The concept of the “metaverse” has garnered much press coverage of late, addressing such topics as the new appetite for metaverse investment opportunities, a recent virtual land boom, or just the promise of it all, where “crypto, gaming and capitalism collide.”  The term “metaverse,” which comes from Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel “Snow Crash,” is generally used to refer to the development of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, featuring a mashup of massive multiplayer gaming, virtual worlds, virtual workspaces, and remote education to create a dece ..read more

On January 7, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) announced its 2020 examination priorities. In doing so, OCIE identified certain areas of technology-related concern, and in particular, on the issue of alternative data and cybersecurity. [For a more detailed review of OCIE’s exam priorities, see the Client Alert posted on our firm’s website]. Alternative Data: For the first time, OCIE has publicly listed alternative data as an examination priority, stating that “examinations will focus on firms’ use of these data sets and tec ..read more

It is that time of year when we look back to see what tech-law issues took up most of our time this year and look ahead to see what the emerging issues are for 2020. Data: The Issues of the Year Data presented a wide variety of challenging legal issues in 2019. Data is solidly entrenched as a key asset in our economy, and as a result, the issues around it demanded a significant level of attention. Clearly, privacy and data security-related data issues were dominant in 2019. The GDPR, CCPA and other privacy regulations garnered much consideration and resources, and with GDPR enforcement ongoin ..read more

Yes, it’s time for the end-of-year blog post – a look back at interesting issues of 2018 and a look forward to what we see coming down the pike in the new year. The Look Back In the past year, blockchain buzz was everywhere. Although still early, blockchain has in fact began to show promise as a technology bringing efficiency and cost reduction to many business operations. In 2018, many industries tested the technology and started pilot programs with an eye to replacing or supplementing traditional client-server systems with a distributed ledger-based system. 2019 promises much more in the ad ..read more

As we approach the end of 2017, it is a time to reflect on the dizzying pace of technology evolution this year, and the amazing array of legal issues it presented. Similarly, it is a time to look forward and anticipate what technology-related issues we will be thinking about in the coming year. For 2017, the list is long and varied. This year, the true potential of blockchain was recognized by many in the commercial sector. While recent blockchain-related headlines have focused on the rise (and regulation) of cryptocurrencies, a great deal of the blockchain action has been in back office appli ..read more

I am pleased to announce that Proskauer has recently launched a new blog focused exclusively on the use of blockchain in business. The blog will be wide ranging in nature, covering the legal issues associated with blockchain as applied to financial services, health care, real estate, supply chain management, media and entertainment, advertising, content delivery, e-commerce and many other areas. We will also cover legal developments in the cryptocurrency space and ICO developments, “smart contracts” and the like.  The issues span all areas of law. The blog will be a companion blog to this ..read more

For the third time this month, the Tezos blockchain project is the subject of a class action complaint for claims arising from their $232 million July initial coin offering (“ICO”). Consistent with both prior lawsuits, the plaintiffs allege that the Tezos ICO constituted the unregistered, non-exempt offer and sale of securities in violation of the federal securities laws. As a general rule ICO tokens may be securities and, if so, must be registered with the SEC or qualify for an exemption in order to be offered or sold within the United States. Violations expose issuers not just to the risk of ..read more

In his remarks at a recent Practicing Law Institute program on securities regulation, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton once again addressed Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs.  Mr. Clayton highlighted several issues in particular, including that in his view there is a lack of information about many online platforms that list and trade virtual coins or tokens offered and sold in ICOs, and that trading of tokens on these platforms is susceptible to price manipulation and other fraudulent trading practices. As we noted previously, in July the SEC released a report of inve ..read more

On July 21st, Delaware Governor John Carney Jr. signed SB 69 into law. SB 69 amends the Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”) to explicitly authorize the use of distributed ledger technology in the administration of Delaware corporate records, including stock ledgers. Distributed ledger (or “blockchain”) technology-based platforms enable peer-to-peer transactions and eliminate the need for a trusted intermediary to verify and process the transactions. The potential applications of such technology in the administration of corporate records, and stock ledgers in particular, are tremendous. A ..read more

No blockchain phenomenon has garnered more attention lately than Initial Coin Offerings (“ICOs”), which have exploded in value and raised more than $1.2 billion thus far this year. In a typical ICO, a blockchain-based product or service provider offers proprietary digital assets (“tokens”) – rather than traditional forms of debt or equity – in exchange for working capital, usually provided in the form of a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ether (“ETH”). One of the first truly significant ICOs was carried out by a platform called The DAO, an attempt by an entity known as Slock.it to build a “d ..read more