The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections (SO) to Google over abusive practices in online advertising technology. Uniquely it seems, the Commission has identified in the press release that to remedy the situation the Commission is of the preliminary view that divestment by Google is required. This would be the first example of a proposed break-up of a tech business by the EU under market dominance rules ...
“Why don’t I own this?” The words of oil prospector Daniel Plainview to his property advisor, querying the land rights for his oil pipeline to the California coast in the Oscar winning film ‘There Will Be Blood, and a blunt, single sentence reminder of the need for early due diligence on large scale developments ...
June 12, 2023 By: Michael Flynn On May 30, 2023, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) issued a Request for Input (RFI) from the public focusing on “issues faced by tenants in multifamily properties, and on any opportunities and potential impacts associated with requiring or encouraging specific tenant protections at multifamily properties backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” Written input and feedback from the public is due by July 31, 2023 ...
In an uncertain market, there is often a renewed emphasis from investors not just on liquidity and rate of return on property investment opportunities, but also on the structuring of legal interests and the ability to ‘exit’ from a scheme ...
For a decade or more, Meta has been sending Facebook data from European users – in the form of photos, chat, posts, and more – over to its parent company in the US for storage. Since the Snowden revelations, Europe has been aware that this data has been open to US intelligence services on a large scale, without – it says – the protections and accountability afforded to people in Europe ...
The much-awaited Renters (Reform) Bill received its first reading in the House of Commons last week, on Wednesday 17 May 2023. After five years of consultation and refinement, the reforms aim to improve the leasehold system through increased regulation, digitisation and standardisation. The Bill seeks to provide greater flexibility and security for residential tenants by imposing additional restrictions on private landlords ...
SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan (SyCipLaw) has just published the SyCipLaw TMT and Data Bulletin covering significant Philippine legal and regulatory developments in the technology, media, telecommunications and data space, from late 2022 to the first quarter of 2023. It also notes links to podcasts and materials relating to TMT and dataPLUSa commentary on whether AI can replace a local counsel ...
The IDP is valid for 10 years (unless extended) and the States are required by law to keep it under review. The DPA was about to embark on a review in 2020 but this was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, the States approved an action to carry out a targeted review of the IDP between 2023 and 2025. The review The review commenced on 25 January 2023, and it focuses on amending certain policies to meet government priorities ...
On 10 May 2023, theInformation Regulator(the “Regulator”), an independent body established to monitor and enforce compliance by public and private bodies with the provisions of the promotion of access to information act, 2000 and the protection of personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) announced that it had issued anEnforcement Noticeto the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (“theDepartment”) in terms of POPIA on 9 May 2023 ...
Gone are the days when satellite communication was limited to those brick phones with long antennas. Satellite communications services are gaining traction globally as they offer alternative ways of connecting end users to the Internet and other related communications services. However, as electronic communications services via satellites become more popular and accessible, service providers are met with regulatory challenges ...
Have you ever browsed one of your favourite online retail platforms and noticed an entirely new clothing collection launched by the brand for your metaverse avatar? In February of this year, we stumbled upon Zara’s Valentine’s Tale range. The collection comprised 22 digital assets which included necklaces, earrings, rings and bags that could be purchased for your avatar through Zepeto, which is Asia’s largest metaverse platform ...
The government is pushing ahead with the establishment of a Responsible Actors Scheme (RAS) provided for under s.126 and 129 of the Building Safety Act 2022. The Scheme is initially aimed at major housebuilders and other large developers that have developed or refurbished multiple residential buildings that are known to have life-critical fire safety defects ...
At a recent event, Karen Kirkham (chair of JCT) and Sean Smylie (vice chair of the JCT) outlined the eagerly anticipated changes to the JCT suite of contracts. Speaking to members of the SCL in Birmingham, it was confirmed that the next edition is likely to be called JCT 2024 and is anticipated to be issued in the early part of next year ...
The UK government has proposed legislation (the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill) that would materially affect merger control for transactions of both UK and non-UK companies. This comment addresses the proposed introduction of a mandatory reporting regime as a prior step to the current merger control regime in the UK ...
The UK government has proposed legislation (Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament) that would materially affect merger control for transactions. This comment addresses the proposed changes that would be of concern to those engaged in mergers affecting local markets ...
Data privacy professionals have characterized the data privacy risks associated with ChatGPT as a “nightmare.” In order to function, open artificial intelligence programs (“OpenAI”) like ChatGPT require huge amounts of data in order to learn and evolve. Where do the programmers get that data? From you and me without our knowledge or permission ...
On April 18, 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems a staggering $787.5 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. Particularly startling about the settlement is that Dominion was valued at around $51 million as recently as 2018, meaning that the settlement resulted in a payout up to fifteen times Dominion’s value. Dominion filed the lawsuit in response to publicly broadcast statements by Fox News and its guests after the 2020 election ...
The government has issued more guidance regarding Accountable Persons and the Principal Accountable Person under the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA). These persons are key to the building safety regime, with responsibility for assessing and managing structural and fire risks in occupied higher-risk buildings (HRBs) – and subject to criminal sanctions for non-compliance ...
The full effect of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 is yet to be felt, despite it having received Royal Assent on 6 December 2022. Further rights will, however, come into force today, Monday 17 April 2023. Sections 58-59 of the Act grant three distinct rights to telecoms operators enabling them to upgrade and share apparatus ...
The rise of social media triggers a new suite of evidentiary issues come trial time, with authentication as the foundational question. Just as the internet has changed the world—and litigation—so has social media. In a world dominated by influencers, e-marketing, and online messaging, social media takes center stage. Thus, it is no surprise that social media is taking center stage in litigation too ...
