The CDA, cyber-racketeers, the DMCA, and changes to Section 230 by Domingo Rivera
It has been quite a while since my previous post. I have been extremely busy assisting my clients with Internet
legal matters. Internet defamation continues to affect the reputation of
businesses and professionals as former customers, patients, and others who know
that they do not have valid legal claims assert their false and frivolous
complaints in blogs, forums and smear sites. Even competitors are now
posing as unsatisfied consumers in order to post false and ...<< MORE >>
Cease and Desist Letters: Balancing the Punishment for Bad Faith Against the Punishment for Bad Letters
Internet Bloggers Beware: Ohio Court Lands Another Blow Against Those Engaging in Internet Defamation
I recently commented on the impact of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decisionlimiting the protections afforded to service providers under the Communications Decency Act. In that case, the court refused to provide immunity to website owners who encourage unlawful or defamatory statements. Less than a month later, the Ohio Court of Appeals also refused to protect the “interests” of bloggers and others who engage in online defamatory statements. The Ninth Circuit’s message was that if you encourage unlawful conduct, the CDA will not provide you with unwarranted solace. The Ohio Court ...
<< MORE >>Internet Defamation Law - Website owners and bloggers beware - The latest interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
Website operators and web log (blog) owners beware - If you encourage illegal content or design your website to require users to input illegal content, you may not be ...<< MORE >>
Internet Copyright Infringement - Courts Weigh-In
Internet copyright infringement decisions are far from uniform. Quite to the contrary, Internet law is one of the least predictable areas of law. However, the decisions of ...<< MORE >>
Our Interview With the BBC
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Peer to Peer (P2P) software is great!... until the SWAT team arrives
P2P software frequently becomes a tool for copyright infringement, computer hacking, child pornography, and similar actionable conduct. Often, this conduct results in civil and/or criminal prosecution. Now, we are not discussing whether P2P software is itself a problem. There is plenty of case law discussing whether the software can be used for non-infringing uses and whether infringement is the primary ...<< MORE >>
Misquoted!
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Hidden System Files May Support Criminal Prosecution
It took dedication and patience to explain to the court the inner workings of hidden files such as thumbs.db. Without the ability to effectively describe the operation of the Windows XP Operating System it would have been impossible to obtain a favorable outcome for our client. Without this specialized technical ...<< MORE >>
Computer Hacking and Unauthorized Access to Computer Networks: Curiosity Can Kill the Cat
If you are accused of computer hacking or unauthorized access to a computer network a cyber crime and hacking our computer hacking defense attorneys understand ...<< MORE >>
The importance of having a computer expert as your Internet cyber trial attorney
Case in point, we recently completed a long and complex cyber crime trial. We were fully equipped to expertly handle the criminal defense aspects of the case, we knew the law, how to cross-examine witnesses, and how to establish reasonable doubt. However, during the trial, it was our technical expertise what allowed us ...<< MORE >>
Microsoft Corporation Sues a Dentist for Trademark Infringement and Cybersquatting
Microsoft has filed a trademark infringement suit against a California dentist, Dr. Saed Said, who has registered more than 40 Internet domains with names similar to Microsoft’s products or brands, including: aMicrosoftShop.com, aMicrosoftStore.com, XboxOutlet.info and XboxMarket.mobi.
Microsoft claims that Dr. Said operates the domains with the intent to divert Internet surfers looking for Microsoft’s products. "The person has been diverted from the Microsoft Web site he or she was seeking to visit, and Microsoft has lost the ...<< MORE >>
Internet Solicitation of a Minor - Police Entrapment in the Internet Age
At this point, the psychology of Internet chatting comes in. Only a few subjects will actually attempt to meet this "minor." The large majority of chatters have no ...<< MORE >>
Internet Defamation can cost you.... to the tune of $11.3 M
The defendant in that case was not represented by counsel at the time the verdict was issued. Although it appears that in this case, the Defendant was affected by Hurricane Katrina in a manner that affected her ability to defend ...<< MORE >>
Single mother ordered to pay $222,000 in Internet copyright infringement damages
This judgment can potentially shake up the way the P2P copyright infringement litigation game is played. The defense had some questionable moves, or lack thereof. Of note is that the defense relied almost exclusively on the theory that some hacker might have used Ms. Thomas' usual user
name and her computer ...<< MORE >>
ICANN fails to pass domain name WHOIS registry privacy reforms
Businesses, law enforcement, and especially Intellectual Property and Internet Lawyers regularly utilize the domain names WHOIS registry to identify cybersquatters, spammers, phishers, trademark infringers, copyright infringers, and others. However, the WHOIS registry is also open to abuse and ...<< MORE >>
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania helps keep the DMCA and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act from continuing to be misused.
Healthcare Advocates Inc. v. Harding Earley Follmer & Frailey: The Eastern District of Pennsylvania helps the DMCA and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act from continuing to be misused.
The DMCA and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act are two of the most widely misused Internet related laws. From doctors trying to use the DMCA to shut down a website containing photos of the website owner’s body portraying potential medical malpractice to websites containing “Terms of Use” which prohibit competitors from ...<< MORE >>
Website development contracts: The “handshake deal” can cost you.
Under U.S. copyright laws, the developer of a website owns the intellectual property and copyrightable elements of the website. The copyrightable elements of a website include the text, graphics, scripts, code, and the “look and feel.” Unless there is a contract to the contrary, the website developer’s client only obtains a non-exclusive license to utilize the intellectual property that it paid to develop. Even the copyright notice on the client’s website applies only to the contents that were developed by the client and not to the contents that were created by the developer.
This means that under the default scenario, ...<< MORE >>
Your website’s Privacy Policy: Draft carefully and always abide by it.
Almost every e-Commerce website collects personal identifiable information from its users. Personal identifiable information includes name, address, e-mail address, phone number, social security number, date of birth, age, gender, income, occupation, browsing patterns, etc. Many websites have a posted privacy policy explaining what information is collected from the users of the website and how the information is used.
Once a company posts a privacy policy on its website, it will be held legally liable for its failure to abide by the policy. For example, Geocities’ website contained the statement “we will never give your information to anyone without ...<< MORE >>
Cybercrime basics...
The term “Cybercrime” is broadly defined to include any criminal activity committed on the internet. Almost everyone has at least a basic understanding about online identity theft, probably the most common cybercrime. However, there appears to be considerable confusion regarding some of the other basic cybercrimes and their definitions. I recently visited the website of a firm where the terms phishing and spoofing were incorrectly used interchangeably!
Some of the most common cybercrimes are:
Email spoofing – The forgery of an e-mail header in a manner that the message appears to have originated from somewhere other ...<< MORE >>