Addressing legal issues with the latest technological developments and social media trends.
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closed captioning symbol (two Cs)It’s the end of the day and you find yourself with a little downtime to catch up on your favorite streaming show. Whether it’s because each episode vacillates between the loudest of explosions and the quietest of dialogue or your hearing just isn’t what it used to be—you find yourself constantly adjusting the volume so that you can hear the crucial reveal whispered by the main character’s best friend at the penultimate moment before turning the volume down as fast as possible so that you don’t wake everyone in the house when all mayhem breaks loose and the main character is forced to escape a self-destructing secret base. Thankfully, you remember that you can just turn on closed captioning, set the remote down, and enjoy the show without missing any of the dialogue. However, for those who are deaf or have hearing loss, closed captioning is much more than a convenience—it is a vital tool for providing access to the universe of streaming.

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GettyImages-969035900-300x204For years, website owners have leveraged the federal Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (CFAA) as a tool to combat unauthorized scraping of data and other content from their websites. Due to a circuit court split on the interpretation of the CFAA’s “exceeds authorized access” provision, there has long been a legal gray area around the widespread practice of web scraping and whether scraping data from publicly accessible websites can give rise to liability under the CFAA. A set of closely watched, high-level court cases, however, may soon offer some long-awaited clarification on the reach of the CFAA to web scraping.

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EPDB-logo-300x300This week the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), a body that represents European data protection authorities, set up a new cookie banner taskforce. The new taskforce will coordinate the response to over 400 complaints concerning cookie banners filed by a nonprofit organization founded by Max Schrems, None of Your Business (NOYB).

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EU-artificial-intelligence1138358728-300x198With artificial intelligence (AI) becoming more and more embedded in our everyday lives, there has been a corresponding need for regulations that foster AI development and adoption in a responsible manner. The question is how governments should approach such regulation.

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@ sign with human face silhouette and red tape over the "mouth"In what is either one of the more ironic acts in a year full of irony or one of the more expressive power moves of the Texas legislative session, Gov. Greg Abbott announced on one social media platform that people can watch a livestream on another social media platform of him signing into law a bill that will restrict the ability of social media platforms to moderate posts on their platforms. But there is more to this new law that online content providers should be aware of.

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Proptech-817442226-300x200The commercial real estate industry is increasingly adopting proptech to unearth savings and business insights. But companies need to be careful. Security and privacy are two foundational components of a successful data analytics initiative. Ensuring the information is stored securely while adhering to the complex framework of privacy laws will be instrumental to a real estate organization’s success with data. Why? If the information is not kept safe or is used contrary to law or the commitments a business has made to consumers, companies will face fines, regulatory investigations and customer ire.

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Carolyn Toto recently joined host Joel Simon on his Industry Insights podcast continue the discussion of non-fungible tokens, related IP ownership issues and more.

Joel Simon: Our discussion today is part of a series on non-fungible tokens, known as NFTs. We will take a look at some specific issues that are somewhat unique to NFTs, and try to give you, our listeners, some interesting things to watch out for as you wade into this relatively new space. Carolyn, with the large sums of money involved in many NFT transactions, due diligence and proper transaction execution must be critical factors, yet I’ve heard about buyers getting tripped up on things that, once you hear about them, seem obvious. Can you shed some light on this for us?

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Women-Voices-in-Finance1080p-300x169In this 30-minute conversation, our colleague Liz Zimmer and State Street’s Nicole Olson will discuss innovation in digital assets and cryptocurrency, the impact of fintech on diversity and women in leadership, and paths toward greater representation and support of women in the fintech community.

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As California reopens from the COVID-19 pandemic and workers begin returning to work in-person, many employers have begun requesting their employees provide, sometimes on an ongoing basis, certain health information before returning to the workplace. This includes information such as temperature checks, health surveys, COVID-19 test results, or proof of vaccination status. Given the likelihood that collecting this information will trigger certain requirements under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), employers should take certain measures to ensure they remain in compliance with the CCPA as their workplaces reopen.

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Hashtag-disclosure-1305783808-300x200Social Media has gone from frontier to “settled land of influencers” when it comes to brand promotion. In 2020, social media ad revenues reached $41.5 billion, making up nearly 30 percent of all internet and ad revenue. The latest influencer trend has been marketing “altcoins,” which are cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. From YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul promoting the digital coin Safemoon to the social-media veteran Kim Kardashian marketing “Ethereum Max,” cryptocurrency promotion permeates social media. On the flip side, there’s also been a boom in consumers seeking financial advice from social media platforms like Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets. However, as with all advertising, cryptocurrency promotion has raised many concerns. Among them? Are the cryptocurrencies marketed by influencers are simply pump-and-dump scams? One approach influencers try to limit liability is by including the disclaimer “this is not financial advice” in their posts and videos, but is including or hashtagging a disclaimer enough to limit liability?

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