Fierce Cable.com
Nonprofits opposed to Charter's proposed merger with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks have collected 300,000 signatures on a petition opposing the deals. Opponents include Free Press, Daily Kos, Future of Music Coalition and Public Knowledge. The petition says that the post-merger company "would have unprecedented control over our ability to connect and communicate."
Dslreports
Verizon is testing a type of wireless broadband that could result in connections as fast as 1 Gbps. The tests "'mimic real world scenarios' using millimeter wave bands, including bands in the FCC’s Notice for Proposed Rulemaking for 5G spectrum," according to DSLReports.
Business Insider
For better or worse, some British programmers have created a robot lawyer that has so far it successfully appealed $3 million worth of tickets. “Since laws are publicly available, bots can automate some of the simple tasks that human lawyers have had to do for centuries,” Business Insider notes. “Beyond parking tickets, Browder's bot can also help with delayed or canceled flights and payment-protection insurance (PPI) claims.”
Consumerist
A petsitting service has sued a couple in Plano, Texas over a critical Yelp review. The service contends that the couple violated a non-disparagement clause and is seeking $6,766 in damages.
Technology & Marketing Law Blog
A federal judge in Florida has ordered mobile ride hail company Uber to "ensure that a search conducted with the Google, Yahoo, or Bing search engine using the keywords 'Uber Gainesville phone' or 'Uber Gainesville phone number' returns a result containing [Uber's] 352-area-code number along with words clearly indicating that the result is associated with [Uber]." The ruling was issued in a trademark dispute between the Florida-based company Uber Promotions -- which has existed since 2006 and provides limo rides in Gainesville -- and the international ride-hailing app. Santa Clara University professor Eric Goldman notes some problems with the injunction. …
Consumerist
A 24-hour glitch in Twitter's password recovery system affected around 10,000 accounts, the company said Wednesday night. The company said it has fixed the glitch, which made email addresses and phone numbers vulnerable to hackers, but didn't reveal passwords
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation said today it will support Apple in its challenge to an order that requires the company to help the government decrypt an iPhone. "For the first time, the government is requesting Apple write brand new code that eliminates key features of iPhone security -- security features that protect us all," the EFF says in a blog post. "Essentially, the government is asking Apple to create a master key so that it can open a single phone. And once that master key is created, we're certain that our government will ask for it again …
Dslreports
Lawmakers in Louisville, Kentucky unanimously voted in favor of a proposal that will enable Google Fiber roll out broadband in the city. The proposal, passed over opposition by Time Warner Cable and AT&T, makes it easier for rival broadband providers to access utility poles.
TorrentFreak
More than 500,000 people downloaded a pirated copy of Kanye West's new album, "The Life of Pablo," in the day after its release on Tidal, according to TorrentFreak. "Many of the torrents that were uploaded yesterday have been removed, but these are soon replaced by new ones," TorrentFreak writes.
Consumerist
American Airlines has sued in-flight WiFi provider Gogo for allegedly breaching its contract by failing to submit proposals that match or exceed competitors' offerings. The airlines says that Gogo rival ViaSat, which is used on United, JetBlue and Virgin America, offers better service.