Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Advanced Information Technology, the Internet, and Cybersecurity advanced the Massachusetts Information Privacy and Security Act (“MIPSA“) out of committee. If MIPSA passes, Massachusetts would join California, Colorado, and Virginia as states that have passed state-level data privacy laws in the absence of […]
Technology & Intellectual Property Update
New SEC Regulations Require Incident Reporting and Cybersecurity
On February 9, 2022, the SEC issued proposed rules for investment managers and mutual fund managers that would require these firms to adopt basic cybersecurity policies.[1] The cybersecurity regulatory language requires to account for: (1) Risk assessment; (2) User security and access; (3) Information protection; (4) Cybersecurity threat and vulnerability […]
Federal Circuit May Be Poised to Consider Copyrightability of Software APIs
In 2021, the Supreme Court ruled in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., a case involving allegations of infringement by Google of Oracle’s copyrights in its Java APIs, that Google’s use of the Java code constituted fair use. In applying the fair use doctrine and skirting the issue of copyrightability, […]
Several States Introduce Data Privacy Bills to Start the 2022 Legislative Session
Florida Florida Senate Bill 1864 (the Florida Privacy Protection Act) introduces a number of requirements on companies that control personal information of Florida residents, including notice at or before the collection of personal information, consent requirements related to the collection of sensitive data, and requirements for responding to verified consumer […]
R.I.P. Data or Rip Data?
Plaintiffs filed a class-action suit against Morgan Stanley because sensitive client data was discovered on IT assets, which had been decommissioned and sold by Morgan Stanley. The suit recently settled, and the resulting agreement provides insight into the data security incident, potential legal liability, and possible preventions for such issues […]