Regulatory Developments

Subscribe to Regulatory Developments

The draft National E-Commerce Policy (“Draft Policy”) released by the Government of India on February 23, 2019 for stakeholder comments, has left the e-commerce sector in jitters. For global market players, the protectionist construct of the Draft Policy seems to suggest a shift of India’s focus from ‘Ease of Doing Business in India’ to ‘Make in India’. If the Draft Policy is implemented in its present form, it may have a serious impact demanding drastic change in internal strategies, policies and cost allocations for foreign companies having e-commercial presence in India. The Draft Policy is open for stakeholder comments up to March 9, 2019.

The Draft Policy focuses on: (i) restriction on cross-border flow of data; (ii) local presence and taxability of foreign entities having significant economic presence in India; (iii) creating a robust digital infrastructure for e-commerce, from online custom clearance to online resolution of consumer complaints; (iv) promoting exports from India with a boost to start-ups and small firms; and (v) regulatory changes to augment economic growth in e-commerce.

The key highlights of the Draft Policy are as follows: …
Continue Reading

Last week, five advertising and marketing trade associations jointly filed comments with the California Attorney General seeking clarification on provisions within the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

While expressing “strong support” for the CCPA’s intent, and noting the online ad industry’s longstanding consumer privacy efforts like the DAA’s YourAdChoices Program, the group proposed the…

The FTC’s “Hey Nineteen” blog post caught our attention this past week, and not just for its witty title. One of those reasons is the reference to continued interest in “Made in USA” claims.  As we’ve written about here, “Made in America” has been a frequent enforcement target in recent years and…

On January 10, 2019, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law the Massachusetts’s Data Breach Notification Act, which amends Massachusetts data breach reporting laws. The new law, available here, amends the timing and content of individual and regulator data breach notifications, and provides for credit monitoring services when social security numbers may have been…

The 2018 Farm Bill legalized cultivation and processing of industrial hemp and various by-products.  One hemp-based derivative of considerable interest to manufacturers of personal care products, dietary supplements, cosmetics, and OTC drugs is cannabidiol (“CBD”).  As industry races to commercialize and advertise CBD, it’s important to understand the regulatory hurdles that remain.  Ad law partner, …

Yesterday, Christine Wilson was sworn in as FTC Commissioner. Commissioner Wilson – the fifth and final Trump appointee – joins the FTC from Delta Airlines and assumes former Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen’s seat. Commissioner Ohlhausen announced her departure on Tuesday – the day her term ended, concluding over six years of service as Commissioner, including a…

On Thursday, June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court paved the way for states to collect sales or use taxes from sellers with no physical presence in the taxing state by declaring constitutional a South Dakota law requiring out-of-state sellers to remit sales taxes on sales to South Dakota residents if the sellers exceed certain revenue or transaction thresholds.  In South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 585 U.S.             (2018), the Supreme Court overturned its 1967 decision in National Bellas Hess, Incorporated v. Illinois, 386 U.S. 753 (1967) and its 1992 decision in Quill Corporation v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992), which had generally prohibited states from collecting sales or use taxes on sales of tangible personal property from sellers with no physical presence within the state.  The elimination of the physical presence requirement does not necessarily mean that out-of-state sellers now have substantial nexus with all states, however, and sellers should re-evaluate their tax collection and payment obligations on a state-by-state basis.…
Continue Reading

Earlier today, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the CFPB was constitutionally structured, reversing an earlier decision by a divided three-judge panel and holding that the Dodd-Frank Act permissibly shields the CFPB Director from removal without cause.  The Court’s 7-3 majority opinion only addressed the…

Most Popular Ad Law Access Posts of 2017

As reported in our Ad Law News and Views newsletter, Kelley Drye’s Advertising Law practice posted 106 updates on consumer protection trends, issues, and developments to this blog in 2017. Here are some of the most popular:

…