Biden administration cracks down on 3D-printed ‘ghost guns’

The Biden administration is taking new measures that would limit the spread of 3D-printed guns. The Justice Department has issued a final rule with multiple measures restricting the sale and distribution of “ghost guns,” including a requirement for federally licensed dealers and gunsmiths to serialize any unmarked firearm (such as a 3D-printed gun) before selling it to a customer. You couldn’t print a gun at home and sell it to a store without some ability to trace its origins.

The rule also includes several other restrictions that aren’t aimed at 3D-printed weapons, including an effective ban on unserialized “buy build shoot” kits by treating them as firearms subject to strict licensing and background check requirements. The DOJ will also treat guns with split receivers as subject to regulations, and demands that licensed dealers keep “key records” until they shut down, not just for 20 years.

The move is the latest in a back-and-forth fight over attempts to regulate 3D-printed guns. After a case over Defense Distributed’s 3D-printed pistol bounced through courts (including the Supreme Court), the Trump administration’s State Department reached a settlement that legally allowed these homemade weapons. States sued the administration over alleged constitutional and procedural violations, earning a ban on the technology (albeit one with a claimed loophole). A judge determined that the Defense Distributed settlement violated procedural law, but the Trump administration tried to override that by transferring regulation to the Commerce Department and making it difficult to implement substantial limits. State attorneys general sued over the rule change.

A rule like this won’t stop individuals or black market operators from making and trading 3D-printed guns. It might, however, discourage licensed dealers from letting those guns enter their shops. If nothing else, it signals a reversal from the previous administration’s stance — the current White House sees untraceable 3D-printed firearms as significant threats.

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Google ‘unfairly’ blocked rival payments, India’s antitrust regulator says

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday released early findings of an investigation into Google’s app store and its payment system, Google Pay. As Bloombergreported, it found that Google’s Play Store billing system for app developers is “unfair and discriminatory”. 

Back in 2020, Google decided to delay enforcing its 30% commission for app developers in India following an outcry from the country’s startup community. The tech giant agreed to defer the policy until this month. But in the interim, Indian developers lobbied the nation’s government to stop Google from enacting what they felt was an unfairly high fee. Developers also believed that since Android phones are preloaded with the Play Store, it gave Google an unfair advantage over rival payment systems.

Of particular concern in India is whether Google Pay will undercut rival United Payments Interface (or UPI) apps, which allow users to directly debit payments from their bank accounts using just a virtual address. UPI payment apps like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm are currently the most popular way for Indians to make payments online. Critics have alleged that Google’s control of the Play Store and the Android operating system gives it an unfair amount of control over India’s digital payment ecosystem.

India’s antitrust regulator echoed similar concerns over Google Pay. “Google’s conduct is also resulting in a denial of market access to competing UPI apps since the market for UPI enabled digital payment apps is multi-sided, and the network effects will lead to a situation where Google Pay’s competitors will be completely excluded from the market in the long run,” wrote CCI in documents viewed by Bloomberg.

India’s antitrust agency has yet to finish its investigation into Google. Upon its conclusion, the tech giant may be forced to pay fines or change its policies. 

The search giant has come under fire in India, both for its developer’s fees and the potential threat Google Pay poses to domestic payment platforms. Last year Google announced that all Play Store developers would have to integrate with Google’s payment system by October 2022.

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Bungie lawsuit aims to unmask YouTube copyright claim abusers

YouTube’s copyright claim system has been repeatedly abused for bogus takedown requests, and Bungie has had enough. TorrentFreakreports the game studio has sued 10 anonymous people for allegedly leveling false Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) claims against a host of Destiny 2 creators on YouTube, and even Bungie itself. The company said the culprits took advantage of a “hole” in YouTube’s DMCA security that let anyone claim to represent a rights holder, effectively letting “any person, anywhere” misuse the system to suit their own ends.

According to Bungie, the perpetrators created a Gmail account in mid-March that was intended to mimic the developer’s copyright partner CSC. They then issued DMCA takedown notices while falsely claiming to represent Bungie, and even tried to fool creators with another account that insisted the first was fraudulent. YouTube didn’t notice the fake credentials and slapped video producers with copyright strikes, even forcing users to remove videos if they wanted to avoid bans.

YouTube removed the strikes, suspended the Gmail accounts and otherwise let creators recover, but not before Bungie struggled with what it called a “circular loop” of support. The firm said it only broke the cycle by having its Global Finance Director email key Google personnel, and Google still “would not share” info to identify the fraudsters. Bungie hoped a DMCA subpoena and other measures would help identify the attackers and punish them, including damages that could reach $150,000 for each false takedown notice.

We’ve asked Google for comment. The lawsuit won’t force YouTube to reform its DMCA system, but Bungie is clearly hoping this will add some pressure. As it is, the company believes the fake takedown requests did lasting damage by creating a “chilling effect” for Destiny‘s YouTube stars (who were afraid to post new videos) and damaging the community at large.

Update 3/29/22 5:40pm Eastern: “We take abuse of our copyright takedown process seriously and terminate tens of thousands of accounts every year for violating our policies, which prohibit submitting false information in a takedown request,” a YouTube spokesperson told Engadget over email. “We’ll continue our work to prevent abuse of our systems, and we’re committed to taking appropriate action against those who knowingly misuse our tools.”

Activision Blizzard agrees to pay $18 million to settle its federal sexual harassment case

A judge has ordered Activision Blizzard to pay $18 million to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the company of fostering a sexist, discriminatory workplace. The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed the suit in September and that same afternoon, Activision Blizzard agreed to set up an $18 million fund for employees who experienced sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination at the studio. Today’s ruling approves this plan.

The fund will be distributed among people who worked at Activision Blizzard from September 1st, 2016, to today. Eligible employees and former employees have to opt-in to receive a payout, and they can submit claims relating to sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and retaliation.

Today’s ruling isn’t the end of the legal issues for Activision Blizzard, and it may even complicate efforts still underway by other agencies. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing first sued the studio in July 2021 following a two-year investigation into allegations that sexism, gender-based harassment and a “frat boy culture” pervaded the Activision Blizzard offices. That state-level lawsuit is still in progress, while the $18 million ruling today applies only to the federal case filed by the EEOC.

Anyone who signs on as a claimant in the EEOC suit will not be eligible to participate in the state’s case, at least when it comes to harassment, retaliation or pregnancy discrimination. If they have additional claims, such as pay inequities, they can bring those to the DFEH lawsuit.

The DFEH and EEOC have been battling for dominance with their lawsuits against Activision Blizzard. Lawyers for the California agency have expressed concern that a federal settlement might prevent them from pursuing additional damages at a state level. The DFEH case is scheduled to go to trial in February 2023.

“The DFEH will continue to vigorously prosecute its action against Activision in California state court,” spokesperson Fahizah Alim said last week.

Additionally, the DFEH, activists and Activision Blizzard employees have argued the $18 million figure is far too low to properly compensate all potential claimants, which could add up to hundreds of people. Communications Workers of America, the labor union backing Activision Blizzard employees during this time, called the sum “woefully inadequate” in a letter to the EEOC in October.

“This would provide the maximum settlement for only 60 workers,” the CWA letter reads. “If any significant number of workers received the maximum under federal law, there would be little available for many other workers adversely affected. We are concerned about how the EEOC got to that number and how it believes that number will be fairly distributed. Please explain.”

California’s DFEH fought against a similar ruling in the case of Riot Games. Following a 2018 class-action lawsuit claiming rampant sexual harassment and discrimination at the studio, Riot was originally ordered to pay $10 million to eligible employees. The DFEH blocked that payout, arguing it was much too small, and the amount was eventually increased to $100 million.

A spokesperson for the EEOC provided the following statement to Engadget following today’s federal ruling: “We are pleased that the judge has indicated her intent to sign the consent decree. The consent decree not only provides monetary relief to potential claimants that were impacted by sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination and related retaliation at Activision Blizzard throughout the United States, but also puts in place significant injunctive relief at Activision Blizzard to prevent and address discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.”

Apple and Google close loophole that allowed Russians to use Mir cards for mobile payments

Apple has closed a loophole that had allowed some Russians to continue using its mobile payments service despite the ongoing economic sanctions against Russia. According to Reuters, the company told the country’s largest lender on Thursday it would no longer support Russia’s homegrown Mir payments system through Apple Pay.

“Apple has informed NSPK it is suspending support for Mir cards in the Apple Pay payment service,” the National Card Payment System said Friday. “Starting from March 24th, users cannot add new Mir cards to the service. Apple will stop all operations of previously added cards over the next few days.”

Google took similar action last week as well. According to a separate report from The Wall Street Journal, the company paused a pilot that had allowed Russians to connect their Mir cards to Google Pay. “Google Pay is pausing payments-related services in Russia as a result of payment services disruption out of our control,” a Google spokesperson told the outlet.

As The Verge notes, the Central Bank of Russia established Mir after the US and other countries imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its annexation of Crimea in 2014. According to statistics shared by the Central Bank, Mir cards are involved in more than 25 percent of all card transactions within the country. Previously, cards from major Russian financial institutions like VTB Group and Sovcombank stopped working with Apple Pay and Google Pay shortly after the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24th.