On November 15, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc., No. 18-956. The two questions presented before the Court are (1) whether “copyright protection extends to a software interface,” and (2) whether, as the jury found, that Google’s “use of a software interface in the context of a creating a new computer program constitutes fair use.”
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AI Update: NIST Releases its Plan to Develop AI Standards
On August 9, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) submitted its plan for federal engagement in the development of artificial intelligence standards. The plan was developed in response to the Executive Order signed by President Trump earlier this year, which required NIST to “issue a plan for Federal engagement in the development of technical standards and related tools in support of reliable, robust, and trustworthy systems that use AI technologies.” The final plan incorporates comments from over 40 organizations that commented on a draft released in July.
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AI Update: White House Announces RFI on Improving AI R&D Data and Models
On July 10, 2019, the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) published a Request for Information (“RFI”) in the Federal Register, requesting comments on how to improve Federal data sets and models for artificial intelligence (“AI”) research and development (“R&D”) and testing. The RFI is a part of the White House’s AI Initiative, as kicked off by the Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.
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AI Update: OECD Adopts AI Policy Guidelines
On May 22, 2019, the thirty-six member countries, including the United States, of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD”) adopted a set of guidelines (“OECD Guidelines”) for the development and use of artificial intelligence (“AI”). Six countries not in the OECD, namely Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru and Romania, also were
IoT Update: Flurry of Federal 5G Activity Indicates Important Growth Opportunities for the IoT Ecosystem
From the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to Congress to the White House, the federal government has continued to push the importance of investment and innovation in fifth-generation (“5G”) wireless technology. This push bodes well for the many industries that rely on the Internet of Things (“IoT”), such as transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing—to name a few. As we have previously discussed, 5G deployment is critical for IoT because the IoT ecosystem will rely heavily on the increased speeds and capacity, as well as the reduced latency, that 5G technology will enable. Below we discuss the most recent pushes for 5G developments from federal leadership before surveying key industries in the IoT ecosystem that we expect to benefit from these efforts.
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EDPB Begins Consultation on New Guidelines on Use of the “Performance of a Contract” GDPR Legal Basis by Online Services
On 9 April 2019, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted new guidelines “on the processing of personal data under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR in the context of the provision of online services to data subjects.”
In general, the GDPR requires that processing of personal data be justified under a legal basis in Article 6 GDPR. One such legal basis is Article 6(1)(b), which covers data processing that is “necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract.” The new EDPB guidelines consider the meaning of this basis, and in particular whether it can be used as the basis for data processing by online services for purposes such as service improvement, fraud prevention, targeted advertising, and service personalization.
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FCC Warns Marketers of Video Streaming Devices to Comply with Device Authorization Rules
Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) issued an Enforcement Advisory reminding manufacturers, importers, and retailers of video TV set-top boxes that stream Internet-based content to comply with FCC device authorization rules. As the FCC noted in its Advisory, violations of these rules can lead to monetary penalties totaling more than $19,000 per day of violation or $147,000 for an ongoing violation. The Advisory noted that to avoid these penalties, entities that manufacture, import, market or operate these set-top boxes should ensure that they comply with FCC device authorization rules.
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Senate Reintroduces IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act
On March 11, 2019, a bipartisan group of lawmakers including Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. Cory Gardner introduced the Internet of Things (IoT) Cybersecurity Improvement Act of 2019. The Act seeks “[t]o leverage Federal Government procurement power to encourage increased cybersecurity for Internet of Things devices.” In other words, this bill aims to shore up cybersecurity requirements for IoT devices purchased and used by the federal government, with the aim of affecting cybersecurity on IoT devices more broadly.
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Net Neutrality Update: House Hearing and Proposed Legislation
Since the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) repealed the 2015 net neutrality rules last year, federal and state lawmakers have debated how to address the issue of net neutrality going forward. We previously have discussed some of the state net neutrality laws that were enacted, including California’s law, which currently is on hold pending the resolution of Mozilla Corp v. FCC, the lawsuit challenging the FCC’s order that repealed net neutrality rules. Oral argument for this case was held in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on February 1, 2019.
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IoT Update: Covington Hosts First Webinar on Connected and Automated Vehicles
On February 27, 2019, Covington hosted its first webinar in a series on connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”). During the webinar, which is available here, Covington’s regulatory and public policy experts covered the current state of play in U.S. law and regulations relating to CAVs. In particular, Covington’s experts focused on relevant developments in: (1) federal public policy; (2) federal regulatory agencies; (3) state public policy; (4) autonomous aviation; and (5) national security.
Highlights from each of these areas are presented below.
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