On June 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, Inc., et al., settling an issue that has lingered over litigation under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for the past several years. In a badly fractured opinion featuring multiple concurrences and dissents, a majority of the Court held that … Continue Reading
Doing business with governments – winning opportunities, negotiating successfully, and delivering profitability – is an art and a science. At a time of unprecedented government intervention, it has never been more important to ensure effective engagement, whether to win new contracts or secure investments, grants, or loans. You know how to succeed in the United States. In this webinar, we … Continue Reading
In May 2020, the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs took the initiative and published a draft report with recommendations to the Commission on a civil liability regime for artificial intelligence (AI) (the Draft Report). The Draft Report provides an outlook on some of the legal concepts that will be subject to discussion in a future legislative process.
Directive 85/374/EEC … Continue Reading
As the world focuses its efforts on the right strategy to beat the coronavirus and make normal life safe again, businesses are devising and implementing a variety of measures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis which rely on the collection, use and dissemination of personal data.
To assist with this challenge and ensure that privacy and cybersecurity aspects are appropriately … Continue Reading
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Duran v. La Boom Disco, Inc. has interrupted the emerging consensus around the definition of “autodialer” in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). On April 7, 2020, a Second Circuit panel joined a Ninth Circuit panel in adopting a broad reading of the statutory definition of … Continue Reading
Recent developments have positioned the Executive Branch to exert greater influence over the U.S. telecommunications sector. On April 4, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order creating a new process for Executive Branch review of telecommunications-related applications and licenses involving foreign participation. The new procedures replace the review currently performed by an informal, multiagency group known as “Team Telecom.” … Continue Reading
As the COVID-19 outbreak has evolved into a worldwide economic shutdown, businesses are reevaluating their operating plans in order to remain viable. This is particularly true for joint venture (JV) businesses, which are owned and jointly controlled by two or more partners or equity holders.
Through dozens of alerts, articles, and blog posts, we have addressed a multitude of legal … Continue Reading
When: Thursday, 02 April 2020, 15:30 (BST)
One of a series of live webinars to help clients to respond to the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic on their business.
Businesses who suffer losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic will want to understand how their insurance arrangements will respond to this crisis. In 30 minutes, our insurance experts will cover … Continue Reading
On March 23, 2020, President Trump signed the Broadband Deployment Accuracy and Technological Availability (DATA) Act. The law requires the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to collect and disseminate more granular data about the availability of broadband service and to establish processes to ensure data accuracy.
The legislation comes in response to commentary about the FCC’s broadband coverage maps and … Continue Reading
To meet your questions and concerns related to maintaining the principles of personal data protection in the face of the global COVID-19 pandemic, we have prepared a short guide to the key legal regulations and guidelines of authorities that you should keep in mind not only when conducting business and professional activity but also in everyday life.
1. COVID-19 Act… Continue Reading
At a recent Commercial Smallsat Spectrum Management Association (CSSMA) meeting, small satellite (smallsat) operators, earth station service providers, Federal agency spectrum managers, and other attendees discussed strategies to effectively influence global spectrum policy through the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) and opportunities in the growing earth-station-as-a-service industry. The meeting was part of CSSMA’s ongoing efforts to help develop the smallsat industry … Continue Reading
Data centre operators in Europe could benefit from Brexit and have already been preparing for years for precisely this scenario, including by expanding such data centre capacities in Continental Europe.
The United Kingdom (UK) finally left the EU on 31 January 2020. The withdrawal agreement provides for the UK to continue to be treated largely as an EU member state … Continue Reading
On 7 January 2020, Directive (EU) 2019/2161 (the “Directive”) came into force, setting into motion a swathe of measures aimed at modernizing the existing consumer protection rules, bolstering the level of protection available to consumers and providing an enhanced level of transparency in the face of ever-growing digital complexity.
Part of the EU’s ‘New Deal for Consumers’, the Directive amends … Continue Reading
Slowly but surely, the U.S. Courts of Appeal increasingly agree on how to interpret the definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” (“ATDS” or “autodialer”) in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”). On February 19, 2020, a unanimous Seventh Circuit panel refused to revise a putative class action in Gadelhak v. AT&T Services, Inc. after concluding that the dialing system used … Continue Reading
The UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) has today published its initial response to the public consultation on the Online Harms White Paper, published in April 2019. In its response, DCMS gives an indication of how it plans to adapt the proposed regulatory framework to take account of some of the concerns raised by industry stakeholders, … Continue Reading
Kari’s Law, signed into law on February 16, 2018, requires organizations that use multi-line telephone systems (MLTS) to provide callers with the ability to dial 911 directly from any telephone in the system. MLTS are often used in hotels, office buildings, corporate and educational campuses, and other enterprises. As a result, a wide variety of organizations will be impacted … Continue Reading
On January 27, 2020, an Eleventh Circuit panel released a landmark ruling in Glasser v. Hilton Grand Vacations Company, LLC. The key issue in the case was how to interpret ambiguous language in the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) definition of “automatic telephone dialing system” (ATDS or autodialer). In recent years, imprecise statutory phrasing and the Federal Communication Commission’s … Continue Reading
UK Government set to move forwards with regulation on consumer IoT device security
The UK Government has just announced that it intends to draw up legislation aimed at ensuring that all consumer smart devices sold in the UK adhere to rigorous security requirements for the Internet of Things (“IoT“).
Over the last couple of years, the Government has … Continue Reading
On January 15, the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) Advocate General (AG) Manuel Campos Sánchez-Bordona delivered his Opinion on four references for preliminary rulings on the topic of retention of and access to communications data.
Of the four references, two originated from France, one from Belgium, and one from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in the United … Continue Reading
On December 19, 2019, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act (S. 151), which the House of Representatives passed in a 417-3 vote earlier this month. With the Senate’s passage of the reconciled bill, the bipartisan legislation now heads to President Trump’s desk for his review.
The Pallone-Thune TRACED … Continue Reading
Communications technologies often evolve more quickly than the regulatory frameworks governing them. To keep pace, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) revisits the ITU’s Radio Regulations governing radiofrequency spectrum use approximately every four years to accommodate new technologies and uses. Between WRCs, national administrations and ITU sector members (interested companies and trade associations, for example) meet in … Continue Reading
One could be forgiven for thinking that knowing how to comply with a legal obligation that has been in place for nearly a decade would be clear cut. However, widespread practice tells us that this is far from the truth. In November 2009, as part of wider reforms to the European telecommunications regulatory framework, the European Union introduced various amendments … Continue Reading
The FCC recently issued a Public Notice that sought comment on whether to make the 960-1164 MHz and 5030-5091 MHz bands available to support unmanned aerial system operations (UAS).
The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 required the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), and the FCC to submit a report to Congress on whether to … Continue Reading
What is it about? OECD proposals to tax the digital economy which will significantly impact all large tech companies that are consumer oriented.
What will the impact be? Businesses will pay more tax. Impact on cash-flow, earnings per share and valuations. There will also be lots of complexity to ensure compliance.
What should businesses be doing now? Watching for what … Continue Reading
