Articles Posted in Government

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As part of a recent move to revise its body of business law, the Council of Washington D.C. has adopted an amended Title 29 of the District of Columbia Code on Business Organizations. Chapter 4 applies specifically to rules pertaining to Nonprofit Organizations. Also known as the Nonprofit Corporation Act of 2010 (the “Act”), as of January 2012, chapter 4 has applied to all non-profit corporations that existed after 1962. Nonprofit corporations that existed prior to 1962 will have until January 2014 to give notice waiving application of the Act to their operations. If pre-1962 corporations fail to file such notice by January 2014, the Act will apply to their operations.

A nonprofit organization’s Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws may replace most of the provisions of the Act. The Articles of Incorporation or bylaws serve as a set of specific laws that govern the operations and structure of each individual corporation. The revised Act may still provide new benefits for such companies. For instance, under section 29-102.11 of the Act, nonprofit corporations must now file their biennial reports by April 1st, not January 15th. In addition, according to section §29-401.03, nonprofit organizations must give notice in the form of a record. Under the Act, a “record” includes e-mails, taxes, and telegrams. However, a nonprofit corporation may include a provision in its Articles of Incorporation of bylaws, allowing for oral notice. The Act also allows nonprofit organizations to provide for electronic meetings– annual, regular, or special–under section 29-405.01-02. In the case of elections, section 29-405.28 now allows nonprofit corporations to appoint election inspectors to manage elections. When forming committees, the Act allows nonprofit organizations to only have a single member as the director of the committee. Furthermore, whereas nonprofit corporations’ directors held fiduciary duties towards the organization, including, but not necessarily limited to, duty of loyalty and duty of care under case law, now section 29-406.30-31 of the Act holds such duties. Finally, under section 29-406.70 of the Act, a transaction that bears the risk of a conflict of interest is not automatically voidable if the corporation has taken the steps to approve the transaction with shareholders. Additionally, a conflict of interest transaction may not necessarily be voidable if the corporation can demonstrate that the transaction was fair to the organization at the time that it was approved by the board of directors.

At the Law Offices of Salar Atrizadeh, we guide our clients in legal matters by using extensive knowledge and skills to create innovative solutions. Please contact us today to set up a confidential consultation.

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Former CIA Director David Petraeus from his position after the FBI looked through Petraeus’ private Gmail account and discovered that he was having an extramarital affair. These events have brought to light the fragile state of individual privacy on the Internet, particularly in relation to individual email accounts.

According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (“ECPA”), which is current and applicable cyber law, the FBI has the authority to look through any email account simply by accessing the account through providers such as Yahoo or Gmail. Under the ECPA, law enforcement agencies do not need a search warrant to look through such accounts if the message is more than 180 days old.

In addition, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (“FISA”), under Title 50, sections 1801 et seq. of the United States Code, allows the government to monitor communications between foreign parties, without a search warrant. A 2008 amendment to FISA further allows the government to monitor communications between American parties if the government does not know of the parties’ exact locations or identities. A group of attorneys raised a constitutional challenge to this amendment, and the matter is now before the United States Supreme Court. The justices have focused on whether the amendment offers the government an inappropriate range of power, or whether the amendment simply expands the government’s resources to protect America.

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Facebook is struggling to decide how to handle its pictures. While consumer companies urge Facebook to profit from its face recognition technology, international regulators insist that user identities remain protected. According to a New York Times article entitled, Facebook Can ID Face, But Using Them Grows Tricky, Facebook agreed to delete user identification information, which the site gathers through facial recognition technology. The technology at issue is Facebook’s “tag suggestion” which automatically matches names with faces when a user uploads a photo. Facebook has deactivated this feature to make improvements that international regulators can approve.

Chris Hoofnalge, a professor at the University of California Berkeley, School of Law stated in the article that increasing developments in this field “directly affects civil liberties.” Although, the public is more likely to accept using identifying information from facial recognition technology for security purposes, Wall Street is now pressuring Facebook to utilize its users’ personal data for profit. Legislators, such as Senator Al Franken, have expressed concern over Facebook’s “database of face prints,” which Facebook has gathered “without the explicit consent of its users.” Franken urged Facebook to provide the same right of privacy to its American users as it does its European counterparts.

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has issued a guide, “Facing Facts Best Practices for Common Uses of Facial Recognition Technologies,” aimed at defining facial recognition technology and outlining authorized uses. In addition, earlier this year Google announced a new tool that would allow individuals to blur their faces in YouTube videos. This is one of the first steps to provide “visual anonymity” in cyberspace.

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We have submitted a petition to ask Congress to review and modify section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in order to limit the protection granted to interactive online services, such as news websites, blogs, forums, and listservs. Also, Congress should set new policies and procedures for interactive online services to confirm the true identity of their users and members. This confirmation of a user’s or member’s true identity promotes protection against bogus statements made against innocent individuals and prevents the victimization of businesses.

This petition should be signed because consumers and businesses are facing various problems such as defamation, harassment, or retaliation by anonymous users on interactive online services without recourse and protection. Unfortunately, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act grants broad immunity to interactive online services. By doing so, such immunity tilts the scale of justice and creates an unreasonable result for innocent individuals who are being targeted by anonymous users and have no remedy for protection.

Please visit this link, review and sign it if you are willing to support our request for change in legislation.

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Computers and computing activities play an increasingly integral role in daily life in America, affecting our financial activity, social interactions, and more. With an increased level of dependence on networked devices comes the risk of theft, or even attacks, on and through our computer networks. While the business community has already recognized the importance of cybersecurity, the government and legal system are finally responding in five key areas.

National security. The federal government has made cybersecurity a central feature of its national security strategy. Recognizing the risk of an attack on the nation’s computer networks by a foreign power or sub-national group, the Department of Defense created a comprehensive strategy for cybersecurity (PDF file) in 2011. The strategy treats “cyberspace” as its own “operational domain,” requiring specialized training and organization. The government has also taken steps to combat online theft, which can include not only monetary theft but theft of intellectual property and identity theft. The latter has become more and more sophisticated as thieves find ways to exploit personally identifiable information (PII) stored online.

Federal legislation. The Obama administration proposed legislation outlining ten points for cybersecurity protection. These generally included protection of the American people, the nation’s infrastructure, and the federal government’s networks and computer systems. Several bills pending in Congress address aspects of cybersecurity. The controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), for example, allows sharing of data between companies and the National Security Agency in order to investigate and combat cybersecurity threats.

State legislation. Protection of government data, PII, and personal privacy have informed numerous state statutes enacted in the past ten years. California passed a law requiring notification of cybersecurity breaches in 2003, and forty-six other states and the District of Columbia followed suit. Laws requiring “reasonable” levels of security for protected information exist in at least ten states, and numerous states are enacting statutes protecting people from wiretapping and other monitoring of electronic activity.

Regulatory initiatives. Multiple regulatory agencies have addressed cybersecurity concerns through additional regulations, guidelines, and enforcement actions. The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), for example, recently issued a new set of guidelines for publicly-traded companies. The guidelines address disclosure of cybersecurity breaches as a means of making information available to investors. The FBI, meanwhile, established a joint task force to investigate cyber threats.

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President Barack Obama is summoning top congressional Republicans and Democrats to a rare Sunday meeting at the White House to begin “hard bargaining” on a broad debt-reduction deal.

At the July 10 session Obama will make his latest bid to break a partisan impasse over whether to include cuts in entitlement programs and tax increases in an agreement. Both sides in the debate are signaling openness to compromise on each front.

See more here.

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Will investors move out of their “safe haven” markets? In 2009, downgrades and debt auction failures in countries like the UK, Greece, Ireland and Spain were a stark reminder that unless advanced economies begin to put their fiscal houses in order, investors and rating agencies will likely turn from friends to foes. The severe recession, combined with a financial crisis during 2008-09, worsened the fiscal positions of developed countries due to stimulus spending, lower tax revenues and support to the financial sector. The impact was greater in countries that had a history of structural fiscal problems, maintained loose fiscal policies and ignored fiscal reforms during the boom years. Going forward, a weak economic recovery and an aging population is likely to increase the debt burden of many advanced economies, including the U.S., Britain, Japan and several eurozone countries.

To read more please go to www.forbes.com.

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The White House will host a Twitter town hall with President Barack Obama on July 6. The president will answer questions submitted via Twitter, which limits messages to 140 characters. The town hall will focus on jobs and the economy, and a video feed of Obama’s answers will be streamed online.

See www.twitter.com/salaratrizadeh for more information.

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Introduction

On December 1, 2010, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) released its highly anticipated consumer privacy protection framework titled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change” (“Privacy Report”).  A copy of the Privacy Report may be obtained on the FTC website: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2010/12/101201privacyreport.pdf.  The FTC seeks public comment on the proposed privacy framework by January 31, 2011.

The proposed privacy framework has three major components: (1) privacy by design; (2) expansion of consumer choices about how companies collect and use consumer information; and (3) increased transparency of data collection practices.  All three components have already ignited a lively debate among consumer advocates, businesses, advertisers and policy makers.  Although, stated as tasks that a company “should do,” there is worry the FTC could take steps to use its enforcement powers against a non-compliant company.

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Earlier, a post on this blog noted the jurors in the corruption trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich had informed the judge they had only reached a decision on two of the 24 charges in the case. Now, the news comes that the jurors have reached a final verdict: on one count only. Jurors have found Rod Blagojevich guilty on one count of lying to federal agents. The judge has decided to declare a mistrial on the remaining 23 counts.

Prosecutors have wasted no time in announcing that they intend to retry Blagojevich and his brother Robert on the other charges. As the Associated Press reported, one of the main charges as yet undecided is whether or not Blagojevich attempted to sell the senate seat vacated by President Obama. The presiding judge in the trial, James Zagel, has set a hearing for Aug. 26 to decide issues regarding the retrial.

The AP reported that the jurors looked wearier than they had during the trial. The single count verdict came after 14 days of deliberations. At one point, the jurors had informed Judge Zagel that they were deadlocked on as many as 11 of the charges. They had also informed the judge that they had reached agreement on two charges, but seemed to have lost their consensus along the way to the jury verdict.

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