The European community has been making great strides to establish and protect individual privacy in the globalized cyber community. On May 13, 2014, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) issued a decision that European Union (“EU”) citizens had a right to ask search engines to remove search results about themselves. …
Articles Posted in Internet Law
European Union Proposes New Online Privacy Regulations
Early in 2012, the European Commission proposed a reformation of the European Union’s data protection rules. The European Commission sought to strengthen online privacy rights and improve Europe’s digital economy. The European Commission pointed to expansive globalization and different levels of implementation by the EU’s 27 member states as reasons…
Guidelines For Computer Data Access
Employees, in the course of their employment, will often have broad access to company files. If employees are terminated or seek other employment, such access can become problematic. Indeed, companies store sensitive and commercially valuable information on their servers. Employee misuse of these files can substantially weaken a company’s economic…
Online Gambling
Gambling has been an entertaining pastime in casinos for several years. The expansion of the Internet now makes it possible to play casino games online. However, this raises the question of whether online gambling is a legal activity. While federal law criminalizes “betting or wagering” over “a wire communication,” courts…
IRS Issues Guidelines for Bitcoin
With the advent of virtual currency, consumers can now conduct entire transactions online without the burden of having to seek a common currency. Bitcoin has spread across the world as a popular form of this currency. In turn, transactions can now take place without switching from one form of currency…
Facebook Agrees to Take Down Gun Postings
In a recent move to impose stricter restrictions on gun sales, Facebook and Instagram recently announced they would be taking down postings for gun sales. Specifically, they will not allow anyone without a background checks to sell firearms through their social media sites. This comes as part of a larger…
The Song-Beverly Act Prohibits Brick and Mortar Retailers From Collecting Email Addresses For Marketing Purposes
Identity theft and personal privacy are major issues, as more information is available over the Internet and linked together through social media networks. However, even as early as the 1970s, legislatures were taking steps to protect personal information from public exposure and marketing schemes. For example, California’s legislature has passed…
Online Banking Fraud – Part I
In recent years, there has been an increase in cyber-attacks directed towards usernames and passwords for online banking accounts. Through these attacks, outside parties have been able to misuse banking information for fraudulent wire transfers. Hackers have starting using foreign accounts because it is more difficult to recover funds when…
Bloggers Enjoy the Same First Amendment Protection as Institutional Media
One of the fundamental constitutional protections is the freedom of press. Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, the press (i.e., journalists, reporters, newspapers) enjoys freedom from government censorship. However, this right must be balanced against the individual right to privacy. Furthermore, as an added protection for privacy,…
Twitter’s New Censorship Laws
In recent years, social media networks have proven to be an outlet for individuals to share personal views and opinions with the world. However, Twitter’s new censorship laws could dramatically change whether individuals can actually express their viewpoints over this social media site. Early in 2012, Twitter announced that it…