The U.S. Department of the Treasury has targeted Liberty Reserve S.A. as a financial institution of primary money laundering concern under Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Section 311). According to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) press release, Liberty Reserve – a web-based money transfer system or “virtual currency” –…
On May 20, 2013, the New Jersey Assembly passed – by a vote of 77 to 0 – a revised bill barring employers from seeking access to employees’ social media accounts. The bill incorporates changes suggested by Governor Chris Christie, including the elimination of a private cause of action. Instead,…
A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. Walmart Hopes ‘Gamification’ Can Engage Employees and Turn Things Around In a move that echoes what other major employers are doing, the nation’s largest retailer is working with a Boston-based marketing and consulting organization…
FinCEN recently issued interpretive guidance to clarify that it views certain activities involving convertible virtual currencies as money transmission services under the Bank Secrecy Act and FinCEN regulations. If your business involves creating, obtaining, distributing, exchanging, accepting, or transmitting virtual currencies, you may be subject to FinCEN’s registration, reporting, and…
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has levied a $7.5 million fine against LPL Financial LLC (LPL) for a series of email system failures which prevented LPL from accessing hundreds of millions of emails and reviewing tens of millions of other emails. On top of that. FINRA ordered LPL to establish…
It took just two weeks for the first online poker site located and operated completely inside the United States to deal its one millionth hand of poker. While UltimatePoker.com is only available to Nevada residents located in Nevada at this point, it has set the stage for what is likely…
Federal authorities executed a seizure warrant against a bank account associated with one of the leading bitcoin exchanges. The warrant was not based on bitcoins themselves being illegal. Rather, the entity was not registered as a money transmitter. The failure to so register was alleged to be a violation of…
A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. What’s the Matter With Zynga? This was supposed to be a story about a guy building a highly anticipated mobile game. Instead, it’s a story about a multi-billion-dollar Internet company that is…
A new Manhattan bar has become one of the few brick and mortar operations to accept Bitcoins as a method of payment. What are Bitcoins? They are essentially a form of digital cash or virtual currency. They are unique in that there is no central issuing or regulatory authority (such…
In a 33-1 vote, on May 13, the state Senate approved Senator Mark Leno’s bill that would require state law enforcement officials to obtain a search warrant before asking service providers to disclose the contents of their customers’ emails. This approval came after Senator Leno agreed to allow for…