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The wheels continue to turn with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (“NHTSA”) efforts to modernize vehicle safety standards, including for connected and automated vehicles (“CAVs”). Most recently, NHTSA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”), seeking public comment on its endeavors “to improve safety and update rules that no longer make sense” for certain CAVs, “such as requiring manual driving controls on autonomous vehicles.” According to NHTSA, the NPRM is a “[h]istoric first step for the agency to remove unnecessary barriers to motor vehicles equipped with automated driving systems” (“ADS”).

Comments on the NPRM are due by May 29, 2020.
Continue Reading IoT Update: NHTSA Continues to Ramp Up Exploration of Automated Driving Technologies

This month, situated among foldable tablet computers and flying taxis, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (“CES”) the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (“DOT”) long-anticipated fourth round of automated vehicles guidance, “AV 4.0.”  Formally entitled, “Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies,” AV 4.0 is less regulatory guidance and more regulatory aggregator.  The document lists in great detail the various Administration efforts—across 38 federal departments and agencies—geared toward promoting, supporting, and providing accountability for users and communities with respect to autonomous mobility.
Continue Reading IoT Update: DOT Introduces Fourth Round of Automated Vehicles Guidance (AV 4.0)

On January 7, 2020, pursuant to President Donald Trump’s Executive Order on Maintaining American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence, the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a draft Guidance for Regulation of Artificial Intelligence Applications, including ten principles for agencies to consider when deciding whether and how to regulate AI. The White House announced a 60 day public comment period following the release of the Guidance, after which the White House will issue a final memorandum and instruct agencies to submit implementation plans. Comments should be submitted to the White House via Regulations.gov Docket ID OMB_FRDOC_0001-0261.
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Continue Reading AI Update: White House Issues 10 Principles for Artificial Intelligence Regulation

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.”…
Continue Reading Certiorari Granted in Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc.

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.
Continue Reading AI Update: NIST Releases its Plan to Develop AI Standards

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.
Continue Reading AI Update: White House Announces RFI on Improving AI R&D Data and Models

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…

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.
Continue Reading IoT Update: Flurry of Federal 5G Activity Indicates Important Growth Opportunities for the IoT Ecosystem

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.
Continue Reading EDPB Begins Consultation on New Guidelines on Use of the “Performance of a Contract” GDPR Legal Basis by Online Services

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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Continue Reading FCC Warns Marketers of Video Streaming Devices to Comply with Device Authorization Rules