FATCA's Due Diligence Expansion
September 02, 2015
In 2010, Congress enacted the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in order to target U.S. taxpayers using offshore accounts to hide monies overseas. Although Congress' purpose and intent in passing FATCA was met, it has been achieved at a cost of imposing heavy burdens on those already compliant.
Strict Liability Claims for Prescription Medical Products
September 02, 2015
On July 16 of this year, decisions by two federal judges once again spoke to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's silence on a fundamental issue of tort law applicable to prescription medical product liability claims in the Commonwealth.
Significant UK Court Ruling on Data Protection Liability
September 02, 2015
The UK's Court of Appeal gave a very important judgment in March 2015 in a case concerning Google's Internet behavior tracking through a browser. First, misuse of private information is now classified as a tort, thereby in this case enabling proceedings to be issued against a party outside the jurisdiction of the UK; and, second, financial compensation for distress caused by breaches of the Data Protection Act 1998 may now be claimed, despite there being no monetary loss.
e-Mail Risk Mitigation For Law Firms
September 02, 2015
Each day, attorneys create and handle documents that require strict confidentiality to avoid loss of evidentiary privileges. In today's digital workplace, many of these files are exchanged via e-mail. While e-mail allows for convenience, speed and portability, each attorney using e-mail must ask before sending: "Am I putting my client's confidentiality needs and expectations, as well as my ethical obligations, at risk?"
IP News
September 02, 2015
Federal Circuit: District Courts Must Address <i>Intel</i> Factors In Determining Whether to Modify A Protective Order In Foreign Proceedings <br>Federal Circuit Applies An 'Abuse of Discretion' Standard of Review for a PTO 'Special Circumstances' Determination
Data Sharing in the Cloud
September 02, 2015
Storing and sharing data "in the cloud" has become, in many instances, a business necessity. The practical and economic advantages of cloud computing are clear ' it eliminates the need to send client data via traditional, costly methods, and is significantly less expensive than building and maintaining the same data storage capacity in-house.
Online Impersonation Continues, With Varying Consequences
September 02, 2015
Online impersonation is defined in the New York Code provisions that prohibit the practice, as the act of impersonating another "under an assumed character with intent to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud another." The foremost case brought under this law, <i>People v. Golb</i>, in many ways epitomizes the bizarre and highly esoteric reasons why someone chooses to impersonate another in the first place.
Recent Challenges To the FTC's Data Regulation Authority
September 02, 2015
Early on in 2015, pundits were already predicting that the extent and number of data breaches from 2014 would severely pale in comparison to those that would occur in 2015. Inevitably, people across the country, victims, media, members of government, and even litigious-minded attorneys, are scrambling to determine what legal recourse exists to not only retroactively seek retribution, but also proactively enforce data security methods ' a task that is still at its nascent stages of development.
