Eric J. Sinrod – Page 24 – Duane Morris TechLaw

December 19, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Tech Companies Seek More Airwaves As Christmas Present

With Christmas coming, many of us are thinking about smartphones and tablet computers as gifts for our loved ones and even ourselves. But we do not tend to think about the airwaves needed for those devices to receive signals and download data.

Not to worry, though: Your technology companies are making the case to Congress that additional airwaves need to be opened up.

Indeed, a coalition of tech companies forwarded a letter to certain members of Congress last week in an effort to gain greater access to airwaves, according to The Hill’s Hillicon Valley blog. Signatories to the letter included Apple, Cisco, Samsung, RIM, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and Alcatel-Lucent.

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December 11, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Tumblr Comes Tumbling Down During Cyberattack

Tumblr is a Website where users can share photos, music, videos, quotes and posts, all of which can be customized with different colors and themes.

On its “About” page, Tumblr boldly suggests that users “follow the world’s creators.” With only 128 employees, Tumblr boasts 83.7 million blogs, 37.4 billion posts and a whopping 18.1 billion monthly page views.

So, all is well and good in Tumblr land, right? Perhaps most of the time. However, last week a worm struck Tumblr and infected some of the most widely read blogs, including those of CNET, Reuters and USA Today, as reported by CNET.

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December 5, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Congressman On Reddit Proposes Moratorium On Internet Laws

Perhaps concerned about the potential for further iterations of anti-piracy laws, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) has proposed on Reddit legislation called the Internet American Moratorium Act (IAMA). The IAMA would seek to put an end to further Internet legislation for two years.

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November 13, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

San Francisco Passes Prop E To Benefit Of Startups

Tax reform can and does happen at the ballot box. Indeed, startup companies in San Francisco should soon feel the benefit of the recent passage of the city’s Proposition E.

Proposition E implements a tax on gross receipts, phasing out San Francisco’s prior payroll tax. This will be very beneficial for startup companies that have paid staff but have yet to earn much revenue.

Furthermore, given that business tax trails only property tax for bringing in dollars to the city of San Francisco, by taxing gross receipts instead of payroll, there will likely be more regularity and less fluctuation in terms of dollars flowing into city coffers.

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November 6, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Cyberspace Is The New Battlefield

We usually think of the Internet as a place where we can obtain information, communicate with others, and engage in various business and personal activities.

However, is it also a new battlefield?

Yes, according to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Indeed, as reported by Reuters, he maintains that while hackers have already attacked financial institutions, they also have the capability to strike mission-critical domestic power grids and government systems.

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October 18, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Hackers Increasingly Target Colleges, Universities

All sorts of businesses and organizations are potentially vulnerable to hackers. Educational institutions are no exception, as highlighted by a recent example involving Northwest Florida State College.

One or more hackers accessed a folder on the school’s main server from May through September, according to a memo from the College’s President to all employees. The folder contained multiple files.

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October 9, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Put Down Your Devices and Look Around, People

I believe that I have the world’s greatest commute. I board the ferry at Larkspur Landing in Marin County, California and travel thirty minutes across the water to the Ferry Building in downtown San Francisco.

Friday morning was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, the sky was crystal clear with the moon still hanging high, and the water was sparkling.

From the ferry ride, there were gorgeous views of Mount Tamalpais, Angel Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the Bay Bridge, San Francisco, as well as Berkeley and a bit of Oakland.

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October 3, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Switching to E-Books Would Save Our Children’s Backs

It is amazing that in this day and age we still see students hauling around backpacks full of heavy school textbooks. This is true not only for college and high schools students, but also for much younger students in middle school and elementary school.

With the technology available such that many voluminous books can be loaded electronically onto an electronic book reader, a laptop, an iPad, or even a PDA, there seems no reason why kids should have to shoulder the heavy weight of books.

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September 27, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

How Many Millions of Children are on Facebook?

Many web sites prohibit children under the age of 13. It’s not necessary out of altruism, but because the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) contains various provisions and requirements concerning special treatment that must be accorded to the children.

The statute is designed to protect young children from web sites that might seek to exert influence over them by obtaining personal data and marketing to them. Indeed, web sites are required to get verifiable parental consent before allowing such children to participate and they must follow certain rules to safeguard their privacy.

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September 19, 2012July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

The Cost of Cybercrime: 1.5 Million Victims Every Day

Make no mistake, Cybercrime is real and its impact is huge. Indeed, a recent Norton Cybercrime report by Symantec provides some fairly startling statistics.

For example, there are 1.5 million Cybercrime victims on a daily basis – that is 18 victims per second. There are 556 million such victims per year – in excess of the European Union total population.

Two-thirds of online adults already have been Cybercrime victims at some point in their lives, and 46% of online adults have been victims within the past year.

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