Antitrust and Consumer Protection
Competition: Fall 2018, Vol 28, No. 1
Content
- Above Frand Licensing Offers Do Not Support a California Ucl Action In Tcl V Ericsson
- Antitrust Is Already Equipped To Handle "Big Data" Issues
- Antitrust, Privacy, and Digital Platforms' Use of Big Data: a Brief Overview
- Antitrust Treatment of the Introduction of New Drug Products: the Tension Between Hatch-waxman's Dual Goals of Cheaper Drugs and Better Drugs
- Applying Illinois Brick To E-Commerce: Who Is the Direct Purchaser From An App Store?
- Chair's Column
- Editor's Note
- Masthead
- "No-poach" Agreements As Sherman Act § 1 Violations: How We Got Here and Where We're Going
- Smart Contracts and Blockchains: Steroid For Collusion?
- The Difficulties of Showing Pass Through In Indirect Purchaser Component Cases
- The Hold-up Tug-of-war—Paradigm Shifts In the Application of Antitrust To Industry Standards
- D-Link Systems: Possible Signs For the Future of Ftc Data Security Enforcement
D-LINK SYSTEMS: POSSIBLE SIGNS FOR THE FUTURE OF FTC DATA SECURITY ENFORCEMENT
by Ronald Cheng and Mallory Jensen1
I. INTRODUCTION
Enforcement actions by administrative regulators have been increasingly important for understanding the key requirements for data security compliance. In particular, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) has asserted a major role, through its enforcement authority against unfair and deceptive practices under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Recently, as "Internet of Things" (IoT) products, such as security cameras, smart watches, and web-enabled refrigerators have proliferated in the marketplace, FTC enforcement action has adapted to address security issues that arise from the increased flow of data handled by these products.
Part of this trend is the FTC’s civil action for injunctive relief against the Taiwanese IoT manufacturer, D-Link Corporation, and its U.S. subsidiary, D-Link Systems, Inc. (collectively "D-Link").2 D-Link has fought the charges, and trial is pending for early next year in San Francisco federal court. This article describes the FTC’s recent approach to data security enforcement, with examples from the D-Link case to illustrate those enforcement practices.