As cyberspace becomes a larger part of everyday life, the threat of cybercrimes becomes more prevalent. Consumers conduct all sorts of business over the Internet, which involves storing and transferring personal information on various online sites. Accordingly, the wealth of personal information available over the Internet has drawn in a…
Copyright protection is commonly known to apply to inventions and artwork to protect original work from copyright infringement. However, copyright protections also extend to websites. Today, the Internet, and especially personal websites extend to all avenues of the marketplace. Individuals have blogs, businesses have websites to advertise and inform about…
The central provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (the “AIA”) went into effect in March 2013, revolutionizing the United States patent system. Traditionally, the United States had maintained a “first-to-invent” patent system, which awarded patent rights to the first inventor who created a unique invention. However, as the AIA…
Cybersquatting has been a highly litigated issue since Congress passed the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (the “ACPA”) in 1999, codified under Title 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d). The ACPA establishes a cause of action for the bad faith registration of a domain name that is substantially similar to a trademark or…
Any company conducting e-commerce with consumers in the United States must follow the applicable U.S. Internet laws. Otherwise, the company and its managers may face civil liability and criminal prosecution for violating U.S. laws. However, in the event that a business’s website is also accessible internationally, that business may also…
Few crimes affect as broad a scope of people as identity theft. With social networks, credit cards, personal information, and contact information so interconnected, perpetrators can trespass into a person’s life by breaking past a single password-protected account. Accordingly, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office has created a special…
The illegal downloads of music and movies, and the corresponding financial consequences for music labels and movie production companies, introduced online piracy to the forefront of newsworthy discussions. Today, online piracy has expanded into an online market that allows criminals to profit from stealing intellectual property (such as patents, trademarks,…
After an investigation by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations unit, U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright found members of IMAGiNE Group guilty of criminal copyright infringement. The court found IMAGiNE Group, an Internet piracy circle, guilty of perpetuating an effort to release movies available only in movie theaters.…
On March 19, 2013, the Supreme Court reached a decision in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. In this case, respondent John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (“Wiley”), a publisher, brought suit against Petitioner Supap Kirtsaeng alleging violation of the Copyright Act, under Title 17 U.S.C. §§ 101-810. Kirstaeng a…
President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Act”), or ObamaCare, as it is more commonly known, into law on March 23, 2010. The Act intends to decrease the number of Americans who do not have medical insurance. Additionally, the Act aims to decrease the overall cost of…