Category: Internet Law

To streamline hiring, many employers have begun using artificial intelligence (“AI”) and machines learning programs to screen employment applicants. However, this has given rise to concerns of AI bias. Indeed, to combat this bias in the use of AI, New York City has just passed an ordinance banning bias in the use of AI and […]

When a company violates data privacy laws, the company will face civil lawsuits from consumers and enforcement actions from state and federal government regulators. Civil money judgments can be massive as can penalties imposed by regulators. But remitting payment is never the final stage in resolving a privacy violation. Even with civil cases, there may […]

In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Unition declared the Privacy Shield between the European Union (EU) and the U.S. be an inadequate means of privacy protection. This was done on the grounds that the surveillance programs of the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) failed to properly safeguard personal data from […]

Contests, sweepstakes, and lotteries have historically been subject to many federal and state laws. As social media and the internet use is at an all-time high, online promotions and giveaways allow businesses the opportunity to reach a much broader group of consumers and potential participants.  This article examines how traditional contest laws apply to online […]

Amazon is witnessing a change in the legal landscape. The platform today is largely unrecognizable from the one that launched in 1995. Much of its growth is attributed to Amazon’s third-party sellers, who are independent retailers who use Amazon’s platform to sell goods directly to consumers. The platform has witnessed an unprecedented rise in third-party […]

These days, it’s not enough to just have a website. With concerns about cybersecurity growing, a successful and effective website should include a Terms of Use agreement setting forth rules and rights to the user. In addition to boilerplate language standard of any Terms of Use agreement, certain provisions should be included to address concerns […]

In the age of the internet, the exponential growth of social media has opened up new channels for advertising beyond anything that had previously existed. In this expansion, the age of the influencer has descended upon internet culture, and brands have wasted no time in finding a foothold in this new manner of approaching their […]

Despite more than two decades of efforts, computer and data storage breaches continue unabated. Washington State, for example, released annual statistics showing 280 data breaches in 2020 (including one breach that impacted more than a million customers) in Washington State alone. The report also detailed a large uptick in cyberattacks, and ransomware incidents. As a […]

Domain names with the .sucks extension became available in 2014 when the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) approved the generic top-level domain extension. See here and see Forbes media report here. For obvious reasons, businesses are unhappy when their trademark is registered and used with the .sucks extension. Here are a few […]

In basic terms, to obtain a patent in the United States, two conditions of patentability must be met: the invention must be “novel,” which basically means “not previously disclosed,” and must be nonobvious (from earlier patents or published materials). These requirements are set forth in the US Patent Act, 35 USC 102(a) which states in […]