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The Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2010

To help protect personal information on the Internet and elsewhere, California enacted seminal legislation in 2000, which was significantly strengthened with the passage of SB 1386 in 2002. Since then, other states have enacted similar legislation.

State activity, however, may be preempted by proposed federal legislation. On August 5, 2010, S. 3742, the Data Security and Breach Notification Act of 2010 (the “Act”), the most recent federal effort to preempt state laws on the subject, was introduced by Sen. Mark Pryor (D,AeeArk), chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance, and co-sponsored by Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D,AeeW.Va.), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. Less protective of consumers than California law, among other things, the Act:

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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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The Internet has made life easier in so many ways, including the ability to shop and conduct financial transactions online. Of course, just like in the world of bricks and mortar, criminals also lurk in Cyberspace, seeking to steal identities, data and money. While Cyber criminals, of course, are responsible as a matter of criminal and civil law for their own wrongdoing, the question arises as to whether others also can be deemed responsible for the harm suffered as a result of this illegal conduct.

The recent case of Patco Construction Company, Inc. v. People’s United Bank d/b/a Ocean Bank, filed in state court in Maine, tees up this very question for resolution.

Patco alleges that it has been a customer of Ocean Bank. Patco asserts that Ocean Bank failed to fulfill “ones of its most basic obligations, namely, to protect its customers’ funds against theft.”

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Our nation can be threatened not only by physical attacks on terra firma, but also in Cyberspace. Indeed, Cyber attacks could threaten all sorts of mission critical systems.

For this reason, aides to Senator Jay Rockefeller reportedly have been working recently on a revised draft Senate bill that would give the President broad powers in the event of a Cybersecurity emergency, and that apparently would go so far as allowing the President to temporarily seize control over computer networks in the private sector.

This power is akin to the power President Bush exerted when he grounded commercial aircraft in the wake of the September 11, 2001 World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, according to a reported Senate source.

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Associated Press: India may ask Google and Skype for greater access to encrypted information once it resolves security concerns with BlackBerrys, which are now under threat of a ban, according to a government document and two people familiar with the discussions.

The 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, which were coordinated with satellite and cell phones, helped prompt a sweeping security review of telecommunications ahead of the Commonwealth Games, to be held in New Delhi in October.

On July 12, officials from India’s Department of Telecommunications met with representatives of three telecom service provider groups to discuss interception and monitoring of encrypted communications by security agencies.

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Here’s a routine the online shopper knows well. Skim a book, try on a watch or compare refrigerators at a local store.

Then head home with the specs in hand and find the item on the Internet,—cheaper, and often with no state sales tax. Of course, you buy it for less,—at times, a lot less.

Dueling pieces of legislation, both of which were introduced in Congress in July, address the issue of whether to close the loophole that allows online shoppers in most states to avoid paying sales tax.

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WASHINGTON ,— Invasion of privacy in the Internet age. Expanding the reach of law enforcement to snoop on e-mail traffic or on Web surfing. Those are among the criticisms being aimed at the FBI as it tries to update a key surveillance law.

With its proposed amendment, is the Obama administration merely clarifying a statute or expanding it? Only time and a suddenly on guard Congress will tell.

Federal law requires communications providers to produce records in counterintelligence investigations to the FBI, which doesn’t need a judge’s approval and court order to get them.

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Facebook Inc. will probably put off its initial public offering until 2012, giving Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg more time to gain users and boost sales, three people familiar with the matter said.

Facebook would benefit from another year of growth absent the added scrutiny that comes with a public listing, instead of holding an IPO in 2011 as investors speculated, said the people, who asked not to be identified because Facebook doesn’t discuss share-sale plans. Still, Zuckerberg, who holds board control, could push for a stock sale at any time, they said.

Waiting lets Zuckerberg, 26, hone the skills needed to steer a company that issues quarterly results while facing criticism on such matters as user privacy. Facebook, valued at $24.9 billion, would use the time to propel its user base beyond the 500 million mark reached this month and add to sales that two of the people said may double to at least $1.4 billion in 2010 from $700 million to $800 million last year.

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MUMBAI, India (AP) – It looks like an iPad, only it’s 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011.

If the government can find a manufacturer, the Linux operating system-based computer would be the latest in a string of “world’s cheapest” innovations to hit the market out of India, which is home to the 100,000 rupee ($2,127) compact Nano car, the 749 rupees ($16) water purifier and the $2,000 open-heart surgery.

The tablet can be used for functions like word processing, web browsing and video-conferencing. It has a solar power option too – important for India’s energy-starved hinterlands – though that add-on costs extra.

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WikiLeaks’ chief claims his organization doesn’t know who sent it some 91,000 secret U.S. military documents, telling journalists that the website is set up to hide the source of its data from those who receive it.

Editor-in-chief Julian Assange says the added layer of secrecy helps protect the site’s sources from spy agencies and hostile corporations. He acknowledged that the site’s anonymous submissions raised concerns about the authenticity of the material, but said the site has not yet been fooled by a bogus document.

Assange made the claim in a lengthy hour talk before London’s Frontline Club late Tuesday, in which he outlined the workings of WikiLeaks and defended its mission.

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