On August 7, 2024, nearly four years after the SEC filed its complaint alleging Ripple sold XRP in unregistered securities transactions in violation of Section 5 of the Securities Act, the district court issued its final...more
8/13/2024
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Digital Assets ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Final Judgment ,
Injunctions ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Popular ,
Regulation D ,
Ripple ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Tokens ,
Securities Violations ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
The beginning of this year brought several legal milestones in the world of crypto litigation and enforcement. In the first live installment of our quarterly update webinar, we discussed how...more
7/11/2024
/ Coinbase ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptoassets ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Authority ,
Howey ,
Investment Contract ,
Penalties ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Of particular importance for the crypto industry, the opinion analyzes the SEC’s allegations that Binance and BAM offered and sold various tokens and programs to investors as investment contracts without registering them with...more
7/5/2024
/ Cryptocurrency ,
Fraud ,
Investment Contract ,
Registration Requirement ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Tokens ,
Securities Violations ,
Stablecoins
A glimmer of hope from the Federal Circuit for software manufacturers looking to enforce license agreements against the U.S. Federal Government.
In an order issued March 6, 2024, the court said entities licensing software...more
On July 14, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced an “investigative sweep” through inquiry letters sent to large California employers. The sweep seeks information on companies’ compliance with the California...more
7/24/2023
/ Board of Directors ,
Business Ownership ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) ,
Covered Business ,
Covered Employer ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Personal Information ,
Privacy Policy ,
Regulatory Requirements
It’s the Transaction, Not the Token.
Issuers cannot offer or sell securities without registering them with the SEC under Section 5 of the Securities Act of 1933 or finding a valid exemption from registration. XRP is the...more
7/18/2023
/ Buyers ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Howey ,
Investment ,
Investment Contract ,
Ripple ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Transactions ,
Sellers ,
Summary Judgment ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
On May 1, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging violations of the Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act (GIPA) against the asset management firm...more
On March 22, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a request for information (RFI) seeking public comments on business practices in the cloud computing industry. The RFI focuses on three intertwined aspects of...more
3/30/2023
/ Cloud Computing ,
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) ,
Competition ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Security ,
European Commission ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Investigations ,
Microsoft ,
Request For Information ,
Technology Sector
The White House announced last Thursday its highly anticipated National Cybersecurity Strategy (NCS). Although largely aspirational and short on concrete plans, the 39-page NCS is the Biden administration’s most ambitious...more
3/9/2023
/ Biden Administration ,
Cloud Computing ,
Cyber Incident Reporting ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Government Agencies ,
National Security
In this session, presenters will provide an overview of the current cybersecurity landscape, including the patchwork of state and national security requirements and common law negligence. The presenters will also provide an...more
12/22/2022
/ Best Practices ,
Continuing Legal Education ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
National Security ,
New Legislation ,
Privacy Laws ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Risk Management ,
Webinars
There is new hope for companies that transfer data from Europe to the United States that the return of a less administratively burdensome mechanism is on the horizon...more
10/17/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ,
Data Privacy ,
EU ,
EU-US Privacy Shield ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Intellgence ,
International Data Transfers ,
National Intelligence Agencies ,
Schrems I & Schrems II ,
Standard Contractual Clauses ,
Surveillance
In a much-anticipated ruling this week addressing the confluence of website scraping and computer hacking law, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the latest federal court to limit the reach of the Computer...more
4/22/2022
/ Appeals ,
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Data Collection ,
Databases ,
Injunctive Relief ,
LinkedIn ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Unauthorized Access ,
Unfair Competition ,
Van Buren v United States ,
Web Scraping ,
Website Owner Liability
It’s the call you hope you never get. Your company has been hit with a ransomware attack. Your systems are offline. Your customer data was stolen by an unknown threat actor who is threatening to leak it. You have lots of...more
4/1/2022
/ Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Data Protection ,
Extortion ,
FBI ,
FinCEN ,
Hackers ,
Information Technology ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Ransomware ,
Risk Management
In the latest move by a regulator aimed at bolstering cyber defenses, on February 9, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted to propose new rules to address the cybersecurity risks faced by registered...more
On October 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued tailored sanctions compliance guidance for those operating in the virtual currency industry, including technology...more
10/21/2021
/ Compliance ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
New Guidance ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Assessment ,
SDN List ,
Strict Liability ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
Many companies have a “no ransomware payment” stance until faced with a ransomware attack, especially an attack that causes significant business disruption. At that point, the company may reconsider its stance (or at least...more
9/24/2021
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FBI ,
Guidance Update ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Ransomware ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Factors ,
Sanctions ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Virtual Currency
Case Overview -
This week’s U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement cease-and-desist order (Order) In re App Annie Inc., out of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office, underscores the importance of taking...more
9/20/2021
/ Cease and Desist Orders ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Management ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Security ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Mobile Apps ,
Personal Information ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulation S-P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)