Duane Morris TechLaw

November 26, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Happy LegalTechGiving

It is that time of year again. Soon, we will have turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams, and pumpkin pie on our plates, if we are fortunate. But more importantly, it is a time to reflect with gratitude on those aspects of our lives for which we are thankful.

Things to Be Thankful For

Of course, toward the top of the list, assuming we have such luck, we should be thankful for our health, family, friends, loved ones, home, and work.

We also can be grateful for the fact that we live in a country that strives to be governed by the rule of law. We do not sanction the resolution of disputes by violence and armed conflict. Instead, we allow parties through their lawyers to present their cases for decisions of law by judges and findings of facts by juries.

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November 5, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

President Obama’s Twitter Account Hacked

Hacking attacks have been part of the Internet landscape, unfortunately, since the dawn of Cyberspace. Nevertheless, you might think that certain sites are sufficiently important and secure that they are immune to the effects of a hack attack.

But that is not necessarily the case. News accounts periodically report on hack attacks wreaking havoc on large commercial websites. And now even President Obama, the leader of the free world, is bearing the brunt of some recent hack attacks.

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October 29, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Illinois’ “Amazon Tax” Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Should consumers be able to avoid paying state sales tax simply because they make purchases on the Internet?

Some legislators think not, believing that state coffers should not be deprived of sales tax revenue from online purchases. Consequently, they have enacted some laws designed to capture such revenue.

However, according to the Chicago Tribune, a recent law passed in the Land of Lincoln attempting to tax online purchases was just ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court.

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October 15, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

The Price Tag for Cyber Crime Continues to Increase

Cyber crime is not new. And despite grappling with it now for years, the cost of cyber crime continues to increase. This has been made plain by the 2013 Cost of Cyber Crime Study by the Ponemon Institute that was sponsored by Hewlett-Packard.

What do we learn from this study? Well, for starters, the annual cost of cyber crime is a staggering $11.56 million per U.S. organization. This represents a 26 percent increase from the $8.9 million figure from last year.

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October 8, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

California Criminalizes “Revenge Porn”

In my most recent blog, I reported on the phenomenon of “revenge porn,” the unfortunate practice by former lovers, boyfriends, and husbands of posting nude and sexual photos and videos of women with whom they had been intimate.

Now, according to Reuters, California Gov. Jerry Brown has just signed a unique state law that criminalizes revenge porn.

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October 1, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Down With Revenge Porn Sites

Smartphones now provide the ability for users impulsively to take photographs and videos of life as it happens. And lovers in the midst of passion at times record their amorous activities with the intent of keeping revealing photos and videos private. What happens, though, when love dies, but the photos and videos remain? Do they stay private?

Unfortunately, often times the answer is “no.”

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September 17, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

FTC Investigates Facebook’s Proposed Privacy Policies

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an inquiry to determine whether Facebook’s recently announced privacy policies violate an agreement to obtain express consent before revealing users’ private information to new viewers.

According to The New York Times, the FTC claims Facebook’s new policies require users to provide Facebook with broad permission to utilize their personal information in advertising. Facebook has fired back, stating that this requirement comes from a class action settlement to users who were unhappy that their names and images were used in Facebook ads to shill products to their friends.

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September 10, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Can You Really Remain Anonymous On The Internet?

In the early days of the Internet, an editorial cartoon from The New Yorker depicted a dog in front of a computer monitor and keyboard with a caption that read “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” The point was that people could behave however they liked online without others knowing their true identity.

But is that really true? Au contraire my canine friends.

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September 3, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

The Low-Tech U.S. Supreme Court

Gone are the days of non-electronic, hard-copy communications, right? Not so fast! According to The Associated Press, the Justices of the United States Supreme Court are still very low-tech — almost to the point of being no-tech.

When communicating with each other about pending cases under consideration, the Justices tend to send each other formal memoranda printed on ivory paper. This was revealed by Justice Elena Kagan during an interview by Ted Widmer, a Brown University historian and librarian.

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