In the aftermath of the Snowden scandal, and an on-going concern for cyber-surveillance practices, the United States Congress and the American people are increasingly concerned that their online privacy is at risk. The government continues to wrestle with the possibility of including mandatory data retention standards for Internet Service Providers…
In January 2012, the European Union (“EU”) introduced a draft regulation that would make it more difficult for companies within the EU to gather personal data from consumers. In the wake of recent developments that the National Security Agency has been involved in questionable surveillance practices in the United States,…
In recent times, the threat of privacy invasions has spread far beyond domestic governmental agencies, but to also include foreign and international governments. Do you travel outside of the United States? Do you travel with electronic devices, such as a cellphone or laptop? Do these devices hold any sensitive information,…
The Federal Trade Commission proposed a revision to the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”), which became effective as of July 1, 2013. As the FTC and state attorneys become increasingly stricter with online child protection standards, this rule will mean that online activity will be monitored more closely…
Patent law reform has recently moved to the forefront of the federal legislation calendar as the country calls on Congress to protect inventors and consumers from intellectual property trolls (“IP trolls”). IP trolls may also be known as patent assertion entities. These IP trolls include individuals or entities that do…
In April 2012, President Obama and the United States Congress signed the JOBS Act into law. The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (“JOBS”) Act goes a long way towards accelerating and promoting crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is the practice of raising capital for a project or business by seeking small amounts of money…
The central provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the “AIA”) went into effect in March 2013, revolutionizing the United States patent system. Traditionally, the United States had maintained a “first-to-invent” patent system, which awarded patent rights to the first inventor who created a unique invention. However, as the AIA…
President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Act”), or ObamaCare, as it is more commonly known, into law on March 23, 2010. The Act intends to decrease the number of Americans who do not have medical insurance. Additionally, the Act aims to decrease the overall cost of…
The news outlets have been reporting that the Chinese have allegedly been hacking into American infrastructures. Assuming this report is accurate, the United States is not equipped to handle the consequences of such an attack. These hackers would possess the power to disable the critical infrastructure in this country, eliminating…
In light of recent news that America’s cyber-network is vulnerable to outside attack, President Obama signed an Executive Order to improve cyber-security for the nation’s “critical infrastructure.” According to the Order, “critical infrastructure” applies to the vital physical and virtual systems in the United States that are essential to the…