WASHINGTON, DC — On Friday, TechFreedom urged the Federal Trade Commissioners (FTC) not to reverse the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by FTC staff against LabMD, a small cancer testing lab that went out of business under the weight of the lawsuit, but has continued to challenge the FTC’s approach to data security with pro bono representation. In an Amicus Curiae brief, TechFreedom argues that the FTC must not ignore the most important limit that Congress has placed on the FTC’s sweeping power to prohibit business practices: that a practice must “causes or is likely to cause substantial injury.”
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The article below is reblogged from The Atlantic
Most companies facing a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission try to settle as quickly as possible.
Fighting the FTC means years of exhausting and expensive litigation. The commission doesn’t even have the authority to impose fines for most violations, so a settlement usually just means the company has to change its behavior, agree to some independent audits, and ride out the wave of negative news coverage. It’s an easy choice for most corporate executives.
Reblogged from Drug and Device Law
Michael is honored to be #6 on Healthcare Information Security’s List of Leaders!
Fourth Annual List of Healthcare Information Security Leaders
Reblogged from Healthcare Info Security
HealthcareInfoSecurity announces its fourth annual list of top influencers, recognizing leaders who are playing significant roles in shaping the way healthcare organizations approach information security and privacy.
The following post was reblogged from E-Commerce Times
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is engaged in an internal struggle over how it should assess the effect on consumers when businesses fail to provide proper e-commerce security.
Michael was recently interviewed by Stephen K. Bannon. The following article accompanies the interview. The original can be found here.
Author Michael Daugherty believes that technology as a “double-edged sword” will be responsible for major shifts in the workplace, as companies seek a level of efficiency that will cause jobs to “evaporate.”
The STEPTOE CYBERLAW PODCAST talked about in last week’s post is now live and a great listen!
With Wyndham’s surrender to the FTC after a brutal court of appeals opinion, the last outpost of resistance to the FTC’s cybersecurity agenda is Mike Daugherty, CEO of LabMD. Daugherty refused to take the easy road and enter into a consent decree with the FTC to settle its claim that the company’s security was insufficient because of a file-sharing program installed on the corporate network. That decision has cost Daugherty his company. LabMD has ceased operations. And it took him on an extraordinary odyssey through Washington that he has described in his book, The Devil Inside the Beltway, and in several speeches. I caught up with Mike at the Black Hat Executive Summit where we were both speakers, and he kindly agreed to a short interview describing some of that odyssey.
Reblogged from Lawfare
Michael Vatis tells us that Michael Daugherty of LabMD is officially the only challenge facing the FTC as it sets (or at least enforces) cybersecurity requirements for American business. That’s because Wyndham Hotels has officially given up the ghost, agreeing to twenty years of privacy and security monitoring by the FTC…..
….The podcast will be on hiatus over the holidays, but we won’t completely abandon you. While I was at a BlackHat Executive conference last week, I had a chance to do a short interview of Mike Daugherty about his LabMD experience, and we’ll be releasing that as a special bonus edition of the podcast over the Christmas break. (We’re holding it because I’ve offered the FTC a chance for equal time. But we’ll be releasing the interview next week in any event, with or without the FTC’s input.)
Mark your calendars! Michael is speaking in April!
For more information, see the website
Speech Summary:
Various government agencies do not always have to follow checks and balances, and can wield unregulated power. Small businesses often do not have the means or influence to defend themselves when under scrutiny from these agencies. Five years ago, the US Government teamed with a private enterprise to attack and take a file without authorization from an American small business, and they used that information to expand a government agency. Michael Daugherty, a small business owner who created LabMD, a cancer detection center in Atlanta, became a victim of a private cyber security company. That company, in association with a prestigious American university, conducted an invasion of business files and then used their findings to motivate the US Government to ride the wave of new cyber security protections and legislation. Mr. Daugherty will create awareness about this abuse of power, and his book The Devil Inside the Beltway will be available at the Wisconsin Forum event for purchase
Host Brian Wesolowski sits down with Michael Daugherty to discuss in-depth his recent court win against the Federal Trade Commission, how the long-term experience turned into his recent book “The Devil Inside The Beltway,” and more. The issue at hand raises questions about the agency’s ability to protect consumers against risky business practices that have not yet led to actual harm.