California’s 2005 anti-spam law, which is designed to address deceptive email practices, is one of the toughest in the country. This week the California Assembly likely will vote on amendments to the law that will seriously harm e-commerce companies and charitable organizations in California and beyond. Assemblyman Chau’s (D-San Gabriel Valley) AB 2546, was primarily…
Last week Sacramento Superior Court judge dismissed most of the California Attorney General’s criminal complaint against Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer. Procedural Background In October 2016 Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer was arrested on felony charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping. The court dismissed the complaint on the basis of immunity for…
TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF MURDER OF REBECCA SCHAEFFER On this day in 1989, 21-year old Rebecca Schaeffer, the co-star of the sitcom My Sister Sam, was shot to death in her home by an obsessed fan. The fan was able to hire an investigator to obtain the actress’ home address from DMV records, after learning that stalker…
Browns Signs 1 Data Breach and 2 Privacy Bills Into Law California Governor Brown has now signed a data breach and two privacy bills into law at the conclusion of the legislative session. These are significant because the Attorney General has a newly minted privacy enforcement unit and has said that data breaches will be…
California Passes Landmark Children’s Privacy Law California has passed landmark children’s online privacy legislation that would prohibit a website/mobile app that is directed to minors or that has actual knowledge that a minor is using the site from marketing or advertising a product or service that minors are prohibiting from purchasing (alcoholic beverages, firearms, ammunition, spray paint, tobacco products,…
New Cal Law Protects Fan From Abusive Resellers A bill designed to protect consumer rights by outlawing robotic ticket-buying software programs used by ticket resellers that jump to the front of a ticket buying line and create instant sellouts of entertainment events before the average consumer has a chance is now law in California. eBay, Inc. and StubHub supported the…
Do Not Track, Social Media Snooping and Revenge Porn Bills on Gov. Brown’s Desk Three internet bills have cleared the California Senate and Assembly and are on Governor Brown’s desk waiting for approval. The bills are: (1) AB 370 (Muratsuchi) – Do Not Track AB 370 requires that website privacy policies disclose how it handles do-not-track…
With industry efforts to create do not track standards reaching an impasse and disputes over whether DNT requests should be honored in cases where DNT is the browser’s default setting (e.g., Firefox), the California legislature has stepped into the debate by passing a bill requiring websites to disclose how they handle DNT requests. Specifically, the…
Throughout my nearly twenty years in California, I have heard native Californians frequently lament the loss of the Golden State that was – a state with the nation’s premier public educational system and infrastructure. To them, California’s passage of Proposition 13’s budgetary straight jacket has led to a creeping “Mississippification”, as the state’s investment in…
NEWS UPDATE & FOLLOW UP Google to Block YouTube Video in Brazil Google Brazil to Take Down Controversial Video Chief Arrested Over Video Google Brazil Chief Arrested Over YouTube Video Cal Enacts Anti-Social Media Snooping Law Praised by ACLU Prof Goldman is a critic See Backgrounder for May 16th CLBR on this topic FTC Watch…
Rebecca Madigan joins us again to discuss the Amazon Tax and its upcoming implementation in California and Pennsylvania. BACKGROUNDER Main Street Fairness Legislation Amazon Picks U.S. State Sales-Tax Winners Absent New Law, Bloomberg Internet Tax Would Cost Average Shopper $167.00 A Year, Forbes State of Amazon Tax Collection Amazon Tax Timeline Through April 2012 Recent…
The Privacy Squad: Privacy Enforcement is Here Last week, Google agreed to pay $22.5 million to settle claims it violated its FTC Consent Decree in circumventing the privacy settings of Apple’s Safari users – the largest such settlement ever. Commissioner Leibowitz explained that the record setting penalty in this matter sends a clear message to…
A practice that was once employed by the Maryland Department of Corrections is now banned state-wide, as Maryland’s Governor signed legislation prohibiting employers from “request[ing] or requir[ing] that at an employee or applicant disclose [any] means for accessing a personal account or service through an electronic communications device.” California’s Assembly unanimously passed similar legislation this…
Facebook-Instagram Deal to be Delayed by FTC Antitrust Probe Reports are circulating that the $1 billion Facebook-Instagram deal could be put on hold by as much as a year while the FTC conducts an antitrust investigation into the deal. As the New York Times indicates, “[t]he government could also be interested in whether a company is killing…
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Secures Global Agreement to Strengthen Privacy Protections for Users of Mobile Applications SAN FRANCISCO – Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today announced an agreement committing the leading operators of mobile application platforms to improve privacy protections for millions of consumers around the globe who access the Internet through applications (“apps”)…
Cyber Report 