Articles Posted in Technology

Published on: | by

When hackers breached the e-commerce firm Zappos in January, they may have compromised the personal information of as many as 24 million users. Legislatures in several states, including California, have responded to attacks such as this one by passing laws enhancing cybersecurity investigation and enforcement, and increasing requirements for disclosure of cyberattacks. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also issued new guidelines for businesses and individuals under attack. The key issue to consider, in light of these new laws and regulations, is how much disclosure is not enough, and how much is too much.

The SEC is recommending disclosure of cyberattacks to an unprecedented degree. A new set of guidelines issued in October 2011 advises publicly-traded companies to disclose details of cybersecurity breaches as part of the quarterly 10-K report. Companies should disclose any and all cyberattacks, regardless of whether they caused a loss. The SEC even encourages companies to disclose “cyberrisks,” even in the absence of a breach. This potentially benefits investors, the SEC says, by providing comprehensive information about both actual and potential losses due to hacking and other cyberattacks. At the same time, extensive disclosure could put companies at greater risk by exposing weaknesses to hackers. Companies must carefully consider how much, or how little, to disclose. Too much disclosure could make them vulnerable to attack. Too little disclosure could make them vulnerable to lawsuits by investors.

State laws regarding cybersecurity disclosures are typically not as stringent as the SEC’s guidelines. California passed the first such law a decade ago. That law applies to any person or business that owns or licenses computer data containing a California resident’s “personal information,” such as social security number, home address, driver’s license number, and so forth. In the event of a breach that would reasonably lead to an unauthorized person obtaining the personal information, an owner or licensor of personal data must notify the person whose personal information may have been breached.

Forty-six states have followed California’s lead and passed similar laws. California has actually fallen behind some states that have passed laws with stricter disclosure requirements. A new law that took effect on January 1, 2012, requires an individual or business to notify the state attorney general of a cybersecurity breach if the breach affects more than five hundred California residents. The notice must include specific details of the type and size of the breach, and a toll-free number to allow users to contact credit agencies.

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

Megaupload.com was among the world’s biggest file-sharing sites with 150 million registered users and about 50 million hits daily. It was big enough that it earned founder Kim Dotcom $42 million in 2011.

The movie industry objected that the site was making money off pirated material; even though, Megaupload is based in Hong Kong and the founder was living in New Zealand, some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Virginia, which was sufficient for U.S. prosecutors to take action.

Thereafter, the site was closed and its founder and three Megaupload employees were arrested in New Zealand on allegations by American prosecutors that they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue.

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

Michelle Obama is officially live on Twitter. The first lady’s Twitter feed went live on Thursday and her link is being managed by the president’s re-election campaign. The first two tweets came from the campaign staff and described the account as “a new way for you to connect with First Lady Michelle Obama and the President’s campaign.” The traffic was high within the first hour with more than 20,000 followers. President Barack Obama also has a Twitter account managed by the campaign. Its first tweet of the day: “It’s not every day we get to welcome the First Lady of the United States to Twitter – happy to have you, Michelle Obama!”
This acknowledges that technology plays a key role in our lives and allows us to communicate with each other through different means and methods. Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets”. It was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July. The service rapidly gained worldwide popularity, with over 300 million users as of 2011, generating over 300 million tweets and handling over 1.6 billion search queries per day. It has been described as “the SMS of the Internet.” Twitter Inc. is based in San Francisco, with additional servers and offices in New York City.

Published on: | by

In California, a new Facebook feature which permits an advertiser to publish or broadcast a user’s “like” of its product to others in that individual’s circle is under scrutiny.

The United States District Court in San Jose, California refused to grant a motion to dismiss which states that Facebook ads violate its user’s right of publicity by utilizing their names and photographs without authorization. However, the court dismissed an unjust enrichment claim. In the lawsuit, Facebook’s position is that user permission is not required to promote its user’s likes to those in that user’s circle, in a category it terms “sponsored stories.” Facebook contends that such information is newsworthy and exempted under California’s right-of-publicity statute. The company’s position is that its users constitute public figures.

California’s right-of-publicity statute is codified under Civil Code section 3344 which states as follows:

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

In the recent years, online harassment or cyberharassment has become an important issue. This is because the Internet has changed our lives on so many levels. Generally, the law prohibits harassment and our readers should consider taking certain precautions when being harassed.

Cyberharassment is different from cyberstalking because it does not involve a credible threat. Cyberharassment occurs when someone sends harassing email messages, instant messages, or posts entries simply to torment another person. Different jurisdictions have different approaches in addressing cyberharassment in codifying their laws. For example, some include language addressing electronic communications in general harassment statutes. However, some states have created stand-alone cyberharassment statutes.

California Penal Code section 653.2(a) states that, “[e]very person who, with intent to place another person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of the other person’s immediate family, by means of an electronic communication device, and without consent of the other person, and for the purpose of imminently causing that other person unwanted physical contact, injury, or harassment, by a third party, electronically distributes, publishes, e-mails, hyperlinks, or makes available for downloading, personal identifying information, including, but not limited to, a digital image of another person, or an electronic message of a harassing nature about another person, which would be likely to incite or produce that unlawful action, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in a county jail, by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment.

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

In California, the stalking laws are included under Section 646.9 of the Penal Code, which states that any person who willfully and maliciously, and repeatedly follows or harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety or that of an immediate family member is guilty of stalking. Stalking cases may include additional related charges such as: (1) Trespassing; (2) Vandalism; (3) Burglary; (4) Criminal Threats; and (5) Obscene, Threatening, or Annoying Phone Calls.

Please keep in mind that willfulness is a standard related to the culprit’s state of mind. For example, when the person is acting purposefully, then he/she has the “conscious object” of engaging in conduct and believes or hopes that the attendant circumstances exist. If the person is acting knowingly, then he/she is practically certain that his conduct will lead to the result. If the person is acting recklessly, then he/she is aware that the attendant circumstances exist, but nevertheless engages in the conduct that a “law-abiding person” would have refrained from. If the person acts negligently, then he/she is unaware of the attendant circumstances and the consequences of his conduct, but a “reasonable person” would have been aware. Finally, if the person acts with strict liability, then mental state is irrelevant and he/she is strictly liable.

In the last few years and with the emerging of the world wide web, a new kind of stalking has developed which is also called “cyber stalking.” This type of misconduct occurs when the violator utilizes the Internet, electronic mail (e-mail) or other communication devices to harass and stalk others. For example, it can occur by sending e-mails to the victim, impersonating another person in online chat rooms and e-mail messages, and disseminating lies in cyberspace. It is also important to note that the Internet is a cheap and efficient method for “cyber stalkers” to anonymously cause harm to their victims.

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

If you use email in your day-to-day business operations the CAN-SPAM Act is a law that sets the rules for commercial email. It also establishes the requirements for commercial messages, provides recipients the right to have the sender stop emailing them, and mentions the penalties for related violations.

The CAN-SPAM Act applies to bulk email and all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service,” including email that promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for business-to-business email which means all email. As an example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line is required to comply with the law.

Each violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000. Here are the CAN-SPAM Act’s main requirements:

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

In light of the circumstances, numerous states have enacted “cyberstalking” or “cyberharassment” laws or currently possess laws that specifically include electronic forms of communication within more traditional stalking or harassment laws. In addition, many states have enacted “cyberbullying” laws in reaction to issues related to protecting minors from online bullying or harassment.

Cyberstalking constitutes use of the world-wide-web (i.e., the Internet), electronic mail or other electronic communications to stalk. It generally refers to a pattern of threatening or malicious behaviors. It may be considered the most dangerous of the three types of Internet harassment, based on a posing credible threat of harm. Penalties range from misdemeanor to felony. See Cal. Civil Code § 1708.7, Cal. Penal Code § 646.9.

Cyberharassment is different from cyberstalking since it may not involve a credible threat. It usually pertains to threatening or harassing email messages, instant messages, or to blog entries or websites dedicated solely to tormenting a person. Some state legislatures have dealt with this issue by inserting provisions which address electronic communications in general harassment statutes, while others have created stand-alone cyberharassment statutes. See Cal. Penal Code §§ 422, 653.2, and 653m.

Continue Reading ›

Published on: | by

Samsung Electronics, the second largest maker of mobile phones, claims that Apple Inc. has infringed upon its patents since entering the mobile-phone market with the iPhone 3G, a lawyer for Samsung told a Dutch court as the Korean company seeks a ban on some Apple products in the Netherlands.

“Apple just entered the market in 2008 without taking care of the licenses,” Bas Berghuis van Woortman, a lawyer for Simmons & Simmons LLP who represents Samsung, said in The Hague court. “Apple is consciously, structurally infringing the 3G patents.”

The parties will be discussing settlement soon as this is yet another legal battle between two technology giants over intellectual property rights.

Published on: | by

In the recent years, politically-motivated hackers have made sensitive information available to bloggers and mainstream media at unprecedented rates. For example, Wikileaks released leaked Afghan war logs and government diplomatic cables. Anonymous individual hacked and released emails from the computer security firm HBGary. A college student gained access to and released emails from Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account. LulzSec hacked into and publicly released confidential data belonging to Sony and others. Most recently, the Antisec movement hacked into over 70 police departments and released confidential emails and other files.

A this time, some important questions to ask ourselves would be as follows:

1. What are some applicable legal issues when publishing information obtained by hackers?

Continue Reading ›