Internet &amp; Social Media Law Blog

Modern cloud computing only came into existence about 20 years ago, but now virtually all enterprises (99%) are using cloud services. Cloud adoption accelerated further in the last two years because of the COVID pandemic as a result of an increase in remote work, the evolution of online business strategies (e.g., e-commerce), and the focus on business resilience. In addition, given budget uncertainties, moving technology tools, data and storage to the cloud usually results in significant cost savings to an organization, which is the top priority for organizations using cloud services six years in a row.

Posted March 15, 2022

Buying Real Estate in the Metaverse: Wallets, Fees and Terms of Service

Anyone who has ever been involved in a real estate purchase knows how complicated the process can be. Determining where and what one wishes to purchase, deciding how best to finance the transaction, even knowing exactly why buying something makes sense in the first place—there can be a lot to juggle before one even encounters the complexity of forms, contracts and payment mediums. While going through the process of purchasing real estate in real life, I became curious about purchasing real estate in the metaverse. What exactly would I be purchasing? What can I do on my new virtual real estate? How can I prevent trespassers? Eager to find out (and assuming it would only cost a few hundred bucks), I set out to buy some real estate in the metaverse.

Posted March 11, 2022

News of Note for the Internet-Minded (3/11/22) – AI Tools, NFT Trading and Ransomware Misdeeds

Is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine altering the landscape of the internet? Can AI help historians decipher ancient texts? How did two siblings allegedly use a digital token to defraud investors? Explore this and more in today’s News of Note.

Posted March 3, 2022

When It Comes to Copyright Applications, Honest Mistakes Can Still Hurt You

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision vacating the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Unicolors, Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P., was a win for authors who, during the copyright application process, unwittingly submit inaccurate information to the U.S. Copyright Office (e.g., because they did not understand the law, and/or were not assisted by competent copyright counsel). Nonetheless, in The Cost of Honest Mistakes: Even After Unicolors, Copyright Application Errors May Still Have Consequences, our colleagues Sam Eichner and Lori Panosyan explain why the decision does not do away with the risks associated with honest mistakes in U.S. Copyright Office filings (and why authors should take care to mitigate such risks).

Posted March 2, 2022

News of Note for the Internet-Minded (3/2/22) – AR Defense Systems, VR Adventures and Defrauding Bots

This week’s News of Notes includes a controversial use of facial recognition technology, stories highlighting AI’s role in both energy production and consumption, the continued use of ransomware and bots for criminal purposes, and more.

Posted February 25, 2022

Protect, Mitigate and Recover: Making Your Company Ransomware-Resistant

As is the case with many types of cybersecurity threats, shielding one’s company from ransomware attacks calls for measures that simultaneously build the strongest protections possible while also adopting mitigation strategies that assume those measures will fail.

Posted February 23, 2022

First-of-Its-Kind Settlement Brings Clarity for Players in Retail Crypto Market

by Michael S. Horikawa

Michael S. Horikawa

On February 14, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had entered into a settlement with BlockFi Lending LLC, a subsidiary of BlockFi Inc., (collectively BlockFi) over first-of-its-kind charges that BlockFi had failed to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product, BlockFi Interest Accounts (BIAs), and that BlockFi had violated the registration provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940. The charges and resulting settlement not only provide a path forward for BlockFi, but also provide clearer guidance to all players in the retail crypto market and especially those involved with crypto lending platforms.

Posted February 17, 2022

News of Note for the Internet-Minded (2/17/22) – Metaverse Gambling, Vanishing NFTs and AI Gaming

Apple’s portal to the metaverse could be nearing, Sony’s AI ups its game(play), a hospital resorts to pen and paper to thwart ransomware, and more in this week’s News of Note!

Posted February 14, 2022

Shifting Landscapes and Veiled Identities: The Usual Suspects Behind Ransomware Attacks

The actors behind ransomware tend to fall into two categories: cybercriminal gangs, often based in Eastern Europe, and groups backed by economic outcasts like Iran, Russia and North Korea. Historically the first prefer a shotgun approach; the second behave more like snipers. Here are a few of the groups that have been linked to recent ransomware and are still a threat.

Posted February 10, 2022

Department of Treasury Study Addresses NFTs, Online Platforms and the Emerging Digital Art Space

by Carolyn S. Toto and Aaron R. Hutman

Carolyn S. Toto

Aaron R. Hutman

Last week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released a report entitled “Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art” that discussed risks in the art sales ecosystem, ranging from high-value traditional art to NFTs and online sales platforms. Section 6110(c) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA), enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, had directed the U.S. Department of the Treasury to study the facilitation of money laundering (ML) and terror finance (TF) through the trade in works of art (the “Study”). The Study discusses which art market participants and sectors of the high-value art market in the United States present ML and TF risk, and that as a result may warrant regulation as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act.