Features
Evolving Online Advertising Techniques
The federal government roared into March like a lion on online advertising, privacy and data'security practices, but hardly left like a lamb.
Features
Privacy and Online Data Collection: At a Crossroads?
During the past two years, the collection of personal information through a consumer's online activities has expanded to unprecedented levels. This is due, in part, to a proliferation of new devices through which consumers disclose personal information, and also to increasingly sophisticated behavioral analytics. In response, regulators and legislators are beginning to consider more closely whether comprehensive federal data-privacy legislation is appropriate. This article explores these unfolding developments and the challenges they present to regulators, consumers and the online business community.
Features
Closing the Profit Motive in the CAN-SPAM Act
Recently, a number of small entities and e-mail service providers have sought to use the CAN-SPAM Act to profit from the receipt of spam, but have faced increased scrutiny from federal courts. This article discusses the CAN-SPAM Act generally, some notable spam judgments, and recent decisions interpreting the standing requirements under the federal statute.
Features
FDA Enforcement Against Pharmaceutical Companies in the Product Promotion Arena
In his "Reason in Common Sense, The Life of Reason (Vol. 1)", George Santayana wrote: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." We all can benefit from reviewing the lessons learned from past mistakes, whether committed by ourselves or others. The medical device industry would be well-served in heeding Santayana's warning; review of the Food and Drug Administration's enforcement in the pharmaceutical promotion area could offer insight into how it might minimize…
Features
A Refresher on USERRA with Recent Developments
It remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will rule on its first USERRA case this spring, but a review of compliance with USERRA should be every employer's priority.
Features
DOL Issues Final Regulations on Mandatory Fee-Disclosures
On Oct. 14, 2010, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its regulations concerning the fee and investment-related disclosures that must be provided to participants in 401(k) plans and other defined contribution plans with participant-directed investments.
Features
New Law Cracks Down On Deceptive Third-Party e-Commerce Practices
A new layer of federal oversight should help protect consumers and ethical e-commerce companies against misleading and name-tarnishing activities of outlaw e-tailers who have ripped off thousands of U.S. consumers. On Dec. 29, President Obama signed the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, introduced in the Senate early last year by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Features
Is Anyone Not a Foreign Official Under the FCPA?
The DOJ has brought cases against companies and individuals in relation to their dealings with state-owned enterprises based on a broad reading of the term "instrumentality," a term not otherwise defined in the statute prohibiting corrupt payments to "foreign officials.
Features
Practice Tip: The SPILL Act
Thanks to a recent act of Congress, the oil spill may be seeping into product liability law. Meet the SPILL Act.
Features
Sentencing of Individuals in FCPA Cases
The DOJ exercises virtually unlimited discretion in deciding who gets charged in FCPA cases and, for all practical purposes, in deciding the amount of the financial penalty imposed against corporate violators. But sentencing of individual defendants is ultimately a matter of judicial, not prosecutorial, discretion.
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