Hacker News with Generative AI: Legal Issues

OpenAI wants to bend copyright rules. Study suggests it isn't waiting (theregister.com)
Tech textbook tycoon Tim O'Reilly claims OpenAI mined his publishing house's copyright-protected tomes for training data and fed it all into its top-tier GPT-4o model without permission.
Copyright, Generative AI, OpenAI, Artificial Intelligence, Legal Issues
8 points by pseudolus 3 hours ago | 2 comments
Travel Guide for Stateless People (taejun.substack.com)
I’m not sure how many frequent travelers actually travel without a passport, so I don’t know how many people will benefit from this post. Still, here’s a guide for stateless travelers. Please note: this is not legal advice, and I take no responsibility for any outcome if you follow these suggestions. That said, I hope it helps.
Travel, Statelessness, Legal Issues
31 points by mrcgnc 2 days ago | 43 comments
US accidentally sent Maryland father to Salvadorian prison, can't get him back (independent.co.uk)
The Trump administration accidentally sent a Salvadorian immigrant to a notorious Salvadorian prison and says it can’t do anything to get him back.
Immigration, International Relations, Government, Legal Issues, Human Rights
221 points by croes 3 days ago | 145 comments
The Leader of the LeetCode Rebellion: An Interview with Roy Lee (thepennpost.com)
On March 3rd, Roy Lee got an email from Columbia University. Figuring it was just another college newsletter, Roy, the creator of Interview Coder, was shocked at what he saw when he opened the latest message in his inbox. It was a notification from Columbia University’s Center for Student Success and Intervention (CSSI) that his case would be reopened following an initial Dean’s Discipline Hearing on February 17th, where he avoided potential suspension or expulsion.
Education, Interviews, Online Learning, Legal Issues
70 points by distalx 7 days ago | 44 comments
Copyright infringement is a 'strict liability' offence (dacs.org.uk)
Infringement is decided on a case by case basis. If you think your work has been infringed, you’ll need to provide some proof of the infringement. It’s always a good idea to keep records of your work, in case you need to rely on them at a later point to prove authorship or date of creation.
Copyright, Law, Legal Issues, Intellectual Property
17 points by dp-hackernews 12 days ago | 0 comments
Court Imposes over $1.6B in Penalties on a Toyota Subsidiary for Emissions Fraud (justice.gov)
Today, U.S. District Court Judge Mark A. Goldsmith for the Eastern District of Michigan accepted Hino Motors, Ltd.’s guilty plea to a one-count criminal information charging it with having engaged in a multi-year criminal conspiracy to defraud both the U.S. government and American consumers and illicitly smuggle goods into the country.
Legal Issues, Automotive Industry, Environmental Issues, Fraud
13 points by impish9208 14 days ago | 4 comments
Health Firm Sends Bogus Takedown Demand to Vanish Reporting on Its Data Breach (techdirt.com)
Shooting the messenger is still the preferred tactic for short-sighted entities that have been embarrassed on main by having their own carelessness publicly exposed.
Cybersecurity, Data Breaches, Legal Issues, Journalism
11 points by hn_acker 15 days ago | 3 comments
Ask HN: How do I deal with a cease and desist notice for my open HW project? (ycombinator.com)
Hi HN,<p>I've been working on an open-source hardware project for years, but the hosting site where I posted the documentation received a cease and desist notice to remove it. Strangely, they didn’t contact me directly. I'm nearing the end of the project and planning to sell the device, but now I'm concerned about legal risks.
Legal Issues, Open Source, Hardware, Business
12 points by IPMess 18 days ago | 12 comments
Brave wants court to endorse scraping of News Corp content (theregister.com)
Brave has gone to court to head off potential legal action from News Corp over the browser maker's auto-generated AI summaries of articles published by Rupert Murdoch's media empire.
Web Browsers, Artificial Intelligence, Legal Issues, News Media
27 points by gostsamo 21 days ago | 4 comments
OpenAI declares AI race "over" if training on copyrighted works isn't fair use (arstechnica.com)
OpenAI is hoping that Donald Trump's AI Action Plan, due out this July, will settle copyright debates by declaring AI training fair use—paving the way for AI companies' unfettered access to training data that OpenAI claims is critical to defeat China in the AI race.
Artificial Intelligence, Copyright, Legal Issues, China
11 points by rntn 21 days ago | 2 comments
My legal last name prevents me from completing my Twitch affiliate onboarding (reddit.com)
Hi, I recently completed all four prerequisites for Twitch Affiliate. Naturally, I began my onboarding, and I filled in my information the way it is supposed to be filled in. However, when I reach step 4, I am unable to continue on due to my last name. My last name is Null, a programming term that also means invalid. When I input my name, I get this prompt showing that it is a null value rather than my name.
Twitch, Online Identity, Legal Issues, Gaming
68 points by pharrington 27 days ago | 51 comments
Free Software Foundation Goes to Bat for AGPL in Amicus Brief Criticizing (socket.dev)
In a significant move for software freedom, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has submitted a legal brief in an ongoing court case involving the misuse of their GNU Affero General Public License Version 3 (AGPLv3).
Software Freedom, Legal Issues
9 points by feross 28 days ago | 1 comments
Ninth Circuit Rules That Dating App Isn't Liable for Matching Users (eff.org)
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit correctly held that Grindr, a popular dating app, can’t be held responsible for matching users and enabling them to exchange messages that led to real-world harm.
Legal Issues, Dating Apps, Online Safety
5 points by gslin 30 days ago | 0 comments
Google does not want rights to things you do using Chrome (2008) (mattcutts.com)
Alright, I’ve got another conspiracy theory misconception to dispel. 🙂 After reading through the Chrome Terms of Service, some people are worried that Google is trying to assert rights on everything that you do on Chrome.
Google Chrome, Privacy, Misconceptions, Legal Issues
162 points by gigaArpit 34 days ago | 84 comments
Defense of FOSS licensing rests on the shoulders of a guy in Virginia (theregister.com)
Updated At some point in the months ahead, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will consider an effort to reverse a California federal district court's decision in Neo4j v. PureThink.
Legal Issues, Open Source, Software Licensing
9 points by acefaceZ 35 days ago | 1 comments
U.S. soldier charged in AT&T hack searched "can hacking be treason" (krebsonsecurity.com)
A U.S. Army soldier who pleaded guilty last week to leaking phone records for high-ranking U.S. government officials searched online for non-extradition countries and for an answer to the question “can hacking be treason?” prosecutors in the case said Wednesday.
Cybersecurity, Government, Legal Issues, Military
64 points by todsacerdoti 36 days ago | 56 comments
DigiCert: Threat of legal action to stifle Bugzilla discourse (mozilla.org)
DigiCert: Threat of legal action to stifle Bugzilla discourse
Legal Issues, Open Source, Software Development, Bugzilla, DigiCert
610 points by DanAtC 38 days ago | 190 comments
Meta claims torrenting pirated books isn't illegal without proof of seeding (arstechnica.com)
Meta claims torrenting pirated books isn’t illegal without proof of seeding
Legal Issues, Piracy, Copyright, Books, Technology
698 points by isaacfrond 42 days ago | 452 comments
Ask HN: Opinion on efforts to find prior art on outrageous priced drugs (ycombinator.com)
Pharmaceuticals, Pricing, Legal Issues, Technology, Business
8 points by JPLeRouzic 42 days ago | 10 comments
The OBS Project is threatening Fedora Linux with legal action (gitlab.com)
The unofficial OBS Studio Flatpak on Fedora Flatpaks is, seemingly, poorly packaged and broken, leading to users complaining upstream thinking they are being served the official package.
Legal Issues, Linux, Open Source, Fedora, Flatpak
295 points by TheFreim 49 days ago | 216 comments
Google scraps diversity hiring goals and cites Trump's DEI orders (theguardian.com)
Alphabet’s Google is scrapping its goal to hire more employees from historically underrepresented groups and is reviewing some of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Google, Diversity, Employment, Legal Issues, Politics
6 points by doener 56 days ago | 1 comments
Early Meta employee sues for sexual harassment, gender discrimination (techcrunch.com)
One of Meta’s earliest employees is suing the company for sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and retaliation, according to a lawsuit filed this week in the state of Washington.
Legal Issues, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Meta
8 points by 3apo 56 days ago | 0 comments
Tell HN: Hacker News will not delete my account – is that legal? (ycombinator.com)
Hi All,<p>I've been a member here for a good many years, but due to a couple of factors, I need to step away.
Legal Issues, Hacker News, User Accounts
19 points by _dp9d 65 days ago | 22 comments
Limited Run Games violated GPL releasing Tomba game (github.com/notaz)
Gaming, Open Source, Legal Issues
17 points by weird_trousers 65 days ago | 10 comments
It's not a crime if we do it with an app (pluralistic.net)
The core regulatory proposition of the tech industry is "it's not a crime if we do it with an app." It's not an unlicensed taxi if we do it with an app. It's not an illegal hotel room if we do it with an app. It's not an unregistered security if we do it with an app. It's not wage theft if we do it with an app.
Technology, Regulation, Legal Issues, Tech Industry
872 points by keepit 67 days ago | 609 comments
C Is Legal Again (twitter.com)
Programming, Legal Issues
11 points by fortran77 68 days ago | 5 comments
Hoarder (the name) is being stolen from me (reddit.com)
This post could have been about how hoarder reached 10k stars on Github, or about how we spent a day in the front page of hackernews. But unfortunately, it's about neither of those. Today, I received a cease and desist from someone holding the "Hordr" trademark claiming that "Hoarder" infringes their trademark.
Legal Issues, Trademark, Open Source
5 points by evanjrowley 68 days ago | 0 comments
App stores unconvinced by TikTok ban pause, which may be on shaky legal ground (theregister.com)
President Trump's executive order stalling the enforcement of the TikTok ban in the United States has created legal uncertainty for companies hosting or distributing the app. To further confuse the matter, it's not even clear that Trump's decree is within his power to issue or enforce.
Legal Issues, Social Media, Government Regulation, Business
6 points by rntn 72 days ago | 0 comments
Live London Underground / bus maps taken down by TfL trademark complaint (traintimes.org.uk)
London Underground, Public Transport, Legal Issues, Technology
224 points by fanf2 81 days ago | 86 comments
German router maker is latest company to inadvertently clarify the LGPL license (arstechnica.com)
A German case clarified that LGPL source isn't enough—it needs to be usable.
Legal Issues, Open Source, Software Licensing, Germany
64 points by tapper 83 days ago | 7 comments