Telecommunications carriers and providers of interconnected VoIP service with access to certain kinds of customer information collected through mobile devices are subject to existing privacy rules governing their use and disclosure of that information, the Federal Communications Commission announced in a declaratory ruling adopted at its June 27 meeting. Significantly, the decision makes clear that
June 2013
The Perils of One-Way Jurisdiction Clauses
Overview
A one-way jurisdiction clause (also known as “hybrid”, “asymmetrical” or “unilateral non-exclusive” jurisdiction clauses), requires that one of the parties to a contract must always submit a dispute arising from the contract to a particular country’s courts, whilst allowing the other party the flexibility to commence proceedings in the courts of any country it…
Advocate General Submits Opinion in Google Spain Case
On 25 June, the Advocate General (the “AG”) submitted an Opinion on a set of questions that a Spanish court referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “Court”). This is the first time that the Court has been asked to interpret the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (the ‘Directive’) in the context of internet…
Supreme Court’s DOMA Decision Has Significant Implications for Employers and Employee Benefit Plans
Earlier today in United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court struck down section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). Section 3 of DOMA limits the definition of marriage for purposes of federal law to marriage between individuals of the opposite sex. The Court held that DOMA deprives same sex couples of…
DOMA Invalidation Will Likely Impact Federal Contribution Limits
The Supreme Court’s decision today invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act will impact campaign finance laws as well, probably nowhere more clearly than in casting doubt on the FEC’s February decision advising a candidate for the special U.S. Senate Primary Election in Massachusetts that he could not treat contributions from a same-sex couple married under…
Tenth Circuit Upholds FEC’s Broader Definition of “Express Advocacy”
In a rare move for a federal appellate court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit yesterday released a two-paragraph precedential opinion upholding various federal campaign finance laws and policies by simply adopting the district court’s decision. The case is captioned Free Speech v. FEC.
The most notable part of the district…
Charting a Path Forward for Certain 501(c)(4) Organizations, and Perhaps Others
The IRS on Tuesday issued its eagerly anticipated 30-day report summarizing its initial review and assessment of “what went wrong” in connection with the IRS’s use of inappropriate criteria to screen exemption applications from Tea Party groups seeking recognition that they are 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations. We had previously blogged on this here and here…
Lead Member of the European Parliament Proposes a Pre-Marketing Authorization System
This post originally appeared on our sister blog, InsideMedicalDevices.
As announced in our previous post, the rapporteur (i.e., the leader of the parliamentary process) for the new Regulation on medical devices, Mrs. Dagmar ROTH-BEHRENDT, has proposed the introduction of a pharma-like pre-marketing authorization regime for high risk medical devices in the EU.
In…
Verizon Prevails on Motion To Dismiss Challenge to $7.5 Billion Pension Settlement
Earlier today, a federal district court granted Verizon’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit challenging its recent transfer of $7.5 billion of pension liabilities to Prudential (Lee v. Verizon, N.D. Tex.). The court concluded that plaintiffs had failed to state a claim that the transaction violated ERISA’s disclosure and fiduciary obligations. The…
FTC Issues Revised Business Guide on Identity Theft Red Flags Rule
By: Kelly Carson
Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued an updated “How-To” guide to help businesses and organizations determine whether they are subject to the agency’s Red Flags rule (Rule). Under the Rule, certain entities are required to establish written programs that are aimed at detecting and preventing identity theft.
The FTC’s revised…