You Got Loot? FTC Examines In-Game Purchases
The FTC held three panels on Wednesday, August 7, 2019, that centered on one topic: loot boxes earned or purchased during online game play. It’s clear from the selection of panelists and the questions posed by FTC staff that the FTC is on high alert about potential consumer protection issues surrounding these in-game purchases. If…
Read MoreSEC Says “Pocketful of Quarters’” Planned Token Is Not a “Pocketful of Securities”
On July 25, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Corporation Finance issued a letter to Pocketful of Quarters, Inc. (PoQ), informing PoQ that it would not recommend enforcement action in regards to PoQ’s proposal to sell tokens (called Quarters) on its gaming platform. The SEC informed PoQ that based on PoQ’s description of…
Read MoreEquifax Settlement Teaches The Dos and Dont’s About Data Security
It’s been a busy summer for the FTC and the federal agency is dominating the headlines. There is the $5 billion settlement with Facebook for failing to better protect user privacy, which was announced earlier this month. Then there is the multimillion dollar settlement with Google for failing to adequately protect children’s privacy. That was…
Read MoreAbility to Revoke TCPA Consent Limited When Consent Was Provided Via Contract
Although the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) limits the ways in which companies may contact individuals via automated dialers, with prerecorded messages, or via text message, one of its hallmarks is that companies are entitled to contact consumers who have provided their express consent to be called. However, in 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”)…
Read MoreINITIAL EXCHANGE OFFERING: THE NEW PARADIGM FOR CRYTPO CAPITAL?
Crypto exchange Bittrex made news this week when it announced its first initial exchange offering (IEO), which it was to host through its Malta-based affiliate Bittrex International. Bittrex planned to offer its registered members the opportunity to buy RAID’s XRD token. RAID is an international gaming data blockchain project, with the goal to create a…
Read MoreDon’t Believe Me Just Watch: Choose Profits over Privacy and the FTC may Funk You Up
An app for children–wee ones even–to publicize videos of themselves jamming to their favorite tunes. An app that, by default, allows its users to communicate directly with any other users, including wee ones. An app that provides its users a list of other users within a 50-mile radius who they can follow or contact directly…
Read MoreUPDATE – NOT SO FAST INDEED: DISTRICT COURT BALKS AT SEC’S BLANKET CHARACTERIZATION OF TOKENS AS SECURITIES BUT THEN RECONSIDERS RULING
An issue of major importance to cryptocurrency and digital token markets has been whether tokens were all to be considered securities under U.S. law. The SEC’s frequent admonishments that it would consider ICOs to be securities offerings has caused a dramatic slowdown in the US ICO market. In one of the first cases to test…
Read MorePassage of the 2018 Farm Bill: America’s Amber Waves of Grain Turn Green. What Does It Mean For CBD Oil Products and Advertising?
Much excitement surrounds the 2018 Farm Bill – the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 – which President Trump recently signed into law. The hubbub is all about hemp. The new law removes hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and opens markets across the fifty states to hemp and its many derivatives. Farmers and product manufactures…
Read MoreNot So Fast: District Court Balks at SEC’s Blanket Characterization of Tokens as Securities
An issue of major importance to cryptocurrency and digital token markets has been whether tokens were all to be considered securities under U.S. law. The SEC’s frequent admonishments that it would consider ICOs to be securities offerings has caused a dramatic slowdown in the U.S. ICO market. In one of the first cases to test…
Read MoreNo More Bait and Switch: Subscription-Based Businesses Need to Refine Their Pitch Under California Law
Effective July 1, companies that offer free gift or trial periods for their products or services can no longer bill California consumers automatically at the expiration of the gift or trial period. Companies will be required to provide a “clear and conspicuous” explanation of the price that will be charged—or how the pricing will change—at…
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