Somebody is Cutting Internet Cables! On Tuesday, many individuals and businesses in San Francisco and the Sacramento area experienced widespread Internet outages for most of the day. It turns out this may be the latest in a string of severed fiber optic cables being investigated by the FBI in the San Francisco bay area.
This type of vandalism involving Internet cables was just addressed last year in California. Following a string of cut Internet cables in Northern California, Assembly member Chesbro introduced Assembly Bill 1782 in 2014 to increase the maximum fine from $500 to $10,000. According to the author, “Dependable communication services are critical for public safety, national security and California’s economic growth and sustainability … AB 1782 would increase the criminal fine for ‘unlawfully and maliciously’ disconnecting and obstructing communication infrastructure or electric lines.”
The outage caused problems for LIS’ Internet-based phones so our apologies if you tried to call on Tuesday.
Laws that took effect July 1, 2015: Yesterday was a big day in several states for new laws. In Indiana, new laws included ones that addressed slow drivers in the fast lane, extended the statute of limitations in rape cases, legalized manufactured sawed-off shotguns and overhauled the tax sale system.
In Florida, 130 new laws took effect. New laws addressed drone-use restrictions, flags made in America and taxes on cellphone and TV bills.
In California, the new state paid sick leave law took effect. The new law requires all workers who work for 30 or more days within a year to receive three paid sick days. Other new laws will require companies like Uber and Lyft to purchase more insurance and require cell-phone makers to install a “kill-switch” to deter thieves.
New laws in D.C, Virginia and Maryland included ones that increased the minimum wage, addressed employers asking for social media passwords, breastfeeding, medical marijuana and campus sexual assault and drones.
In case you missed it: One of our attorneys, Heather Thomas, helped coordinate a volunteer day with Habitat for Humanity in Sacramento for the Wiley W. Manuel Bar Association. You can read about it on our blog. Way to go, Heather!
Happy 4th of July! Have a safe and fun holiday weekend. We will be closed on Friday, July 3rd, but our archived research is always available through our website.