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Iran has officially lifted the ban of Meta's WhatsApp messenger and the Google Play Store, a week after the Islamic nation put on hold a stringent Hijab law, which had been passed by the Iranian Parliament in September 2023. Published: December 25, 2024 10:54 PM IST By : Iran has officially lifted the ban of Meta’s WhatsApp messenger and the Google Play Store, a week after the Islamic nation put on hold a stringent Hijab law, which had been passed by the Iranian Parliament in September 2023. According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), the decision to lift the ban on WhatsApp and Google Play, came following a meeting in which the heads of all three branches of government, ministers, and members of the Supreme Council, participated. During the meeting, discussions focused on reviewing and adjusting policies surrounding internet governance and restrictions. Following the presentation of assessments from relevant authorities, the council approved changes to the existing internet restrictions, IRNA reported. Iranian authorities have officially lifted the ban on WhatsApp and the Google Play Store, signalling a significant shift in the country’s internet restrictions, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported. “A positive majority vote has been reached to lift limitations on access to some popular foreign platforms such as WhatsApp and Google Play”, IRNA, the country’s official news agency, said in a tweet. The move to lift the ban aligns with the Iranian government’s broader approach to managing its digital landscape, emphasising the importance of regulated cyberspace governance while also stressing the need to support domestic platforms, it said. Sattar Hashemi, Iran’s Minister of Information and Communications Technology, also took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce the development, stating, “Today, we took the first step towards lifting internet restrictions with unity and collaboration. I extend my gratitude to the President, media, and activists for their efforts. We need this solidarity more than ever. This path continues.” ‘Local platforms will be priority’ However, despite lifting the ban on global global services like WhatsApp and Google Play, the Iranian government has emphasised that its approach will continue to prioritise the development and use of local platforms, according to IRNA. Removing curbs on internet usage and platforms was one of the key promises made by President Masoud Pezeshkian during his presidential campaign, and this decision marks an early fulfilment of that commitment. Notably, social media platforms were used widely in Iran during anti-government protests. In September, the US had Big Tech to help evade online censorship in countries with heavy internet censorship, including Iran and Russia. Iran shelves hijab law Meanwhile, the easing of internet curbs comes fresh on the heels of another momentous decision last week when Iran paused the process of implementing a new and stricter hijab law for women. The law had been approved by Iranian parliament in September last year but will on December 18, it was revealed that the law will not be sent to the government for approval. The temporary shelved hijab law levies harsher punishments for women who refuse to wear the hijab and for businesses that serve them, penalties previously rejected by Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian as attempts to restart talks with the West over sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear program. For breaking news and live news updates, like us on or follow us on and . Read more on Latest on . TopicsNoneChristmas shot 4 of 6 from the field and 6 for 6 from the line for the Lancers (6-0). Kyrell Luc scored 14 points and added five rebounds. Colby Garland had 12 points and shot 5 of 10 from the field and 2 of 3 from the free-throw line. The Blazers (3-3) were led in scoring by Yaxel Lendeborg, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Ja'Borri McGhee added 16 points and four assists for UAB. Christian Coleman also had 14 points. Longwood was tied with UAB at the half, 43-43, with Luc (eight points) its high scorer before the break. Longwood took the lead for good with 1:55 remaining on a jump shot from Luc to make it 80-78. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .
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On December 25, 2024, the China’s National People’s Congress (NPC) released the draft Anti-Unfair Competition Law (AUCL, 反不正当竞争法(修订草案) ) for comment. From an IP perspective, the Draft updates Article 7 for newish technology. However, Artificial Intelligence is left out and might warrant a comment, e.g., to prevent LLM hallucinations that cause confusion as to a connection to others. The Draft also adds an extraterritorial Article 40 that might inadvertently snare foreign companies in edge cases. The Draft also covers other areas of unfair competition including: Investigating both bribery and acceptance of bribes (Article 8); Operators shall not use data, algorithms, technology, platform rules, etc. to engage in unfair competition such as malicious transactions (Article 13); False advertising (Article 9), unfair sales with prizes (Article 11), commercial defamation (Article 12), and abuse of dominant position to damage the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized enterprises (Article 15). A translation of Article 7 and 40 follow. Article 7: Business operators shall not engage in the following confusing conduct that may mislead people into believing that their products are those of others or that they have a specific connection with others: (I) Unauthorized use of the same or similar logos as others’ product names, packaging, decorations, etc. that have a certain influence; (II) Unauthorized use of others’ enterprise names (including abbreviations, business names, etc.), names of social organizations and non-legal organizations (including abbreviations, etc.), names (including pen names, stage names, translated names, etc.); (III) Unauthorized use of the main part of a domain name, website name, web page, new media account name, application name or icon, etc. that has a certain influence on others ; (IV) Unauthorized use of another’s registered trademark or unregistered well-known trademark as the name of the enterprise; (V) Unauthorized use of another’s influential product name, enterprise name (including abbreviation, name, etc.) as its search keyword; (VI) Other confusing behaviors that are sufficient to mislead people into believing that it is another’s product or has a specific connection with another. Operators shall not assist others to carry out confusing conduct. Article 40: Unfair competition activities stipulated in this Law that are carried out outside the territory of the People’s Republic of China and disrupt the domestic market competition order or damage the legitimate rights and interests of domestic operators shall be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of this Law and relevant laws. Comments are due January 23, 2025. The full text and a comparison table is available here (Chinese only). A translation of the current law from WIPO is available here .