LabMD, FTC Data Security Battle Heads To Small Screen
By Allison Grande
Law360, New York (November 9, 2016, 9:27 PM EST) -- A television series based on the long-standing rift between LabMD and the Federal Trade Commission over the leak of a patient data file — a dust-up that has featured an array of legal twists and turns as well as a congressional probe — is in the works, the lab's head confirmed Wednesday.
A trailer for the series, titled "The Devil Inside the Beltway," appeared online Monday, and LabMD CEO Michael Daugherty told Law360 on Wednesday that he is working on writing the pilot for the series, which is based on his 2013 book of the same name.
The TV series, like the book, will focus on the FTC's efforts to pursue the lab over its allegedly lax data security, which Daugherty has claimed is part of the regulator's larger push to team up with companies such as Tiversa to surveil private networks in search of files that could form the basis of enforcement actions. In the LabMD dispute, Tiversa says it discovered a file that included data on nearly 10,000 of the lab's patients on a public file-sharing network, while the lab has countered that the cybersecurity firm stole the file and handed it over to the FTC when the lab refused to pay for its services.
"The characters in the lab, in the medical community, in the government, the government's lawyers and the commissioners, they're all fascinating characters that the public should know about," Daugherty said Wednesday. "It's a great platform in which to edutain."
Daugherty, who said he will be the showrunner for the series, explained that he has long been told that his scathing expose of the nation's privacy regulator should be turned into a movie, but that after spending some time with movie studios to learn about the process, he realized that the small screen would be a better medium for his story.
"What I decided was that this is way too complicated and there is way too much information that I really want the public to learn to put it into a film," he said.
The series is being produced by Akyumen TV, a company that develops mobile techology products, in conjunction with Kickfannie Media, a web platform that offers business development and technical expertise for those looking to pitch ideas or create businesses. Daugherty said he expects the drama series to have at least five seasons, and that while the show will likely start airing online through the Akymen TV global streaming platform, it will be written "for actual TV" and the hope is to "build it up" to be picked up by a network such as HBO.
Daugherty added that, while he is working on drafting the pilot and sketching the story arc for the first season, he doesn't expect the series to go live until at least 2018.
"The pilot is in development now, but we're also busy with things like the FTC appeal," Daugherty said, referring to the lab's decision to take to the Eleventh Circuit the FTC commissioners' July decision reviving the agency's data security claims against LabMD.
In that decision, the three active commissioners overturned their own administrative law judge in concluding that the lab's failure to employ "basic" security precautions led to an unauthorized disclosure of sensitive medical data that caused "substantial" harm to consumers in violation of the unfairness prong of Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The appeal marked the latest step in a long and winding legal battle that began in 2008, when Tiversa says it discovered the patient data file on the file-sharing network Limewire, a program that had been downloaded on a LabMD employee's workstation, and handed it over to the FTC.
The FTC lodged its administrative action in 2013, which prompted LabMD to not only aggressively challenge the regulator's power to pursue such data security claims but also to file a fraud and defamation suit against Tiversa for allegedly stealing the data file and lying to the FTC about its origins.
Since the filing of the FTC suit, LabMD has been forced to wind down its operations, and the legal disputes it has with Tiversa have swelled to five matters in two states.
During the course of the administrative proceeding before the FTC, it was also revealed that the House Oversight Committee had opened a probe into Tiversa's relationship with various government agencies, including the FTC, and a former Tiversa employee came forward to testify that he had been told to falsify information about where he found the data fie.
Daugherty said that, while his book only goes through 2013, he expected the new series to cover the entire lifespan of his ongoing interaction with the FTC, including the latest appeal and reports that the FBI has raided Tiversa's Pittsburgh offices.
"The story makes for riveting television," Daugherty said.
--Editing by Aaron Pelc.
By Allison Grande
Law360, New York (November 9, 2016, 9:27 PM EST) -- A television series based on the long-standing rift between LabMD and the Federal Trade Commission over the leak of a patient data file — a dust-up that has featured an array of legal twists and turns as well as a congressional probe — is in the works, the lab's head confirmed Wednesday.
A trailer for the series, titled "The Devil Inside the Beltway," appeared online Monday, and LabMD CEO Michael Daugherty told Law360 on Wednesday that he is working on writing the pilot for the series, which is based on his 2013 book of the same name.
The TV series, like the book, will focus on the FTC's efforts to pursue the lab over its allegedly lax data security, which Daugherty has claimed is part of the regulator's larger push to team up with companies such as Tiversa to surveil private networks in search of files that could form the basis of enforcement actions. In the LabMD dispute, Tiversa says it discovered a file that included data on nearly 10,000 of the lab's patients on a public file-sharing network, while the lab has countered that the cybersecurity firm stole the file and handed it over to the FTC when the lab refused to pay for its services.
"The characters in the lab, in the medical community, in the government, the government's lawyers and the commissioners, they're all fascinating characters that the public should know about," Daugherty said Wednesday. "It's a great platform in which to edutain."
Daugherty, who said he will be the showrunner for the series, explained that he has long been told that his scathing expose of the nation's privacy regulator should be turned into a movie, but that after spending some time with movie studios to learn about the process, he realized that the small screen would be a better medium for his story.
"What I decided was that this is way too complicated and there is way too much information that I really want the public to learn to put it into a film," he said.
The series is being produced by Akyumen TV, a company that develops mobile techology products, in conjunction with Kickfannie Media, a web platform that offers business development and technical expertise for those looking to pitch ideas or create businesses. Daugherty said he expects the drama series to have at least five seasons, and that while the show will likely start airing online through the Akymen TV global streaming platform, it will be written "for actual TV" and the hope is to "build it up" to be picked up by a network such as HBO.
Daugherty added that, while he is working on drafting the pilot and sketching the story arc for the first season, he doesn't expect the series to go live until at least 2018.
"The pilot is in development now, but we're also busy with things like the FTC appeal," Daugherty said, referring to the lab's decision to take to the Eleventh Circuit the FTC commissioners' July decision reviving the agency's data security claims against LabMD.
In that decision, the three active commissioners overturned their own administrative law judge in concluding that the lab's failure to employ "basic" security precautions led to an unauthorized disclosure of sensitive medical data that caused "substantial" harm to consumers in violation of the unfairness prong of Section 5 of the FTC Act.
The appeal marked the latest step in a long and winding legal battle that began in 2008, when Tiversa says it discovered the patient data file on the file-sharing network Limewire, a program that had been downloaded on a LabMD employee's workstation, and handed it over to the FTC.
The FTC lodged its administrative action in 2013, which prompted LabMD to not only aggressively challenge the regulator's power to pursue such data security claims but also to file a fraud and defamation suit against Tiversa for allegedly stealing the data file and lying to the FTC about its origins.
Since the filing of the FTC suit, LabMD has been forced to wind down its operations, and the legal disputes it has with Tiversa have swelled to five matters in two states.
During the course of the administrative proceeding before the FTC, it was also revealed that the House Oversight Committee had opened a probe into Tiversa's relationship with various government agencies, including the FTC, and a former Tiversa employee came forward to testify that he had been told to falsify information about where he found the data fie.
Daugherty said that, while his book only goes through 2013, he expected the new series to cover the entire lifespan of his ongoing interaction with the FTC, including the latest appeal and reports that the FBI has raided Tiversa's Pittsburgh offices.
"The story makes for riveting television," Daugherty said.
--Editing by Aaron Pelc.
2
