This month, two attorneys general (AGs) have settled False Claims Act investigations with two separate companies in the health care industry. Both settlements were notable in their own right.
Movie Theater Data Breach Leads to Settlement and Class Action Lawsuits
New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James and global movie theater operator National Amusements, Inc. (National) settled a lawsuit stemming from a 2022 data breach reported by National, which affected 82,128 National employees. As part of its settlement, National agreed to pay $250,000 in penalties to the state and to “improve existing cybersecurity infrastructure to prevent future data breaches.”
Consumer Advocacy Groups Urge FTC to Address Software Tethering Issues
The Internet of Things (IoT) represents a transformative shift in how consumers interact with technology, integrating physical devices with sophisticated services to create interconnected ecosystems. As the adoption of IoT devices skyrockets, with projections estimating 75 billion connected devices by 2025, the legal landscape surrounding these hybrid transactions — comprising goods, software, and services — remains unsettled. Traditional legal frameworks, such as the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), struggle to address the complexities of IoT transactions. Consumer advocacy groups are increasingly calling for regulatory intervention to protect consumers from emerging issues, considering a legislative landscape that is not keeping pace with rapidly evolving technology.
Contractors Oppose the “Right to Repair” Mandate Proposed Under NDAA 2025
Introduction
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2025 includes a mandate that contractors furnish information and documentation to enable the military to modify and repair equipment and systems. Not surprisingly, industry is pushing back on that mandate. On September 25, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) sent a letter to various industry associations, questioning their motives to prevent a right-to-repair requirement that the Senate included in its proposed defense budget for fiscal year (FY) 2025. Warren also sent a separate letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, expressing concern about contractual restrictions that void contractor warranties when third parties perform repairs and that prevent access to operations, maintenance, integration, and training data.
Indiana Appellate Court Grapples With State AGs’ Personal Jurisdiction Over Digital Platforms
This article was originally published on October 25, 2024 in Westlaw Today. It is republished here with permission.
Ryan Strasser, Chris Carlson, and Nick Gouverneur of Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP discuss how state attorneys general and courts are addressing the question of personal jurisdiction over technology companies.
States Join Colorado in Defense of Interest Rate Opt-Out Law
On September 20, 13 states and Washington, D.C. joined Colorado in its appeal asking the Tenth Circuit to uphold a state law imposing more restrictive interest rate caps on loans from out-of-state banks to residents, arguing that U.S. District Judge Daniel D. Domenico’s injunction “disrupts [ ] careful Congressional balancing and will allow online lenders to flout usury laws.”
Administrative Law Judges Face Diminished Authority Under New FTC Rule
On June 2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced modifications to its in-house adjudicative proceedings of agency challenges to mergers and acquisitions by reducing the decision-making power held by administrative law judges (ALJs). This change will affect how the agency’s antitrust challenges are decided. Even though the previous process had been in place for decades, the FTC was not required to receive public comment because the change affects only internal procedures.