Fourth Amendment Concerns in a Digital Age
November 22, 2011
Because the information obtained by means of a sealed order may become evidence in criminal actions against business entities, companies and their advisers need to understand the law, its consequences and the development of case law concerning privacy rights.
PII: How New Technology Makes It Easier To Maintain Compliance
October 28, 2011
A study done at MIT found that 87% of the population in the U.S. could be uniquely identified by just three pieces of Personally identifiable information (PII): their five-digit zip code, gender and date of birth. This demonstrates that SSNs, while valuable, is not necessary to identify unique individuals.
Constitutionality Of Facebook Threat Charges Challenged
October 28, 2011
A Pennsylvania man who was indicted for making violent threats on Facebook is now challenging the constitutionality of the federal cyberstalking statute, arguing that the law criminalizes "pure speech" and is vague and overbroad.
Protecting Your Blog
October 28, 2011
Blogs are prepared and used for personal, political and economic reasons. And liability issues associated with blogs are the same liability issues that are ' and long have been ' associated with traditional publications that are purposely made available to the public, again, for personal, political and economic reasons.
A World of Copyright Confusion on the Web
October 28, 2011
Keeping track of and complying with copyright laws can be difficult, especially for ISPs and social-media companies that provide services to a global market. Many countries have developed specific legislation to help protect such entities from liability relating to the activities of their users. Unfortunately, the laws are not uniform ' or are not interpreted consistently ' and therefore compliance requires knowledge of the nuances among them.
The NLRB Wants to Be Your 'Friend'
October 28, 2011
Many employers have implemented ' or at least considered implementing ' social media policies in an effort to protect their reputations, protect their employees, and prevent the dissemination of confidential or proprietary information. Many of these policies likely contain blanket prohibitions of disparaging, discriminatory or defamatory remarks in relation to the company or its employees. These policies seem to make perfect sense, but unfortunately, employers need to re-think them in light of a NLRB recent decision.
Copyright Restoration Arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court
October 28, 2011
No musicians played on the steps of the Supreme Court when inside the justices heard oral arguments in <i>Golan v. Holder</i>, which touched on a range of intellectual property issues and musical works from classical's Dmitri Shostakovich and Igor Stravinsky to classic rock's Jimi Hendrix. The impact of how the high court interprets Congress' 1994 amendments to the Copyright Act could affect the future use of possibly millions of pieces of works and may refine how U.S. law defines acceptable use versus infringing abuse in a global community.
Limit on Assigning Right to Pursue Online Copyright Infringement
October 28, 2011
Can a business model be sustained for procuring the right from copyright owners to pursue alleged copyright infringements in the online world? In recent months, there has been a flurry of infringement litigation involving copyright troller Righthaven, which procured the right from publishers to file infringement suits over unauthorized online reproductions of the publishers' content.
