Be clear. Be open. Be upfront. That’s what influencers need to do to build a following. But those same standards could just as easily describe the legal guidelines applicable to influencers Fall short, and influencers may violate the law. As we’ve chronicled on this blog, influencers in the United States…
CBD, CBG, CBA, CBN, THC—the race to find the holy grail of cannabinoid production is in full swing. Money flows abound, unicorn-hungry investors looking to capture market share are swirling around promising frontrunners with lucrative IP. One interesting segment of cannabis IP gaining traction focuses on cannabinoids synthesis from microorganisms…
For any company that has tackled GDPR compliance, the new privacy rights introduced by the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) will seem pretty familiar. It might even be tempting to assume that by being GDPR compliant, one is already most of the way there in terms of preparing…
In November 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice rolled out the China Initiative. This new policy includes plans to “identify priority Chinese trade theft cases, ensure we have enough resources dedicated to them, and … bring them to an appropriate conclusion quickly and effectively.” The new Attorney General, who has…
With the transition of software from physical, boxed merchandise to web-based, downloadable content, the question of how and whether to tax this less tangible manifestation of goods and services has been taken up by courts and legislators alike. In “The Evolution of Software as a Service Taxes Post-Wayfair,” colleagues Dmitrii Gabrielov…
“For a bunch of hairless apes, we’ve actually managed to invent some pretty incredible things” —Ernest Cline, Ready Player One It’s an incredible time to be alive. The Digital Age has helped us reached levels of efficiency and connectivity that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. In his award-winning…
(Note, this post has spoilers for Avengers: Endgame.) Perhaps one of the most mesmerizing scenes in Avengers: Endgame is where all the MCU superheroes (including those on Titan) come through Dr. Strange’s portals to enter the battle against Thanos. In Avengers: Infinity War, Dr. Strange didn’t use these portals to…
When it comes to photos destined for the web, I’d rather be behind the camera than in front of it. However, on a recent trip to Tokyo I was reminded that photos of me, and specifically my face, are often being captured and processed by systems that are increasingly being…
We’ve previously written about “tweet-less, picture-less,” computer-operated accounts or bots, that make one appear more popular—a.k.a. influential on social media—than one actually is. Recently, legislators and law enforcement agencies have moved to crack down on bots, their evil cousins known as sock puppets, and other deceptive social engagement practices. Specifically,…
Protecting consumer data privacy in the age of artificial intelligence and increased digital commerce is a growing concern. In June 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) introduced provisions to protect consumers and became the first U.S. law that can be viewed as a response to GDPR. Going into effect…