This might sound like a familiar story: you start work at a new company and have to sign a seemingly endless mountain of forms and employment agreements during onboarding. One of the agreements that you might have signed is a non-compete agreement, which prevents employees from working for a competing employer or starting a competing business, typically within a certain geographic area and period of time” following the end of their employment. (FTC). In January 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) proposed a new Rule that would ban all non-competes. Id. Naturally, businesses, such as those affiliated with the Chamber of Commerce, were not the most enthusiastic about the Rule, leading them to challenge the Rule in federal court in the case Ryan LLC v. Fed. Trade Comm'n, No. 3:24-CV-00986-E, 2024 WL 3297524 (N.D. Tex. July 3, 2024). The court ruled that the FTC cannot enforce the ban on non-competes. Id. at 11. This post will cover the reasons why the FTC implemented the Rule, the pros and cons of the Rule, the court’s reasoning for halting the Rule, and the implications of the court’s decision.
Read MoreThe U.S. Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”) is looking to elbow its way into the medical testing business by mandating stricter regulations that would slow the process of bringing lab-developed tests (“LDTs”) to market. LDTs are common medical diagnostic tests that have led to both diagnostic advances and setbacks that affect the everyday consumer. (FDA News Release, U.S. Food and Drug Administration). The FDA’s regulation was previously opened for a 60-day comment period and was met with vigorous discussion. Regardless, the FDA moved forward with the regulations on April 29, 2024, and has been met with legal push back and Congressional commentary that could threaten the future of the proposed rule. (Chair Rogers, U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee). This post examines the current structure of LDT regulations, their marketability, and how this regulation change will affect small startups and patient experiences.
Read MoreBenjamin Franklin once said, "Nothing is certain except death and taxes." (Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy). In a recent United States Supreme Court (“SCOTUS”) decision, the tax portion is more certain than ever. (Richard Rubin, Wall Street Journal). On June 20, 2024, SCOTUS rejected a challenge to a 2017 tax law (“Tax Law”) on certain foreign investments. (Moore v. United States, 144 S. Ct. 1680, 1697 (2024)). The decision keeps the foreign investment tax intact, while avoiding addressing a 16th Amendment interpretation. (Richard Rubin, Wall Street Journal). This article explores the case's background, the Court's reasoning, and how this decision will ultimately discourage individuals from investing in foreign companies
Read MoreThe Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently filed a lawsuit against RealPage Inc. (“RealPage”), a real estate software company, alleging that the company’s algorithmic pricing software violated antitrust laws. (Press Release, U.S. Department of Justice). The DOJ brought the lawsuit under the Sherman Antitrust Act, the “first Federal act that outlawed monopolistic business practices” and prohibited activities restricting competition in the marketplace. (Sherman Antitrust Act, National Archives). Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, “[l[andlords colluding through mathematical algorithms may be new, but it violates the same bedrock principle of a free market fostering competition.” (Jennifer Ludden, NPR). This post explores RealPage’s background, discusses the DOJ’s and RealPage’s arguments for and against the suit, and examines the possible implications for algorithm-driven businesses.
Read MoreThe U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) recently introduced a new proposed rule change that will expand its regulatory oversight to “‘general-use digital consumer payment apps.’” (Jessie Chang, ABA). The Consumer Financial Protection Act allows the CFPB to supervise nonbank entities in the mortgage, payday loan, and private student loan sectors, as well as service providers to banks and credit unions, but the CFPB can also oversee companies that pose consumer risks or are “larger participants in other markets.” (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). While the CFPB has used its power to regulate “larger participants” in markets involved with consumer financial products and services before, this proposed rule will expand its oversight to a brand-new height by including more non-traditional banking companies. (A&O Shearman). CFPB Director Rohit Chopra stated the proposed “rule would crack down on one avenue for regulatory arbitrage by ensuring large technology firms and other nonbank payments companies are subjected to appropriate oversight.” (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau). This article examines the need for and the positive effects of this proposed rule, as well as the potential dangers.
Read MoreSeveral prominent news organizations, including The New York Times, The Intercept, Raw Story, and Alternet, have filed lawsuits against OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research organization. (Yiwen Lu, The New York Times). The lawsuits allege that OpenAI used their journalists’ copyrighted content to train its artificial intelligence (“AI”) system, ChatGPT, without proper authorization or accurate citation. Id. They allege that OpenAI unlawfully used their copyrighted content to train its AI system, ChatGPT, violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”), which prohibits the “removal of information like author and title from protected works” thereby infringing upon their copyrights. Id.(Cade Metz, et al. & Katie Robertson, The New York Times). As a result of the training, ChatGPT can potentially produce similar content to the copyrighted material which would be grounds for a DMCA violation. Id. This article describes how OpenAI has responded to these lawsuits, how OpenAI has responded to news organizations’ claims, other stakeholders suing AI platforms, and possible outcomes of the lawsuits.
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