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Are Instant Messages Discoverable?
In 1984, George Orwell wrote of a society in which technology was used to control and monitor social behavior ' “Big Brother is watching you.”
Big Brother technology is no longer the realm of science fiction. Whether we actually use technology in this fashion, however, is the important question that policymakers and judges will have to answer. Indeed, the technology to digitally record virtually everything we do and say is well on its way to being pervasive and less and less expensive. PCs often have Webcams and microphones, and personal digital assistants and cell phones have audio recording capabilities and many have cameras.
e-Mail has certainly changed the way businesses communicate, and many commentators predict that instant messaging (IM) is poised to bring about the next corporate-communications revolution, an event that raises numerous questions for today's corporations. Consider these questions, for instance:
- What do companies need to know about IM technology before allowing or encouraging its use in the workplace?
- What retention obligations attach to IM during the ordinary course of business?
- Do those obligations change when litigation is anticipated?
- What discovery obligations come with the revolution?
- And will we be transformed into a kind of 1984 society where even the most transitory conversations are monitored, recorded and saved?
Those are the essential questions that corporate legal departments and, ultimately, trial and appellate courts, must answer.
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Stranger to the Deed Rule
In 1987, a unanimous Court of Appeals reaffirmed the vitality of the "stranger to the deed" rule, which holds that if a grantor executes a deed to a grantee purporting to create an easement in a third party, the easement is invalid. Daniello v. Wagner, decided by the Second Department on November 29th, makes it clear that not all grantors (or their lawyers) have received the Court of Appeals' message, suggesting that the rule needs re-examination.