In an effort to side-step the lawsuit filed against it by the New Hampshire Lottery (and others), the Department of Justice (DOJ) asserts that its recent reinterpretation of the Wire Act doesn’t apply to lotteries. As we...more
1. Blockchain Games and Collectibles Are on the Rise – The use of blockchain (or distributed ledger) technology for games (a.k.a blockchain games) and token-based digital collectibles is on the rise. The overnight popularity...more
3/20/2019
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
FinCEN ,
Gambling ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Video Games
The use of open source software and cloud-based computing individually are growing at a rapid pace. The use of open source in cloud deployments is also growing. Until recently, the OSS license issues with cloud deployments...more
It didn’t take long. The New Hampshire Lottery has sued the Department of Justice (DOJ) to prevent enforcement of the DOJ’s opinion (issued last month) reinterpreting the Wire Act. As we reported last month, the DOJ reversed...more
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) kicked-off its annual global conference this week in Orlando, Florida, addressing leading topics in healthcare information technology. Over 45,000 healthcare and...more
The first day of the HIMSS19 conference featured a day long blockchain symposium focusing on “How Blockchain Technology Brings Value to Healthcare.” The room was packed.
The morning presentations included an overview of...more
Blockchain applications for healthcare have garnered significant attention recently. For example, as we recently blogged, five major healthcare companies – Humana, MultiPlan, Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and UnitedHealthcare –...more
This is a follow up... regarding the DOJ Opinion on its interpretation of the Wire Act. In a memo dated January 15, 2019, the Deputy Attorney General declared:
Department of Justice attorneys should adhere to the Office of...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued an opinion (DOJ Opinion) that reverses its 2011 Memo, in which it opined that the prohibitions of the Wire Act are limited to sports betting. In the DOJ Opinion, the DOJ has...more
Smart contracts, also referred to as chaincode in the Hyperledger world, are one of the most powerful aspects of blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). This “self-executing” code can receive various inputs and,...more
11/28/2018
/ Blockchain ,
CFTC ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Risk Management ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Smart Contracts ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities
Blockchain technology and smart contracts have the potential to become major disrupters in the energy industry. For example, these technologies may accelerate the automation of some or all aspects of the electricity delivery...more
On their own, blockchain technology, open-source software and patents each present legal issues that are often complex and frequently misunderstood. When combined, the complexity and misunderstandings of these three topics...more
On their own, blockchain technology, open source software, and patents each present legal issues that are often complex and frequently misunderstood. When combined, the complexity and misunderstandings of these three topics...more
10/31/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Innovation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
IP License ,
Open Source Software ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Popular ,
Proprietary Information ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Software Developers ,
Software Patents ,
Technology Sector
Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that has great potential to solve many of the fundamental challenges facing the music industry today. In fact, this technology is uniquely suited to address issues across the various...more
10/2/2018
/ Artists ,
Blockchain ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Privacy ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Licensing Rules ,
Music Industry ,
Patents ,
Risk Management ,
Royalties ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Smart Contracts ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales
Blockchain has long been touted as having transformational potential. Yet, the commercial adoption has been slow. As with any cutting-edge technology, commercial adoption usually requires some tipping point. For adoption of...more
9/28/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Food Safety ,
Food Supply ,
Foreign Suppliers ,
FSMA ,
Grocery Stores ,
Patents ,
Sam's Club ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Wal-Mart
Recently, there has been a frenzy of legal activity with U.S. gambling laws and the number of gambling-related legal issues with video games. U.S. gambling laws have changed more in the past few years than they have in a long...more
9/14/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Casinos ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
eSports ,
Fantasy Sports ,
Gambling ,
Game of Skill ,
Games of Chance ,
Internet ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Gaming ,
PASPA ,
Sports Betting ,
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Currency ,
Virtual Goods ,
Wire Act
The regulatory landscape surrounding cryptocurrency continues to evolve. Most of the activity to date has involved regulatory enforcement actions brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Commodity Futures...more
8/27/2018
/ CFTC ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Fraud ,
Jurisdiction ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Popular ,
Standing ,
Virtual Currency
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has indicated that nearly all initial coin offering (“ICO”) filings they have seen are securities offerings. Based on this expansive view, it may be more likely to...more
8/24/2018
/ Accredited Investors ,
Blockchain ,
Class Action ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Form D Filing ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Token Sales ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency
Blockchain is a rapidly emerging technology and has the potential to bring transformative changes to many industries. As more companies become aware of and study this technology, many questions arise. These questions relate...more
8/22/2018
/ Biosimilars ,
Biotechnology ,
Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Emerging Markets ,
Internet of Things ,
Life Sciences ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Smart Contracts ,
Supply Chain
The Major League Baseball Players Association (MBLPA) signed an exclusive deal with the crypto-collectibles startup, Player Tokens. This is believed to be the first professional athlete-based crypto-collectible offering. The...more
The SEC has been busy over the past couple of weeks addressing blockchain and crypto-related issues.
ETF Activity -
The SEC rejected, for a second time, a request by the Winklevoss brothers for a Bitcoin exchange-traded...more
Apple’s App Store Review Guidelines have been updated to address various aspects of crypto currency. Some of the relevant provisions include the following.
One of the provisions relates to prevents an app from including...more
7/13/2018
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Mining ,
Financial Institutions ,
Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mobile Apps ,
Securities Exchanges ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Video Games ,
Virtual Currency
As we have previously reported, the number of blockchain patents being filed and granted is continuing to increase. According to a Thomson Reuters report, 225 out of the 406 blockchain patents (55.4%) filed in 2017 came from...more
5/23/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Technology Sector ,
Token Sales ,
Video Games
Churchill Downs has filed a Petition For Rehearing En Banc, seeking to overturn the Ninth Circuit decision in the Big Fish case. As we previously reported, The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court’s...more
We previously reported, that the Belgian Gaming Commission has recommended criminal prosecution against certain game companies due to the allegedly illegal use of loot boxes. This report follows previous reports on findings...more