2013

After extensive legislative deliberation over the past year, last week the Council of the District of Columbia unanimously approved a campaign finance reform bill which aims to tighten up rules around LLC contributions and promote fundraising transparency.  Notably, the D.C. Council had contemplated inserting pay-to-play restrictions in the campaign finance bill, but ultimately removed any…

Recently, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at HHS released a report on the HIPAA enforcement efforts of HHS’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).  Specifically, the OIG looked at whether OCR’s efforts to enforce HIPAA’s Security Rule were adequate.  The OIG’s findings may lead to increased enforcement efforts by OCR. 
Background on the Security Rule…

On December 4 and 5, EPA’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) discussed whether to review the scientific basis for EPA’s requirement that new coal-fired power plants implement partial carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), which is included in EPA’s recently-proposed rule for such power plants.  See Standards of Performance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions from New Stationary Sources: …

The Online Internet-Based Advertising Accountability Program issued five decisions in November enforcing the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising.  The Accountability Program’s first two decisions, issued November 18 against BMW of North America and Scottrade, addressed those companies’ failure to provide notice of third-party data collection on their websites.  On November…

On Thursday, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was unable to agree on whether Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A. could sponsor a Separate Segregated Fund (a corporate “SSF” or “PAC” in common parlance) that solicited contributions from the employees of its dealers and service centers.  The request resulted in an unsurprising deadlock and a surprising discussion about…

The Affordable Care Act created two new taxes for individuals whose income exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing joint returns).  Employees must pay an additional 0.9% Medicare tax on wages in excess of these dollar thresholds.  Individuals whose adjusted gross income exceeds the dollar thresholds also must pay a 3.8% tax on their net…

Yesterday, the FTC announced a settlement with Goldenshores Technologies, a company that makes the most-downloaded flashlight app on the Android platform.  The FTC alleged that Goldenshores violated Section 5 of the FTC Act by failing to disclose to consumers that it shared location data it collected from users’ device with third parties.  Although a list…

On 25 November 2013, the European Commission published an Implementing Decision containing guidelines to assist responsible persons comply with their regulatory obligations under the EU Cosmetics Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 (Cosmetics Regulation).  The guidelines provide clarity on Annex I of the Cosmetics Regulation, which sets out the minimum requirements for cosmetic product safety reports.  The…

If there was an award for “political law issue of the year,” corporate political disclosure would be a front-runner.  About a year ago, the Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) asked the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (“OIRA”)—housed within the Office of Management and Budget as part of the Executive Office of the President—to add…