In comments on October 14, 2014, Ben Lawsky commented on changes to the proposed bitlicense regulations. The main points he made were these: Regarding who will be required to obtain a bitlicense, he said the focus will be financial intermediaries, not software developers or individual users. To the extent that…
On August 1, 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released draft guidance that would exempt from premarket 510(k) review many low-risk medical devices–including certain mobile applications that can convert a cell phone into a medical device, such as a thermometer or a stethoscope. Although the guidance is not yet…
On Friday, Michael Dell, CEO of Austin-based Dell Inc., announced on twitter that Dell.com is now accepting Bitcoin as a direct payment option for consumers and small businesses in the U.S. Other major companies, such as Overstock and Expedia, began accepting Bitcoin earlier this year and have reported favorable results,…
The Federal Communications Commission’s Accessibility and Innovation Initiative will host an “Accessing Social Media” event on Thursday, July 17, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Commission Meeting Room in its headquarters located at 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. The event will be webcast without open captioning. The event is open…
Today, we, along with our colleague Michael Heuga, published our client advisory titled New Canadian Anti-Spam Rules to Take Effect July 1, 2014. If your business uses “commercial electronic messages” to market to your customers and prospective customers in Canada, please be aware of Canada’s new anti-spam rules, which require, among…
Bitcoin mining firm GHash is reportedly consistently attaining over 51% of all of the hashing power of all Bitcoin miners. As a decentralized currency, Bitcoin depends on an open ledger called the “block chain” to track every transaction using the Bitcoin protocol. The integrity of the block chain is generally…
As reported in our earlier post, the U.S. Government has begun its first ever auction of Bitcoins. The Bitcoins to be auctioned were seized in connection with the shutdown of the Silk Road – the “dark net” site that served as a marketplace for illegal goods. The U.S. Marshals Service…
The California Attorney General recently published recommendations for developing meaningful privacy policies that comply with the California Online Privacy Protection Act of 2003 (CalOPPA), including recommendations for complying with “Do Not Track” disclosure requirements. According to the Attorney General, a meaningful privacy policy is one that addresses significant data collection…
Following an 18-month investigation into the practices and operations of data brokers, the Federal Trade Commission has issued a voluminous report calling for legislation to regulate the industry in the interests of consumer privacy. The report, called Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability, identifies “data brokers” as “companies…
More and more federal and state agencies are weighing in on virtual currency. Here’s what they are saying: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN): FinCEN Statement on Providing Banking Services to Money Services Businesses (Nov. 10, 2014) Request for Administrative Ruling on the Application of FinCEN’s Regulations to a Virtual Currency Payment…