Legal Radar

United Kingdom Set to Regulate Bitcoin Exchanges

The U.K. government will be readying digital currency exchanges in a bit to support technology innovation while curbing criminal usage.

In a released document with regards to the country’s 2015 budget, the Treasury plans to enforced anti-money laundering regulation to the U.K. digital currency exchanges.

Such measure is aimed in creating the proper environment for legitimate figures to grow while crafting a harmful environment for illegal digital currency users.

The Treasury also plans to have a thorough consultation sometime this year to seek another angle with regards to shaping the new regulation.

The government is planning to create ideal standards and practices for digital currency business to make sure consumers are protected. Voluntary standards will be made by the U.K. government, the digital currency industry, and the British Standards Institution.

At the same time, the government is aiming to support the growth of its own financial sector and trigger a competition within the banking sector.

U.S. Air Force Veteran Facing Charges on Supporting Islamic State

A United States Air Force veteran was recently indicted by a Brooklyn federal grand jury on charges of trying to support ISIS, the latest in a long line of cases involving American recruits being lured into the militant group.

Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, a 47-year old American citizen residing in New Jersey, was said to have travelled from Egypt to Turkey a few months back to cross over to Syria and fight a jihad for ISIS. Authorities in Turkey declined his entry and deported him back to Egypt, where he was then carried back to the U.S.

Federal agents looked through his handsets and laptop and discovered online searches of ISIS propaganda clips and other ISIS content. Pugh was arrested on January 16, 2015 and has remained in custody since. Pugh was indicted on multiple criminal counts. If found guilty, he could a face 35-year prison sentence.

Pugh will be expected to be arraigned later this week at a federal court in Brooklyn. His attorney said he plans to not plead guilty.

Durst Remains in Jail without Bail in N.O.

After making an agreement to face a murder charge in Los Angeles, NY real estate heir Robert Durst will remain in a New Orleans prison for a few days after being booked on gun charges.

Durst, 71 years old, was arrested over the weekend in New Orleans. He was then charged with first-degree murder in Los Angeles in relation to murdering his friend, Susan Berman, in 2000.

Durst was arrested in a hotel room, where police found a handgun and traces of marijuana. Police charged him on possession of a firearm and a controlled dangerous substance.

The District Attorney’s Office from the New Orleans Parish recently submitted a request that prevents Durst from being held without bail due to him being a flight risk.

The requested was immediately granted until next week’s bail hearing.

The District Attorney’s Office of the New Orleans Parish has until 60 days to figure out whether or not Durst should be charged.

Jury Finds Robin Thicke and Pharrell Guilty of Copying “Blurred Lines” Song

Just recently, a jury gave Marvin Gaye’s children close to $7.4 million early this week after it was concluded that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father’s song to compose “Blurred Lines.” The song was one of the hottest singles back in 2013.

Thicke and Williams have earned over $7 million each for the song.

Gaye’s children sued both singers for copyright infringement in 2013.

Williams said that Gaye’s music describes a song about his youth. But the Grammy winner testified saying he didn’t utilize any of it for “Blurred Lines.”

Both Thicke and Williams were accused of lying on the song creation process. Gaye’s children is said to be rewarded with millions of dollars if they found the song “Got to Give It Up” --- one of their father’s tracks --- to be infringed.

Williams also signed a document, which stated of not using work from other music artists and will be liable for damages if a copyright claim was successful.

Dutch Court Trashes Data Retention Law

A Dutch court early this week gave privacy advocates a victory by bringing down a data retention law that allows government agencies access to any telecommunication data.

The Hague district court said the law was in violation of privacy rights and the right to personal data protection.

The latest ruling is a big blow to the Dutch government, which said the law was essential to combat crime and terrorism. But it’s a win for privacy advocates, lawyers, and journalists who said the law was unconstitutional since data is stored regardless if the citizen is a suspect or not.

The ruling is effective immediately, prompting telecommunication firms to no longer gather and store data.

The government was previously reluctant to trash the law for national security reasons. Authorities are aggressively seeking ways to expand surveillance capabilities following the latest attacks in Copenhagen and Paris, and an increasing number of radical Muslims who were born or grew up in Europe.

SC Abandons Amtrak Role over Rail Guidelines

A ruling by the Supreme Court early this week was left unclear as to whether or not Amtrak is authorized to set in place performance standards on its own as part of a government effort to enhance passenger rail performance.

The case involved challenging a 2008 law that gave complete power of the passenger rail firm to co-create minimum standards and metrics to directly address delays and poor service. Private railroad firms said that Congress didn’t properly delegate regulatory authority to a private firm, allowing Amtrak (a government-owned entity) an unfair advantage over them.

If Amtrak doesn’t meet performance standards, railroads sharing the same tracks may be penalized for not contributing enough to cater to Amtrak trains.

When making a ruling on Amtrak being a government entity, the SC said that questions regarding constitutional performance standards may still be within the case.

All 9 justices voted to push the case back for further proceedings.

With high takes seen on both sides of the legal battle, it appears that case may likely make its way back to the SC for the final ruling.

Europe Looking to Further Secure Data Privacy Law

The United States and Europe are pushing each other further apart when it comes to data privacy matters.

Shaken up by the current Snowden issue, the EU is making last touches on a bill that would alter the way European-based American companies would handle consumer data. Such measure would replace the current patches of European data privacy laws.

The draft legislation will entail consumers to make an explicit consent before businesses are cleared to share their personal information.

The legislation is currently in the EU negotiation process and will need to make it through several legal hurdles before it can take full effect.

EU authorities are already thinking of removing the U.S.-EU agreement called “Safe Harbor.” This agreement lets American firms gather data generated by EU consumers. Such change can take effect at any point in time.

EU Data Protection Supervisor, Giovanni Buttarelli, a figure who coordinates with the EU data protection policy, is hoping the new law will help streamline national data protection in all European nations.

Petraeus: Pleading Guilty to Misdemeanor

David Petraeus, an ex-director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and a retired navy general, recently signed court papers that implicates him of being guilty to a misdemeanor charge of improperly handling classified data in exchange of a prosecutor recommendation to not serve prison time..

Petraeus, whose exemplary government intelligence and military career was tainted by an affair with Paula Broadwell, a biographer, subjected him to a lengthy investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as to whether or not he passed on any unauthorized classified details to her.

Based on the terms of the plea deal, prosecutors won’t be seeking jail time for Petraeus but will be recommended by a judge to carry out two years of probation. This was based on filed court documents early this week at the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, N.C.

Documents indicate Petraeus agreed to plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and possession of classified government material.

Fraud Making Its Way to Apple Pay

Banks have observed a growing fraud occurrence in Apple’s mobile-payment system as criminals continue to exploit the verification process credit card additions, some tech observers say.

Banks have tightened the process of verification to fight off the fraud.

The fraud issue was brought up by Cherian Abraham, a payment systems expert who collaborates with retailers and financial institutions on mobile payment solutions.

Abraham indicated that it’s never an anomaly to observe fraud making up about 6% of Apple Pay transactions, compared to the 0.1% payment transactions via a plastic card swipe. He also said the rate of frauds vary from one issuing bank to another.

Apple Pay utilizes a secure element in its latest iPhone models to store encrypted payment information separately from the rest of the mobile device. A fingerprint reader ensures the owner of the phone has made the purchase and issues a one-time code entry so merchants won’t see credit card details from the buyer.

Creating a card provisioning process is time consuming and may turn away potential Apple Pay consumers.

Whatsapp Close-Suspension Triggers Legal Concerns

A decision by a country judge nearly suspended Facebook’s Whatsapp program in Brazil which prompted legal concerns on web companies in the rapidly-growing market.

Judge Luiz Correia ordered telecommunications operators to suspend Whatsapp access, alleging that the firm failed to cater to subpoenas on information related to a recent police probe.

The near-suspension of Whatsapp, one of the most downloaded mobile app in Brazil, highlights the legal problems and issues that American web companies facie in shielding the privacy of users all over the globe.

Court officials and law enforcement didn’t provide further details on the information they need from the app. The firm said previously that the app immediately removes messages from its servers after reaching its recipients.

In addressing some aspects of the conflict, the Brazilian government passed on an online law called Marco Civil in 2014.

Brazil is one of the biggest markets in the world outside the U.S. for Twitter, Facebook, and Google.