It is no secret that California has consistently suffered some of the worst wildfires in United States history.1 Blazes in 2017 caused more than $10 billion in damages, the most in the state’s history.2 The fires, which exist everywhere from Santa Barbara and Malibu to Napa and, most recently, the City of Paradise, destroy houses,…
Category: Blog Articles
The SEC, Cybersecurity, and Voya
Introduction According to Javelin Strategy & Research, in 2017, there were 16.7 million victims of identity fraud and $16.8 billion was stolen.1 Even more shockingly, “30 percent of U.S. consumers were notified of a data breach last year.”2 With another large company being hacked seemingly every week,3 the SEC is feeling the pressure to do…
Toys R Us: Comeback Kid, or Kid Who Shouldn’t Have Come Back?
When Toys R Us announced the decision to close all North American stores in March 2018, the effects were cross-generational. From the young who lost a space “where a kid can be a kid,” to the old for whom the event triggered a sense of nostalgia, the Toys R Us closing had an acute impact…
Elon Musk’s Twitter Fingers: How One Tweet Can Cost $20 Million
“Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured.” With that short, simple tweet, world-famous billionaire and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, prompted a flurry of investor activity and set alarm bells off at the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). 1 Musk followed that tweet up with several more outlining how the transaction would play…
Discord in Data Breach Standing
On April 1, 2018, Lord and Taylor’s parent company announced that five million payment cards used in their stores had been compromised.1 A few days earlier, Under Armour had announced that roughly 150 million users of its fitness app had their accounts hacked.2 These incidents serve as a grim reminder that our personal information is…
Facebook and Data Privacy
You’ve seen it all over the news in 2018: Facebook. With scandals like data security breaches, fake news, and Senate hearings, Facebook has not escaped bad publicity this year. This blog post will first address the steps Facebook has taken and will have to take to avoid similar scandals in the future. It will then…
Keeping Secrets: How Magicians Protect Their Ideas
Magicians and their ideas have come to occupy an area known as IP’s “negative space,” an area where certain creative endeavors lack access to traditional IP protections.1 Scholars have identified other elements that operate in this space including furniture designs, tattoos, computer databases, and hairstyles, among others.2 Legal scholars can gain valuable insights from the…
Potential Consequences of Lowering Current Medicare Drug Prices
On October 25, 2018, President Trump unveiled a new plan that would completely change how Medicare pays for certain pricey drugs.1 It is an unorthodox move for Republicans, but Trump is pushing ahead with his bold plan to lower drug prices.2 As one of the promises of his presidency, Trump has set out to lower…
California Consumer Privacy Act Highlights Need for Federal Data Privacy Regulations
The increasing scale of the digital economy has led to major concerns over consumers’ online privacy. As the quantity of personal data on the internet has ballooned, governments and regulators have struggled to keep up with the fast-moving technology industry. There have been concerns over both inappropriate data usage and corporate data breaches.1 Responding to…
Crackdown on Airbnb Highlights Diverse Municipal Approaches to Regulation
Over the past few years, there has been a surge in the size and importance of the digital sharing economy. The short-term home rental ecosystem in particular has seen explosive growth.1 A leader in the space, Airbnb has rapidly grown to be one of the most successful of the new sharing economy companies. Founded just…