Category: z-Exclude

Senator Brian Schatz is one of the more thoughtful Senators we have, and he and his staff have actually spent time talking to lots of experts in trying to craft bills regarding the internet. Unfortunately, it still seems like he still falls under the seductive sway of this or that moral panic, so when the bills actually come out, they’re…

WORCESTER, Mass. — The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents kept an arsenal of guns and said on social media that he would like to kill a “ton of people,” prosecutors said in arguing Thursday that 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should remain in jail for his trial.

But the judge at Teixeira’s detention hearing put off an immediate decision whether he should be kept in custody or released to home confinement or under other conditions. Teixeira was led away from the court in handcuffs, black rosary beads around his neck, pending that ruling.

The court filings raise new questions about why Teixeira had such a high security clearance and access to some of the nation’s most classified secrets. They said he may still have material that hasn’t been released, which could be of “tremendous value to hostile nation states that could offer him safe harbor and attempt to facilitate his escape from the United States.”

The 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee passed an amendment to the Counter-Espionage Law on Wednesday. The revised law refines the definition of espionage activities, explicitly categorizing “collaborating with spy organizations and their agents” and “conducting cyber-attacks against state organs, confidential-related units, or critical information infrastructure and etc.” as espionage activities.

The revised law will come into effect on July 1.

Germany provides support for Ukraine by supplying equipment and weapons, these come from supplies of the Federal Arms Forces and from deliveries from industry financed from the Federal Government’s funds for security capacity building. An overview.

In court papers filed late Wednesday, the Justice Department lawyers said releasing 21-year-old Jack Teixeira from jail while he awaits trial would be a grave threat to the U.S. national security. Investigators are still trying to determine whether he kept any physical or digital copies of classified information, including files that haven’t already surfaced publicly, they wrote.

“There simply is no condition or combination of conditions that can ensure the Defendant will not further disclose additional information still in his knowledge or possession,” prosecutors wrote. “The damage the Defendant has already caused to the U.S. national security is immense. The damage the Defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary.”

A detention hearing is scheduled for Thursday in the federal court in Worcester, Massachusetts, for Teixeira, who has been in jail since his arrest earlier this month on charges stemming from the highest-profile intelligence leak in years.

Pfizer Inc applied to be registered as an importer of controlled substance Pentobarbital

A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission shows Meta is preparing for a stop on its EU-U.S. data flows and a EU General Data Protection Regulation fine. The company’s Q1 2023 earnings report explained to investors the impacts of the imminent final decision from Ireland’s Data Protection Commission on the legality of its EU-U.S. transfers.
The DPC order, expected to be formally published by 12 May, could force a halt to Facebook’s EU operations if adequacy for the DPF is not granted before the order takes effect. Additionally, Meta is planning for a potentially steep monetary fine and corrective measures from the DPC after recommendations from the European Data Protection Board.
“We expect the Irish Data Protection Commission to issue a decision in May in its previously disclosed inquiry relating to transatlantic data transfers of Facebook EU/EEA user data, including a suspension order for such transfers and a fine,” Meta explained in its report.
IAPP Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer Caitlin Fennessy, CIPP/US, said the expected stop transfers order and any yet-to-be-announced corrective measures could prove more meaningful than even a record penalty, noting curtailed data flows and subsequent change in data-driven business model “could have even larger financial implications for Meta and thousands of other companies.”
A new data transfer mechanism to replace the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework remains the top solution for Meta’s transfer woes.
The timeline for finalization of a new mechanism remains undetermined as the European Commission works toward a final adequacy decision with the U.S. under the proposed EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders previously indicated the DPF could be finalized as early as July, which could be just in time if the order includes a three-month implementation window, as some previous orders have.
“Our ongoing consultations with policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic continue to indicate that the proposed new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework will be fully implemented before the deadline for suspension of such transfers, but we cannot exclude the possibility that it will not be completed in time,” Meta wrote. “We will also evaluate whether and to what extent the (DPC) decision could otherwise impact our data processing operations even after a new data privacy framework is in force.”  
In the wider scope of the looming order, Fennessy said, “This could lead EU businesses to demand data localization from U.S. business partners or to switch to domestic alternatives. Such shifts could well outlast the adequacy process. Privacy professionals across sectors should prepare their CEOs and boards for significant data transfer disruptions in the months to come.”
Case origins
In July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated Privacy Shield and cast a shadow over the use of standard contractual clauses in what’s commonly known as the “Schrems II” decision. In the wake of the CJEU decision, the DPC initiated an “own volition” inquiry under Ireland’s Data Protection Act to consider whether Facebook’s data transfers to the U.S. were legal.
Meta’s legal challenges to the DPC’s inquiry were denied by the High Court of Ireland in May 2021. That paved the way for the DPC to reach its draft decision to halt Meta from transferring personal data from the EU to the U.S. through its use of standard contractual clauses. The draft decision was sent to EU data protection authorities July 2022.
Meta responded by claiming its Facebook and Instagram operations in the EU may be shuttered pending the final decision and the timeline for a Privacy Shield replacement.
Delivery of the decision to DPAs triggered two EU General Data Protection Regulation-mandated processes concerning the European Data Protection Board. The EDPB first took up an Article 60 process that provided DPAs a month to deliberate, comment, or express “relevant or reasoned objection,” on the DPC’s draft decision. Objections were made, forcing an Article 65 dispute resolution among board members.
The EDPB’s binding Article 65 decision issued 13 April resolved data protection authorities’ differences on “whether an administrative fine and/or an additional order to bring processing into compliance must be included in the Irish DPA’s final decision.”
The DPC has one month to adopt its final decision based on the EDPB’s opinion and legal analysis. Irish Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon recently said she expects the final decision to be published no later than 12 May.

As a result of action by the Federal Trade Commission and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, debt collection company International Credit Recovery, Inc. (ICR), officer Richard Diorio, Jr., and manager Cynthia Powell, have agreed to a permanent ban from the debt collection industry after being charged with engaging in bogus debt collection efforts against businesses and non-profits. 

The FTC and Pennsylvania alleged that ICR was a key part of a telemarketing scheme run by American Future Systems, Inc., (AFS), which also does business as Progressive Business Publications and the Center for Education and Employment Law. ICR allegedly collected on debts AFS claimed organizations such as businesses, schools, fire and police departments, and non-profits owed for book and newsletter subscriptions they did not order.

 “The defendants in the case were the second half of a one-two punch that targeted small businesses, non-profits and first responders, first with bogus subscription bills and then bogus debt collection,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We’re proud to work with our partners in Pennsylvania to hold them accountable.”

“Through collaboration with our federal partners, we reached an agreement that ensures Pennsylvanians will be protected from these callous defendants that preyed on emergency-responder and non-for-profit organizations to fulfill their selfish greed,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry said.

The FTC and Pennsylvania charged that, in connection with its debt collection activities, ICR contacted consumers that it knew or had reason to know did not agree to order paid subscriptions. They also charged that ICR used false or unsubstantiated representations to try to get consumers to pay, and that ICR illegally threatened consumers if they did not pay.

The court order, which was agreed to by the defendants to settle the case, permanently bans them from the debt collection industry, as well as requires them to cooperate since the case will continue against the other defendants AFS, Progressive Business Publications of New Jersey, Inc. and Edward Satell.

The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 3-0-1, with Commissioner Christine S. Wilson not participating. The vote on this matter closed on March 23, 2023, prior to Commissioner Wilson’s departure from the Commission. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania approved the settlement.

NOTE: Stipulated final orders or injunctions have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.

This matter is being handled by the FTC’s East Central Region.

The wave of U.S. comprehensive state privacy legislation that few ever thought would materialize in a calendar year has revealed itself. Comprehensive bills in Montana and Tennessee cleared their respective state legislatures 21 April — the first same-day passage for two state privacy bills — to join Indiana and Iowa among states to reach the finish line this year.

Both bills, which now await enactment pending governor’s signature, carry likeness to existing state privacy laws with some originality.

Montana Senate Bill 384 aligns exclusively with the Connecticut Data Privacy Act after surprise amendments during the cross-chamber process. Tennessee’s bill brings the most unique provisions, including enforcement that hinges on adoption of the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Privacy Framework.

FDA OCI, Greater Boston Behavioral Health, guilty, plea, misbranded, drugs, prescription, Rx, $2.5 million, fines, forfeiture, Botox, foreign, black box, warning, side effects, migraine, treatment, consumer protection,

The Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in the appeal of two False Claims Act (FCA) cases from the Seventh Circuit that called into question the level of intent, or scienter, required to establish corporate liability under the FCA for “knowingly” overbilling the government for goods or services.  The Court’s eventual decision may have widespread…… Continue Reading
The post Healthcare Companies and Companies Doing Business with the US Government – Supreme Court Appears Likely to Clarify False Claims Act (FCA) Knowledge Requirements appeared first on Global Investigations & Compliance Review.

I’m going to write about mifepristone and the legal troubles around it, and I will probably regret doing so. That’s partly because the situation is changing – this dispute is now before the US supreme court, and for better or worse, they will have the last word. But as of this writing, that last word hasn’t been handed down, and…

All of the RSC’s open access journals will benefit from an increased presence on the popular academic social networking site ResearchGate, under an agreement announced on 20 April. The new collaboration follows the RSC’s commitment last year to transition to a wholly open access (OA) publishing model within five years.

The approximately 1.5 million chemical scientists who use ResearchGate globally will now be able to access these publications. Through the arrangement, all version-of-record content from the RSC’s eight newly launched OA journals will be syndicated directly to ResearchGate. In addition, dedicated journal profiles will be created and made accessible on the network, and each journal will be prominently represented on all of its associated article pages on ResearchGate.

LOS ANGELES – A former doctor has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for scheming to defraud private insurance companies and the Tricare health care program for U.S. military service members by fraudulently submitting nearly $120 million in claims related to the 1-800-GET-THIN Lap-Band surgery business, the Justice Department announced today.

Julian Omidi, 54, of West Hollywood, was sentenced Monday evening by United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee.

Judge Gee also sentenced Surgery Center Management LLC (SCM), an Omidi-controlled Beverly Hills-based company, to five years’ probation. A separate hearing on restitution and forfeiture in this case, along with SCM’s fine, is expected in the coming weeks. 

  LONDON (AP) — A diamond and art dealer was sanctioned Tuesday by the U.K. and U.S. governments for allegedly funding Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group. The U.K. Treasury said it froze Nazem Ahmad’s assets in the U.K. because he financed the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group. Under the sanctions, no one in the…

  After years of watching U.S. President Donald Trump flout democratic norms and the rule of law, it is easy to feel a sense of vindication from his indictment in early April by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for falsifying business records. Few objective observers doubt that the facts support this indictment or one of the many other potential indictments…