JPJ Electronics violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) when it didn’t disclose that a website chat was being monitored, intercepted or recorded, alleged plaintiff Sylvia Garcia in a class action (docket 2:23-cv-3463) removed Friday from Superior Court of Los Angeles County to U.S. District Court for Central California in Los Angeles. Garcia, a California resident, had a brief conversation with a chat agent on www.dashcam.co while on the company’s website without being told it was monitored, intercepted or recorded, alleged the complaint. The Texas-based company sells surveillance devices to trucking fleets, the complaint said. The dashcam.co domain name was listed as available for sale Monday. Garcia alleged JPJ “enables and allows” third parties, including Smartsupp and Shopify, to eavesdrop on chats to intercept and store chat communications transcripts without informing website visitors, alleged the complaint. Meta integrates its software with the third-party software and generates revenue by selling advertising space through its platforms’ ability to identify users’ interests. Facebook and WhatsApp then “bombard the unsuspecting website visitors with targeted advertising” based on the user’s website visits and interactions, said the complaint. The defendant, the third-party software company and Meta profit from “secretly exploiting” private chat data through targeted social media, the complaint said. Defendant’s chat communications from its website are transmitted to website visitors by cell phone or landline, as defined by CIPA, it said. Plaintiff seeks an injunction against JPJ for alleged CIPA violations, statutory damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.

LAS VEGAS -- ATSC 3.0 could be used to create the only viable backup for GPS and address a major U.S. national security vulnerability, said broadcasters and experts at this week's 2023 NAB Show. The U.S. power grid, financial markets and telecom industries rely on precise timing based on GPS to function, and would grind to a halt within days if it were rendered inoperable, said Key2Mobile founder Patrick Diamond, a member of the National Space Based Position, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board.

State court lawsuits in Arkansas and California against social media companies this month are among a wave of actions against Meta and others for their alleged role in a growing mental health crisis in the U.S. Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) sued Meta Tuesday for violating the state’s Public Nuisance Law and its Deceptive Trade Practices Act (ADTPA), plus unjust enrichment, said the complaint (docket 57CV-23-47) in Polk County Circuit Court. In California, plaintiffs cited Facebook’s, Instagram’s, Snapchat’s and TikTok’s product “defects.”

Roku stock reached a 52-week low Thursday at $44.50 on an unusually negative holiday quarter outlook. Q4 guidance is for $800 million in net revenue, adjusted earnings before interest of negative $135 million and a $245 million loss. Shares edged up later in the day, closing at $51.84, 4.8% down.

SpaceX and T-Mobile's partnering on satellite-to-cellular service is the latest competition in what's becoming an increasingly crowded market, said satellite executives and industry watchers. SpaceX and T-Mobile announced plans Thursday for SpaceX coverage, using mid-band T-Mobile PCS spectrum, to provide voice and messaging service in parts of the U.S. and territorial waters not covered by T-Mobile's network. Some see SpaceX/T-Mobile raising regulatory issues.

Lawmakers are proposing a range of telecom and tech-focused amendments to the House Armed Services Committee’s FY 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (HR-7900). They include proposals to require more DOD transparency on its implementation of its 2020 spectrum sharing strategy, bar TikTok use on government devices, and several focusing on the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The House Rules Committee Thursday afternoon hadn't set a meeting to consider the amendments.

The WCO’s removal from its Harmonized System of six-digit subheadings for roll film cameras based on a low volume of trade means U.S. tariff provisions for cameras of heading 9006 are reorganized, though some of the provisions eliminated by the WCO remain in the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule at the eight-digit level.

The broadest set of changes to tariff classification in five years is set to take effect toward the end of January, as the latest set of amendments to the World Customs Organization's Harmonized System tariff nomenclature is implemented in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the U.S. Announced by a presidential proclamation published Dec. 28, the changes are slated to take effect 30 days after that, Jan. 27 (see 2112270032). This is the 10th part of International Trade Today's multipart summary, covering photographic apparatus, measuring and checking instruments, clocks and watches, manufactured articles and cultural articles of chapters 90-97.

States and localities are loosening pandemic-related restrictions, but federal and state courts are a more mixed bag, our informal survey found. State courts likely will be fully open by Labor Day and generally done with COVID-19 precautions, said Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht, who's president of the Conference of Chief Justices (CCJ). Federal courts are more scattered in their moves.

LG diversified into a new premium TV segment, announcing pricing and July availability Wednesday for its first Mini LED TVs. The 8K and 4K LCD TVs, with Mini LED backlight technology, are led by two 86-inch models: the 8K 86QNED99UPA ($6,499) and 4K 86QNED90UPA ($3,999). The ZX 88-inch OLED TV remains LG's flagship TV at $29,999. LG called the QNED Mini LED series, based on its quantum dot NanoCell color technology, a “new era in LCD TV picture quality,” promoting “richer and more accurate colors.” The TVs were certified by global testing agency Intertek for providing 100% color volume and color consistency, it said. The QNED TVs pack smaller LEDs into the backlight vs. similarly sized screens, said the company, with the 86-inch 8K model backlit by about 30,000 LEDs arranged in 2,500 local dimming zones for superior contrast ratio to conventional LCD TVs. LG didn’t cite a contrast ratio comparison to OLED TVs. Also in the 8K lineup are the 75-inch 75QNED99UPA ($4,799) and a 65-inch version at $3,499. The comparable 4K QNED models are priced at $2,999 and $1,999. LG decided to move into Mini LED to “remain at the forefront of technology, not only with OLED, but to also offer the latest in LCD/LED technology,” spokesperson Chris DeMaria emailed. All the QNED models will feature LG’s latest webOS 6.0 smart TV platform with built-in Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and LG ThinQ AI technology, he said, along with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision. LG continues to position OLED as its reference TV technology: “Even though MiniLED technology does a great job of improving black levels and local contrast through more dimming zones compared to conventional LED sets, only OLED is emissive, and can control every pixel individually to create perfect blacks and eliminate light bleed between bright and dark areas,” he said.