Insights < BACK TO ALL INSIGHTS
The FTC Kills Noncompetes
FEATURED
April 30, 2024
The FTC Kills Noncompetes
By: George Calhoun
In a groundbreaking move that will reshape the workplace and many litigation practices nationwide, the FTC has issued a final rule that effectively bans all employee non-compete clauses. Approximately 30 million Americans currently work under a non-compete clause. All but a few applicable to senior executives will be void upon the effective date of the rule. After the rule is effective, no new non-compete clauses will be enforceable, even for senior executives. Noncompetition clauses have long been a contentious issue in the labor market. Employers claim that they protect intellectual property, trade secrets, and business interests. Employees find that such agreements limit worker mobility and suppress wages. According to FTC chairperson Lina Khan, “Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new…
What are you looking for?
Ad-Tech Europe: The Moving Target Marking Targeted Advertising
April 26, 2024
Ad-Tech Europe: The Moving Target Marking Targeted Advertising
By: Nicole Kardell
The European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) recently published an opinion on the legality of pay-or-consent models for online platforms offering services in Europe. While the opinion is non-binding and limited to “large online platforms[1],” companies that offer platforms large and small in Europe should pay attention to the EDPB’s analysis—it will inform their future guidance for entities large and small. The upshot: Pay-or-consent models [for…
Social Media Networks’ Section 230 Immunity on the Chopping Block? New York Court Allows Claims to Proceed Stemming from Buffalo Shooting
April 1, 2024
Social Media Networks’ Section 230 Immunity on the Chopping Block? New York Court Allows Claims to Proceed Stemming from Buffalo Shooting
By: Michelle Cohen
Since 1996, Internet platforms and social media companies have relied on a federal law, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, to protect them from liability for civil law claims stemming from content on their platforms. As the influence of platforms like Facebook, Twitter (now X), and others has grown, members of Congress, consumer groups, and other stakeholders have urged Congress to restrict or repeal…
A New Paradigm: Claimant Opposition to Mass Tort Bankruptcy and Needed Reform
May 3, 2023
A New Paradigm: Claimant Opposition to Mass Tort Bankruptcy and Needed Reform
By: George Calhoun
Congress enacted Section 524(g) of the Bankruptcy Code in 1994. That statute requires a 75% supermajority of claimants to approve a bankruptcy plan binding on future claimants and containing injunctions protecting the debtor and other third parties. The statute handed veto power to prominent plaintiff law firms. Companies facing mass tort liabilities, primarily asbestos, were forced into Faustian deals with plaintiffs groups in which trusts…
Basic Data Privacy Hygiene and AI: Do What You Say and Say What You Do
April 10, 2023
Basic Data Privacy Hygiene and AI: Do What You Say and Say What You Do
By: Nicole Kardell
Our Privacy Team has been saying this for years –Do What You Say and Say What You Do.[1] It’s an enduring maxim and an important basic step that companies need to embrace in their data collection practices. It also fits in neatly with the concepts of Notice and Consent, which are the hallmarks of almost all data privacy laws. Remarks made recently in a keynote…
Pump The Brakes or Step on the Gas? An Analysis of Emerging AI Regulatory Frameworks
April 6, 2023
Pump The Brakes or Step on the Gas? An Analysis of Emerging AI Regulatory Frameworks
By: Abbey Block
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) is growing exponentially and has infiltrated nearly every sector of society. Despite the technology’s growth, the US has yet to pass comprehensive federal legislation addressing its use, commercialization, and development. Although several states such as New York, Maryland, and Washington have implemented their own regulations, no such supervisory scheme has been broadly implemented on the federal level. In response to the largely…
A Review of Top-Rated AI Tech Companies Undermines the FTC’s Warning of Deception
March 22, 2023
A Review of Top-Rated AI Tech Companies Undermines the FTC’s Warning of Deception
By: Abbey Block
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) was once thought of as science fiction – something we could only see on a movie screen or read about in a comic book. But in recent years, the technology has become both accessible and popular, proliferating nearly every sector of society. From healthcare to the legal industry, AI technology has been praised for its…
Former Uber Security Chief Convicted of Federal Charges Stemming From 2016 Extortionate Data Breach
October 28, 2022
Former Uber Security Chief Convicted of Federal Charges Stemming From 2016 Extortionate Data Breach
By: Michelle Cohen
Uber’s former Chief Security Officer, Joe Sullivan, was convicted of two federal charges—obstruction of justice and misprision of a felony—for his role in covering up an extortionate data breach in 2016, which compromised more than 50 million personal records of Uber drivers and passengers, while the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) was probing Uber’s privacy protections. The San Francisco jury’s verdict marks a stunning development in…
