Law Students

Online Regulatory Compliance: New Sheriff in Town?

FTC Enforces US/EU SafeHarbor Program For First Time : Privacy Law Blog. This is yet one more indication that when it comes to online businesses complying with applicable law, and in particular complying with their own Terms of Use, its a whole new ball game. We have been writing about the regulatory freight train that is coming and it looks like this FTC enforcement action is a harbinger of similar actions to come.

It may have been (and it was) the wild, wild west on these "Internets" for the last 15 years but it looks like Wyatt Earp and the boys are "fixin" to try and clean it up. As an Internet Lawyer, there is almost not a day that goes by where I don't get contacted from a business or consumer that got scammed on the Internet. In many instances there is simply nothing that can be done about it because the cost of pursuing the action far outweighs the amount of the transaction.

This change in regulatory enforcement does correspond to a new party in power, but it is a much bigger issue than that. The truth is that, like the world financial system, the global communications infrastructure represented by the Internet is far too important to global business for the status quo to remain unchallenged.

The rule of law, and the order imposed because of it, is good for the global business community. The "industrialized world" (this term seems rather quaint now in the communications age) and powerful corporations all stand to benefit from additional regulation.

Simply put, big business will make more money in an orderly environment than in one that is chaotic. This change in regulatory enforcement will have a huge impact on the healthcare industry as it moves to electronic records. The HITECH Act transforms HIPAA from a paper tiger into an electronic beast.

This is not your daddy's healthcare industry any more. Most of the country is obsessed with the healthcare reform debate and have not snapped to the fact that the change in the regulatory regime is already law. It became law the moment President Obama signed ARRA in February 2009. The freight train is coming and there is nothing in its way.

If you would like more information regarding the changing regulatory landscape then sign up for our FREE HITECH/HIPAA Compliance Newsletter.

Full post as published by LawTechTV on September 03, 2009 (boomark / email).