This post is a short riff on the recently issued Online Trust Alliance’s IoT Framework that sets out thirty guidelines related mostly to sustainability, security and privacy surrounding connected devices. Though these are “just” guidelines, we expect most leading IoT device manufacturers will be influenced by them. The following guideline No.3 immediately stood out to
Years ago, I spoke at a major technology event on how to protect IP from China. I rarely use notes when I give a speech, which leads me to often riff on various things. At some point during that speech, I mentioned how technology companies tended to get into the biggest trouble when it comes
On March 10, 2016, the PRC government will impose new rules to govern online publishing in China. Under these new rules, all entities that intend to publish online in China must first obtain an Online Publishing Service Permit from SAPPRFT. The OPS Rules set out the conditions for obtaining the required permit. The Chinese government strictly
Copyright takedowns in China and copyright notices. What you can and should do now to be able to use a copyright takedown to protect your copyrights in China.
Since 2006, we have been writing about fake China law firms. See China Where Even The “Law Firms” Are Fake. In that post we talked about fake Chinese lawyers taking money from American companies for trademark registrations: There are those who take money to file trademarks in China and then simply run away. A new client
As we pointed out in SaaS in China: Build a compliant Go-to-Market Plan by Looking Beyond the Regulations and again in Foreign SaaS in China: Get Off of My Cloud, the PRC does not permit foreign entities to make direct sales of SaaS products from servers located within China. For foreign software companies, this is a major
The Wall Street Journal just published an article on the threat the proposed PRC foreign investment law poses for companies that used the VIE structure to enter into prohibited business sectors in China. Among the companies in the cross hairs are a number of major foreign businesses such as Amazon, Pearson and CBS. Add to
As businesses are rapidly moving to the cloud, the Chinese government seems to be taking its lead from the Rolling Stones: Hey! You! Get off of my cloud. China wants to run its own private cloud, and foreigners need not apply. The primary issue for Internet businesses in China is that all commercial Internet businesses
Media reports state that online gambling in China soared during the recent World Cup. The punters put their money into online gambling on the World Cup, with revenue at China’s government run lottery site increasing by over 80% during this period. The general ban on gambling in China is subject to one exception. The Chinese
A technology company contacted one of our China lawyers months after having started selling its software into China. This company came to us seeking help in deciding whether to continue selling its software from the United States or to form a China WFOE and start selling through that entity. The first thing we told this
