"Google" is not Generic

The case involved whether a trademark owner should lose rights in instances when the trademark is frequently used as a verb such as in the phrase "Google it."

 

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that "googled" may have become synonymous for Internet searching, but that does not mean that the company cannot protect its name.

 

Under federal law, anyone can wipe out a trademark as well as the legal protection it officer, if it can be shown that most of the public thinks of the mark as a common work for a good or service. This has happened to other brands in the past, including Kleenex. This has come to be known as "generocide."

 

The court cited an earlier decision involving a restaurant that replaced customers' order for "a coke" with a non Coca-Cola beverage. Coke won the case because the restaurant failed to show that people thought of cola and coke interchangeably.

 

While Google is dominant for search engines, it is not dominant that its trademark is in doubt. Even with the verbing of its trademark, consumers still clearly understand that there are other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo! and that Google merely denotes one of them.

Trump Sparks Controversy with Talks of Ending Diversity Visa Program

On November 1, 2017 President Donald Trump called upon Congress to end the United States' diversity green card lotteryin response to a terror attack in New York City which left 8 people dead and 12 others seriously injured. The perpetrator, Sayfullo Saipov, 29, was identified as an immigrant from Uzbekistan who entered the United States in 2010 through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. The Diversity Visa Lottery program is aimed at boosting immigration from countries which traditionally send fewer immigrants to the US. The program was created as a part of a bipartisan immigration effort in Congress in 1990 and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The program grants 50,000 green cards per yearto countries with low immigration rates to the United States, mainly from Africa and Eastern Europe.

 

President Trump stated, "This program grants visas not on a basis of merit, but simply because applicants are randomly selected in an annual lottery and the people put in that lottery are not that country's finest."

 

Trump argued that instead of the lottery, the United States should institute a "merit-based system" in which only those with valuable trade skills would be permitted to immigrate to the US. In August, he endorsed a bill introduced by two Republican senators which would streamline the merit-based system and cut legal immigration in half by 2027. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act has been in the Senate Judiciary Committee since last February and similar legislation was introduced to the House Judiciary Committee in September.

 

However, the President has received backlash from experts in the immigration community. In an interview with Associated Press, Fatina Abdrabboh, Director of the American Muslim Advocacy League, stated, "The ending of this program certainly, I think, would be a symbolic defeat and loss in terms of our standing, really, with the whole world."

 

Washington immigration attorney Kenneth Rinzler concurs with Trump in that the Diversity Visa Program has some deficiencies but argues that the problem is not the vetting of these individuals.

 

"It's not legitimate to use the recent terrorist attack to knock this program because they (applicants) have to go through the same vetting as everybody else," he says. Rinzler, like other professionals, believes that there are concerns about all green card vetting, therefore, it makes no sense to single out diversity visas.

           

diversity-immigrant-visa-program

 

Ending Diversity Visa Lottery

Don't forgot - you need your real ID for traveling in the USA!

You may have noticed new TSA signs at the airport recently. It reads "starting January 22, 2018, you will need a driver's license or ID form a state compliant with the REAL ID Act, astate that has extension for compliance, or an alternate ID to fly."

 

What does that even mean?

Drafted in 2005 in the wake of the September 11th attacks, President George W. Bush signed the REAL ID Act. It is intended to ensure driver's licenses were more uniform from state to state and more difficult to forge. It gave the states more than a decade to "establish minimum security standards for state issued driver's licenses and identification cards". However, this time has run out now for boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft. Starting January 22nd 2018, only IDs from a state in compliance with the REAL ID Act or an extension will be accepted when boarding an airplane in the U.S. for domestic flights.

 

So why should you care?

Currently, 24 states are still not in compliance with the REAL ID Act, according to information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA (for a full map, see https://www.dhs.gov/realid). This means that as of January 22, 2018, passengers from those states may not board an aircraft with their driver's license being the only form of identification provided. Passengers will need to have some kind of alternative identification, the most common being passports and military IDs (for a full list of acceptable forms of ID, see https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification). For now, all of the noncompliant states have an extension until October 10, 2017. If the extension does not get prolonged, January 22, 2018, will be the deadline for those states. Regardless, even if the extension gets renewed, starting October 1, 2020, REAL ID compliant licenses are the only form of valid identification for domestic air travel.

 

Why are certain IDs not compliant with the act?

Using South Carolina as an example, the state actively fought against the REAL ID Act. As thengovernor Mark Sanford stated: "The act clearly violates the Founders' intent in offering the 10th Amendment, which states that all powers not given to the federal government are given to the people or the states". He also cited the costs of $17 billion to implement the law, which he considered an unfunded federal mandate. Therefore, in 2007, South Carolina lawmakers passed a bill that forbid the state from complying with the act. On the other hand, states like Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Washington offer enhanced driver's licenses, which are compliant with the REAL ID Act. Still other states are in the process of switching to REAL ID compliant licenses.

 

What does this mean for you?

If you are a resident of one of the compliant states, nothing changes for you. The only form of identification you need for a domestic flight is your driver's license. For residents of a noncompliant state, it is advisable to have a valid passport or other form of acceptable ID ready in case there is no further extension granted. Plan accordingly, since it takes 46 weeks to get a new passport.

When you plan to travel with children, nothing changes for them. TSA does not require children under 18 years old to provide identification when traveling with a companion within the United States.

 

Wage-Fixing, No-Poaching Agreements to be Prosecuted Criminally under new Antitrust Guidance

On October 20, 2016, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (Antitrust Division) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly released important Guidance aimed at informing human resource professionals (and others involved in hiring and compensation decisions) on the topic of how the antitrust laws apply to the field of employment.

 

The DOJ and FTC announced that agreements between companies not to hire each other's employees (no-poaching agreements) and agreements not to compete on salaries or terms of employment (wage-fixing agreements) would be "criminally investigated and prosecuted as hardcore cartel conduct." 

 

To date, both types of agreements, whether entered into directly or through a third-party intermediary, have consistently been considered per se illegal, but have been treated as civil violations of the antitrust laws. Moving forward, the stakes are much higher, with both companies and individual employees facing potential felony convictions for the same conduct.

 

However, not all interactions or agreements with a competing company or their employees regarding hiring and compensation practices violate the antitrust laws. The new Guidancerecognized exceptions to the general rule against no-poachingand wage-fixing agreements and explained that competitors could exchange information regarding hiring and compensation practices through a neutral third party.

 

With companies and their employees expecting an increasing antitrust scrutiny regarding their hiring and compensation practices, companies across industries should review their hiring policies pre-emptively to avoid compliance and enforcement consequences.

 

For more information regarding this matter, please contact Nicole Murphey at Nicole.Murphey@bridgehouselaw.us.

North Carolina Legislative News

The North Carolina Legislature has been pretty active on different topics over the past few months. Below is a quick overview of some bills dealing with the Bright Futures Act, personal injury bankruptcy trust claims, the alcoholic beverage control commission laws, and small wireless communications infrastructure.

House Bill 68 (February 9,2017)

This act encourages the establishment of bright markets by enabling the lease of additional digital infrastructure necessary for economic development and innovation in key markets, including broadband, retail online services, internet of things, gridpower, health care, training, and education.

Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any agency which has either jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact.

Finally, cities are authorized to sell or lease any public enterprise that it may own upon any terms and conditions that the council may deem best.

Senate Bill 470 (March 30, 2017)

This act amends Rule 26 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure relating to discovery in bankruptcy trust personal injury claims.

Senate Bill 155 (June 30, 2017)

This acts aims at making various changes to the alcoholic beverage control commission laws, among which the following:

• Create Spirituous Liquor Special Event Permit to Allow Distilleries to Give Free Tasting
• Allow Sale of Specified Alcoholic Beverages at Auction by Licensed Auctioneers
• Allow the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages Before Noon on Sundays, Subject to Local Government Approval
• Authorize Sale of Crowlers by Retail Permittees
• Authorize Off-Site Storage Location for Breweries, Wineries, and Distilleries
• Authorize Sale of Unfortified Wine on Premises by Retail Businesses
• Authorize Tastings During Brewery Tours
• Authorize Certain Persons to Sample Alcoholic Beverages for Purposes of Sensory Analysis, Quality Control or Education
• Amend Homebrewing Laws
• Clarify Law Governing Relationship between Breweries and Affiliated Retailers
• Authorize Brewery Taprooms to Sell Other Alcoholic Beverages upon Receiving the Appropriate Permit
• Authorize Breweries With Production Facilities in Other States to Distribute to Wholesales
• Authorize Farm Breweries
• Amend Law Governing Brewery Sales at Additional Retail Locations
• Tax Compliance and Reports
• Simplify Local Licensing Applications
• Clarify Winery Special Event Locations

House Bill 310 (July 21, 2017)

This act reforms collocation of small wireless communications infrastructure to aid in deployment of new technologies.

Wage-Fixing, No-Poaching Agreements to be Prosecuted Criminally under new Antitrust Guidance 

  

On October 20, 2016, the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division (Antitrust Division) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) jointly released important Guidance aimed at informing human resource professionals (and others involved in hiring and compensation decisions) on the topic of how the antitrust laws apply to the field of employment.

 

The DOJ and FTC announced that agreements between companies not to hire each other's employees (no-poaching agreements) and agreements not to compete on salaries or terms of employment (wage-fixing agreements) would be "criminally investigated and prosecuted as hardcore cartel conduct." 

 

To date, both types of agreements, whether entered into directly or through a third-party intermediary, have consistently been considered per se illegal, but have been treated as civil violations of the antitrust laws. Moving forward, the stakes are much higher, with both companies and individual employees facing potential felony convictions for the same conduct.

 

However, not all interactions or agreements with a competing company or their employees regarding hiring and compensation practices violate the antitrust laws. The new Guidance recognized exceptions to the general rule against no-poaching and wage-fixing agreements and explained that competitors could exchange information regarding hiring and compensation practices through a neutral third party.

 

With companies and their employees expecting an increasing antitrust scrutiny regarding their hiring and compensation practices, companies across industries should review their hiring policies pre-emptively to avoid compliance and enforcement consequences.

"Google" is not Generic

The case involved whether a trademark owner should lose rights in instances when the trademark is frequently used as a verb such as in the phrase "Google it."

 

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that "googled" may have become synonymous for Internet searching, but that does not mean that the company cannot protect its name.

 

Under federal law, anyone can wipe out a trademark as well as the legal protection it officer, if it can be shown that most of the public thinks of the mark as a common work for a good or service. This has happened to other brands in the past, including Kleenex. This has come to be known as "generocide."

 

The court cited an earlier decision involving a restaurant that replaced customers' order for "a coke" with a non Coca-Cola beverage. Coke won the case because the restaurant failed to show that people thought of cola and coke interchangeably.

 

While Google is dominant for search engines, it is not dominant that its trademark is in doubt. Even with the verbing of its trademark, consumers still clearly understand that there are other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo! and that Google merely denotes one of them.

Trump Sparks Controversy with Talks of Ending Diversity Visa Program

 

On November 1, 2017 President Donald Trump called upon Congress to end the United States' diversity green card lottery in response to a terror attack in New York City which left 8 people dead and 12 others seriously injured. The perpetrator, Sayfullo Saipov, 29, was identified as an immigrant from Uzbekistan who entered the United States in 2010 through the Diversity Visa Lottery Program. The Diversity Visa Lottery program is aimed at boosting immigration from countries which traditionally send fewer immigrants to the US. The program was created as a part of a bipartisan immigration effort in Congress in 1990 and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. The program grants 50,000 green cards per year to countries with low immigration rates to the United States, mainly from Africa and Eastern Europe.

 

President Trump stated, "This program grants visas not on a basis of merit, but simply because applicants are randomly selected in an annual lottery and the people put in that lottery are not that country's finest."

 

Trump argued that instead of the lottery, the United States should institute a "merit-based system" in which only those with valuable trade skills would be permitted to immigrate to the US. In August, he endorsed a bill introduced by two Republican senators which would streamline the merit-based system and cut legal immigration in half by 2027. The Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act has been in the Senate Judiciary Committee since last February and similar legislation was introduced to the House Judiciary Committee in September.

 

However, the President has received backlash from experts in the immigration community. In an interview with Associated Press, Fatina Abdrabboh, Director of the American Muslim Advocacy League, stated, "The ending of this program certainly, I think, would be a symbolic defeat and loss in terms of our standing, really, with the whole world."

 

Washington immigration attorney Kenneth Rinzler concurs with Trump in that the Diversity Visa Program has some deficiencies but argues that the problem is not the vetting of these individuals.

 

"It's not legitimate to use the recent terrorist attack to knock this program because they (applicants) have to go through the same vetting as everybody else," he says. Rinzler, like other professionals, believes that there are concerns about all green card vetting, therefore, it makes no sense to single out diversity visas.

SCAM Alert: USCIS Does Not Request Form I-9 by Email

Please watch out for FAKE email accounts pretending to come from USCIS and requesting Form I-9 information by email.

The USCIS has confirmed this email account is FRAUDULENT: news@uscis.gov This is NOT a USCIS address, and you should not respond to any emails coming from this address.

The body of the email may contain USCIS and Office of the Inspector General labels, your address, and a fraudulent download button that links to a NON-Government Web Address (uscis-online.org). Do NOT respond to these emails or click the links in them.

Note: Employers are NOT required to submit Forms I-9 to USCIS. Employers are required to keep these forms on file for a certain period of time for each person on their payroll.

If you receive an email from the fraudulent email address “news@uscis.gov”, please report it to the Federal Trade Commission. If you are not sure if it is a scam, forward the suspicious email to the USCIS webmaster at USCIS.Webmaster@uscis.dhs.gov . USCIS will review the emails received and share with law enforcement agencies as appropriate.

 

Full notice is available at the USCIS website: https://www.uscis.gov/avoid-scams/common-scams

Alstom & Siemens: 

The Merger is on the Tracks

On September 27, the two largest train producing companies in Europe, Alstom and Siemens, proposed a merger in order to create "a new European champion in the rail industry for the long term," to beat competition from China. "The message of this merger is [also] that the European spirit is alive," declared Joe Kaeser, the chief executive of Siemens.

 

Officially, it is an alliance of equals, however, Siemens "swallows" Alstom. Indeed, Siemens will acquire 50% of Alstom's capital. The French high-speed TGV therefore passes under the German flag. We already know that the name of the new company will be Siemens-Alstom and the logo will draw more from the puzzle of Alstom. Discussions began in Spring 2017 but afterward, everything went pretty quickly. "Siemens was our first choice," said the Alstom management.

 

The operation was closely monitored by the public authorities and notably by French President Emmanuel Macron. The merger's goal is to create a giant capable of competing with China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, known as CRRC, which has grown into the world's largest and most competitive maker of railway equipment. The two groups are complementary from both a geographical and a business point of view: Alstom specializes on rolling stock and Siemens provides the infrastructure making it possible to run trains. In other words, it is a real marriage of reason between two groups, with very different cultures, who have been at odds with each other in recent years.

 

The merger has already captured the attention of Emmanuel Macron's cabinet, as being a good deal. Concretely, the chief executive of the new company is going to be Henri Poupart-Lafarge-a French citizen-already at the head of Alstom. The headquarters will also be in France as well as the listing on the stock exchange. Finally, while populist parties such as the "Front National" in France are generally hostile to political ties in the European Union, yet in this case they seem to be less likely to oppose corporate mergers to protect European companies from foreign competition.

USA Workshop in München 15. und 16. November

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Open House Celebrating a Great Year in International Economic Development

To celebrate a great year in international economic development and a new alliance between BridgehouseLaw and Queen City Immigration Law, we are holding an open house on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm in the Second Floor Conference Center of 112 S Tryon St, in Charlotte, NC.

During this event, special guests will be present, among which:

·      Energizing Africa through Partnerships Conference Attendees

·      John S. Leary Bar Association

·      Charlotte World Affairs Council’s Magellan Society

·      F7 International South Africa Project Managers & Prospects

·      Local Attorneys and Professional Service Providers

·      Charlotte Supplier Diversity Leaders

·      Charlotte Black Chamber of Commerce

·      Businesses and Trade Leaders for Emerging Markets

To register for this event, please RSVP on the following link:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bridgehouselaw-qci-law-open-house-international-economic-development-tickets-38653945993

For more information:

BridgehouseLaw LLP

112 S Tryon Street

Charlotte, NC 28284

T: + 1 980 219 5200

F: + 1 980 219 5299

E: charlotte@bridgehouse.law

www.bridgehouse.law

North Carolina Legislative News

 

The North Carolina Legislature has been pretty active on different topics over the past few months.

Below is a quick overview of some bills dealing with the Bright Futures Act, personal injury bankruptcy trust claims, the alcoholic beverage control commission laws, and small wireless communications infrastructure.

 

House Bill 68 (February 9,2017)

 

This act encourages the establishment of bright markets by enabling the lease of additional digital infrastructure necessary for economic development and innovation in key markets, including broadband, retail online services, internet of things, gridpower, health care, training, and education.

 

Prior to making any detailed statement, the responsible official shall consult with and obtain the comments of any agency which has either jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact.

 

Finally, cities are authorized to sell or lease any public enterprise that it may own upon any terms and conditions that the council may deem best.

 

Senate Bill 470 (March 30, 2017)

 

This act amends Rule 26 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure relating to discovery in bankruptcy trust personal injury claims.

 

Senate Bill 155 (June 30, 2017)

 

This acts aims at making various changes to the alcoholic beverage control commission laws, among which the following:

 

• Create Spirituous Liquor Special Event Permit to Allow Distilleries to Give Free Tasting
• Allow Sale of Specified Alcoholic Beverages at Auction by Licensed Auctioneers
• Allow the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages Before Noon on Sundays, Subject to Local Government Approval
• Authorize Sale of Crowlers by Retail Permittees
• Authorize Off-Site Storage Location for Breweries, Wineries, and Distilleries
• Authorize Sale of Unfortified Wine on Premises by Retail Businesses
• Authorize Tastings During Brewery Tours
• Authorize Certain Persons to Sample Alcoholic Beverages for Purposes of Sensory Analysis, Quality Control or Education
• Amend Homebrewing Laws
• Clarify Law Governing Relationship between Breweries and Affiliated Retailers
• Authorize Brewery Taprooms to Sell Other Alcoholic Beverages upon Receiving the Appropriate Permit
• Authorize Breweries With Production Facilities in Other States to Distribute to Wholesales
• Authorize Farm Breweries
• Amend Law Governing Brewery Sales at Additional Retail Locations
• Tax Compliance and Reports
• Simplify Local Licensing Applications
• Clarify Winery Special Event Locations

House Bill 310 (July 21, 2017)

 

This act reforms collocation of small wireless communications infrastructure to aid in deployment of new technologies.

Interesting take on “international office”

While not the central theme of this attached article, it does strike me as odd that they are promoting Terminal (a hybrid app development/engineering labor platform) as opening an “international office.”  Terminal focuses on providing lower cost skilled labor for select app developers and designers.  Essentially this is moving capital to markets with a greater surplus of labor, a staple of multinational business.  With NAFTA 2.0 on the horizon, is it possible we will see some of the “international offices” of large textile manufacturers returning to the South? 

My point is what Terminal is promising is not nearly as cutting edge or even novel.  The premise is that new startups, often with little cash on hand, have difficulty paying the market rate for engineers based in Silicon Valley.  Instead, they can partner with Terminal which will not only provide the cheap foreign labor but the prestige of opening an “international office”.  This way the VCs, idea men, and exceptionally skilled programmers can continue to live in Silicon Valley while the actual labor force is paid cheaply abroad, a situation at least as old as the hunter gatherer model.

One novelty of the Terminal model is that Terminal has absorbed some of the higher capital costs, providing a workspace, workstations, and the logistics of an international office.  This way the Terminal client can focus on production and take advantage of this division of labor without an expensive outlay of capital.  It appears the app industry is trending toward its more mature cousins like the textile industry, where often the research, design and development is centralized and production localized where labor costs are cheaper. 

https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/16/terminal-makes-it-easy-for-companies-to-open-international-offices/

Green Card Lottery 2019 – Registrations Begin on October 3, 2017

General, Green Card / By annamaria

Applications to enter the DV-2019 program (Green Card Lottery 2019) will be accepted by the U.S. Department of State between “Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) (GMT-4), and Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 12:00 noon, Eastern Standard Time (EST) (GMT-4)”.
Under this DV lottery program, commonly known as the green card lottery or the diversity visa lottery program, 50,000 immigrant visas will be made available to a category of immigrants known as “diversity immigrants.” The diversity immigrants usually are the ones who belong to countries that have not sent many immigrants to the U.S. Anyone who belongs to an eligible country can register for this program at no cost.
Apply for the Green Card Lottery Program

However, belonging to an eligible country alone will not make a person eligible for the lottery. Applicants will have to meet the age and the education or the work experience requirements.
A computer will randomly pick the winners of the lottery. Winners who are deemed eligible will receive their immigrant visas after they appear for interviews and undergo the required medical examination. Immigrant visas will be issued to people belonging to six geographical regions equally and no single country will receive more number of visas than the other. Usually, every eligible country receives around seven percent of the available diversity immigrant visas.
Eligibility requirements have not changed this year and the same countries that were ineligible for the lottery last year are still in the list of DV lottery ineligible countries. Following are the countries on the ineligible list.
“Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born), Colombia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.”
Similar to the previous years, applications to enter the lottery program can be filed online at dvlottery.state.gov. Applicants must make sure that their entries are complete.
Register for green card lottery 2019.

USA Workshop in München vom 15 - 16. November

Trotz oder wegen Trump: USA go west ! Wer will in USA eine Firma aufbauen, M&A oder sonst den Markt erobern? am 15. und 16. November der GABA Workshop in München https://www.xing.com/events/usa-markteintritt-risikomanagement-1869183 - Rückfragen gerne an mich und .... es gibt noch ein paar freie Plätze http://www.gaba-forum.org

Wir begleiten Sie gerne!

Amerika ist immer noch das Land der unbegrenzten Möglichkeiten!

Die German American Business Association bietet Ihnen Praxistipps für Ihre US-Unternehmen,  für bestehende oder noch zu gründende.  Unsere Referenten sind Experten mit langjährigen Lebens- und Berufserfahrungen in den USA und bieten Ihnen in den Seminarreihen  im Jahr 2017 / 2018 kompakte Informationen, die Ihnen den Markteintritt und die Risikominimierung in den USA erleichtern.  

Wir machen Sie fit für den Markteintritt und das Risikomanagement  Ihres Unternehmens in den USA. Wir beantworten Ihnen  diese und viele weitere Fragen, die sich Ihnen stellen. Zum Beispiel:

• Wie werden die amerikanischen Märkte erschlossen?
• Wie werden  320 Millionen Menschen erreicht?
• Gibt es amerikanische Vertriebsstrategien?
• Welche Anforderungen hat das deutsche Management im Rahmen der Corporate Governance der US-Tochter zu beachten?
• Welche Produkthaftungsstrategie ist die richtige?
• Wie funktioniert erfolgreiches Recruiting geeigneter Mitarbeiter in den USA?
• Wie bereite ich Mitarbeiter auf Ihre Entsendung vor?
• Wie erhöhe ich interkulturelle Kompetenz in multinationalen Teams?
• Wie führe ich die Führungskräfte an ihre internationale Rolle heran?

Sie wählen zwischen zwei Seminartypen (Markteintritt und Risikomanagement) - wir bieten an jedem Seminarort jeweils an einem Tag  alles, was Sie zu diesem Thema wissen müssen. Gerne begrüßen wir Sie natürlich auch an beiden Seminartagen - oder Sie buchen unsere Angebote ganz bequem als Inhouse-Veranstaltung bei sich in der Firma.

Las Vegas Shooting: "Terrorism" or Not?

 

The answer appears to be "yes" under Nevada law, but only a "maybe" under federal law -- the debate continues about whether to label such an act, perpetrated by a man with no known ties to Muslim extremism, as "terrorism." 

 

The act of ascribing meaning to such an act is reassuring for the public, however, it is a powerful label whose definition has vastly different legal and operational ramifications.

 

For instance, according to Nevada's state law, an "act of terrorism" is defined as "any act that involves the use or attempted use of sabotage, coercion or violence which is intended to cause great bodily harm or death to the general population."[1]  A separate state law describes a terrorist as "a person who intentionally commits, causes, aids, furthers, or conceals an act of terrorism or attempts to commit, cause, aid, further or conceal an act of terrorism." 

 

On the other hand, under federal law, a terrorist is someone with ties to a foreign entity who uses tactics of intimidation or violence for political motives and intents to affect not just the immediate victims, but a larger group. 

 

By the legal, federal definition, it cannot be determined whether this act could be considered terrorism, as it is unknown whether the attack was politically motivated.

 

Currently, there is a criminal statute for international terrorism, but not domestic. 

 

To be charged with terrorism, a person has to be suspected of acting on behalf of one of nearly 60 groups that the State Department has declared a foreign terrorist organization.  A person who carries out a mass attack and survives can face a range of charges, but unless the person is linked to one of the banned groups, a federal terrorism charge will not be one of them.

 

There are complex arguments against drawing up a comprehensive definition of domestic terrorism in law.  First Amendment concerns arise in legal discussions about making domestic terrorism a crime.  Many worry that the federal government would criminalize speech, religion, or ideology.

 

There is clearly a significant difference between domestic terrorism and international terrorism - or what is being referred to as Islamic terrorism.  Until we can have a good understanding of what "terrorism" is, "domestic terrorism" and its definition, will continue to be a point of debate.

USA und Türkei frieren gegenseitige Visavergabe ein 

  

Die US-Botschaft in Ankara stellt keine Visa mehr für türkische Bürger aus. Nun reagiert die Türkei: Sie stoppt ihrerseits die Visavergabe für US-Bürger. 

Nach der Ankündigung aus den USA, die Vergabe von Visa für türkische Bürger vorläufig und mit sofortiger Wirkung einzufrieren, hat die Türkei reagiert: Sie stoppt sämtliche Visavergaben in der Botschaft in Washington sowie in sämtlichen Konsulaten in den USA. Die einzige Ausnahme soll für Einwanderungsanträge gelten.

 

"Jüngste Ereignisse zwingen die türkische Regierung, neu zu bewerten, wie sehr sich die US-Regierung der Sicherheit von türkischen Botschafts- und Konsulatsgebäuden und ihren Mitarbeitern verpflichtet fühlt", teilte die türkische Botschaft in Washington mit. Der Wortlaut der Erklärung ist identisch mit dem der US-Regierung in Richtung Ankara.

Drohnen-Piloten aufgepasst - das ändert sich zum 1. Oktober 2017

    

Der deutsche Gesetzgeber hat sich dem Problem der zunehmenden Anzahl von Drohnen angenommen und im April 2017 die Drohnen-Verordnung erlassen. Zum 1. Oktober 2017 traten zudem die Pflicht zur Kennzeichnung und zum Kenntnisnachweis im Kraft. Was dies nun für deutsche Drohnenpiloten bedeutet, soll im Folgenden kurz erläutert werden.

Zunächst unterscheidet der Gesetzgeber zwischen dem Betrieb auf Modellflugplätzen und außerhalb von diesen. Während bei Ersterem nahezu alles beim Alten bleibt - mit Ausnahme der Kennzeichnungspflicht - wurde der Bereich außerhalb von Modellflugplätzen nun vollumfänglich geregelt. Zu Ende ist die Zeit, in der für nahezu jeglichen Betrieb außerhalb von Modellflugplätzen eine Erlaubnis notwendig war.

Zunächst gilt für jedes unbemannte Fluggerät ab 250 Gramm eine Kennzeichnungspflicht, egal ob es sich um eine Drohne oder ein Modellflugzeug handelt und gleichgültig wo dieses geflogen wird. Die Kennzeichnung muss sichtbar, dauerhaft und feuerfest sein und den Namen und Anschrift des Eigentümers bzw. Piloten enthalten. Dies kann beispielsweise durch die Befestigung einer Aluminium-Plakette erfolgen.

Außerhalb von Modellflugplätzen gibt es eine Reihe weiterer Rahmenbedingungen: Private Nutzer dürfen bei einem Startgewicht von über 250 Gramm das Fluggerät nur im Sichtbetrieb fliegen, d.h. Das Fluggerät muss dauerhaft sichtbar sein und darf nicht lediglich über eine Kamera betrieben werden. Möglich ist jedoch, dass ein zweiter Pilot Sichtkontakt hält und den Steuerer auf Gefahren hinweist. Drohnen müssen zudem bemannten Luftfahrzeugen stets ausweichen.

Des Weiteren ist eine maximale Flughöhe von 100 Metern vorgeschrieben. Darüber benötigen Drohnenpiloten eine Ausnahmeerlaubnis der örtlichen Landesluftfahrtbehörde. Eine Genehmigung ist ebenso notwendig, wenn ein gewerblicher Betrieb außerhalb des Sichtweite erfolgt oder ein Nachtflug stattfinden soll.

Im Übrigen werden die Drohnen in verschiedene Gewichtsklassen unterteilt, für die dann gestaffelte Anforderungen notwendig sind:

Während Drohnen unter 250 Gramm keinerlei Beschränkungen unterliegen, benötigen Drohnen ab 250 Gramm eine Kennzeichnung. Haben die Drohnen ein Startgewicht von mehr als 2 Kg, benötigt der Pilot zusätzlich einen Flugkundenachweis (auch Drohnen-Führerschein genannt). Dieser kann durch Prüfung bei einer durch das Luftfahrt-Bundesamt anerkannten Stelle oder einem Luftsportverband erlangt werden. Beträgt das Startgewicht über 5 Kg, dann ist für jeden Flug eine Aufstiegserlaubnis bei der jeweiligen Landesluftfahrtbehörde zu beantragen. Für Fluggeräte ab 25 Kg gilt ein allgemeines Betriebsverbot.

Zukünftig ist auch der Betrieb nahe sensibler Bereiche grundsätzlich verboten. So herrscht künftig über Gebäuden der Verfassungsorgane, Bundes- & Landesbehörden, Flugplätzen, Industrieanlagen und Naturschutzgebieten ein Flugverbot, ebenso bei Menschenansammlungen und Einsatzorten der Polizei und Rettungskräfte. Über Wohngrundstücken sind Drohnen, die optische oder akustische Funksignale empfangen, aufzeichnen oder übertragen können oder schwerer als 250 Gramm sind verboten. Kameradrohnen können daher nicht über bewohnten Gebieten eingesetzt werden - mit Ausnahme des eigenen Grundstücks. Einzig der Betrieb von Drohnen mit Startgewicht von unter 250 Gramm und ohne Kamera, Lautsprecher bzw. Mikrofon bleibt in Wohngebieten erlaubt.

Es bleibt letztlich fraglich, wie die Einhaltung der Verordnung gewährleistet werden soll und ob es zu einer Verbesserung der Sicherheit des Luftraums kommt. So ist etwa die Kennzeichnung während des Flugs mit dem bloßen Auge nicht zu erkennen und auch die Einhaltung der Grundstücks- und Höhengrenze dürfte sich in der Praxis als schwierig gestalten. Jedenfalls stellt ein Verstoß gegen die Drohnen-Verordnung eine Ordnungswidrigkeit dar, die zur Verhängung eines Bußgeldes führen kann. Dessen Höhe liegt in der Zuständigkeit der einzelnen Bundesländer, so dass eine pauschale Angabe hierzu nicht möglich ist. Bisher wurden Bußgelder in einer Größenordnung von 500-1.500 EUR verhängt, theoretisch möglich wäre gar ein Betrag bis zu 50.000 EUR.

Boarding a Plane in the U.S.? Better Have Your Passport Ready 

  

You may have noticed new TSA signs at the airport recently. It reads "starting January 22, 2018, you will need a driver's license or ID form a state compliant with the REAL ID Act, a state that has extension for compliance, or an alternate ID to fly."

What does that even mean?

Drafted in 2005 in the wake of the September 11th attacks, President George W. Bush signed the REAL ID Act. It is intended to ensure driver's licenses were more uniform from state to state and more difficult to forge. It gave the states more than a decade to "establish minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards". However, this time has run out now for boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft. Starting January 22nd 2018, only IDs from a state in compliance with the REAL ID Act or an extension will be accepted when boarding an airplane in the U.S. for domestic flights.

So why should you care?

Currently, 24 states are still not in compliance with the REAL ID Act, according to information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the TSA (for a full map, see https://www.dhs.gov/real-id). This means that as of January 22, 2018, passengers from those states may not board an aircraft with their driver's license being the only form of identification provided. Passengers will need to have some kind of alternative identification, the most common being passports and military IDs (for a full list of acceptable forms of ID, see https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification). 

 

For now, all of the non-compliant states have an extension until October 10, 2017. If the extension does not get prolonged, January 22, 2018, will be the deadline for those states. Regardless, even if the extension gets renewed, starting October 1, 2020, REAL ID-compliant licenses are the only form of valid identification for domestic air travel.

Why are certain IDs not compliant with the act?

Using South Carolina as an example, the state actively fought against the REAL ID Act. As then-governor Mark Sanford stated: "The act clearly violates the Founders' intent in offering the 10th Amendment, which states that all powers not given to the federal government are given to the people or the states". He also cited the costs of $17 billion to implement the law, which he considered an unfunded federal mandate. Therefore, in 2007, South Carolina lawmakers passed a bill that forbid the state from complying with the act.

On the other hand, states like Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Washington offer enhanced driver's licenses, which are compliant with the REAL ID Act. Still other states are in the process of switching to REAL ID compliant licenses. 

What does this mean for you?

If you are a resident of one of the compliant states, nothing changes for you. The only form of identification you need for a domestic flight is your driver's license. For residents of a non-compliant state, it is advisable to have a valid passport or other form of acceptable ID ready in case there is no further extension granted. Plan accordingly, since it takes 4-6 weeks to get a new passport.

 

When you plan to travel with children, nothing changes for them. TSA does not require children under 18 years old to provide identification when traveling with a companion within the United States.

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Recent Cybersecurity Breach Allows Hackers Direct Access to US Power Grid Controls

In 2016, spending and rendered services for cybersecurity rose to more than $80 billion, and there is no sign of the industry slowing down. The development of new technology poses new challenges for cybersecurity firms under pressure to evolve at the same pace. The recent announcement of the security breach at the credit-reporting company Equifax put approximately 143 million people at risk of identity theft. However, Equifax is but one of a string of recent cybersecurity breaches. In early September 2017, the security firm Symantec warned that a series of recent hacker attacks not only compromised energy companies in the U.S. and Europe, but also resulted in intruders' success gaining access to power grid operations enough to induce blackouts on American soil at will.

A new wave of cyber attacks by a group calling itself Dragonfly 2.0 targeted dozens of energy companies earlier this year. In more than 20 cases, Symantec says hackers successfully accessed their targets' computer networks. While Symantec did not name the companies affected by the attacks, it says that forensic analyses for a handful of U.S. companies and at least one company in Turkey revealed that hackers obtained what is known in the field as "operational access": control of the interfaces power company engineers use to send actual commands to the equipment such as circuit breakers, enabling them to stop the flow of electricity to U.S. homes and businesses.

Eric Chien, a security analyst for Symantec, stated, "[t]here's a difference between being a step away from conducting sabotage and actually being in a position to conduct sabotage...being able to flip the switch on power generation... We're now talking about on-the-ground technical evidence this could happen in the U.S., and there's nothing left standing in the way except the motivation of some actor out in the world."

Symantec's report on the new intrusion's details revealed that the company has tracked the Dragonfly 2.0 attacks back to at least December 2015, but found that they ramped up significantly in the first half of 2017, particularly in the U.S., Turkey and Switzerland. These attacks were designed to harvest credentials from victims and gain remote access to the machines they operate. So if the hackers had actually gained access to these systems why did they stop short of utilizing their access? Chien reasons that the hackers may have been seeking the option to cause an electrical disruption when it became strategically useful to do so.

Symantec claims it has assisted the power companies that experience the deepest penetrations, helping them eject the hackers from their networks. They also sent out warning to more than 100 companies who might be exposed to the Dragonfly 2.0 attacks as well as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Nonetheless, Chien warns any company that thinks it may have been the target of hackers to not only remove any malware its identified but also refresh their staff's credentials. Given hackers' focus on stealing passwords, even flushing malware out of a targeted network might still leave vulnerabilities if they still have employees' working logins.

 

Hackers Gain:

Kroger v. Lidl: End of The Trademark Litigation

 

Shortly after opening its first stores in the U.S., German grocery giant Lidl has become subject to a lawsuit filed by Kroger supermarkets, accusing Lidl of copying their brand of products and demanding financial compensation.

 

In an amended complaint filed in late June in a Virginia court, Kroger, the owner of more than 2,796 supermarkets in the U.S. including Harris Teeter, stated that Lidl had violated Kroger's home-made brand. The German discount chain offers in its American stores located in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina products with the "Preferred Selection" label, whose prices are ultra competitive. For Kroger, this label was too similar to its own brand "Private Selection," which created, according to Kroger, confusion with consumers and the general public.

 

Consequently, Kroger petitioned the court to prohibit Lidl from continuing its use of the "Preferred Selection" trademark and to remove all labels referring to it in physical stores as well as on the Internet and social networks. In addition, Kroger claimed damages of an unspecified amount. "Lidl has competed unfairly and continues to compete unfairly with Kroger," the lawsuit stated. "As a direct result of Lidl's wrongful conduct, Kroger has suffered and will continue to suffer irreparable injury, including, but not limited to, injury to its trademarks and to the goodwill and business reputation associated with those trademarks," the U.S. group wrote in their complaint.

 

However, a few weeks ago, the court dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the court made a final determination on the merits of the case. As a result, the court forbade Kroger from filing another lawsuit based on the same grounds.

At a time when the major American distribution groups are affected by the competition of online commerce, Lidl's arrival raises fears among competitors such as Kroger, Wal-Mart and Target of growing competition in the sector, especially since the German group intends to offer low prices.

Lidl plans to establish 20 stores this summer and then 100 in the next year. After Virginia and the Carolinas, the group hopes to tackle the East Coast and continue expanding in the South and Central-East in states such as Georgia and Kentucky.

Congress Starts Regulating the Safety of Personal Care Products After Almost 80 Years

 

Since 1938, the federal law designed to ensure that personal care products are safe has remained largely unchanged. The number of personal care products used by men, women and children across the country continuously rises and more and more artificial ingredients are added almost every day. On average, men use six personal care products, exposing themselves to 85 unique chemicals, whereas women use 12 personal care products and exposing themselves to an incredible amount of 168 chemical ingredients. Regarding those numbers, almost no legislation is in place governing said chemicals.

 

For this reason, a bipartisan bill has been introduced to Congress by Senators Feinstein and Collins, the so called "Personal Care Products Safety Act". Its goal is to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure the safety of cosmetics. The bill would give the FDA far greater authority and oversight over the safety of beauty products.

 

Until now, the FDA has had almost no power over personal care products, even though such products fall under its jurisdiction. In fact, beauty products avoid regulation, because do not require FDA approval before going to market. The FDA can only prohibit adulterated or misbranded cosmetics from being sold. Perhaps even more alarming to the public is the fact that product recalls with hazardous chemicals are described as "voluntary" on the FDA's website.

   

However, the proposed Personal Care Products Safety Act would empower the FDA to review the safety of ingredients and gives more oversight over beauty-product safety. The act would give the FDA the same tools for ensuring the safety of personal care products as it uses to regulate food and drugs. Among such tools would be the power to:  

• evaluate a minimum of five ingredients per year for safety,
• order recalls of questionably safe beauty products,
• require complete ingredient information for products to be available online and printed on labels,
• require companies to register facilities and permit FDA inspection, and
• require companies to report serious adverse events to FDA within 15 days.

The bill has already received support from a number of beauty companies, including L'Oréal, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, and Unilever.

 

Sources:

 

Congress 

 

Personal Care Products 

 

Personal Care Products and Beauty