DOJ to Allow Increased Transparency by Top Tech Companies

DOJ to Allow Increased Transparency by Top Tech Companies

Over the past year there has been quite a few news stories about the number of information requests made by Government agencies like the NSA to tech companies. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and others have requested permission to disclose more information about these requests to their users. In the past, when Government agencies demanded … Read more

Good Faith Belief in Consumer Consent a Valid TCPA Defense?

A federal court judge has recently ruled that a good faith belief that consent existed might be a complete defense to a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) lawsuit. In Chyba v. First Financial Asset Management, Inc., the plaintiff filed her TCPA complaint after receiving a handful of telephone calls to her cellular phone from a collection agency (the … Read more

Italians Go After Internet Ads

The Italian Parliament passed a new measure which will prevent companies from buying Internet ads from companies outside of the country.  The law was put in place because of the fact that large companies like Google would sell their ads through a regional company in a more tax friendly location.  In Google’s case, they would … Read more

Google Violates Dutch Data Protection Law

About seven months ago, a Dutch privacy agency found that Google is violating a data protection law.  Recently, however, the Dutch Data Protection Authority (an official government agency) has taken up the case, and begun the official investigation into the matter.  They believe that Google is violating Dutch law by bringing personal data from a … Read more

Compliance Warning Issued to Website Operators and Publishers

Earlier this year, the California State Senate passed an amendment to the California Online Privacy Protection Act (“CalOPPA”).  Effective January 1, 2014, website operators are required to disclose through their privacy statements how they respond to Do-Not-Track signals and whether other parties may collect personally identifiable information about a consumer’s online activities over time and across different … Read more

Preserve the Right to a Local Fight in Your Marketing Agreements

Last year, I highlighted some of the risks involved with relying upon standard industry business contracts.  You can see that article here.  The designation of a particular forum for disputes is one of many critical considerations.  This issue must be addressed explicitly, following an analysis that considers the totality of the circumstances. A recent decision … Read more

Match.com Sued for $1.5 Billion by Wannabe Model

Florida Resident Yuliana Avalos, who would like us to think that she is a model, has filed a $1.5B lawsuit against Match.com claiming that her photo has been used on many Match.com profiles and similar sites without her consent. According to her anywhere from hundreds to millions of profiles have been using her photos for … Read more

Bodog Raided Again, This time in Asia

Out of Makati Philippines comes news that Bodog Asia has been raided, based on political pressure from Philippines “Gangster Governor” Chavit Singson. According to the warrant, this was done based on an investigation that somehow Bodog was offering gambling on a street level. “The raiding party was 12 deep and only 4 of the group … Read more