Save Our Standards: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Reverses Decision in FTC v. Qualcomm
A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to reverse and vacate a lower court decision in FTC v. Qualcomm was a clear win for Qualcomm in its ongoing antitrust troubles, but it came at the expense of America’s innovation ecosystem and the entrepreneurs that fuel it. In the decision, the court completely disregarded the role standards like LTE and Wi-Fi play in facilitating competition and innovation, as well as the impact of Qualcomm’s anticompetitive behavior on entrepreneurs and small [...]
App Piracy – Yep, It’s Still a Thing, and We Need Your Help Explaining It
We realize it’s way more fun to talk and write about all the cool stuff happening in the mobile app economy than to look at piracy problems facing the industry. Unfortunately, app piracy is still a thing—and it’s probably growing—which means Congress is looking to do something about it. The good news is that policymakers are specifically looking to learn about how app piracy impacts you and your ability to do business. Piracy is a broad term used to describe [...]
Member Spotlight: Layers Studio
The best solutions usually have a lot of… layers. That’s what inspired James Hanson to launch Layers Studio in January 2016. After being head of creative for an international branding company and a senior designer for a digital agency, James noticed that ‘traditional’ agency work often focuses on efficiency rather than finding the best solution. This realization made him want to start a company that integrated different skillsets from the very beginning, including developers, designers, and digital marketers. Source: [...]
COPPA, VPC, and the New Normal for Kids Online
As fall rapidly approaches amid an unyieldingly high national COVID-19 caseload, the nation’s collective attention has increasingly turned to how to best manage the impending schooling crisis. Though the federal government’s approach to public schooling remains an open question for now, the two largest school districts in California (Los Angeles and San Diego) already announced they are going entirely virtual for the fall semester, and many more may soon be following their lead. These developments augur a truth many parents [...]
Pivoting with Platforms
Q: We last checked-in just before the benefit concert in April – can you tell us how that went? A: We’re really proud of the work that went into the Bridge the Gap benefit concert in April, especially with how many different businesses across industries came together to make it happen. It was during a very dark and uncertain time in the hospitality industry, so we wanted to create something that provided support, hope, and of course financial resources to [...]
What the End of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Means for Small Businesses
By Anna Bosch and Matt Schwartz On July 16, 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) struck down the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield agreement, which provided a stable, streamlined, and inexpensive mechanism for the transatlantic flow of data between the two regions. The court cited concerns with U.S. surveillance law, which it interpreted as unacceptably degrading European data subjects’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when that data entered U.S. borders. The decision will negatively affect international trade and [...]