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29 Jul, 2023

San Francisco investigates non-permitted X roof sign

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The city of San Francisco Departement of Building Inspection opens an investigation into X headquarters, after it receives a complain about a giant flashing X that has been installed on the roof of the building without a permit. This comes after issues with the removal of the Twitter sign on the front of the building. The complaint noted that a city inspector was denied access to the building’s roof, where the X had been installed, with the company saying that the structure was a “temporary lighted sign for an event.” City spokesperson:

A building permit is required to make sure the sign is structurally sound and installed safely. Planning review and approval is also necessary for the installation of this sign. The city is opening a complaint and initiating an investigation.

2 Jun, 2023

Senators ask Musk and Yaccarino about Twitter FTC violations

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Four US senators send a letter to Musk and Yaccarino asking them whether the layoffs and resignations at Twitter have hindered its ability to comply with the company’s FTC obligations. The senators are examining Twitter’s privacy practices under Musk to determine whether consumer protection laws are being flouted. The letter – signed by Elizabeth Warren (D), Ron Wyden (D), Ed Markey (D), and Mazie Hirono (D) – cites Ella Irwin’s departure as the latest source of concern about Twitter’s compliance track record. It asks whether Twitter conducted a privacy and security assessment of Twitter Blue before rolling it out (according to its 2022 consent agreement, Twitter must perform such assessments “prior to implementing any new or modified product”) as well as whether the platform has maintained a comprehensive cybersecurity program to protect user data since Musk’s takeover. It also asks whether Twitter has met various reporting requirements, including obligations to report any significant data breaches to the authorities.

[P]ersonnel changes, firsthand accounts from employees, and hasty launch of new products raise questions about whether Twitter is able to comply with its obligations under the FTC consent decree.

Mr. Musk’s behavior reveals an apparent indifference towards Twitter’s longstanding legal obligations, which did not disappear when Mr. Musk took over the company.

Regardless of his personal wealth, Mr. Musk is not exempt from the law, and neither is the company he purchased. Twitter must meet the requirements it agreed to under the 2011 and 2022 FTC agreements.

The lawmakers want Twitter to respond by June 18.

NHTSA investigates faulty Model Y steering wheels, recalls 137 vehicles

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) investigates Tesla, after two 2023 Model Y owners filed complaints saying that their steering wheels came off while they were driving. Both cars had low mileage, and the NHTSA says they were delivered to the owners without the retaining bolt that attaches the steering wheel to the steering column. Tesla is now voluntarily recalling 137 2022-2023 Model Y vehicles, because the fastening part of the steering wheel may not be as tight as it needs to be. The loose fasteners may separate the steering wheel from the steering column and cause the vehicle to lose steering control. Tesla will provide a free inspection and reinforcement for the recalled vehicles and the its service center will provide services to users as needed. The NHTSA has not yet ordered a recall for the Model Y vehicles, but the administration says the investigation could include about 120,000 vehicles.

27 Jan, 2023

SEC probes Musk Tesla self-driving claims

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US regulators are investigating Elon Musk’s role as part of an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission probe of the company’s statements about its Autopilot driver-assistance system. SEC officials are weighing whether Musk may have inappropriately made forward-looking statements, although which statements have not been revealed.

An investigation by the agency’s enforcement unit doesn’t always lead to consequences, but can result in lawsuits, fines or other civil penalties for companies and executives.

6 Dec, 2022

Neuralink faces federal inquiry after killing 1500 animals in testing

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According to Reuters, Neuralink is under federal investigation for potential violations of The Animal Welfare Act. Interviews with former and current staff say pressure from Musk to accelerate development has resulted in failed experiments that have had to be repeated, increasing the number of animals being tested and killed. It is estimated that the company has killed about 1500 animals, including more than 280 sheep, pigs, monkeys, rats and mice following experiments since 2018.

Mistakes included one instance in 2021 when 25 out of 60 pigs in a study had devices that were the wrong size implanted in their heads, an error that could have been avoided with more preparation. The experiment was repeated with 36 sheep. All pigs and sheep were euthanised after the experiment. On another occasion, staff accidentally implanted Neuralink’s device on the wrong vertebra of two different pigs during two separate surgeries.

Musk and other Neuralink executives did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for the USDA inspector general declined to comment. US regulations do not specify how many animals companies can use for research and the total number does not necessarily indicate that Neuralink is violating regulations or standard research practices.

21 Jul, 2022

Tesla board investigates Musk’s glass house purchases

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Tesla’s board is investigating Musk for possible misuse of company resources in a project to build himself a mansion near the company’s Texas headquarters. The project involves a glass-walled building near Tesla’s Gigafactory in Austin, of which some renderings apparently show a residential area with bedrooms, bathrooms and a kitchen next to a body of water, with the factory in the background. The board’s probe comes after Tesla’s finance and internal audit teams became aware of an order placed by a Musk advisor (also being probed) for millions of dollars worth of specialized glass, and is focusing on whether executives in Musk’s inner circle used the company’s clout to obtain the glass for a personal project of Musk’s while a global supply chain crisis made the glass more difficult to obtain normally.

24 Aug, 2016

Submarine data leak

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Australian media reports DCNS is hit by a massive leak of secret data on its submarines. 22,400 leaked pages detail the combat capability of the Scorpene-class DCNS submarine designed for the Indian navy, variants of which are used by Malaysia and Chile. DCNS says it has launched an inquiry:

This inquiry will determine the precise nature of the documents which have been leaked, the potential damage to our customers as well as those responsible.

Indian Defence Minister Parrikar orders a probe into the report

I have asked the navy chief to investigate the matter and find what has been leaked and how much of it is about us. What I understand is there is a hacking.

 

26 Jan, 2016

SF Mayor requests federal probe

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San Francisco Mayor Lee requests a federal investigation into the police shooting of Woods. Lee says that the federal investigation will invite “transparency and accountability” in the San Francisco police department:

We seek answers, not just to the facts of Mr Woods’ case, but also answers about how as a Police Department and a City we can build deeper, stronger trust between law enforcement and the communities they’re sworn to protect.

Tax fraud investigation opens

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Italian police anounce an investigation into allegations of tax fraud by the nation’s top soccer teams. The probe affects 35 teams over two divisions, and has already resulted in a decree to seize assets worth $13 million from 58 people involved with professional soccer in Italy.

19 Jan, 2016

Robbery suspects identified

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Police in north Germany identify suspects in the botched armed robbery of an armored car near Bremen in June as former members of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, also known as the Red Army Faction. The ultra-left wing terrorist organization killed over 30 people in the 1970s and 80s. Garweg, Klette and Staub are identified through DNA testing and fingerprints. The same suspects in the June robbery attempt are blamed for a failed robbery in Wolfsburg.

14 Jan, 2016

Teacher investigated

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A French teacher is under investigation for manslaughter for taking children onto a closed ski run just prior to a fatal avalanche in the French Alps. Authorities say the trail closure was clearly marked and that the risk was known. The teacher was seriously injured in the disaster and remains in hospital. Minister for Youth and Sport:

How could you consider taking children, after a period of heavy snow, on to a piste that was closed?”

16 Dec, 2015

SIC questions Cruz use of data

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Burr asks his staff to look into whether or not Senator Cruz released confidential information. Cruz made a claim during an exchange with Marco Rubio about the USA Freedom Act, which Cruz supported and Rubio opposed. Cruz said that “nearly 100 percent” of phone numbers can be checked for terror ties under the new program, compared to “20 percent to 30 percent” under earlier Patriot Act provisions. Burr says that any time specific numbers are discussed a question emerges as to whether it’s classified or open source.

12 Nov, 2015

Orders doping investigation

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President Putin has orders an investigation into claims by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), that the country’s athletes were using performance enhancing drugs during the 2012 London Olympics. WADA wants to ban Russian athletes from competing. Athletes who are found to be doping would have their Olympic Medals taken away from them and be banned from participating in future Olympic events. Putin said athletes should be punished individually, rather than collectively.

Sportsmen who don’t dope – and never have – must not answer for those who break the rules. If we find that someone must be held responsible for something of the sort that breaks the rules in place against doping, then the responsibility must be personalised – that’s the rule…The battle must be open. A sporting contest is only interesting when it is honest. It is essential that we conduct our own internal investigation and – I want to underline – provide the most open professional co-operation with international anti-doping structures

6 Nov, 2015

Investigates Exxon Mobile for falsifying climate data

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New York attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman opens an investigation against Exxon Mobile over whether the company lied to the public about the risks of climate change or to investors about how such risks might hurt the oil business. Schneiderman say that over a period of ten years, Exxon Mobile funded outside groups that sought to undermine climate science, even as its in-house scientists were outlining the potential consequences to company executives. Exxon Mobil says the company had funded mainstream climate science since the 1970s, had published dozens of scientific papers on the topic and had disclosed climate risks to investors.

We unequivocally reject the allegations that Exxon Mobil has suppressed climate change research…We stopped funding [groups that denied serious climate risks] in the middle part of the past decade because a handful of them were making the uncertainty of the science their focal point. Frankly, we made the call that we needed to back away from supporting the groups that were undercutting the actual risk” of climate change. We recognize the risk.

25 Sep, 2015

Criminal proceedings start

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The Swiss attorney general’s office says announces criminal proceedings against Blatter, saying he is suspected of criminal mismanagement or misappropriation over a TV rights deal he signed with Warner, the former Caribbean football chief in 2005. Blatter is also suspected of ‘a disloyal payment’ against FIFA of two million Swiss francs to UEFA president  Platini  in 2011. Platini is the favourite to succeed Blatter. Under Swiss law, a payment is classified disloyal if it is against the best interest of the employer.  Blatter’s offices are raided, and he is interrogated in the afternoon, after chairing a meeting of FIFA’s executive committee.

12 Aug, 2015

State Dept. reviewing aides email access

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The State Department inspector general’s office says it is reviewing the use of “personal communications hardware and software” by Clinton’s former top aides after requests from Congress. Clinton, herself, is not a target. At least four top aides have turned over records, including copies of work emails on personal accounts, to the Department, which is collecting them in response to a subpoena from Capitol Hill. Lawmakers have demanded records, including personal emails, from six other aides, but it’s unknown whether they used personal email for work. Spokesperson:

We will follow the facts wherever they lead, to include former aides and associates, as appropriate.

Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Grassley:

Both the State Department and Intelligence Community inspectors general should be looking into the staff use of the Clinton private server for official State Department business. This means giving both inspectors general access and custody of all emails that haven’t already been deleted. From what is publicly known, it appears that the investigation thus far has focused so much on the former secretary of state, that it’s gotten lost that high-level staff apparently also used this server too.

7 Aug, 2015

UN to examine chemical weapons attacks

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The UN adopts a resolution aimed at identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Ban and the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be asked to prepare a plan for an inquiry. US ambassador to the UN, Power:

Today’s resolution has been adopted with the council’s unanimous support. This sends a clear and powerful message to all those involved in chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The joint investigative mechanism will identify you if you gas people. It bears repeating as well that we need to bring the same unity that we have shown today to urgently find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”

The resolution follows months of negotiations between the US and Russia. Syria’s ambassador to the UN denies his government was behind the attacks, claiming the Islamic State (IS) group and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are to blame. Under the terms of the agreement, a team of expert inspectors will be given full access where possible to all locations in Syria and be allowed to collect materials and interview witnesses. Churkin, the UN’s Russian representative, says he hopes that the joint investigative body will work

impartially, objectively and professionally.

The resolution calls for Ban and the OPCW to recommend a team of investigators within 20 days.

28 Oct, 2004

IRS reviews tax-exempt status

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The Internal Revenue Service reviews the tax-exempt status of the NAACP, citing concerns over a speech given by Chairman Bond at its annual convention in Philadelphia. The IRS tells the association it has received information that Bond conveyed “statements in opposition of George W. Bush for the office of presidency” and specifically that he had “condemned the administration policies of George W. Bush in education, the economy and the war in Iraq. Bond defends his remarks:

This is an attempt to silence the NAACP on the very eve of a presidential election. We are best known for registering and turning out large numbers of African-American voters. Clearly, someone in the I.R.S. doesn’t want that to happen. It’s Orwellian to believe that criticism of the president is not allowed or that the president is somehow immune from criticism.