Privacy and Security Law Blog : Privacy & Security Law Blog : Davis Wright Tremaine LLP : Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Portland and Anchorage Law Firm

Posted by Ronnie London

The last several weeks at the FCC has seen a flurry of orders proposing to fine companies for sending unsolicited faxes, ranging from $4,500 to nearly $2.2 million, for a total of just over $5 million in proposed fines ($5,044,500, to be exact). In all, there have been six notices issued at the Commission level finding companies “apparently liable” for fines, and another nine issued on authority delegated to the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. The impetus for what appears to be a sudden upswing of activity on this front is not clear, but it appears the FCC may be poised to issue potentially significant guidance on how its rules apply to “fax broadcasters.”

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link

Posted by Bruce E.H. Johnson

The Seattle Times, in Saturday's newspaper, reports an unusual privacy scam. In July 2007, a federal grand jury charges, three LA men left LA and went to Seattle to buy 3,200 books of postage stamps worth more than $24,000.

As the Times noted:

Following a pattern that Postal Service investigators have uncovered in at least five Western states, the men made mass purchases of stamps after normal working hours from automated postal machines, which are accessible 24 hours a day in the lobbies of many post offices around the country, prosecutors allege.

The illegal stamp-buying scheme appears to be a novel breed of identity theft, one that blends high-tech thievery, online commerce and the retro currency of the U.S. mail.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link

Posted by Thomas Jeffry

Intel CEO Paul Otellini was quoted recently in the  Financial Times attacking the healthcare industry as "the slowest moving industry in the world" because it was the least penetrated by IT. 

Mr. Otellini’s comments follow several post-mortem reports posted last week by Health Affairs  discussing the reasons for the demise of the Santa Barbara County Care Data Exchange (SBCCDE) last December. SBCCDE was considered a pioneer for community-based electronic health information exchange (HIE) also know as regional health information organization (RHIO). In principle, HIEs are intended to create a simple and secure way to electronically share patient data between health care providers, caregivers, and consumers.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Share Link

Posted by Peter Mucklestone

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently published a brochure titled "Foreign Assets Control Regulations for the Financial Community" dated June 15, 2007, to help banks comply with the statutes and regulations that OFAC administers.

OFAC administers laws and regulations, including the Trading With the Enemy Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which further U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives through trade embargoes, blocked assets controls and other commercial and financial restrictions. All U.S. persons, including banks, must comply with the laws and regulations that OFAC administers.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link

Posted by Charlene A. Brownlee

In our wired world of texting, email and the Internet, businesses continually communicate with potential and existing customers online. The majority of websites, regardless of content and functionality, post a link to an online agreement, typically referred to as the website “Terms of Use,” “Legal Terms,” “Acceptable Use Policy,” (or something similar). This agreement usually provides that, “We may amend this Agreement at any time by posting the amended terms on this Site.”

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Share Link