Cybersecurity & Privacy

  • May 21, 2024

    Scarlett Johansson Taps Bird Marella Atty For OpenAI Fight

    A prominent entertainment attorney who represented Scarlett Johansson in litigation over the release of "Black Widow" is teaming up with the actress again, this time to battle OpenAI and its new chatbot, which Johansson claims sounds "eerily" like her, though she says she never granted the artificial intelligence company permission.

  • May 21, 2024

    Minn. Poised To Join State Data Privacy Law Patchwork

    Minnesota is on the brink of becoming the latest state to enact comprehensive data privacy legislation, after the legislature sent to the governor's desk a measure that would give consumers more control over how companies use their personal information, including for profiling purposes, and require businesses to appoint a lead privacy official. 

  • May 21, 2024

    Bungie's Code Copying Claims Questioned At Seattle Trial

    A top product security engineer at Bungie told a Seattle federal jury on Tuesday that a hacker accused of exploiting a popular game to make cheat software likely never had access to the game's source code and acknowledged the game company hasn't seen the cheat code that it claims amounts to copyright infringement.

  • May 21, 2024

    X Corp., Hate Speech Watchdog Settle Atty Fees Bid

    A California federal judge Tuesday signed off on an agreement that X Corp. and the Center for Countering Digital Hate reached to resolve the nonprofit organization's bid for $300,000 in attorney fees following a successful defense against the Elon Musk-led social media platform's claims that the center used improper tactics to write one of its articles.

  • May 21, 2024

    More Classified Docs Were Found After Mar-A-Lago Raid

    Additional classified documents were found at former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, including in Trump's bedroom, after the FBI's August 2022 search of the Florida property, according to a filing unsealed Tuesday in the criminal case accusing him of mishandling classified documents.

  • May 21, 2024

    Circuit Split Could Still Derail FCC Subsidies, High Court Told

    Free market groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to review their challenge to the Federal Communications Commission's subsidy programs, saying the Fifth Circuit could create a circuit split "at any time" by rejecting the fee-based system.

  • May 21, 2024

    22 States Tell 11th Circ. Corp. Transparency Act Goes Too Far

    The federal Corporate Transparency Act unconstitutionally displaces state authority and its enforcement would economically harm states and their residents, attorneys general from 22 states told the Eleventh Circuit, urging it to uphold a ruling that struck down the law.

  • May 21, 2024

    Drinking Water Systems At Risk Of Cyberattack, EPA Says

    More than 70% of the nation's drinking water systems are not in compliance with federal law requiring them to assess the risks of and develop plans for cybersecurity attacks, which could leave them vulnerable to foreign interference, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

  • May 21, 2024

    Binance User Must Arbitrate Facial Scan BIPA Fight

    An Illinois federal judge has sent to arbitration a proposed class action alleging Binance.US' trading platform violated Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act by scanning and storing users' unique facial geometry as part of its identity-verification process, finding the lead plaintiff hasn't shown she never agreed to arbitration.

  • May 21, 2024

    Conn. Atty Denies Involvement In $1.4M Transfer Scam

    Connecticut attorney Carole W. Briggs has issued a sweeping, albeit untimely, denial of the allegations in a lawsuit filed by a New Jersey real estate developer in Connecticut federal court that accused her of playing a role in a business email compromise scam that stole $1.4 million.

  • May 21, 2024

    Data Breach Co. CyEx Acquires Legal Administrator Simpluris

    CyEx, a supplier of data breach solutions, announced Monday the acquisition of class action settlement administrator Simpluris Inc.

  • May 21, 2024

    Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

    The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

  • May 21, 2024

    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the near future.

  • May 21, 2024

    FCC Aims To Shut Down Scam Robocall Campaign

    The Federal Communications Commission is telling a Chicago-based voice service provider to immediately stop originating millions of illegal robocalls marketing purported debt consolidation or face sanctions.

  • May 20, 2024

    Bungie Takes Aim At Cheat Code Sellers In Copyright Trial

    Video game studio Bungie kicked off a Seattle copyright trial on Monday by telling federal jurors a group of cheat code sellers deleted financial records and other data and even fabricated a fake press release about the sale of their website to throw Bungie and its attorneys off their scent.

  • May 20, 2024

    SolarWinds Accuses SEC Of 'Troubling Pattern' Of Distortion

    SolarWinds Corp. is calling out the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for what it deems to be a "troubling pattern" of overstating its case against the government contractor, saying that a recent admission by the agency "dooms" claims that the company knew a customer had been hacked and failed to report it.

  • May 20, 2024

    Colo. Gov. Voices 'Reservations' In Signing AI Bias Bill

    Colorado's governor has approved the nation's first framework to clamp down on algorithmic discrimination in certain artificial intelligence technologies, although he expressed several "reservations" about the measure that he urged the Legislature to address before the law takes effect in 2026. 

  • May 20, 2024

    CFPB Fines Debt Relief Co. $400K For Charging Illegal Fees

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday ordered Western Benefits Group to pay a $400,000 civil money penalty and permanently cease operations after finding that the company charged illegal advanced fees for student loan debt relief services and falsely told consumers the advanced fees would be applied toward paying down their debt.

  • May 20, 2024

    Transparency Act Violates Constitution, Groups Tell 11th Circ.

    The Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements violate the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination and other constitutional provisions, libertarian think tank Cato Institute and others said Monday in urging the Eleventh Circuit to uphold an Alabama district court's ruling against the law.

  • May 20, 2024

    Ultragenyx Must Face Suit Over Use Of Henrietta Lacks' Cells

    The family of the late Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells were harvested without her knowledge to create the first immortalized human cell line, can pursue their suit alleging Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical "made a fortune" using her stolen cells to develop gene therapy treatments, a Maryland federal judge ruled Monday.

  • May 20, 2024

    Texas' Naive Witness 'Unacceptable' In Google Ad Tech Suit

    A judge overseeing a Texas-led lawsuit accusing Google of anti-competitive conduct in the display advertising market has ordered the attorneys general bringing the litigation to provide an adequate witness who can speak to certain facts about the investigation, calling their failure to do so "puzzling and unacceptable."

  • May 20, 2024

    USPTO Says Patent Applicants' Data Was Mistakenly Leaked

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said it accidentally released certain patent information that shouldn't have been made public during a more than monthlong period, marking another time the office has incorrectly released information.

  • May 20, 2024

    Auto Accessory Co. Secures Partial Coverage For BIPA Row

    An insurer must defend an automotive accessory company in a proposed class action alleging violations of Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act, the Seventh Circuit ruled, finding that unlike the company's primary and excess commercial general liability policies, an umbrella policy "lacks an exclusion pertaining to nonpublic information."

  • May 20, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

  • May 20, 2024

    Latham-Led CyberArk Buying PE-Backed Venafi In $1.54B Deal

    Latham & Watkins LLP is guiding Newton, Massachusetts-based CyberArk on a new deal to buy fellow cybersecurity company Venafi from Chicago-based private equity firm Thoma Bravo, represented by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, at an enterprise value of $1.54 billion, CyberArk said Monday. 

Expert Analysis

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Keeping Up With Class Actions: A New Era Of Higher Stakes

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    Corporate defendants saw unprecedented settlement numbers across all areas of class action litigation in 2022 and 2023, and this year has kept pace so far, with three settlements that stand out for the nature of the claims and for their high dollar amounts, says Gerald Maatman at Duane Morris.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Mid-2024 FCA Enforcement And Litigation Trends To Watch

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    Reviewing notable False Claims Act trends and enforcement efforts in the last year and a half reveals that healthcare is a key enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the road ahead may bring clarification on Anti-Kickback Statute causation and willfulness standards, along with increased focus on private equity, cybersecurity and self-disclosure, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

  • New Federal Bill Would Drastically Alter Privacy Landscape

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    While the recently introduced American Privacy Rights Act would eliminate the burdensome patchwork of state regulations, the proposed federal privacy law would also significantly expand compliance obligations and liability exposure for companies, especially those that rely on artificial intelligence or biometric technologies, says David Oberly at Baker Donelson.

  • Social Media Free Speech Issues Are Trending At High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision examining what constitutes state action on social media can be viewed in conjunction with oral arguments in two other cases to indicate that the court sees a need for more clarity regarding how social media usage implicates the First Amendment, say attorneys at Kean Miller.

  • Opinion

    CFPB Could, And Should, Revise Open Banking Rulemaking

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    In light of continued global developments in open banking, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should evaluate whether it actually should use its proposed rule on Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act to amplify personal financial data rights in the U.S., says Brian Fritzsche at the Consumer Bankers Association.

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