Denise Howell

Tech is not winning the battle against white supremacy

<i>Content warning: This post contains racial slurs, homophobic language and very graphic depictions of racism and violence.</i><p>If you were just paying attention to press releases, this week it’d be easy to believe that tech companies are winning the war on hate. Responding to the violence in …

Is Being a White Supremacist Grounds for Firing?

Americans are pressuring employers to prove that hate speech has real consequences.<p>After white nationalists descended upon Charlottesville, Virginia, a Twitter account with the handle @YesYoureRacist began soliciting the identities of rally goers based on photographs. “If you recognize any of the …

Why Charlottesville protesters are being named, shamed — and fired

The ugly and tragic events in Charlottesville, Va., which resulted in the death of one 32-year-old woman who was hit by a car, have sparked rallies across the country — and the firing of at least one white nationalist marcher.<p>Trending hashtags on Twitter — #nazihunter and #goodnightaltright — and …

Senate’s “Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017”–and Section 230’s Imminent Evisceration

A new anti-Section 230 bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017, will be introduced in the Senate imminently, perhaps tomorrow. [UPDATE: …

Uber Wins Ruling in Bid to Keep Price-Fix Suit Out of Court

Uber Technologies Inc. may be able to force a feud over price-fixing claims with a Connecticut customer into private arbitration, a New York appeals …

A running list of companies that no longer want the Daily Stormer’s business

The alt-right, which a new study says is just another word for white supremacist, grew up on the Internet. Now, after violent clashes in Charlottesville, some of the far-right movement's most infamous personalities are getting kicked off.<p>Off Uber, Google and PayPal — in one case, kicked off the Web …

Amateur Sleuths Aim to Identify Charlottesville Marchers, but Sometimes Misfire

After a day of work at the Engineering Research Center at the University of Arkansas, Kyle Quinn had a pleasant Friday night in Bentonville with his wife and a colleague. They explored an art exhibition at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and dined at an upscale restaurant.<p>Then on …

Waymo to judge: Uber should be held in contempt for withholding documents | Ars Technica

"He was ordered to come clean and did not come clean."<p>SAN FRANCISCO—During a heated court hearing here today, Waymo lawyers accused Uber's law firm, …

Why We Terminated Daily Stormer

Earlier today, Cloudflare terminated the account of the Daily Stormer. We've stopped proxying their traffic and stopped answering DNS requests for …

Tiki torch-makers decry use by white supremacists

Tiki Brand Products, the company that makes the popular backyard torches, distanced itself Sunday from the white supremacists who used its products during this weekend’s violent demonstrations in Charlottesville, Va.<p>“Tiki Brand is not associated in any way with the events that took place in …

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - 'Smiley' Emojis in Formal Workplace E

​​<p>A smiley face emoji and similar emoticons included in work-related e-mails may not create a positive impression and could even undermine …

California Court of Appeal Overturns Dangerous Right of Publicity Ruling

We Fight for the Users

For the past several months, DreamHost has been working with the Department of Justice to comply with legal process, including a Search Warrant (PDF) …

How brands respond to political crisis

As shocking images popped up on the internet of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and members of the Ku Klux Klan marching on the University of Virginia campus this weekend, one group was focused on a specific part of the photos: the tiki torches.<p>Tiki Brand products, the company that makes torches …

Sent to Prison by a Software Program’s Secret Algorithms

When Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. visited Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last month, he was asked a startling question, one with overtones of science fiction.<p>“Can you foresee a day,” asked Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the college in upstate New York, “when smart machines, driven with …

Cheerleader Uniform IP Case Ends With Unusual Settlement

Five months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on a long-running copyright fight between two cheerleading uniform companies, the case came to a …

A closer look at DOJ’s warrant to collect website records

The Hill is getting a lot of attention in privacy circles with a story headlined “Justice demands 1.3M IP addresses related to Trump resistance site.” Here’s the opening:<p>The Department of Justice has requested information on visitors to a website used to organize protests against President Trump, …

Brand Renegades

By Jeremy Sheff<b>*</b><p>A pdf version of this article may be downloaded here.<p>Introduction<p>I. Whence the Renegade?<p>II. The Renegade in Our Midst<p>A. Adoption and …

Microsoft ordered to let third parties scrape LinkedIn data

A judge has ruled that Microsoft’s LinkedIn network must allow a third-party company to scrape data publicly posted by LinkedIn users. <i>The Wall Street Journal</i> reports that the ruling is part of a lawsuit brought by hiQ Labs, a startup that analyzes LinkedIn data to estimate whether workers are …

Facebook is deleting links to a viral attack on a Charlottesville victim

Daily Stormer article violated community standards, company says<p>A blog post attacking a victim of white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, VA over the weekend was shared more than 65,000 times on Facebook — but those posts are disappearing. The company said today that links to the post on the</i> …

DR. SEUSS/STAR TREK “Mash-Up” files new MOTION TO DISMISS! (Part 1)

Many supporters (along with the authors and publisher) initially believed the mash-up to qualify as a <i>parody</i>. And if true, then it would likely have …

Exploring the Dolomites from an Eagle's Point of View in 360 (4K)

Frustrated Pokémon Go Fans Are Suing Niantic Labs

Nearly two dozen frustrated fans are suing the creator of <i>Pokémon Go</i>, after technical failures left them unable to play the game at a festival …

Washington State enacts DUIE law

Effective July 23, 2017, a new distracted-driving law went into effect for drivers in Washington State. Texting or holding a phone to the ear has …

LinkedIn: It’s illegal to scrape our website without permission | Ars Technica

A legal scholar calls LinkedIn's position “hugely problematic.”<p>A small company called hiQ is locked in a high-stakes battle over Web scraping with …

A.I. Experiments: A.I. Duet

When sextortion suspect refused to unlock her iPhone, the FBI stepped in | Ars Technica

“We on some Bonnie Clyde shit I couldn’t have choose a Better partner crime lol.”<p>The FBI has inserted itself into an ongoing state case in Miami …