K6 Blog

By  Jordan Shelton Following up on their recent introduction of the  Token Taxonomy Act , Representatives Darren Soto (D-FL) and Warren Davidson (R-OH) have teamed up again to introduce a new slate of bipartisan bills related to virtual currency. The two new bills,  H.R. 922  and  H.R. 923 , were introduced on January 30, 2019 and are cosponsored by Representatives Ted Budd (R-NC) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ). H.R. 922 H.R. 922, the Virtual Currency Consumer Protection Act of 2019, would require the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) to submit a report examining the potential for virtual currency price manipulation to certain House and Senate committees within one year of H.R. 922’s enactment. The report, drafted in consultation with the heads of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and other relevant federal agencies as the CFTC Chairman deems necessary, would: detail possible methods of virtual currenc...

History has a way of repeating itself. Twenty years ago, when Amazon was just an experiment in online book sales and Google was just a Yahoo! copycat, nobody seemed to understand what the “Internet” actually was or how it would eventually affect our lives. That went double for lawyers, who in the mid-1990s pushed the panic button when the concept of online contracting became a reality. State lawmakers rushed to introduce statutes that would define and constrain this monster before it wrought havoc on the unsuspecting analog world of contract law. They came up with technology-specific, proscriptive rules for electronic signatures that, had they been successful, would have left the U.S. a patchwork of unworkable state laws that would have prevented electronic delivery and signatures for all kinds of transactions that we take for granted today. Fortunately, a model law called the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) emerged that, in contrast to the initial view that online...

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced it obtained an emergency asset freeze to halt a fast-moving Initial Coin Offering (ICO) fraud that raised up to $15 million from thousands of investors since August by falsely promising a 13-fold profit in less than a month. The SEC filed charges against a recidivist Quebec securities law violator, Dominic Lacroix, and his company, PlexCorps. The Commission's complaint, filed in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that Lacroix and PlexCorps marketed and sold securities called PlexCoin on the internet to investors in the U.S. and elsewhere, claiming that investments in PlexCoin would yield a 1,354 percent profit in less than 29 days. The SEC also charged Lacroix's partner, Sabrina Paradis-Royer, in connection with the scheme. Today's charges are the first filed by the SEC's new Cyber Unit. The unit was created in September to focus the Enforcement Division's cyber-related expertise on misconduct in...

With a majority of Americans using smartphones as their main entry point to the online world, consumer expectations of access to financial services from their mobile devices are on the rise.  Financial institutions are finding more and more that mobile options for consumers are not options at all but instead are imperatives to business success.  ​ So just how comfortable are consumers with using a mobile device t o review, understand, and sign actual legal documents? ​ Join Ken Moyle of K6 Partners and host Joe Hopper,  Ph.D. of Versta Research for a  free one hour webinar on Tuesday, September 12 at 2PM CST as we analyze two independent studies on consumer preferences, behaviors and expectations. The Electronic Signatures and Records Association (ESRA) and Wells Fargo are sponsoring this event.  This is your opportunity to enhance your digital electronic signature strategies through direct insight into today’s consumer needs, behaviors ...

Initial coin offerings (ICOs)   have been hailed as a disruptive new business paradigm that allows startups -- most of which are focused on blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT)-- to raise operating funds without the regulatory constraints and requirements that are applied to a traditional underwritten IPO. Being positioned safely outside the regulatory framework, ICOs have become a very attractive and flexible fundraising tool.  The SEC has made it clear , however, that some ICOs are subject to the full reach of the securities laws. ICO market participants must now distinguish those ICOs that may continue without regulatory constraints and those that must now conform to the U.S. securities laws. This treatment is not elective or optional - if the ICO involves the offering of a security, the ICO must be done in accordance with established securities law requirements or proceed under an exemption if available. In its July 25, 2017  Report , the SEC concl...

K6 Partners announced today the release of a free e-signature policy library at www.esignaturepolicies.com . “The lack of esignature policies–and the sense of certainty they provide– is the number 1 reason for delaying critical digital transformation initiatives,” said Ken Moyle , president of K6 Partners.  “The eSignature Policies site is designed to give transformation leaders a resource for learning more about esignature policy design.” Free Webinar: E-Signature Policies for the Public Sector K6 Partners previously announced that experts in public sector e-signature policy will offer a free webinar on July 11 , 2017 at 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM Pacific. Panelists from state and local governments will share insights on adopting and managing online citizen engagement. "State and local entities are looking for new ways to engage citizens and provide value through digital channels," Moyle said. "Yet they face challenges that are different from those faced by p...

You're heading into dangerous waters. On May 25, 2018, the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into full effect, and it will almost certainly affect you. If you are not compliant with the GDPR by this date, you could face fines of up to 20 million Euros or 4% of worldwide annual revenue per breach . So it's important to understand whether the GDPR applies to your business, and if it does, what you must do to comply. It probably applies to YOU The GDPR is a comprehensive regulation meant to protect the personal data of EU citizens, wherever that data might be processed . It greatly expands the geographical scope of the EU data protection laws. In fact, the GDPR applies not only to organizations located within the EU, but also to organizations located outside of the EU if they offer goods or services to, or monitor the behavior of, EU residents. So US-based companies will need to comply with the GDPR if they are doing business...

by Heather Zalar Steele , Fisher Phillips The use of biometric data is continuously increasing, including in the workplace.  Biometric data may include facial characteristics, hand geometry, a retina/iris scan, a fingerprint or a voiceprint.  Employers often collect and use biometric data to establish records of employee hours, to restrict access to specific areas, computer systems, data or devices, to provide security and to promote employee health, including through wellness programs. Employers who use biometrics should be mindful of regulations that impact their ability to collect, retain and use biometric data.  Numerous states, including Iowa, Michigan, Nebraska, Texas and Wisconsin, have data breach notification laws that require notifications relating to the disclosure of biometric data.   New Mexico is the most recent state to enact such a law.    On April 6, 2017, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez signed into law the state’s firs...

K6 Partners and ValTeo Tech Leverage Legal and Software Expertise to Accelerate Digital Adoption SAN FRANCISCO–May 3, 2017– K6 Partners and ValTeo Tech today announced a strategic partnership offering an innovative end-to-end approach to digitally transform  mid-market and enterprise businesses. As a leader in  digital business, law and policy  services, K6 Partners supports digital transformation initiatives, helping to ensure clients of all sizes can innovate with confidence. ValTeo Tech provides  multi-platform integration and development  services enabling organizations to accelerate adoption of digital transformation solutions. By combining the expertise of both firms, organizations of all sizes are better able to maximize digitally transformative initiatives, take on new opportunities and improve the speed and precision of management decision-making. “As experts in cross-platform recording, management and cost metering of digital transactions, we’re pr...

In December 2016, K6 Blog published this post instructing lawyers to "start thinking like developers" to remain relevant in the age of smart contracts. The following post appeared April 18, 2017 in the New Jersey Law Journal. By  Charles Toutant , New Jersey Law Journal Lawyers who advise clients on "smart contracts" drawing on blockchain technology say some potential adopters liken them to a "magic pill" that will provide a cure to all their contract-related headaches. But as " smart contracts"  become more common in more sectors of the economy, lawyers will need to increase their technical know-how and renew their focus on counseling clients instead of ministerial work, according to specialists in this fast-evolving field. While expectations should be tempered, experts said adoption of the new technology will bring changes to the practice of law. Some boosters of the technology have expressed unbridled enthusiasm for blockchain tec...

By Ken Moyle Here are five basic principles underlying blockchain technology. 1. Distributed Database  Each party on a blockchain has access to the entire database and its complete history. No single party controls the data or the information. Every party can verify the records of its transaction partners directly, without an intermediary. 2. Peer-to-Peer Transmission  Communication occurs directly between peers instead of through a central node. Each node stores and forwards information to all other nodes. 3. Transparency with Pseudonymity  Every transaction and its associated value are visible to anyone with access to the system. Each node, or user, on a blockchain has a unique 30-plus-character alphanumeric address that identifies it. Users can choose to remain anonymous or provide proof of their identity to others. Transactions occur between blockchain addresses. 4. Irreversibility of Records  Once a transaction is entered in the database an...

You're not Facebook. You're not Google. You are part of an institution that's been around a lot longer than the internet. Your business is healthy. You've got customers, employees and suppliers who know you and trust you. But something's happening out there. New employees roll their eyes at your form-laden onboarding process; customers complain about your rigid delivery constraints; vendors use contracting tools that outpace your procurement systems; new competitors are springing up with "disruptive" approaches to the market, ever more capable of providing what their customers want, at the time and place they want it. You are coming to realize that technology adoption is no longer an option. Companies less able to adapt have already disappeared, many unaware that the world had passed them by. You are different, and that's why you've been around so long. "90% of companies are likely to be disrupted, yet less than half are preparing fo...

By Ken Moyle It's 2017 and your department is still overrun with paper. Your customers, employees and vendors are becoming more and more frustrated with you. Going digital is "on the road map" but doesn't seem to be getting any closer to reality. Why? From conversations with transformation leaders around the country, the seemingly simple concept of electronic signatures often gets intractably complicated soon after it's introduced to the organization. Internal resistance to change rears its head in many familiar ways, including dire predictions of unenforceability and loss of control, unsubstantiated conclusions about increased compliance risk or external adoption, and general concerns that the path forward is not clear enough to take such a significant step.  ​ ​ This is particularly true with mature organizations , where you must not only automate your current processes, but also investigate what they were intended to accomplish in the first place, ...