Targeting Mutual Funds
September 01, 2003
Successful enforcement efforts against investment banks have emboldened state and federal authorities to target the next deep pocket in the securities industry: mutual funds, or more precisely, the funds' investment advisers. There are over 10,000 mutual funds in the United States today, with approximately $7 trillion in investments from approximately 83 million individual investors.
Hacker Attack: Data Loss Considered Covered Property Under First-Party Policy
August 26, 2003
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit has recently weighed in on the applicability of standard-form, first-party property policies to the loss of computer data, finding such data loss resulting from a hacker attack by a former employee of the insured to be covered property damage. <i>NMS Services, Inc. v. The Hartford,</i> No. 01-2491, 2003 WL 1904413 (4th Cir., April 21, 2003)
No Electronic Theft Act Is A Partial Success
August 22, 2003
In 1997, the No Electronic Theft Act radically changed the underpinnings of criminal copyright infringement. Before the act, criminal copyright infringement targeted infringers making profits. The act focuses instead on copyright owners' losses, treating criminal copyright infringement as a type of theft ' like shoplifting.
In the Courts
August 18, 2003
Analysis of cases of importance to your practice.
Creating Private-Sector Standards of Conduct
August 18, 2003
Whether certain conduct is a crime depends on more than legislatures, judges, and juries. When prosecutors decide whether, whom, and what to charge, the policies underlying their decisions create operative standards of conduct. So, too, do those of agencies administering regulatory programs backed by criminal sanctions. But what about the private sector? Sensible standards of conduct articulated by trade associations can and should play a substantial role in drawing the line between acceptable business practices and bad conduct that can be subject to criminal sanctions.
In the Courts
August 18, 2003
Analysis of rulings of importance to your practice.
Indemnification Revisited
August 18, 2003
A recent <i>Wall Street Journal</i> story asked, 'How much does it cost to defend a company and its executives when they are under investigation for accounting fraud?' In the case of Qwest Communications International, Inc., the Denver-based telephone company currently under parallel SEC and Department of Justice investigations, the answer is staggering.
