James G. Gatto

James G. Gatto

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP


Latest Publications

Share:

Money Laundering through Virtual Currency Provider Shut Down

The U.S. Department of the Treasury has targeted Liberty Reserve S.A. as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Section 311). According to Financial Crimes...more

5/29/2013 - FinCEN Money Laundering Patriot Act U.S. Treasury Virtual Currency

FINRA Levies $9 Million Fine Against Financial Service Company Over Email Failures

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has levied a $7.5 million fine against LPL Financial LLC (LPL) for a series of email system failures which prevented LPL from accessing hundreds of millions of emails and...more

5/22/2013

Bitcoin Exchange Assets Seized

Federal authorities executed a seizure warrant against a bank account associated with one of the leading bitcoin exchanges. The warrant was not based on bitcoins themselves being illegal. Rather, the entity was not registered...more

5/20/2013 - Bitcoins FinCEN Virtual Currency

DMCA Saves YouTube...Again

Yesterday a NY court again dismissed Viacom's $1 billion suit against Google/YouTube for copyright infringement. The court found that the DMCA shielded YouTube from liability after an appelate court vacated the prior...more

4/19/2013 - Copyright Copyright Infringement DMCA Liability YouTube

Mobile Payments Infographic

Check out this Mobile Payments Infographic brought to you by the Mobile Payments Working Group, as part of the Application Developers Alliance. Pillsbury team members Jim Gatto, Deb Thoren-Peden and JiJi Park are all members...more

4/17/2013 - Digital Goods Mobile Payments

SEC OKs Social Media Sites for Financial Disclosures

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a report that makes clear that companies can use social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to announce key information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure...more

4/3/2013 - Facebook Investors Netflix Public Disclosure Regulation FD SEC Social Media

FINCEN Issues Virtual Currency Regualtions

FINCEN has recently issued what is perhaps the most specific pieces of regulatory Guidance on the financial regulatory issues with virtual currencies. ...more

3/22/2013 - Bank Secrecy Act FinCEN

Who wants money for mobile app development?

Kongregate, the game portal owned by GameStop, has announced a financial assistance program to the tune of $10 million for free-to-play mobile app developers....more

2/4/2013 - App Developers Free-to-Play Games Games GameStop Kongregate Mobile Apps Social Media Startups

Social Media Guidance for Financial Institutions

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) has released proposed guidance on the applicability of consumer protection and compliance laws, regulations, and policies to activities conducted via social media...more

1/30/2013 - FFIEC Social Media Social Media Policy

Will Australia Ban Non-Real Money Gambling Apps?

As real money online gambling remains bogged down in the legislative and regulatory morass, social gaming applications have been on a tear. As we have previously reported, major players are leveraging social gaming...more

1/15/2013 - Caesars Gamblification IGT Internet Gambling Mobile Apps Social Gaming Zynga

Virtual Goods, Gaming and the Trouble With Secondary Markets

Since the early days of online games, 'virtual goods' have been used to enhance game play and to provide revenue to game developers. These are earned by accomplishing tasks or bought from the developer, typically for use in...more

1/8/2013 - Gambling Games Internet Internet Gambling Secondary Markets Social Media Video Games Virtual Goods Zynga

Gambling and Social Games Continue to Unite: Caesars Interactive Entertainment has acquired Buffalo Studios LLC

According to a report on Inside Social Games, Caesars Interactive Entertainment has acquired Buffalo Studios LLC, a social and mobile games developer most known for its Bingo Blitz and Bingo Rush....more

1/5/2013 - Acquisitions Games Internet Gambling Mobile Apps

How to Avoid Losing 25% of Your Customers Overnight

According to a recent report, Instagram lost nearly 25% of its users (as tracked by AppData) nearly overnight. The cause is believed to be due to a very unpopular change to its Terms of Service....more

1/3/2013 - Instagram Privacy Policy Social Media Terms of Service

Suit Over Ownership of Twitter Followers Settled

We previously reported on the lawsuit over ownership of Twitter followers, when an employee left PhoneDog and changed the twitter handle of an account that had been used to tweet to PhoneDog customers....more

1/3/2013 - Passwords Phonedog Settlement Social Media Trade Secrets Twitter

Are you properly disclosing your virtual goods sales?

As the multi-billion market for virtual goods continues to grow, so too does the regulatory scrutiny. One area where many companies in this space may want to review is their SEC disclosure practices....more

12/10/2012 - SEC Virtual Goods

Pin to Win - Do's and Don'ts of Pinterest Contests and Promotions

With the meteoric rise of Pinterest, many companies are leveraging its popularity. One way this is happening is that Brands are creating contests and promotions around users "pins." This is a growing trend in the use of...more

12/10/2012 - Contests & Promotions Gamblification Marketing Pinterest Social Media

Facebook Sued for Virtual Currency Monopolization

Kickflip, which does business under the name Gambit, sued Facebook for allegedly monopolizing the "virtual currency" market used in online games by requiring game publishers to use Facebook credits. It is also alleges...more

12/4/2012 - Facebook Monopolization

Can you Really Get a Social Game Patent in Less Than a Year?

YES! One of the often cited reasons for not pursuing patents is that they take too long to obtain. In response to this concern, the US Patent office has implemented a procedure that enables applicants to make a request, when...more

11/21/2012 - Patents USPTO

×

Expand Your Reach

JD Supra gets your content noticed, increases your visibility and makes your marketing efforts hassle free...

Learn More  or  Schedule a demo

Start a limited-feature trial account (individuals only).