Privacy laws can create opportunities, limitations, California lawmakers advised

Deirdre Mulligan and Paul Schwartz quoted in Bloomberg BNA , December 16, 2013

“Privacy rules don’t necessarily erode innovation. Sometimes they’re the fabric of it,” said Deirdre Mulligan, co-director of the University of California Berkeley School of Law Center for Law & Technology.

The ‘California Effect’ is how what California does ripples across the nation and the world, said Paul Schwartz…. “The California Effect is typically the first stage. It would be followed by action in D.C.,” which Schwartz said has been lacking. “The question becomes in absence of action in D.C., what should we do?” he asked. The question is whether “to act or not to act” in the world’s ninth largest economy.