue to block Kroger’s $25 bln buy of Albertsons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Mike Scarcella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Kroger is the biggest grocer in the U.S. by revenue, and Albertsons is the second-largest supermarket chain. Nearly 5,000 grocery stores would be under one corporate umbrella if the deal, announced in October, goes through. A representative for Albertsons declined to comment on Friday, and a Kroger spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Kroger operates stores under banners including Harris Teeter, Pay Less and King Soopers. U.S. antitrust law lets private consumers sue over proposed mergers and acquisitions, apart from any enforcement action brought by a state or federal agency policing competition laws.

Liss-Riordan and Twitter made a joint filing in San Francisco federal court on Thursday to update the court ahead of a hearing scheduled for Feb. 9. The workers claim Twitter refused to pay promised severance or give them the advance notice of mass layoffs required by law, which the company denies. In an interview on Friday, Liss-Riordan said Twitter is likely trying to delay the arbitration cases in hopes that some workers drop their claims. “This is just a stupid game that Twitter is trying to play,” she said. Liss-Riordan has filed three other lawsuits against Twitter stemming from the layoffs, including claims that the company targeted female employees and forced out workers with disabilities.

Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of disgraced biotech firm Theranos, bought a one-way ticket to Mexico shortly after she was convicted of fraud last January, a court filing submitted Thursday alleges. Holmes was found guilty on four counts of lying to investors on Jan. 3, 2022. Shortly thereafter, federal prosecutors allege in the filing, Holmes bought a flight to Mexico departing Jan. 26, 2022 without a scheduled return trip. "Only after the government raised this unauthorized flight with defense counsel was the trip canceled," prosecutors say. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila ordered Holmes to surrender herself into custody by April 27.

☆ Robinhood must face customers' lawsuit alleging it hid trading costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday said Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O) must face a lawsuit by customers who accused the online trading platform of fraudulently concealing their actual trading costs while promising "commission free" trades. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, said customers in the proposed class action had standing to sue over securities they bought and sold on Robinhood's platform. Customers led by Ji Kwon, a Californian, said they ultimately bore these costs and often got worse prices on trades than if they had gone to rivals that charged commissions. The proposed class includes U.S. users of Robinhood from Sept. 1, 2016 to June 16, 2020 who placed trades where the company received payment for order flow. The case is In re Robinhood Order Flow Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

Companies Costco Wholesale Corp FollowJan 17 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday said Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) must face a lawsuit claiming it falsely advertises and labels its canned tuna as "dolphin safe" despite using fishing methods that harm and kill dolphins. The Issaquah, Washington-based retailer said Wright only speculated about the risk to dolphins in tuna she bought, and that it made no promises about dolphin safety beyond using a "dolphin safe" logo on labels. He said this was particularly important because consumers "overwhelmingly" prefer tuna labeled dolphin-safe when given a choice. The case is Wright v Costco Wholesale Corp, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Additional reporting by Mehr Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A New Yorker is suing Twitter for $5 million over a data leak that researchers say exposed the information of more than 200 million users
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-16 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Twitter user is suing the company for $5 million over a data leak which exposed users' personal information. According to cybersecurity researchers, the leak impacted over 200 million users. Twitter has denied that the data leak was caused by hackers exploiting a flaw in its systems. In early January, cybercrime intelligence company Hudson Rock suggested that hackers had stolen over 200 million Twitter users' information and published them onto a publicly available online hacking forum. "In response to recent media reports of Twitter users' data being sold online, we conducted a thorough investigation and there is no evidence that data recently being sold was obtained by exploiting a vulnerability of Twitter systems," the post said.

☆ Meta sues Voyager Labs, saying it created fake accounts to scrape user data
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Voyager Labs specializes in investigative software and services intended to help law enforcement and companies obtain information about suspects, among other uses. Meta alleged that Voyager Labs' software was powered by data that it improperly gathered from Facebook and Instagram in addition to other sites like Twitter, YouTube, Twitter, and Telegram. According to the filing in the District Court for the Northern District of California, Meta alleged that Voyager Labs created over 38,000 fake Facebook user accounts. CNBC reached out to Voyager Labs for comment. Meta's claims against Voyager Labs follows similar actions the social networking giant has taken against other companies it alleged to be scraping user data.

☆ Tesla shareholder attorneys taunted Elon Musk over his attempt to move a trial to Texas due to 'local negativity:' He has a 'knack for attracting 'negative' coverage'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Grace Kay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Tesla shareholder attorneys poked fun at Elon Musk's attempt to move a trial to Texas in court filing. Last week, Musk's lawyer said a trial should not be held in California due to "local negativity." Attorneys for the investors said the billionaire has a "knack for attracting 'negative' coverage." Musk and a Tesla spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication. The trial revolves around 2018 tweets from Musk in which the Tesla CEO said he had funding secured to take the carmaker private.

Jan 11 (Reuters) - Lucid Group Inc (LCID.O) on Wednesday won the dismissal of a lawsuit accusing the luxury electric car maker of defrauding investors in the special-purpose acquisition company that helped take it public, by significantly overstating its production outlook. Rogers said the Churchill shareholders had standing to sue over statements made by a different company, Lucid, because they alleged a "discernible" loss from "specific alleged misconduct." In Dec. 2021, Lucid received a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission subpoena for documents related to the merger. Lawyers for Churchill shareholders did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The case is In re CCIV/Lucid Motors Securities Litigation, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No.

The GOP-controlled House passes a rules package for 118th Congress with just one GOP defection, NBC’s Kyle Stewart reports. ... President Biden spends his final day in Mexico City at North American Leaders’ Summit. But first: The news that the Justice Department is reviewing Obama Era classified documents found at a think tank tied to President Biden is quite a political gift to Donald Trump. “When is the FBI going to raid the many homes of Joe Biden, perhaps even the White House?” Trump posted on his Truth Social account. 6: The number of shootings recently at or near the homes of New Mexico Democratic political leaders, including the incoming state House speaker.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Meta to pursue a lawsuit alleging that an Israeli company unlawfully accessed WhatsApp servers when installing spyware on users’ devices. The lawsuit, filed in October 2019, alleges that NSO violated various laws, including the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, when it installed the “Pegasus” spyware. Meta claims that NSO unlawfully accessed WhatsApp servers earlier in 2019, enabling it to conduct surveillance of 1,400 people, including journalists and human rights activists. “Some WhatsApp users are violent criminals and terrorists who exploit the software’s encryption to avoid detection,” the company’s lawyers wrote. In fact, she noted, no foreign government has told the State Department that NSO was acting on its behalf.

It’s not surprising to see that federal prosecutors, state prosecutors and New York’s attorney general are reportedly looking into Santos’ deception, and much of the public likely wants to see Santos punished for his duplicity. Yet despite the brazenness and provable nature of Santos’ lies, no one should believe that an indictment is guaranteed. Lying to the public, as Santos has, may be despicable and indefensible, but it is not a crime. Santos’ lies could be a goldmine for establishing intent and impeaching him on cross-examination at trial, and, if he is convicted, enhancing his punishment at sentencing. And there are no obvious state violations or other punishments coming for Santos unless state investigators uncover new facts.

☆ Facebook parent Meta agrees to pay $725 million to settle Cambridge Analytica suit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | Arjun Kharpal Is A News Assistant For Cnbc In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Facebook parent Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed the social media giant gave third parties access to user data without their consent. The class action lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy firm linked to former President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign. A scandal that prompted global outrageThe Cambridge Analytica scandal prompted global outrage and a flurry of regulators worldwide to scrutinize Facebook’s data practices. Cambridge Analytica, which shut down after the allegations in 2018, was controversial because the data it harvested from Facebook was used to inform political campaigns. Since the scandal, Facebook changed its name to Meta to reflect its growing ambitions to become a leader in the metaverse, a term used to refer to virtual worlds.

☆ Facebook parent Meta agrees to pay $725 million to settle privacy lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Facebook parent Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed the social media giant gave third parties access to user data without their consent. The class action lawsuit was prompted in 2018 after Facebook disclosed that the information of 87 million users was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica, a consultancy firm linked to former President Donald Trump's 2016 election campaign. Plaintiffs alleged that Facebook "granted numerous third parties access to their Facebook content and information without their consent, and that Facebook failed to adequately monitor the third parties' access to, and use of, that information," according to the law firm behind the lawsuit. Judges overseeing the case in the Northern District of California will now have to approve the settlement. Over the last three years we revamped our approach to privacy and implemented a comprehensive privacy program," a Meta spokesperson told CNBC.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars deposited in the crypto currency exchange, will be released on $250 million personal recognizance bond, a federal judge in New York ruled Thursday. Bankman-Fried, wearing a dark blue suit and tan shoes, walked into court with shackles around his ankles. A recognizance bond is a written commitment from the accused to appear in court when ordered. Bankman-Fried’s parents, both Stanford Law professors, were in the courtroom. Sam Bankman-Fried, center, arrives at the Magistrate Court building for a hearing in Nassau, Bahamas, on Dec. 21, 2022.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is escorted out of the Magistrate's Court on December 21, 2022 in Nassau, Bahamas. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will be released on $250 million bond while awaiting trial for fraud and other criminal charges, a New York federal judge ruled Thursday. Judge Gabriel Gorenstein said Bankman-Fried would require "strict" supervision following his release to his parents' home in California. Bernie Madoff posted a $10 million bond while awaiting trial on his multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Jeff Skilling, former Enron CEO, posted a $5 million bond, while Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos founder, posted a scant $500,000.

President Joe Biden will announce six new judicial nominees in his final batch of selections in 2022, a White House official told NBC News, as it looks to two more years of reshaping the federal courts under an expanded Democratic Senate majority. The nominees are for federal district courts — one in Indiana, two in New Jersey and three in California. The White House said they’ll be among the first nominees sent to the Senate early in the new year, when another session begins. Democrats gained a seat in the 2022 election and may have an easier time processing judges in 2023 and 2024. The new round will bring Biden’s total announced judicial nominees to 150, the White House said.

☆ Meta to delay closing Within Unlimited deal by one month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 20 (Reuters) - Facebook parent Meta Platforms (META.O) does not expect to seal its acquisition deal with Within Unlimited, maker of the popular fitness app "Supernatural", before Jan. 31, according to a court filing from Tuesday. In August, Meta had agreed not to close the deal until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 31. Meta already has the best-selling VR headset, the Quest 2, and controls a Meta Quest Store with hundreds of apps. Within Unlimited, founded in 2014, creates original content for virtual reality. It describes itself as "the premier destination for cinematic virtual reality."

The agency did not respond to requests for comment on its record monitoring animal research experiments nationally. The USDA inspector general has published at least three reports since 2014 critical of the agency’s lax oversight, though its criticism dates back to the 1990s. Neuralink says on its website that it champions animal welfare and tries to reduce animal testing where possible. Two academic studies conducted in 2009 and 2012 found that animal research committees approved between 98% and 99% of experiments proposed by researchers. Envigo was made to sign the consent decree giving up the beagles only after the USDA inspector general and the Justice Department investigated and found evidence of inhumane treatment.

Search resuls for: "District of California"

25 mentions found