Duane Morris TechLaw

April 2, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Apps Gone Wild: Is There Anything They Can’t Do?

Once upon a time, I was known as Inspector Gadget. Why? Because I wore on my belt three different devices — a mobile phone, an iPod, and a Palm Pilot. The phone was only good for calls, the iPod could only play music, and the non-wireless Palm Pilot was simply a calendaring assistant.

I wondered then whether there could ever be convergence, such that at some point I only would need to carry around one device. Of course, that did happen, but the convergence occurred beyond my wildest dreams.

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March 19, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

FTC Issues New Advertising Guidelines For The Mobile Age

It has been ages in Internet time since the FTC provided advertising guidance in its “Dot Com Disclosures” release in 2000. Thirteen years later, cyber eons really, the FTC now has come up with new guidance in its “.com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising.”

This new guidance recognizes the exponentially increasing use of mobile devices and the consequences of their limited screen size, as well as the growing prevalence of social media advertising.

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March 12, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Google Transparency Reveals FBI’s Use Of National Security Letters

Google has posted a “Transparency Report” that provides a range of how many National Security Letters (NSLs) it has received and a range of how many users/accounts were specified in these NSLs each year since 2009. Of course, your first question may be: What is an NSL?

An NSL is a special search vehicle by which the FBI has the authority to demand the disclosure of customer records maintained by banks, Internet Service Providers, telephone companies and other entities. When this happens, these entities are prohibited from revealing to others their receipt of an NSL. There have been reports that the issuance of NSLs has expanded significantly since the Patriot Act increased the FBI’s power to issue them.

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March 11, 2013September 16, 2014 by Duane Morris

Your Life in Photos: Privacy and a New Kind of Camera

What if you could capture your entire life in photos? The New York Times reported that a Swedish company Memoto has developed a wearable camera that accomplishes just that. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/meet-memoto-the-lifelogging-camera/. This application goes way beyond Instagram.

Memoto’s website says: “The Memoto camera is a tiny camera and GPS that you clip on and wear. It’s an entirely new kind of digital camera with no controls. Instead, it automatically takes photos as you go. The Memoto app then seamlessly and effortlessly organizes them for you.”

Read more about the pros and cons of this new device at the New Media and Entertainment Law Blog.

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

Is Cyberwarfare Already Happening?

Are international governments already engaging in cyberwarfare by hacking into each other’s computer systems? According to recent Reuters articles, at a minimum, a war of words is brewing suggesting that this already is the case.

First, it is reported that via a flaw in Adobe software, hackers were able to target government computer systems in Europe. Apparently, the systems were not actually compromised, but the specifics of the attack are being shared with NATO member states in an effort to remain ready for potential further attacks.

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February 26, 2013September 12, 2014 by Duane Morris

A Copyright Alert about a Copyright Alert: Internet Service Providers Undertake a New Program

It’s good to be an Internet Service Provider. While content owners worry about piracy and erosion of copyright, and thus revenue, ISP’s (the companies that provide us with Internet access) do not have substantial copyright worries. They are considered, in effect, common carriers and as a result are generally no more liable for copyright infringement by its customers than the telephone company would be liable if you slander someone during a phone call. The concern is the copyright misbehavior of ISP customers, namely people like us.

Click here to read Mark Fischer’s blog entry on ISP’s and copyright issues.

February 20, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

President Obama’s Executive Order: 5 Ways To Improve Cybersecurity

Following his recent State of the Union address, President Obama issued an Executive Order entitled “Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity.”

The Policy section of the Executive Order notes that repeated cyber intrusions into critical infrastructure demand improved cybersecurity. This section correctly points out that the threat to critical infrastructure “continues to grow and represents one of the most serious national security challenges we must confront.”

Indeed, it is stated that the “national and economic security of the United States depends on the reliable functioning of the Nation’s critical infrastructure in the face of such threats.”

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February 12, 2013July 18, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Hackers Strike Again: Federal Reserve and Ex-President Bush Targeted

Are hackers still out there causing mischief on the Internet? You bet! Indeed, our own Federal Reserve reported that one of its internal websites had been breached by hackers last week, according to Reuters.

The Reuters article notes that this follows an assertion that hackers associated with the activist group Anonymous had gained access to personal data relating to more than 4,000 bank executives. That data was then posted on the Internet.

A statement by a Federal Reserve spokeswoman stated that information had been obtained by “exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product.”

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

The Legal Ethics of Social Media and the Cloud

Social media no longer is the province of only those who are college-aged or younger. Indeed, businesses of all types now seek to capitalize on social media connections, and law firms are no exception. Many firms now have their own Facebook pages, for example, and many lawyers are seeking to attract attention through a variety of other social media sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter. Also, more and more, information is being stored in the cloud.

Notwithstanding this gravitational pull toward clouds and social media, lawyers need to remain mindful of ethical and practical constraints, so that they do not feel more pain than joy in this context.

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January 28, 2013September 12, 2014 by Duane Morris

Want to “Unlock” That New Mobile Phone? The Rules Have Changed.

It’s a little-known fact that the Librarian of Congress has the power to determine if you can “unlock” your mobile phone/PDA in order to change the telephone/ISP service accessible on the device. You might not think a librarian could be that powerful, but it’s the law.

Learn more about the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) and the Librarian of Congress’ role in unlocking mobile phones in this blog entry from partner Mark Fischer on the New Media and Entertainment Law Blog.