JD Supra Morning Brief : Fracking Water, Distracted Driving, Virtual Currency, Bank Fraud

On May 17, 1943, the US Army contracted with the University of Pennsylvania to develop the ENIAC, the first computer. Thanks, guys!

Tired of practicing law? Go home and practice the guitar… (Bloomberg Law) 

The amount of freshwater used by the fracking industry is less than that used by golf courses. But it doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about… (Looper Reed) 

Keep up the fight, FTC! (Ballard Spahr) 

OSHA wants to end texting behind the wheel, and they’ve turned to employers for help (Dentons)  

The wild, wild west of virtual currency? Not really… (Pillsbury) 

Today’s FCPA charges are brought to you by … Wall Street! (Corporate Law Report) 

Add bank fraud to the list of federal crimes committed by legal medical marijuana dispensaries… (Fuerst Ittleman David & Joseph) 

Another Facebook firing bites the dust… (Orrick) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Argentina Opportunities, EU Trademarks, Animal Drugs, Human Rights

What’s more fun than a barrel full of monkeys? A JD Supra Morning Brief full of law news!

Bankruptcy judge suggests there’s a way to get around a Congressional prohibition on bonuses and severance pay for management of companies in Chapter 11… (Bloomberg Law) 

Argentina may offer significant business opportunities, but not for the faint of heart… (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips) 

Want to hire current or former government employees? Tread carefully… (Morrison & Foerster) 

The rules for doing business in the United States just got easier to understand (Pillsbury) 

The European Commission wants to make trademark registration in the EU cheaper, quicker, more reliable, and more predictable (McDermott Will & Emery) 

There’s a tax storm brewing for cloud-service providers (Carr McClellan) 

South Korea’s antitrust watchdog continues its investigation of the country’s steelmakers (Foley & Lardner) 

One reason the FDA cannot regulate the compounding of animal drugs from bulk ingredients? Because “Congress will not hide an elephant in a mouse-hole” (Duane Morris) 

Exactly which banks are too big to fail? Don’t ask the FDIC… (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

When foreign companies commit human rights violations in foreign lands, can they be held accountable in U.S. courts? Not anymore… (Is That Legal?) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Accessibility Disclosure, Tax Evasion, Bitcoin Competitor, Driverless Cars

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Boston. Life is fragile. Tell your loved ones - at every opportunity - that you love them.

New commercial leases in California must contain an accessibility disclosure as of July 1 (Allen Matkins) 

Don’t plan to pay your taxes? You could end up like these folks… (Greenberg Glusker) 

This 73-page analysis of President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal is an amazing resource (Patton Boggs) 

California’s new “Right to Know” law would give residents unprecedented access to information collected about them online (Orrick) 

Bitcoin? That’s so passé… (Ifrah Law) 

Heads up, nonprofits: you may be investigated by the IRS… (Polsinelli Shughart) 

Maybe putting our name on the waitlist for a driverless car was a bit premature… (Foley & Lardner) 

Lose money in the Cyprus bailout? You may be able to get some back… (Morgan Lewis) 

Firing an employee for refusing to commit a crime is still wrongful termination even when the illegal act turns out not to have been a crime after all… (Winthrop & Weinstine) 

What to do about a bad online review? (Sands Anderson) 

Can you patent human DNA? (Is That Legal?) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Overseas Cash Cache, Fracking Performance Standards, Patent Licensing Exchange, Stolen Sperm Suit

You know, eating two pounds of chocolate is easier than you might think. Especially if you start first thing in the morning…

Bigger IS better for San Francisco (Allen Matkins) 

Frito-Lay says the Department of Labor cannot come back for seconds when auditing the company (Proskauer) 

We’ve said it before, and we’ll certainly say it again: if you’re hiding money overseas, it’s time to come clean (Pepper Hamilton) 

What should employers now do to prepare for implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2014? Quite a bit, actually… (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips) 

What so great about the fracking performance standards recently developed for the Marcellus and Utica Shales? Environmental groups AND oil and gas companies are on board (Reed Smith) 

Dmitriy Shirokov’s “settlement fraud” lawsuit against the group that sued him for illegal downloads is a Far Cry from a class action, says a federal judge (Foley Hoag) 

Japan is joining talks on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And that could spell trouble for US automakers (Foley & Lardner) 

Did the DOJ give IPXI’s proposed patent licensing exchange the green light? (Morrison & Foerster) 

Truth is stranger than fiction: woman steals ex-boyfriend’s sperm from sperm bank, has child, likely to get child support from donor (Lanier Law Group) 

Here’s a first look at the new Cyprus capital control and banking laws (Ropes & Gray) (Harney Westwood & Riegels) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Bailout for Cyprus Banks, Communication Rules for Employers, Demand for Catastrophe Bonds, Good Advice for Bankers

So, it turns out that Benjamin Franklin didn’t really say “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” No matter – it’s Friday, and we’ll still raise a glass in his honor.

One good result of the Cyprus bank bailout? It made the Greek banking bailout look farsighted and disciplined… (Bloomberg Law) 

Follow these rules in your employee communication and everything should be just fine (Foley & Lardner) 

Are you counting down the days ‘til Myriad? (Baker Donelson) 

Demand for catastrophe bonds was up 37% in 2012 over 2011 (McCarter & English) 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 1 - Dermochelys coriacea: 0 (Nossaman LLP) 

What does healthcare reform mean for foreign employers and employers of foreign workers? (Fisher & Phillips) 

Bank officers and directors: your new “Stay out of Jail” card is an anti-money laundering compliance program (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips) 

Has crowdfunding already begun with the SEC’s blessing? (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

Supreme Court rules that class actions cannot be certified based on speculation alone (JD Supra Contributors) 

Pigs in a blanket? No – pigs in a condominium (Heenan Blaikie) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Principles on Privacy, @#%*& on Facebook, Picasso on Loan, CBP on Shoes

Email delivery of the JD Supra Morning Brief? Why, yes, thank you, I’ll take two! Where do I sign up?

Sigmund Freud, Marx Brothers, and Bernie Madoff. No – we’re not kidding (Bloomberg Law) 

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if ALL companies released guiding principles on freedom of expression and privacy? (Foley Hoag) 

Don’t loan your Picasso to the art museum without reading this update (Sheppard Mullin) 

Hey! Keep your @#%*& opinions about the employees off of your Facebook page! (Looper Reed & McGraw) 

The world’s largest interest-rate swap clearinghouse had a major information technology failure last New Year’s Eve (Shipkevich PLLC) 

Excuse me: can we share that umbrella? It’s raining money – or it will be soon… (MoFo Tech) 

Worried your customers won’t be able to pay for the auto parts you’re supplying? (Foley & Lardner) 

Freddie Mac has sued 15 banks and the British Bankers’ Association for manipulation the LIBOR rate (BuckleySandler) 

Your tax dollars at work: US Customs and Border Protection has proposed a new method for determining the proper classification of footwear under the country’s tariff laws (Duane Morris) 

Kicked off the basketball team for not cutting your hair? You’re out of luck, kid (Franczek Radelet) 

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@JDSupraBuzz

JD Supra Weekend Reader: Village People, Email Snooping, Pet Treats, Huff Po, DOMA

Things to be thankful for today: you’re not Julius Caesar. (Though if you were, and you were reading this, you could go back in time and head to the beach instead of the Senate on March 15, 44 BC…). And the JD Supra Weekend Reader:

What’s new(s) at the SEC? Five Year Enforcement Limitation, FCPA Charges for Foreign Nationals, and More… (Corporate Law Report) 

OK, so the 70s called, and the the Village People’s lead singer wants his copyrights back (Loeb & Loeb) 

It’s taken the FTC 13 years to update its disclosure guidelines for online advertising. How long is that in Internet years? (Foley Hoag) 

Fans of Ziggy Stardust aren’t likely to find this update on Village at Camp Bowie particularly interesting, but Chapter 11 creditors will… (Pepper Hamilton) 

Yours, mine, and ours: Harvard officials learn an important lesson when exercising their rights to search employee emails… (Morvillo Abramowitz) 

Consumer fraud was the top complaint logged in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network database in 2012 (Foley & Lardner) 

Large employers must provide minimum essential healthcare coverage to at least 95% of full-time employees and their dependents to avoid paying under “pay-or-play” rules of the Affordable Care Act (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

Keep up the good work: the nation’s biggest banks have begun to disclose data security risks and breaches in public SEC filings (Mintz Levin) 

The first mandatory recall made by the FDA under the authority of the Food Safety Modernization Act was issued for pet treats (Morgan Lewis) 

From zero to three in (about) 60 days: what the competing immigration reform proposals look like (Ogletree Deakins) 

New Jersey’s online gambling law is expected to go into effect sometime over the next nine months (Pillsbury Social Media, Entertainment & Technology Team) 

First, ewww. Second, double-ewww. And third, Washington Supreme Court may have opened the floodgates to a wave of product liability lawsuits based on “objectionable” conduct (Sedgwick LLP) 

Want file a housing discrimination complaint? There’s an app for that (y también en español) (BuckleySandler) 

According to McAfee’s former VP for threat research, there are two types of companies: those that know they’ve experienced a cybersecurity breach, and those that don’t know it yet (Dechert) 

The truth about deceptive advertising… (Looper Reed) 

Is Equifax selling your salary information? (Ifrah Law) 

Subway claims to have sold about four billion feet of sandwiches between 2000 and 2008 (Winthrop & Weinstine) 

Wouldn’t it be great to get health care reminders from your doctor via text messages? If it weren’t illegal, that is… (BakerHostetler) 

Lawyer learns the hard way that attorney-client privilege doesn’t apply to conversations with friends who are lawyers (Burns & Levinson) 

Did Arianna Huffington and Kenneth Lerer steal the idea that became The Huffington Post? (Sheppard Mullin) 

Plan to borrow money from family and friends to get your startup off the ground? Read this first (Scott Legal Services) 

New protections for government contractors and subcontractors who blow the whistle go into effect on July 1, 2013 (Morgan Lewis) 

The Supreme Court may overturn the Defense of Marriage Act, but they’re certainly not going to do it before April 15. Here’s what same-sex couples need to know now about filing taxes (Baker Donelson) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Village People, Online Advertising, Harvard Snooping, Ziggy Stardust

We’re still feeling the effects of Pi Day… Maybe spending 3.14 hours at Baker’s Square wasn’t such a good idea after all? Never mind – the JD Supra Morning Brief is here, and all is well in the world again:

Derivatives nearly destroyed the global financial system in 2008 – so the feds cracked down and implemented strict regulations for derivatives right after the financial crisis, right? Right? (Bloomberg Law) 

OK, so the 70s called, and the the Village People’s lead singer wants his copyrights back (Loeb & Loeb) 

It’s taken the FTC 13 years to update its disclosure guidelines for online advertising. How long is that in Internet years? (Foley Hoag) 

Tired of hearing about cybersecurity yet? Too bad – people are just getting started… (McDermott Will & Emery) 

Fans of Ziggy Stardust aren’t likely to find this update on Village at Camp Bowie particularly interesting, but Chapter 11 creditors will… (Pepper Hamilton) 

That was a great fundraiser. Can we put the photos on the company Facebook page? (McAfee & Taft) 

We could all use a little more capital, but it’s a bigger crisis when Britain’s largest banks are short… (Shipkevich PLLC) 

If sugar were horses… Nah, that doesn’t work. (But restaurant owners should prepare for supplier crises all the same) (Looper Reed & McGraw) 

Sleep easy, Australia – international arbitration is safe… (Baker & McKenzie Australia) 

Yours, mine, and ours: Harvard officials learn an important lesson when exercising their rights to search employee emails… (Morvillo Abramowitz) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Banks on Libor Lawsuits, White House on Cybersecurity, EU on Banker Bonuses, Feds on Gender-based Violence

Man, that Rand Paul can sure talk… After his nearly 13-hour filibuster last night, you’d think he’s sleeping in late. Not true, say unnamed sources in DC, who tell us that Paul left word to be woken up as soon as the JD Supra Morning Brief hit his inbox:

“At some point every corporation will have a [compliance] problem … and it’s better to have a positive, ongoing, cooperative relationship with regulators prior to having that problem…” (Levick) 

File under “no sh*t, Sherlock:” banks think Libor lawsuits should be thrown out (Shipkevich PLLC) 

European regulators agree on mandatory caps on bonuses paid out to bankers (ps to EU bankers – the new rules won’t go in effect until next year) (Orrick) 

Is starting work on time an essential function of a job? (Pullman & Comley) 

More regulations are needed to address cybersecurity concerns at companies that make up the country’s critical infrastructure, says White House Cyber Security Coordinator Michael Daniel (Carlton Fields) 

The US Department of Education is calling for immediate action to reduce gender-based violence in schools (Franczek Radelet) 

Companies that want to enforce arbitration agreements with employees that only speak Spanish must translate the agreements into Spanish first… (Sherman & Howard) 

On a gluten-free diet? You’ll be pleased to know that the FDA plans to issue gluten-free label requirements later this month (Morrison & Foerster) 

There’s a new sheriff in FTC Town. Here’s a first look at what to expect (Loeb & Loeb) 

Is rescission an option for Superstorm Sandy insurers facing misrepresentation made in connection with insurance applications? (Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Lance Armstrong, Kim Dotcom, Debt Buyers, Musical Chairs

Mondays are rough all around. Let the JD Supra Morning Brief smooth off the edges: 

Should the feds impose greater transparency on corporate political spending? This Columbia Law professor thinks so (Bloomberg Law) 

FCPA compliance practitioners can learn a lot from Lance Armstrong… (Thomas Fox) 

Does the Communications Decency Act provide immunity to website operators for defamatory statements that they actively encouraged? (Holland & Knight) 

Wondering how to spend your management training dollars? The EEOC can tell you (Littler) 

Kim Dotcom’s new “sharing” website Mega? It’s already received a host of copyright infringement warnings… (Baldwins) 

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a “first-of-its-kind” study of debt buyers (Ballard Spahr) 

A public market for private company shares? Yep. And it’s growing (Cohen & Gresser) 

Can’t keep up with the musical chairs game in President Obama’s cabinet? This will help (King & Spalding) 

Thinking of putting full-time employees on part-time schedules to avoid health care costs next year? (Akerman Senterfitt) 

New rules for foreign banks operating in the United States (Dechert) 

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@JDSupraBuzz