The JBIPL Blog offers a forum for our Editors and Staff to expand our coverage of developments in both business and IP law. The Blog will provide short entries analyzing current cases, trends and issues in business and IP law. The Blog has won the The Expert Institute's 2015 and 2016 Best Legal Blog Contest for Education and Law School Blogs.
Posted: September 4th, 2021
By: Lashania White
Data privacy concerns have undoubtedly spiked during the pandemic due to new categories of identifiable personal data being collected from employees. Given this rise in accumulated personal information, data privacy law has the potential to be implicated, owing to the collection and disclosure of employees’ confidential personal information. Continue reading »
Posted: July 13th, 2021
By: Michaela Cappucci
The commercial use of personal data—accumulated via digital streams, online searches and applications that capture an individual’s musical tastes and listening habits—drives the way music is commoditized, consumed and promoted. This data is used by (1) record labels to determine which artists to sign and which to drop, (2) music streaming services to deliver content to listeners, and (3) concert promoters to route artists’ concert tours.
Posted: December 7th, 2020
By: Mona Ibadi
Covid-19 triggered a new normal that forced us into a virtual nation – one where we must rely on virtual mediums to connect with others. The ability of Americans to move online at such a rapid pace demonstrates the adaptability of our society. However, reliance on computers and technology raises several privacy and security concerns that need to be addressed. This begs the question: Is American legislation as adaptable to the new age of remote work as its people? Continue reading »
Posted: September 15th, 2020
By: Haodi Dong
On July 16, Europe’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), released a landmark decision in Schrems II, complicating the process of transferring personal data from the EU to the US. CJEU struck down the EU-US Privacy Shield, an agreement reached between the EU, Switzerland, and the US in 2016.
Posted: March 29th, 2020
By: Hannah Weiss
TikTok.com
US officials are conducting a national security review of TikTok, a popular app that allows users to share short videos and video clips. This is part of a growing trend of high-profile transactions being reviewed for national security conflicts as foreign companies seeking to invest in the United States are facing increasing scrutiny. Evincing this, in 2018, President Trump signed off on the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act (FIRRMA). Continue reading »
Posted: June 30th, 2019
By: Brian Lewis, Summer Blogger
“Senator, we run ads.” During his 2018 testimony before the Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committee, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s patronizing response to then-Senator Orrin Hatch’s rudimentary question illustrates the elusive nature of Facebook’s business operations. Nearly 70% of Americans use Facebook. Many Americans support regulating social networking sites to ensure their data are secure. For the supporters of social media regulation, the new California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) may not be the “model” regulation many claim it will be.
Posted: April 24th, 2019
By: Samantha Moench
On March 18, 2019, Argonne National Laboratory released more information about Aurora, “America’s next-generation supercomputer.” Intel has teamed up with the Department of Energy (“DOE”) to create the computer at Argonne’s lab facility which is estimated to cost upwards of $500 million. Cray Inc.—known for its 45 years of building the “world’s most advanced supercomputers” will be a sub-contractor on the deal. Together, Cray Inc. and Intel will work to construct “the fastest supercomputer in U.S. history.” Continue reading »
Posted: April 7th, 2019
By: Daniel Norton
On February 1st, 2019, the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the case Mozilla Corp. v. FCC. The premise of the case is that Mozilla, and several other interested parties, have sued the FCC over the Restoring Internet Freedom Order’s reclassification of internet services as information services rather than telecommunications services under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. A telecommunications service is one that transmits unaltered information while an information service is used for “generating, acquiring, storing, transforming, processing, retrieving, utilizing, or making available information.” This classification is important as the D.C. Court of Appeals has held that the FCC cannot enforce net neutrality against Internet Access Providers if they are classified as telecommunications services, but they can if the IAPs are classified as telecommunications services. The 2015 Open Internet Order classified IAPs services to be telecommunications while the 2017 Restoring Internet Freedom Order reclassified IAPs services as information services. Continue reading »
Posted: January 13th, 2019
By: Nathaniel Reiff
In 2016, Marriott International, Inc. acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for $13.6 billion “creating the world’s largest and best hotel company.” Little did Marriot know that Starwood’s guest reservation database provided unauthorized access of more than 500 million guest’s information. The leak revealed customer names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, passport numbers, and potentially credit card numbers and card expiration dates.
“Marriott International Inc.’s revelation of a hack . . . highlights the hidden cybersecurity risks involved with mergers and acquisitions. . . . Even companies that thoroughly vet their targets can’t entirely avoid the possibility that they’re inheriting risks.” claims Bloomberg Law’s Privacy and Data Security reporter, Sara Merken. Such naivety engenders lawsuits against the acquirer, imposes damage to its reputation, and costs the company millions to remediate the hack. Continue reading »
Posted: August 3rd, 2018
By: Killoran Long, Summer Blogger
Click. Even after the warning, you just can’t help yourself. You’ve opened the email from an unfamiliar web address, and boom! In just seconds, there goes all your data, and worse – all of your firm’s and clients’ data too.
Cyberattacks and data breaches are too often making headlines and creating headaches in today’s tech-reliant world. But how can individuals and firms protect themselves if and when they befall victim to such a breach?
Enter cyber insurance: a type of general insurance that covers “internet-based liability and risks,” developed with the intention to help entities “recover from a data breach or identity theft by mitigating all the costs that crop up in the aftermath.” Though most companies have been covered by some form of cyber protection under existing general or professional liability insurance policies,stand-alone cyber policies are relatively new to the market and have only been available for a little over a decade. Continue reading »
