December 2016

The Obama-Trump transition, a new DMCA safe harbor rule, and more in this issue of Business News Digest

3 min

Venable attorneys produce periodic alerts and newsletters covering a variety of topics and practice areas. For your convenience, we have assembled below a collection of the latest alerts and newsletters from November 2016.

Fund Forum – November 2016

This issue of Venable's Fund Forum provides (i) an overview of new disguised sale and partnership liability regulations, (ii) an update on Brazil President Temer's plans for a privatization program, (iii) a summary of the mandatory cybersecurity regulations proposed by the New York State Department of Financial Services, (iv) revisions to recently published country policy overviews of fund formation rules, and (v) a brief review, audio recording, and presentation materials from our recent webinar on firm culture.

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Questions Concerning Federal Regulations during the Obama-Trump Transition

This client alert answers some frequently asked questions about the status of federal regulations during the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. These questions arise in four major areas: Executive Orders, Midnight Rules, application of the Congressional Review Act, and ongoing judicial reviews of major regulations.

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New DMCA Safe Harbor Rule Exposes New Liability Risks

Most websites and online service providers accept user-generated content in one form or another (uploads, comments, posts, contents, etc.). Often the website owners have no idea what is being posted by its users and can be held liable for user-generated content unless appropriate protectable measures are followed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). As a result, most companies have established an appropriate policy for removing infringing content. Compliance is required in order to be protected by the safe harbor under the DMCA, which limits the web host's liability.

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IRS Sinks Subpoena Teeth into Virtual Currency as Taxable Property, Seeks Coinbase's Transaction Records

On November 17, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) filed a Petition for Leave to Serve a John Doe Summons (subpoena) on Coinbase in the in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The IRS's position is that a large number of taxpayers buy and sell bitcoin and ethereum virtual currencies through Coinbase accounts and have not paid the tax on gains from trading in these virtual currencies, defined as property by the IRS (IR-2014-36, March 25, 2014).

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ADDITIONAL ARTICLES

421-a Update: Construction Wage Agreement Reached. Now What?

2017 Dollar Limits on Compensation and Benefits

A Trump Presidency: What Does It Mean for Employee Benefits?

DOD Bars Contracts from Contractors That Prohibit Employees from Reporting Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

Homeopathic Hot Potato: FTC Publishes Enforcement Policy Statement on Marketing of OTC Homeopathic Products

Individual Taxpayers and the 2016 Election: What Next?

Maryland May Soon Permit the Practice of "Foreign Legal Consultants"

OFPP Directs Agencies to Halt Implementation of Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Regulations

Post-Election Consumer Financial Services Regulatory Landscape FAQs

Proposed New York State Regulations Would Raise Exempt-Employee Salary Threshold Higher Than Upcoming FLSA Rules