10 Feb Legal Limbo – Doing IoT Business in the Gray
Episode 75
What’s the legal definition of a product? Does it cover IoT and is IoT classified a product or a service? Given our laws were never designed for the types of products being sold today, it’s not surprising that there are different interpretations of our current laws and regulations when it comes to IoT. In this episode of the IoT Business Show I speak with Ron Quirk and Alex Schneider about the legal limbo we’re in and how the legal landscape is evolving to catch up with the times.
In this episode of the IoT Business Show, I speak with Ron Quirk and Alex Schneider about the legal limbo we’re in and how the legal landscape is evolving to catch up with the times.
Ron is the head of the IoT Practice Group at the law firm of Marashlian & Donahue, where he assists clients with legal and regulatory issues in the Internet of Things. Alex is an Associate Attorney at the firm, specializing in regulatory law analysis and compliance.
Because IoT products didn’t exist when current product and service laws were enacted, we’re in a kind of a legal limbo until governments around the world ratify laws to regulate the technology and business of the Internet of Things. In the US, this is not happening in an orderly manner. Different agencies are charting their own, often overlapping, jurisdictions when it comes to the development and enforcement of IoT laws and regulations. This means we’re in the gray until around 2020 when agencies come out with their own laws and then a couple years after that before things are cleaned up between them. This doesn’t mean we are in the lawless wild, wild, west today, but some would argue that’s up for interpretation.
Here’s What We’ll Cover in this Episode
- Taxes and the Internet of Things.
- Why IoT tech is legally different that the tech that came before it.
- Why equipment manufacturers are likely to become legally responsible for security.
- Why following the FTC’s cyber security best practices is the best bet for now.
- How this red-light issue has galvanized agencies to act – even ones you wouldn’t expect.
- The roles and responsibilities of the FCC, FTC, FDA, NHTSA and DOC – what they are, what they do, how they affect US and non-US companies and why you should care.
- Changes in FCC regulations for manufactured equipment certification and when you must have it done.
- What needs to be certified in an IoT product? Its components, systems or the product as a whole?
- The turf battles over the overlap between government agencies.
- How the Department of Commerce is coming on strong
Mentioned in this Episode and Other Useful Links
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