In 2009, the EU issued Directive 2009/136/EC of the European Parliament. The Directive concerns the ‘regulatory framework for electronic communications networks’ and includes what has come to be known as the “EU Cookie Rule”; the part concerning the use of cookies is just a small part of the whole Directive.…
After deciding recently that peeking cautiously at quarterly brokerage statements might not be the best investment strategy, I can now say that while I’ve been sleeping at the investing switch for the last couple of years, innovation has been working overtime. Having scoffed for a while at what “good paying…
Given how busy the privacy world has been recently, we thought we’d take this “extra day” to catch up on some of the bigger recent developments: The White House unveiled its Framework for Protecting Privacy and Promoting Innovation in the Global Digital Economy (see the White House “Fact-Sheet” on the…
The last outstanding requirement of the 2010 Massachusetts Data Protection Law relates to third-party service provider compliance and will take effect on March 1, 2012. Section 17.03(2)(f)(2) of the Law mandates that entities holding Massachusetts’ residents’ personal information require their third-party service providers to contractually commit to implementing and maintaining…
Enterprises that undertake serial M&A or outsourcing activity can find themselves with a diverse workforce with differences in pay and other terms and conditions of employment applying to different categories of employees across the business. This can lead to inefficiencies such as the cost of administering different benefit plans as…
The following headline recently caught my attention: “Bill would OK secret privatization, outsourcing of Florida agency functions” What is not news is that State and Local Governments (SLGs) are struggling to maintain the services their electorates are accustomed to. Blame declining tax revenues caused by the housing market bust and…
Unfortunately, the new year does not hold much hope for reversing the disturbing trend of increasing federal, state and local taxes and surcharges that are applied to telecommunications services. It’s not unusual for enterprise customers to pay an additional 25-30 percent on their bill, depending on the types and locations…
Outsourcing attorneys spend many hours negotiating complex terms and conditions governing the delivery of IT outsourcing (ITO) and business process outsourcing (BPO) services. As good outsourcing counsel, we spend a lot of time imagining ugly scenarios and allocating the associated risks and liabilities. Often as not, the result is an…
Background on Economic Pricing Adjustments Outsourcing contracts often include mechanisms to adjust prices for inflation. Among the factors of production, the cost of labor is the most critical and is often subject to these adjustments. To account for rising production costs in a particular market,** service providers will typically ask…
News that Accenture Life Insurance Services has won an eight-year business process outsourcing (BPO) agreement with BNP Paribas Cardif may be a sign that the European life insurance and pensions market is set for increased outsourcing activity. According to Accenture’s press release, “Accenture will manage an important portfolio of BNP…