Over the past few weeks, revelations of ransomware cyber-attacks on U.S. businesses have rocked the country’s infrastructure and have held hostage companies’ computer systems that are necessary to provide essential services to the nation. In a typical ransomware attack, hackers exploit a security vulnerability to gain access to a company’s computer system. After gaining access,
No-Poach Antitrust Enforcement: What’s the Buzz? Tell Me What’s A-Happening!
Although the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division has recently been in the news for the civil complaints that it has filed against several large technology companies, during 2020 it has quietly continued to ramp up civil and criminal antitrust enforcement in the labor market by targeting companies that agree on employees’ wages or not to
Antitrust Law Gets a “Like” From Federal Regulators in 2020
If it seems like 2020 was the year when everyone was talking about antitrust on their socially distant Zoom calls, that is because government antitrust lawyers have been busy. Just before the year began, the Department of Justice announced the formation of the Procurement Collusion Strike Force and, in January 2020, the Antitrust Division rolled
Is Brady the GOAT? The Due Process Protections Act Aims to Make That So
This past September, District Court Judge Alison Nathan, from the Southern District of New York, issued a withering decision reprimanding prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for a “cascade of failures to timely disclose” Brady materials before or even during trial, including documents that the Government disclosed to the defense only after the trial concluded
Is It Wrong that I Googled the Justice Department’s Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google?
If you were on the Internet in May 1998, you were probably on an IBM-compatible PC, running Microsoft Corporation’s Windows 95 operating system and surfing the web using Internet Explorer, which was also a Microsoft product. And, in May 1998, Public Enemy Number One was the bootlegger, rumrunner, racketeer and boss of the Chicago Outfit
Algorithms and Antitrust Law: The Only Winning Move is Not to Play
In The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith famously wrote, “[p]eople of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.”[1] Although now nearly 250 years old, Mr. Smith’s observation about merchants and businessmen remains
So . . . What Exactly Makes Insider Trading Illegal?
This is the question recently asked by Gene Levoff, a former attorney at a large technology firm traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. The indictment against Mr. Levoff charges him with securities fraud and alleges that between 2011 and 2016, Mr. Levoff used material non-public information to trade securities before his employer’s securities commission filings
Avoiding Liability For Hoarding and Price Gouging During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Federal and state authorities are creatively using the Defense Production Act (“DPA”), state anti-price gouging and consumer protection statutes, and antitrust laws to go after alleged price gougers and hoarders. This article, the final in our series on anti-hoarding and price gouging enforcement efforts, takes a look at various ways businesses can avoid liability.
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Efforts to Combat COVID-19 Price Gouging Ramp Up
As the COVID-19 pandemic worsens, public pressure has led to increased efforts to investigate and punish those engaging in hoarding and price gouging of essential items across the country.
The Authorities and Civil Plaintiffs Have Relied on Creative Means to Target Perceived Price Gouging
On March 24, 2020, United States Attorney General William P. Barr
Increased Attention to COVID-19 Price Gouging from State and Federal Authorities Could Lead to Stiff Civil and Criminal Penalties
We’ve been closely monitoring the legal landscape to see how law enforcement is pursuing companies and individuals for profiteering during the current pandemic. This article is the second in a series of articles exploring the heightened focus on COVID-19-related hoarding and price gouging. So far through the pandemic, federal and state authorities have primarily relied