Cyberspace Law Committee Newsletter - April 2020

Business & Corporate

Message from the Chair

Cheryl Dancey Balough

COVID-19 dominates the news cycle and affects most of our daily professional activity with clients asking: Will my business interruption insurance cover the business closure? How will people’s aversion to touching money now affect? What additional cybersecurity measures do you need to take when all your employees are now working from home?

Business & Corporate

Programming for Annual Meeting in Chicago

Ed Morse

While we are now practicing social distancing, we have high hopes for a return to normalcy in the coming days. The Business Law Section’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for September 10-12, 2020, in Chicago. It is not too soon to start thinking about CLE programming.

Business & Corporate

Amazon Sellers Face Unique Legal Challenges in 2020

Patrick McKnight

In a span of only 20 years, Amazon revolutionized the global retail marketplace. The e-commerce giant is now the undisputed leader in the online sale of physical products. Yet perhaps due to its unprecedented and meteoric growth, many fundamental legal questions about the Amazon platform remain answered. For example, Amazon sometimes characterizes itself as a neutral “marketplace” in order to minimize regulatory compliance and product liability. At other times, Amazon operates as a seller and limits third-party access to customer data.

Business & Corporate

Electronic Payments and Financial Services Subcommittee

The Electronic Payments and Financial Services hosted Richard M. Fraher, known to many CLC members who was the FRB Atlanta lawyer who worked on check collection after 9/11 and also on supporting banks affected by Hurricane Katrina, as its guest for subcommittee meeting held online on Thursday, March 26, 2020. Committee member Patti Allousie of the FRB Boston also participated in the subcommittee meeting, bringing her valuable experience on how bank regulators respond to crises.

Business & Corporate

Smart Contracts and Blockchain Technology Subcommittee

The Smart Contracts and Blockchain Technology Subcommittee held a virtual meeting on March 26, 2020, attended by at least 17 loyal members. We discussed our projects, one of which is to develop an ABA policy platform discouraging state legislatures from amending UETA to address blockchain technology. Many states are defining terms in ways that are just plain wrong and don’t make sense, and are passing these laws to make themselves more attractive to technology companies.

Business & Corporate

Call for Future Contributions

Do you have something that might make a good contribution to next month's Cyberspace Law newsletter? Email Tom Kierner with your blurb! Have a less Cyberspace-y contribution? It might be a good fit for Business Law Today. Email Juliet Moringiello, and she will help you with the submission process.