Inconsistencies Persist With Final DFARS Commercial Items Rule
On January 31, 2018, the Department of Defense (“DoD” or the “Department”) published a final rule regarding commercial item purchasing requirements. Among other key amendments, the final rule modifies the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) by: (i) formalizing a presumption of commerciality for items that DoD previously treated as commercial; (ii) providing commercial item treatment to […]
Supreme Court Says No to 3-D Printed Guns, For Now
The Supreme Court turned down its chance to weigh-in on regulations for 3-D printed firearms — for now. The high court announced its decision Jan. 8, sending Defense Distributed v. State back to the western district of Texas to be heard on its merits. Cody Wilson, Defense Distributed’s founder, told Guns.com Friday he’s undeterred by the rejection. “I […]
DoD Updates Internal Guidance on DFARS Cyber Rule
The Department of Defense (“DoD”) has updated portions of its internal guidance addressing compliance with the requirements of Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (“DFARS”) 252.204-7012, “Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reporting.” In particular, on December 1, 2017, the office of Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy updated its Procedures, Guidance and Information (“PGI”) with […]
Putting Cybersecurity at the Top of the Board’s Agenda
Was cybersecurity at the top of your priority list when the WannaCry attack hit? When a cyberattack strikes it can quickly become headline news, causing serious disruption to an organisation for days on end and costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost data, reputational damage, lost customers and regulatory fines. WannaCry, one of the […]
Airbus Corruption Scandal Widens as Firm Admits US Arms Trafficking Filing ‘Inaccuracies’
Airbus said on Tuesday it had uncovered problems involving the use of sales agents to sell US arms technology, dragging the United States for the first time into a growing corruption scandal at Europe’s largest aerospace firm. Airbus also warned of a material impact from potential fines resulting from existing bribery investigations in the UK […]
Recent ITAR Case Sends Important Message to Small/Midsized Government Contractors
A State Department ITAR enforcement case announced last week involving a supplier of military spare parts sends a valuable message to small and mid-sized government contractors of every type. The case involves Bright Lights USA, Inc. (the “Company”), a small New Jersey defense manufacturer. According to the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (“DDTC”) Charging Letter, […]
DFARS Cyber Compliance Deadline Is Approaching
Many people are unaware that a significant number of U.S. companies are subject to regulations that share some similarities with the European General Data Protection Regulation (which has companies that handle European data scrambling to get into compliance). Specifically, government contractors have obligations pursuant to Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.204-7000 et. seq. The DFARS regulations […]
BIS Revises the EAR to Implement 2016 Wassenaar Agreements
On August 15, 2017, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published in the Federal Register a final rule[Docket No. 170309249-7249-01] that revises the Commerce Control List (CCL), as well as corresponding parts of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), to implement changes made to the Wassenaar Arrangement List of Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (WA List) maintained and agreed to by […]
Why Good Companies End Up On the Wrong Side of the Law
You might easily believe that the world is in the grip of a pandemic of corporate fraud and corruption. One after another, countries are launching anti-corruption campaigns or introducing new regulatory measures to combat attempts by dubious executives – aided and abetted by venal public officials – to steal money and undermine public ethics. Different […]
Nine HIPAA Settlements So Far This Year
We’re past the halfway point of 2017. And in the world of health IT, there have already been a plethora of HIPAA settlements. Here are the nine that have occurred during the first six months of this year. Chicago, Illinois-based Presence Health agreed to pay a $475,000 HIPAA settlement. In 2013, the health system found paper operating room schedules containing […]
Making Board Evaluation More Robust
Board evaluation is a topic that yields mixed sentiments from directors, who often praise the concept but in practice do very little to drive a robust process that would result in meaningful changes. Accordingly, board evaluations tend to produce only incremental change that fails to keep pace with their companies’ evolving strategies or with changing […]
Unleashing the Power of Board Diversity
For many years, discussions about board diversity have focused mainly on issues of gender, race, and ethnicity. While women and minorities remain underrepresented on many U.S. corporate boards, diversity is beginning to be viewed through a much wider lens to encompass a range of skills, experiences, and perspectives that could help safeguard an organization against […]
Public Still Must be Kept Private Under HIPAA
A not-for-profit health care system recently agreed to pay the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $2.4 million as part of a settlement over potential Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations. The incident at issue involved the system releasing a patient’s name to the press, consumer advocacy groups, and politicians following a highly-publicized event […]
Why You Should Worry About The Lack of Tech Knowledge in Your Boardroom
Technology is rapidly changing the rules of business and totally reshaping industries across the board. Technology innovations have become a necessity for any organisation that wants to stay in the game; now more than ever. Unfortunately, many organisations still won’t give much thought to technology and are still using outdated systems. This of course, leaves […]
UK Post-Brexit Digital Strategy Criticized by Cyber-Security Industry
The UK government’s new Digital Strategy, which ministers say has been developed in consultation with the tech industry to carry Britain through to the other side of Brexit, has been criticised by some within the security industry for a lack of concrete details when it comes to cyber-security. The concerns expressed by the cyber-security sector […]
Digitalisation of Board Processes: What’s At Risk?
Seven years on from the global financial crisis and the pressure on boards and directors to raise their game and perform more effectively is growing. The aftermath of the 2007/08 crash, and a spate of highly publicised corporate scandals relating to poor risk management and fraud has seen the scrutiny placed upon company boards intensify. […]
Update: the Latest ITAR Guide for the Firearms Industry
The U.S. firearms industry is regulated under the National Firearms Act, Gun Control Act and other federal and state firearms laws. However there is another important area of regulation that applies to the firearms industry as well – the International Traffic In Arms Regulations (“ITAR”). ITAR are the State Department controls that regulate defense products […]
Yet Another Inexcusable Breach of Client Confidentiality Reported As Chinese Hack Law Firms
Yet Another Inexcusable Breach of Client Confidentiality Reported As Chinese Hack Law Firms Lawyers have an ethical duty to secure all electronic communications and documents covered by the attorney-client privilege. In this day and age, that means not merely computer passwords and privacy warnings. Instead, all available means that will not just make […]