USA PATRIOT Act Impasse: E-mail Interception Rules Need Congressional Attention, Too
March 21, 2006
When, if ever, can your Internet Service Provider ('ISP') legally intercept and then read your e-mail? Nearly anytime, according to almost every federal court that has tackled the issue. Due to outdated statutory language, courts have been inconsistent and tentative in applying the federal Wiretap Act to e-mail interception. In recent years, two circuits have flip-flopped on this crucial issue.
Implementing Best Practices Before and After a Security Breach Can Mitigate Corporate Risk
March 20, 2006
Victims of personal data security breaches are showing their displeasure by terminating relationships with the companies that maintained their data. A 'National Survey on Data Security Breach Notification,' released Sept. 26, 2005 by privacy think tank Ponemon Institute and sponsored by White & Case, indicates that 19% of Americans who have received notification that their personal data had been compromised due to a breach have terminated or plan to terminate their relationship with the company where the security breach occurred. Another 40% say that they are considering whether to take their business elsewhere as a result of the breach, and a whopping 58% say that the incident has decreased their trust and confidence in the company. Percentages set forth in this article are based on the total number of survey respondents who reported receiving a breach notification.
The Dismantling of the DMCA's Anti-Circumvention Provisions
March 01, 2006
According to a recent decision in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the use of an illicitly obtained password and username to enter an otherwise secure Web site does not violate the anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). In <i>Egilman v. Keller & Heckman LLP</i>, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28245 (D.D.C. Nov. 10, 2005), the court held that the law firm Keller & Heckman and others working in concert with it who entered Dr. Egilman's Web site through the use of a username and password that they were not authorized to use had not violated the DMCA, regardless of how the username and password were obtained. This surprising decision runs counter to other decisions interpreting the DMCA and would appear to create a significant loophole to the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions.
Downloading Copyrighted Songs on File-Sharing Network Is Not 'Fair Use'
March 01, 2006
In an important decision interpreting the fair use provision of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. §107), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that downloading full copies of copyrighted material without compensation to authors cannot be deemed "fair use." In <i>BMG Music v. Gonzalez</i>, 430 F.3d 888 (7th Cir. 2005), Judge Frank H. Easterbrook, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, rejected the defendant's argument that she was immune from liability because she was merely sampling songs that she had downloaded from the KaZaA file-sharing network on a "try-before-you-buy basis."
Two Paths To Solid Online Research
March 01, 2006
In the world of e-commerce advising, the Internet is a powerful research tool for lawyers, and there's more than one route to conducting on-point, effective online research.
Another Kind Of Room With A View
March 01, 2006
Ramping up for document-review is a challenging prospect, requiring a firm to react quickly and aggressively, depending on the requirements of the case. And the rising demand for attorneys to review vast stores of documents generated by click-of-a-button, lightning-fast contemporary e-commerce is also giving rise to law firms engaging in more electronically grounded commerce themselves as they advise and assist clients in meeting requirements of routine document review, storage and disposal as part of regular business, and the specifics of electronic discovery. <br>Vendors are offering off-site document-review rooms (DRRs) more frequently for customers who see the value these resources provide, and the DRR market is expanding.
Should You Turn Your e-Commerce Business Over To The Head Geek?
March 01, 2006
To practice successfully, lawyers must rely on others all the time. Whether in litigation or corporate practice, few lawyers today can succeed without trusting associates, paralegals and experts to handle critical tasks quickly and cost-efficiently. It's the way of the modern workaday world. But would you turn your cases over to your firm's head geek?
Web-based Patent Marking: A Better Mousetrap
March 01, 2006
Correcting an inefficient paradigm can sometimes result in significant innovation. There is an opportunity to create such innovation within the world of Intellectual Property ("IP") by changing the method by which patented products are "marked." Traditionally considered to be an issue associated primarily with the quantification of damages in patent enforcement litigations, modifying the patent statute to allow for patent marking via the Web could potentially result in a significant, long-lasting, positive change within the world of IP that extends far beyond the quantification of patent damages.
