Don’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…
Read MoreThe California Consumer Privacy Act: The Who, What, When, Why…and How.
Make room Europe: California is taking on the data privacy challenge. For the last year or so, the privacy world has been abuzz with how to implement the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation. The buzz died down once GDPR went into effect in late May. But no rest for the weary. A little over a…
Read MoreCryptocurrency Exchanges Must Navigate An Outdated Regulation System
More consumers are adopting cryptocurrency than ever, but regulators are less enthusiastic. As a result, cryptocurrency exchanges spend unnecessary time and resources working to comply with outdated guidelines. Kraken, which oversees $150 million in daily cryptocurrency transactions, is the latest exchange to experience this problem. In an effort to bring itself into compliance with current…
Read MoreSupreme Court Rules Online Businesses Now Subject to Sales Tax
In a ruling announced today, the Supreme Court held that online businesses can be subjected to sales tax even in states where they do not have any brick-and-mortar operations. The case, South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., overturns longstanding precedent requiring “physical presence” to subject a seller to state sales tax, representing a big change for…
Read MoreEleventh Circuit Assumes FTC’s Data Security Enforcement Authority, But Mandates Specificity for FTC Orders
On June 6, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a landmark ruling in LabMD v. Federal Trade Commission. While the Eleventh Circuit impliedly held that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has authority to take enforcement action against companies whose unfair practices lead to data security incidents that pose…
Read MoreFTC Focuses on Kids’ Geo-Location Devices in Latest COPPA Warnings
A public service announcement of yesteryear posed the following question to parents: “It’s 8:00. Do you know where your children are?” Today’s technology allows parents to answer that question regardless of the time of day. That technology, however, has recently drawn scrutiny for violating the parental notice and consent provisions of the Federal Trade Commission’s…
Read More