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Welcome to the MoFo Tech Blog

MoFo Tech brings together legal insights and in-depth analyses on trends and complex issues shaping the global technology industry, covering fields such as blockchain and distributed ledger, cloud and SaaS technologies, driverless cars, drones, FinTech, computer hardware and software, the IoT, semiconductors, and telecommunications.

October 31, 2018 - European Union
The UK’s Last Budget Before Brexit – Tech, Tax and Temerity
By: Trevor L James
UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, has presented the final UK Budget before Brexit. In this alert we outline the key tax proposals from the Budget applicable to companies and investors in the tech sector, including: a digital services tax for “tech giants”; additional
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October 29, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security
FDA Announces New Efforts to Combat Cybersecurity Threats in Medical Devices
By: Erin M. Bosman and Julie Y. Park
FDA is tackling cybersecurity threats head-on and expects industry to do the same. Earlier this month, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., announced a series of developments designed to keep pace with evolving cybersecurity threats to medical devices. Industry should take note, as these developments
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October 23, 2018 - European Union, Telecommunications
Digital Single Market Update: Technology Standardization in the EU
By: Wolfgang Schönig and Alistair Maughan
ICT standardization is a key part of the European Union’s package of measures designed to improve Europe’s competitiveness and productivity. As part of the EU’s Digital Single Market initiative, the European Commission has been working on common ICT standards that would ensure the interoperability
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October 17, 2018 - Mergers + Acquisitions
You’re Invited: 451 Research’s Tech M&A Summit
By: Patrick D. Huard
Be Morrison & Foerster’s guest at 451 Research’s Tech M&A Summit, an event that promises to help potential participants in the machine-learning acquisitions frenzy to navigate this emerging technology trend. Fueled by a motivation to unlock the value of big data, machine-learning companies are
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October 16, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security, Litigation
Lloyd v Google – English High Court Blocks Collective Data Breach Claim
By: Annabel Gillham
Last week, the English High Court limited the availability of collective actions for data breaches to identifiable individuals who have suffered specific and discernible damage. In Richard Lloyd v Google LLC , the Court refused to allow a representative action alleging breach by Google of
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October 15, 2018 - Regulatory
New CFIUS Pilot Program Expands U.S. Government Review of Tech Transactions
By: Robert S. Litt and Charles L. Capito
The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”), which became law on August 13, 2018, effected sweeping change to the authority and processes of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). Many of FIRRMA’s most significant changes were not
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October 10, 2018 - Artificial Intelligence
U.S. DOT Revamps Federal Guidance on Automated Vehicle Development and Rollout
By: Erin M. Bosman
Updating and building on guidance issued one year ago, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a new federal guidance document entitled Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 3.0 (“AV 3.0”). AV 3.0, released on October 4, 2018, incorporates extensive stakeholder feedback to
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October 09, 2018 - Financings
Save the Date for a MoFo Webinar: Updates to the Y Combinator SAFE Forms
By: John M. Rafferty
Updates to the Y Combinator SAFE forms Join Morrison & Foerster partner John Rafferty and associate Kate Tyler for a free webinar to discuss the recent changes to the Y Combinator forms of Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) and how those changes impact
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October 02, 2018 - Privacy + Data Security, Internet of Things
New California IoT Law Requires Security for Connected Devices
When Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1906 and Senate Bill 327 into law on Friday, California took major strides toward regulating the Internet of Things, the network of internet‑connected devices that includes everything from televisions and cars, to refrigerators, fitness trackers, and baby
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October 01, 2018 - Tech Talks
What Is The Digital Single Market?
By: Alistair Maughan
In an effort to harmonize online consumer protection laws and regulations across the European Union by the end of 2019, the Digital Single Market project has started fairly slowly. Which of the Commission’s goals has it managed to convert into actual legislation, when is
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