Following up on our April 27, 2022 post, Data Scraping Deemed Legal in Certain Circumstances, the most significant data scraping lawsuit has finally come to an end. After six years of litigation, LinkedIn Corp. and hiQ Labs, Inc. reached a confidential settlement agreement and filed a stipulation and proposed consent judgment (stipulation) with the California district court on December 6, 2022. The stipulation includes, among other things, a $500,000 judgment entered against hiQ, establishment of hiQ’s liability under California common law torts of trespass to chattels and misappropriation, and various forms of injunctive relief effectively prohibiting hiQ’s future ability to data scrape LinkedIn.
Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis
TECHNOLOGY TRANSACTIONS, OUTSOURCING, AND COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS NEWS FOR LAWYERS AND SOURCING PROFESSIONALS
Despite general awareness regarding phishing (we have written about phishing in a prior post), it still remains one of the most common ways to accomplish cyberattacks. It should be no surprise that cybercriminals are constantly coming up with more elaborate and sophisticated ways to gain access to sensitive systems and data. A recent CIO.com article lists three measures designed to deter phishing and related attacks, which we have summarized below.
The White House Office of Science and Technology recently published The Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: Making Automated Systems Work for the American People (the Blueprint), a set of five principles to help guide designers, developers, and deployers of AI in the design, use, and deployment of automated systems with the goal of protecting the public’s rights.
US President Joseph Biden issued an Executive Order On Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities on October 7, which establishes safeguards relating to the handling of personal information in the course of signals intelligence activities. In this edition of our Spotlight Series, we welcome Morgan Lewis special legal consultant Dr. Axel Spies, based in Washington, DC, to discuss the scope of this Executive Order and its implications.
In June 2022, the UK government published its cross-government UK Digital Strategy for creating a world-leading environment in which to grow digital businesses. The Digital Strategy brings together various initiatives on digitalization and data-driven technologies, including the National AI Strategy. The government states that it is actively seeking to grow expertise in deep technologies of the future, such as artificial intelligence, next generation semiconductors, digital twins, autonomous systems, and quantum computing.
As we all try to keep up with the Metaverse and as the healthcare system wilts under a data deluge, the convergence of realities in a shared online space is not merely a chance for practitioners and patients to find each other and interact in new ways, it’s also a rare opportunity to help a new paradigm sprout. The answers to detangling some sticky wickets of Health 2.0, like ensuring efficient, secure communications and exchanges between participants, may share a common thread: clear out (not just debug) the cobwebs and flip the crypt.
On May 6, 2022, the UK government outlined its plans to boost competition and drive economic growth and innovation in a major regulatory reform aimed at big tech. The news comes in the wake of fears that a handful of tech giants disproportionately dominate the market, subjecting smaller businesses to predatory prices and ultimately harming consumers through higher prices as well as limited options and control over their online experiences.
After two decisions by the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, data scraping is deemed legal if the information is publicly accessible on the internet.
The Bank of England (Bank) and the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published their final report of discussions from the UK Artificial Intelligence Public-Private Forum on February 17. Over quarterly meetings and several workshops conducted since October 2020, the Bank and the FCA jointly facilitated dialogue between the public sector, the private sector, and academia in order to deepen their collective understanding of artificial intelligence (AI) and explore how to support the safe adoption of AI. This initiative was incorporated into the UK National AI Strategy.
As 2021 comes to a close, we have once again compiled all the links to our Contract Corner blog posts, a regular feature of Tech & Sourcing @ Morgan Lewis. In these posts, members of our global technology, outsourcing, and commercial transactions practice highlight particular contract provisions, review the issues, and propose negotiating and drafting tips.