kathy ossian

Court Removes Non-Compete Injunction from Former ADP Sales Reps

,

A federal court in New Jersey has lifted a preliminary injunction enjoining former ADP salesmen from engaging in certain conduct alleged by ADP to violate non-compete provisions in their employment agreements.  The injunction had been originally entered in June, 2016, months after Jordan Lynch and John Halpin left their employment with ADP. The restrictive covenants were contractually limited to one year, subject to tolling.

ADP conceded and the court ruled that the preliminary injunction should be discontinued as to Lynch because more a year had passed and Lynch never violated the preliminary injunction. 

Within a few days after leaving ADP, Halpin started working for an ADP competitor and solicited several ADP clients from January 2016 through June, 2017. The court found that some of Halpin’s contacts with ADP clients during that time violated the preliminary injunction. The court rejected ADP’s argument that Halpin continued to violate the preliminary injunction by working for the competitor, thereby tolling the one year period, as there was no evidence that Halpin solicited any ADP clients between July 1, 2017 and October 17, 2018, a period of more than one year.

Read the court’s opinion here. Contact us at Ossian Law regarding any information technology law question.

U.S. Houses Passes “Hack Your State Department Act”

,

In a 377-3 bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 238, the “Hack Your State Department Act.” If this bill becomes law, the U.S. State Department would have one year to establish a pilot “bug bounty program” under which qualified security researchers or “ethical hackers” would be temporarily authorized to identify and report vulnerabilities of State Department networks and systems in exchange for compensation. The State Department would first have to adopt guidelines for qualifications and other requirements for participating in the program.

More

New Law That Creates Precedence: California’s Connected Device Security Law

, , , ,

California has become the first state to pass legislation to regulate the Internet of Things. The new law, which takes effect on January 1, 2020, applies to manufacturers of connected devices, which are defined as “any device, or physical object that is capable of connecting to the Internet, directly or indirectly, and that is assigned an [IP] address or Bluetooth address.”
More

Cybersecurity Risk Tops CEO Concerns

, ,

Global advisory firm Willis Towers Watson recently released its 2018 Management Liability (Directors & Officers) U.S. Survey. When asked the question “to what extent are the following risks a concern for your organization in the coming year,” 80 percent of the respondents identified cybersecurity incidents and cyber claims. Claims brought by employees ranked second at 55 percent, followed by regulatory enforcement risks at 48 percent. More

Court Won’t Enforce Uber’s Terms of Service

, ,

The importance of making online and mobile app terms clear and conspicuous to users was reinforced by the recent federal appeals court decision in Cullinane v. Uber Technologies, Inc. The plaintiffs filed a proposed class action in Massachusetts state court alleging that Uber had violated a consumer protection law by inflating its fees around Logan International Airport. Uber removed the case to federal court, then filed a motion to compel arbitration based on a clause in its terms of service. The trial court granted Uber’s motion and dismissed the case and the plaintiffs appealed to the First Circuit.More

Network in the Sky In our Future?

, ,

Tech start up Elefante Group, Inc., in partnership with Lockheed Martin Corporation, has filed a petition for rulemaking with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding a design for a platform of atmospheric-based service to deliver high capacity, fast communications services. This “network-in-the-sky” would be powered by solar energy and some fuel cells. It would be capable of providing coverage to more than 9,000 square miles for six to nine months at a time.More

Courts Deny Cyber Insurance Coverage for Phishing Claims

, ,

“Phishing” occurs through a fake email message to obtain sensitive information for the purpose of committing fraud. Phishing schemes are becoming more sophisticated, resulting in many organizations falling victim and incurring financial loss. Some organizations have filed claims with their cyber insurance carriers. Lawsuits have followed after insurance companies have denied coverage.More

Court Holds Disney Engaged in Copyright Misuse

, ,

Disney recently suffered a potentially devastating setback in its legal effort to stop Redbox from selling digital codes to Disney films. A federal court in California denied Disney’s request for a preliminary injunction against Redbox, citing that Disney has engaged in copyright misuse, an affirmative defense to Disney’s contributory copyright infringement.

The court pointed out that there is no dispute that Disney’s copyrights do not give it the ability to prevent consumers from selling or transferring DVDs or Blu-ray discs within a Combo Pack. The court pointed to the fact that Disney’s digital HD terms and conditions require users to represent that they are currently “the owner of the physical product that accompanied the digital code at the time of purchase.”

Read more in Kathy Ossian’s recent article “Disney denied preliminary injunction against Redbox based on “copyright misuse” published in  Leading Internet Case Law, April 2018 available here. Contact us at Ossian Law regarding any information technology law question.

© 2018 Ossian Law P.C.

1 2
Proudly Powered By:
World Web Wizards