Welcome to the Black Friday edition of the Top 10 in Law Blogs. Included here are posts from Rosemary Durkin of Stark & Stark on President Trump’s proposed tax reform plan; a post and accompanying podcast with Jon Wainwright of the University of the Pacific McGeoge School of Law’s Capital Center for Law and Policy; and important Cyber Monday advice from Linn Foster Freedman of Robinson + Cole. We hope you had wonderful Thanksgiving!
Privacy Tip #115- Cyber Monday Safe Online Shopping – by Linn Foster Freedman of Data Privacy + Security Insider: It is estimated that we will spend $4 billion online this year, including on Cyber Monday, coming up in just a few days. With the increase in online shopping, particularly over the holidays, it is prime time for scheming scammers to take advantage of the unwary online shopper. Here are some things to think about while shopping online. View Full Post
When Anonymous Isn’t Really: Government Threats to Online Reviews – by Stephen Embry of Tech Law Crossroads: Earlier this month, the 9th Circuit dealt online anonymous reviewing services a chilling blow when it decided United States v. Glassdoor. Faced with an online service which allowed people to post employer reviews for the benefit of others, the Court determined that those who posted on the service were like newspaper reporters and reverted to an analysis used for print media some 40 years ago. View Full Post
A Look at President Trump’s Tax Reform Proposal– by Rosemary D. Durkin of New Jersey Law Blog: Benjamin Franklin once famously said that, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” President Trump’s recent tax reform proposal is the administration’s attempt to alleviate one of these certainties of life. President Trump’s proposal, which was released on Sept. 27, contained the following changes for individual taxpayers. View Full Post
12 Things My Board and I Do When We Want to Be Sued – by Daniel Miske of Association Alert: It is well known that Association Board members (directors) have fiduciary duties to their unit owners and associations. It is almost as commonly known that the officers have the same fiduciary duties. Yet associations, directors and officers are often sued for failing to meet their duties. Unfortunately, directors and officers often contribute to their risk by doing things that enhance the likelihood of suit. For fun I thought I would write this post from that standpoint. View Full Post
Elder Abuse: Are Granny Cams a Solution, a Compliance Burden, or Both? – by Joseph J. Lazzarotti of Workplace Privacy, Data Management & Security Report: In Minnesota, 97% of the 25,226 allegations of elder abuse (neglect, physical abuse, unexplained serious injuries and thefts) in state-licensed senior facilities in 2016 were never investigated. This prompted Minnesota Governor, Mark Dayton, to announce planslast week to form a task force to find out why. As one might expect, Minnesota is not alone. A study published in 2011 found that an estimated 260,000 (1 in 13) older adults in New York had been victims of one form of abuse or another during a 12-month period between 2008 and 2009, with “a dramatic gap” between elder abuse events reported and the number of cases referred to formal elder abuse services. Clearly, states are struggling to protect a vulnerable and growing group of residents from abuse. Technologies such as hidden cameras may help to address the problem, but their use raises privacy, security, compliance, and other concerns. View Full Post
The Time for Procrastination is Over: The Pay Ratio Has Arrived – by Ryan J. Liebl of the Benefits and Compensation Blog: During the two years following the SEC’s publication of final rules that require that companies satisfy the pay ratio disclosure requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act beginning in 2018 proxy statements, many public companies, hoping for a repeal or delay in the implementation of the rules, have waited to take the significant preparatory steps necessary for compliance. As there has been no reprieve in the deadline — the pay ratio is still required to be disclosed in 2018 proxy statements — the time for procrastination has ended, and public company clients need to take immediate steps to ensure compliance in 2018. View Full Post
November is National Adoption Month – by Holly Filius of Lancaster Law Blog: November is National Adoption Month in the United States and has been so since 1995 when President Clinton expanded what had been a National Adoption Week initiated by President Reagan in 1984. Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Orphans’ Court judge, the Honorable Jay J. Hoberg, has celebrated National Adoption Month each year by establishing a full day of adoptions in November. While Judge Hoberg finalizes many adoptions every month, the November Adoption Day is an extra special day in his courtroom. The day is typically reserved for children being adopted through the foster care system and often includes balloons and celebrations in what is often referred to as “Happy Court.” View Full Post
White House Announces Vulnerabilities Equities Policy and Process – by Nick Theodore of the Data Privacy and Security Observer: On November 15, 2017, the Trump administration released the Vulnerabilities Equities Policy and Process. This documents describes the process by which U.S. agencies and departments determine whether to disclose or restrict information on vulnerabilities in information systems and technologies. The Vulnerabilities Equities Process (VEP) balances whether to disclose vulnerability information to the vendor or supplier in the expectation that the vulnerability will be fixed or to temporarily restrict disclosure of the information so that it can be used for national security and/or law enforcement purposes. View Full Post
CA Cannabis Coalition v City of Upland – A new tool for policy advocates? – by Jon Wainwright of CAP Impact: I recently sat down with Matt Read, the Policy Director for Sacramento City Council Member Steve Hansen, to discuss a very interesting California Supreme Court case – California Cannabis Coalition v. City of Upland. As Matt points out in the interview, the case itself was kind of boring. The implications of the decision however, are much more interesting. View Full Post
When You Delete Something, Is It Really Gone? – by Joe Bahgat of Internet on Trial: Have you ever posted something hastily on social media, and then deleted it later, after coming into your rational mind? Lots of people do it, and while oftentimes it does the trick, it isn’t a reliable way of removing something once it’s been published on the internet. This is because once something has been “published” on the internet, there’s no way to prevent it from being copied—by anyone, anywhere in the world. There are even sites, like archive.org, a.k.a. the “Wayback Machine,” specifically designed to take snapshots of everything that appears on the web, not to mention the countless bots and spiders programmed to methodically scan or “crawl” through web pages in search of specific data or classes of data, and then create an index of the data discovered. View Full Post