On December 21, 2020, the European Union’s new Electronic Communications Code (EECC) will begin regulating a broad range of previously unregulated services as Electronic Communications Services (ECS). Among these newly regulated services are email, connected wearable devices, and many other Over The Top (OTT) applications, such as audio, video and other streaming media content delivered over the Internet. For the first time, providers of many of these ECS offerings will have to notify regulators in…

INTRODUCTION Operational resilience is a key focus area for regulators across Europe, at both the domestic and European level.  The banking crisis prompted regulators to strengthen the financial sector’s ability to weather financial risks.  But as the financial sector has become increasingly dependent on outsourced and third-party service providers, regulators have turned their attention to digital operational resilience to reduce the risk of technological disruption harming consumers or disrupting the financial sector more generally. In…

by: Victoria Lee and Andrew Serwin In the latest episode of DLA Piper’s Beyond the Curve podcast, Victoria Lee, co-chair of the firm’s global Technology sector, talks with Andrew Serwin, US chair and global co-chair of DLA Piper’s Cybersecurity and Data Protection, Privacy and Security practices, about the recent Schrems II judgment and its implications for data transfer regulation. Beyond the Curve aims to help businesses and communities adapt to the uncertainties they have faced…

For the first time since the introduction of the Electronic Communications Code 2017 (“Code”), the Court was asked to determine a claim for the renewal of a lease of a telecommunications mast site benefitting from the protection of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (“Act”) – Vodafone Limited v Hanover Capital Limited [2020]. The case follows the Upper Tribunal decision that renewal of a Code agreement entered into before the new Code came into force…

In recent years, we have seen a growing number of our clients adopt agile methodologies (“Agile”) to develop software applications and more broadly as project management solutions. It is increasingly being viewed as the best way of achieving faster and better outcomes that meet actual business needs. In this article we will explore some of the challenges of contracting for Agile in IT projects. So what is Agile? In essence, Agile is the repeated process…

by Paul Hemmersbaugh In August 2020, the Inspector General for the US Department of Transportation announced it has initiated an audit of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s oversight of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Among other things, such a review could generate recommendations for regulatory system changes to better address potentially transformative new motor vehicle systems and technologies. Increased vehicle automation and self-driving and connected cars hold real promise for transformative improvements in road and…

by Deborah Bould and Sean C. Cunningham UK Supreme Court judgment of 26 August 2020, neutral citation [2020] UKSC 37, case ID: UKSC 2019/0042 The UK Supreme Court (UKSC) has handed down its unanimous landmark judgment in three combined cases involving the patent assertion entities (PAEs) Unwired Planet and Conversant and technology implementers Huawei and ZTE. The critical point in the case was whether the UK courts have the jurisdiction to determine fair, reasonable…