On March 8, 2016, a final rule changed the position of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (“NASA”) suspending and debarring official (“SDO”). The SDO had been NASA’s Assistant Administrator for Procurement. The final rule reassigns the position to NASA’s Deputy General Counsel. Public comments were not accepted because NASA concluded that the change “affects
March 2016
European Parliament Committee Debate on the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
Yesterday, the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (“LIBE Committee”) held a public hearing on the EU-US Privacy Shield, see agenda here and a video of the hearing here. While European Parliament support is not strictly necessary for the approval of the Privacy Shield, it’s view certainly has political weight.…
FTC Issues Warning Letters to App Developers Using Technology That Could Monitor What Users Watch on TV
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced that it issued warning letters to mobile app developers that installed software created by an entity called Silverpush that could allow third parties to monitor the television-viewing habits of consumers who have downloaded the mobile apps of those developers. The letters were sent to 12 developers whose apps…
Intra-African Travel is About to Become Easier, Safer and More Open
By Covington
Intra-African travel — which is critical to unlocking the region’s tourism potential — is set to become easier, safer and more open.
Easier — Open Skies Agreement between Ethiopia and Rwanda. Ethiopia and Rwanda signed an aviation agreement that will allow their respective national carriers — Ethiopia Airlines and RwandAir — to operate in the…
FTC Settles With Lord & Taylor Over Native Advertisement and “Influencer” Promotion
By Megan Rodgers
The FTC today announced that it reached a settlement with Lord & Taylor over a native advertisement and promotion that relied on social media “influencers” to promote a particular product.
This was the first native advertising settlement reached by the FTC since it issued its Policy Statement on Native Advertising in December…
FCC Releases TCPA Enforcement Advisory Directed to Political Campaigns
Yesterday, the FCC released an Enforcement Advisory to remind political campaigns about their obligations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). The Advisory did not set forth any new rules for calls and texts; rather, it confirmed existing rules and reminded political campaigns that they are subject to them.
The Advisory first confirmed that prerecorded…
Recent COFC Decision Underscores Need for Vigilance in Demonstrating Protest Standing
Many a bid protest has been dismissed for lack of standing. But often that ostensible lack of standing has more to do with how the protest arguments are crafted than the facts underlying the procurement. The Court of Federal Claims’s recent decision in Precision Asset Management Corp. v. United States (No. 15-1495) is a good…
ICO Publishes New Guidance On Encryption
On March 3, 2016, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) released new guidance on encryption. The guidance aims to provide advice to organizations on protecting personal data (such as customer and employee data) through the use of encryption. There is no legally-binding requirement under UK data protection law to encrypt data, either when static or…
EMA Publishes Proactive Disclosure Guidance
On 2 March 2016, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published guidance on aspects of the Agency’s proactive disclosure policy for clinical reports (Policy 0070). The latest Proactive Disclosure Guidance can be found here and focuses on:
- Procedural aspects of submitting clinical reports.
- The anonymisation of clinical reports.
- The identification and redaction of commercially
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EU Policy Update
This month, European news headlines were again dominated by the so-called “Brexit” campaign, which will determine whether Britain will remain within the European Union. On February 19, the Heads of State and Government of the Member States of the European Union reached an agreement on a new settlement for the United Kingdom in the European…