Duane Morris TechLaw

April 24, 2014May 20, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Cyber Insurance Becoming a Necessity for Online Businesses

This blog for years has highlighted the potential risks and liabilities presented by communications and activities on the Internet. The Internet provides the possibility of privacy violations, security breaches, intellectual property disputes, defamation, hack attacks, and even cyber warfare, among other threats.

So what should companies do to be as safe as possible as they conduct business over the Internet?

In addition to implementing security and protective measures, companies more and more are turning to cyber insurance policies in an effort to protect their exposure to Internet risks.

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April 16, 2014May 20, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

UN Homicide Report Shows the World Is Not a Safe Place

Recently, this blog has touched on how warfare between nations in the digital era includes cyberattacks. And now, just as we already are feeling less than safe, the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (the UNODC) has released some homicide statistics that can make us feel even more vulnerable.

According to the UNODC study, as many as 437,000 people were murdered around the world in 2012 alone. Here’s what else the study found:

Of all of the world’s homicide victims, almost 80 percent were men; 95 percent of the perpetrators were also men.

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April 9, 2014May 20, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Is Cyberwar Happening Right Now in Ukraine?

This blog recently discussed whether international mechanisms exist to award damages caused by potential cyberwars. And now it appears that a cyberwar actually is taking place with respect to Ukraine.

Press accounts have been rampant in terms of the turmoil over Crimea, Russia, and Ukraine. And while there have been possible threats of physical force, there also have been reports of disruption of mobile communications as a result of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that 42 cyberattacks hit Ukrainian government websites during Crimea’s vote to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. On top of that, there reportedly has been defacement of some Ukrainian state-run news websites and social media outlets, with pro-Russian propaganda replacing their original content.

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April 2, 2014May 20, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

WTO Nixes China’s Restrictions on Rare Earth Exports

In early 2012, the United States sought a World Trade Organization (WTO) consultation regarding China’s restrictions on the export of tungsten and molybdenum — forms of “rare earths.” These rare earths are raw materials that are used in the production of some electronics products. Subsequently, the European Union, Japan and Canada requested to join the consultation. China then accepted the request for a WTO consultation.

In support of the restrictions, China argued that they are related to the conservation of exhaustible natural resources. China also asserted that they are needed to reduce mining pollution.

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March 19, 2014May 20, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

After Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law, Countries Suspend Aid

Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni recently signed legislation that severely punishes homosexuality in his country. Indeed, the new law provides for potential life in jail for gay sex — a fact that the bill’s sponsor touted on his Facebook page after Museveni signed it into law, the Los Angeles Times reports.

This legal development has led to an international uproar. Now some countries — including the United States — are taking retaliatory action.

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March 12, 2014May 20, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

What’s Up With Facebook’s Acquisition of WhatsApp?

WhatsApp, a messaging service that is often used for international texting and other services, is about to be gobbled up by Facebook, right?

Well, that is Facebook’s plan. Indeed, Facebook intends to fork over a hefty $19 billion to acquire WhatsApp. However, that is not the end of the story.

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March 5, 2014July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Bill Would Shine More Light on Gov’t Activities Under FOIA

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted decades ago to enable the citizenry the opportunity to monitor governmental affairs. As FOIA precedent has held, the public is entitled to find out and know “what the government is up to.” Indeed, upon request, the government is required to provide information about its activities unless prohibited by a narrow statutory exemption or otherwise prevented by law.

Of course, statutory aspirations and actual production of information in practice are not always in harmony. There are times when government information is not produced within the timelines set forth in FOIA. Other times, information is not produced at all; for example, when the government is perceived to give too wide an interpretation on the applicability of a statutory exemption. Moreover, different administrations have different views on how open government should be when it comes to disclosing information under FOIA.

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February 18, 2014July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Is Facebook a Marriage Killer?

If you are married, you may wish to pause and consider how you behave on Facebook and other social media outlets. Why? Because as much as one-third of divorce filings in 2011 included the word “Facebook” within them, according to a report by ABCNews.com. And the numbers may be even higher a few years later.

On top of that, the article states that more than 80 percent of divorce attorneys report that social networking behavior is finding its way into divorce proceedings.

Facebook and other social media posts can be used to insinuate bad parenting, depending on the behavior displayed. They also can be referred to in an effort to suggest infidelity.

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February 11, 2014July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Talking Turkey: Is New Internet Law a Danger to Democracy?

Here in the United States, we are accustomed to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of our Constitution.

Indeed, this freedom has been interpreted by the courts to include the freedom to speak freely on the Internet, even anonymously. (However, if such speech causes harm, it is possible that anonymity will be unmasked so that the victim of the speech can seek legal redress).

Unfortunately, other countries are not as open in terms of safeguarding the ability of people to speak their minds — and in this case, Turkey is among them.

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February 5, 2014July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Hague Court Lifts Block on The Pirate Bay for 2 ISPs

A block on the website The Pirate Bay has been partially lifted by the Court of Appeal in The Hague, according to ZDNet. The Court of Appeal came to this result, reasoning that the block was disproportionate for two particular Internet Service Providers and also because it generally was not effective.

The Pirate Bay, as a search engine, can locate tiny information files known as torrents that implement content downloading on the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file-sharing system. This can enable the sharing of pirated music, movies, and software.

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