Electronic Discovery in the Cloud
July 29, 2010
As organizations strive to minimize costs and maximize efficiency and scalability of computing resources, IT and legal departments across the globe are turning to cloud technology (a.k.a., cloud computing) for help. The recent surge in popularity is pushing industry groups to consider how to accurately define cloud computing and provide guidance as to how it can be properly managed ' especially in relation to regulatory compliance and electronic discovery requests.
Florida Law Firms Protest Bar's Online Ad Rules
July 29, 2010
While the ACLU and other nonprofit legal groups have been declared exempt from a strict proposal for regulating lawyer Web sites, Florida's largest law firms are starting to band together to protest the regulations, largely on First Amendment grounds.
Obtaining Assent in Today's e-Conomy
July 29, 2010
This article presents an overview of best practices for ensuring the application of your client's desired terms and conditions in the context of online browsing and sales, as well as software downloads and installations. Last month's Part One covered clickwrap agreements. Part Two covers browsewrap agreements.
The DMCA Safe Harbor Provision Is Stronger Than Ever
July 29, 2010
Even as the economy continues to slowly recover from this recession, online sales are still booming, accounting for more than $200 billion over the past year. As the marketplace shifts from the sales counter to the desktop, counterfeiting and software piracy have also shifted to the virtual world. For copyright and trademark owners, this creates a constant stream of newly evolved infringing activities to monitor.
The Brave New World of e-Workplace Privacy Policies
July 29, 2010
Embodying some of the aspects of Big Brother is not a new role for an employer. In the past 15 years, however, workplaces have become increasingly digitized as electronic information has come to dominate all aspects of modern life. Part One of this article examines the potential liability for employers involved with social media and e-mail use.
<b><i>Commentary:</b></i> Comparing Collective Licensing Proposals For Internet Licensing of Copyrighted Content
July 29, 2010
Advances in digital distribution technologies and widespread use of the Internet have moved media distribution technology out of the control of rights holders and distributors, and directly into the hands of consumers or creative members of the general public. To address how U.S. copyright law should apply to new business models that take advantage of these technologies, some have proposed collective rights licensing at the Internet service provider (ISP) level.
Txt2Win and Mobile Promos
July 29, 2010
Sweepstakes and contests have become popular in mobile promotion. However, because sweepstakes and contests are highly regulated, a marketer using a mobile device must comply not only with mobile-messaging laws and regulations, but also with those governing sweepstakes and contests. Indeed, text messaging as a sweepstakes-entry method has brought much consumer litigation in recent years.
Stop in the Name of ' the IP Police?
July 29, 2010
When it comes to infringement of intellectual property, there are no "IP police" hiding in the obscure nooks and crannies of cyberspace to chase down those who misuse property online. Instead, the e-commerce firm itself often must become its own IP cop, when it discovers ' as it inevitably will in the online free-for-all ' that its marks, copyrighted content or knockoffs of its unique products appear on the Web site or in the e-catalog of a competitor.
Policing Workplace e-Mail Use
July 29, 2010
On-the-job Internet surfing has become a problem that employers can no longer ignore. A recent Office of Inspector General investigation, for example, revealed that senior-level SEC staff, including an attorney, used their workplace computers to view online pornography for up to eight hours per day during the period of time that led this country's biggest economic meltdown since the Great Depression.
