Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog : Global Regulatory Enforcement Lawyers & Attorneys: Reed Smith Law Firm: Government Contracts & Compliance

This post was written by Cynthia O'Donoghue and Katharina Weimer.

In 2000, the European Union and the U.S. Department of Commerce agreed to the Safe Harbor framework that includes principles governing the protection of personal data transferred to a U.S.-based company that self-certifies compliance to the Safe Harbor Principles. Compliance with the Principles is deemed by the EU to provide an adequate level of protection for the processing of personal data.  Transfers of personal data outside the European Economic Area are prohibited unless adequate measures to protect the data are implemented, and the Safe Harbor framework is one method ensuring adequate protection for transfers of personal data from the EU to the United States.  The Department of Commerce publishes a list on the Internet of all companies that have self-certified as Safe Harbor, including information on the status of the certification and on the type of personal data covered by the certification.

To view the entire alert, please click here.

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This post was written by Jeremy Feinstein and Will Sheridan.

On May 24, 2010, the United States Supreme Court held, in American Needle, Inc. v. National Football League, et al., that the NFL, its teams, and intra-league ventures, are not a single enterprise for the purposes of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, and therefore the NFL's collective licensing of its teams' individually owned intellectual property could constitute concerted action – "a contract, combination . . ., or conspiracy." This bulletin summarizes the Court's analysis and a few of the decision's key implications.

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Articles In This Issue:

• Suspension and Debarment Is Not a Tool To Punish…Except When It Is
• Don’t Forget About D&O Insurance When That Government Subpoena Arrives
• New Service Contracting Regulations: Will Make Employees Smile and Impose Additional Requirements on Employers
• Advancement and Indemnification of Directors and Officers of Delaware Corporations: What Government Contractors Need to Know
• Deceptively Simple: The New FAPIIS Responsibility Reporting Rule
• Health Reform Legislation Includes Significant Amendments to the False Claims Act
• Gearing Up for the ‘High Road’
• Supreme Court’s Interpretation of FCA’s ‘Public Disclosure’ Bar Is Blunted by Health Care Reform Provisions

Click here to download the full issue.

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This post was written by Chris Rissetto, Henry King, and Bob Helland.

Overview 

The Department of Energy ("DOE") has announced the availability of more than $171 million in grants, cooperative agreements, and technology-investment agreements "to expand and accelerate the development, commercialization, and use of solar and water power technologies throughout the United States".  This funding continues a strong emphasis in the DOE, since the passage of the Recovery Act, on projects that promote alternative energy development, sustainability, and green jobs.  The goal is to further the development of "evolving technologies," i.e., those that are not existing commercial technologies.  This Client Alert provides key details behind the two major initiatives included within these announcements, particularly what information is necessary to complete a competitive application.

The Public Policy & Infrastructure Practice has worked with a number of Reed Smith clients in crafting competitive applications for grant funding and complementary strategies to achieve funding, including obtaining support and assistance from members of Congress. We remain available to assist in the preliminary notice and development of a competitive application for funds under these Funding Opportunity Announcements ("FOAs").

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This post was written by Mark Melodia, Cynthia O'Donoghue, and Anthony Traymore.

On April 27, 2010, the Mexican Senate passed Ley Federal de Protección de Datos Personales en Posesión de los Particulares (the Federal Law for Protection of Personal Data (FLPPA)). President Felipe Calderon is expected to sign the FLPPA into law soon, and thereafter, the FLPPA will be published and its regulatory provisions enacted. The objective of the FLPPA is to provide regulatory mechanisms for the newly established replacement agency, Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos (the Federal Institute of Information Access and Data Protection (FIIADP), to enforce the FLPPA in relation to any individual or entity engaging in the collection, storage and/or transfer of personal data.

To view the entire alert, please click here.

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This post was writtem by Cynthia O'Donoghue and Daniel Kadar.

A bill "intended to better guarantee the right to privacy in the digital age" was adopted by a large majority of the French Senate March 23, 2010, and immediately transmitted to the French National Assembly for review.

The first objective of the bill is aimed at educating students about the use and exposure of personal information on the Internet, notably through social media. The bill is principally aimed at significantly reinforcing the obligations of data processors, and with increasing the powers of the French data protection agency, the CNIL.

To view the entire alert, please click here.

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This post was written by Chris Rissetto, Bob Helland, Jonathan Benner and Matt Thomas.

The Department of Transportation has announced the availability of $600 million in grants for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure for projects that "will have a significant impact on the Nation; a metropolitan area; or a region" (Docket No. DOT-OST-2010-0076).  This program is a continuation of a program begun under the "Recovery Act," known as the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery ("TIGER") Discretionary Grant Program.  Under TIGER, $1.5 billion of grants were awarded in 2009.  Congress appropriated $600 million for TIGER, made some changes to the program for Fiscal Year 2010 in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, and the program is now known as the TIGER II Discretionary Grant program.

To view the entire alert, please click here.

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