EU institutions are increasingly focusing on the legal challenges posed by the robotics and artificial intelligence sector. On May 16, 2017, the European Commission published a paper announcing a series of regulatory and policy initiatives in response to the European Parliament’s resolution on European civil law rules on robotics of February 2017. These initiatives may
August 2017
The Trump Administration’s First African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum
By Cov Africa
Next week, some 40 African finance and trade ministers, along with a large contingent of senior U.S. government officials will descend upon the coastal city of Lomé, Togo for the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum.
There will be more eyes on this year’s Forum. Aside from Secretary Ross’ brief address at the…
Protecting Intellectual Property as Government R&D Funding Rises
The U.S. Government’s research and development (“R&D”) spending is on the rise. For instance, the U.S. Government spent $139 billion in on R&D in FY 2015 and approximately $148 billion in FY 2016. It is slated to spend as much as $154 billion on R&D in FY 2017. With this funding comes great opportunities…
U.K. Government takes further steps towards increased regulation of human rights for business
We recently reported on the global trend towards improved business “non-financial reporting” of human rights and environmental practices. The latest U.K. developments in this area are the Modern Slavery (Transparency in Supply Chains) Bill 2017 (the “Bill”) and a report on labour market enforcement strategy published by David Metcalf, the U.K. Labour Market Enforcement Director,…
FDA Initiates Software Precertification Pilot Program
On Friday, July 28, FDA announced a new Software Pre-certification (Pre-Cert) Pilot Program in a Federal Register notice. The Pre-Cert program is one of three main action items discussed in the agency’s recently-released Digital Health Innovation Action Plan. CDRH also held a webinar on August 1 to provide an overview of the program…
FDA Releases Details and Timelines in Its Digital Health Innovation Action Plan
On July 27, FDA published its Digital Health Innovation Action Plan. The plan provides details and timelines for the agency’s Digital Health Innovation Plan, announced by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last month.
The action plan describes the agency’s “next steps” over the coming year to “encourage digital health innovation by redesigning [FDA’s] policies and…
Department of Justice Releases Guidance for Vulnerability Disclosure Programs
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) released a voluntary framework for organizations to use in the development of a formal program to receive reports of network, software, and system vulnerabilities, and to disclose vulnerabilities identified in other organizations’ environments. This framework provides private entities a series of steps to establish a formal program…
California Bill Poised to Change Regime Governing the Internet of Things
A bill pending in the California legislature, if passed, would create new obligations for manufacturers of “connected devices.” S.B. 327 (also known as the “Teddy Bear and Toaster Act”) would operate somewhat differently than existing laws, such as the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”).
Security obligations. Manufacturers of connected devices that sell those devices…
IRS Extends Deadline for FFI Agreement Renewal
Following the July 31, 2017, deadline for renewing an FFI agreement, the IRS announced in a new FAQ that a participating FFI (including a reporting model 2 FFI) that renews its FFI agreement by October 24, 2017, will continue to be treated as a participating FFI. Rev. Proc. 2017-16, which includes the current FFI…
Chinese Agencies Announce Plan to Audit Privacy Policies of Ten Popular Online Services
By Yan Luo
On July 26, four Chinese agencies, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”), the Ministry of Public Security (“MoPS”), and the National Standards Committee, announced their plan to begin the government’s campaign to improve the protection of personal information, according to Xinhua News Agency (link is in Chinese). …