The inclusion of acceptance requirements, including acceptance criteria for key activities and deliverables, within a service agreement can provide a blueprint for a service engagement’s success, and should not be overlooked during the contract drafting process. In this post, we’ll discuss at a high level some of the items a contract drafter should consider when drafting acceptance requirements.
TECHNOLOGY, OUTSOURCING, AND COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONS
NEWS FOR LAWYERS AND SOURCING PROFESSIONALS
NEWS FOR LAWYERS AND SOURCING PROFESSIONALS
If you have been involved with SaaS agreements or agreements that are for, or are enabled by, cloud services, you have seen or even drafted provisions relating to the right to use data processed on or generated through the use of the cloud platform. With many companies—customers and providers alike—recognizing that business-related data is a valuable asset, ownership of and the rights to use such data are becoming more common discussion points during contract negotiations.
In November 2020, Massachusetts voters approved Question One, a ballot initiative amending the Commonwealth’s 2012 Right to Repair Law. The amendment provides that motor vehicles sold in Massachusetts “with model year 2022” will be required “to equip any such vehicles that use telematics systems – systems that collect and wirelessly transmit mechanical data to a remote server – with a standardized open access data platform. Owners of motor vehicles with telematics systems would get access to mechanical data through a mobile device application.”
Morgan Lewis outsourcing partners Barbara Melby and Mike Pierides will kick off the new year with a webinar discussing the promises and challenges of the outsourcing industry in 2021. Join Barbara and Mike on January 12, 2021 at noon ET to say goodbye to 2020 and welcome the new year with a dynamic conversation on:
- Forecasts of where the outsourcing market is and where it is going
- Leveraging of outsourcing solutions in turbulent times to enable scalability and new technologies
- Outsourcing and enhancing the customer digital experience
- Top-of-mind legal issues impacting the outsourcing industry for 2021
The European Commission (Commission) published the first draft of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA) on December 15 2020. Morgan Lewis previously reported on the anticipated DSA.
The DSA and DMA are intended to modernize the legal framework for digital services in the European Union. The Commission announced these legislative reforms in January 2020 as part of its “Shaping Europe’s Digital Future” initiative.
The DSA reforms the ecommerce directive, which was published in 2000. The purpose of the DSA, in addition to modernizing the regulation on digital services, is to “ensure the proper functioning of the internal market, in particular in relation to the provision of cross-border digital services,” with a specific focus on intermediary services.
The UK government published a Green Paper on December 15 that includes proposals to shape the future of public procurement in the United Kingdom by speeding up and simplifying public sector procurement processes.
When the United Kingdom was a member of the European Union it had to comply with the EU-based regulations on public procurement. The current UK legislation is the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which transposed the latest EU public procurement directive into UK law.
The Internet of Things Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2020 was signed into law on December 4, resulting in the first federal regulation of the Internet of Things (IoT).
The IoT refers to a system of internet-connected devices—“things”—that communicate over wireless networks; the act defines the IoT as “the extension of internet connectivity into physical devices and everyday objects.” The IoT permeates all sectors and industries, including commercial and governmental, with the focus of the act being on federal government agencies’ use of IoT devices.
The use of IoT devices is rapidly growing, as are general concerns surrounding privacy and security. Addressing these concerns, the act is intended “to establish minimum security standards for Internet of Things devices owned or controlled by the Federal Government, and for other purposes.”
Traders selling goods, services, and/or digital content online to consumers in the United Kingdom and the European Union need to comply with laws requiring the provision of certain information as part of the sales process.
In this blog we set out a reminder of the significant amount of information traders need to provide to consumers when selling online to the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The European Commission (Commission) published draft Article 28 standard contractual clauses (Article 28 Clauses) last month for use between controllers and processors when processing personal data in the European Union. Somewhat confusingly, these clauses share the same name as the new Standard Contractual Clauses for personal data transfers out of the EEA, which were also published in November 2020; however, the two are distinct.
This month the European Commission (Commission) is expected to publish the Digital Services Act (DSA), a package of EU legislation intended to modernize the legal framework for digital services in the European Union. The Commission announced the DSA in January 2020 as part of its Shaping Europe’s Digital Future initiative.
According to the European Parliament, the DSA aims to “shape the digital economy at [the] EU level as well as [set] the standards for the rest of the world, as it did with data protection.”
