Duane Morris TechLaw

March 28, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Online Dating Sites Vow To Protect Users From Sex Predators

According to press reports, online dating websites eHarmony, Match.com and Sparks Networks have entered into a joint statement of business principles to protect users from sexual predators and to help prevent identity theft and other scams. California Attorney General Kamala Harris followed up on this development by stating that “consumers should be able to use websites without fear of being scammed or targeted,” in apparent recognition that a woman was assaulted on a date that came about through an online dating site.

The companies reportedly have agreed to use national sex-offender registries to check on subscribers, to quickly respond to reported abuses, and to give Internet safety guidance to members. The dating sites will also provide reports of suspected criminal activity to the Attorney General’s office.

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March 26, 2012September 11, 2014 by Sandra A. Jeskie

FTC Released its Final Report Today on Best Practices for Businesses to Protect Consumer Privacy

Today, the Federal Trade Commission released its final report titled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: Recommendations For Businesses and Policymakers.” http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/03/privacyframework.shtm

The report details best practices for businesses to protect the privacy of consumers. Recognizing the burden on small businesses, the FTC says that the framework should not apply to companies that collect and do not transfer only non-sensitive data from fewer than 5,000 consumers a year.

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March 20, 2012September 11, 2014 by Sandra A. Jeskie

E-discovery Taxation Costs Slashed by the 3rd Circuit

Previously, we reported that a federal court in the Western District of Pennsylvania held that the two prevailing defendants may recover more than $365,000 in e-discovery costs because such costs are the modern-day equivalent of duplication costs. That decision has now been vacated and remanded back to the District Court to re-tax costs. According to the panel, only the scanning of hard copy documents, the conversion of native file to TIFF and the transfer of VHS tapes to DVD involved taxable “copying” costs, which are recoverable.

March 13, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Domain Name Disputes Set All-Time Record

One might think that as the Internet matures, domain name disputes might dissipate. Not so!

Indeed, an all-time record 2,764 cybersquatting cases pertaining to 4,781 domain names were filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (WIPO) in 2011.

These filings were made in accordance with procedures based on the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) and represent an increase of 2.5% and 9.4%, respectively, above previous record levels in 2010 and 2009.

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March 6, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Landmark E-Discovery Ruling Approves Computer-Assisted ESI Review

It’s happened: In a landmark e-discovery ruling, a federal judge has explicitly approved of computer-assisted review, also known as predictive coding (the use of sophisticated algorithms to enable a computer to determine relevance based on training by a human reviewer), to search for potentially responsive electronically stored information, or ESI.

Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck, of the Southern District of New York, concluded “that computer-assisted review is an acceptable way to search for relevant ESI in appropriate cases” in Monique Da Silva Moore, et al. v. Publicis Groupe & MSL Group, a gender-discrimination case.

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February 14, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Is Your Company At Risk For A Security Breach?

Business want to know whether they are potential targets for security breaches, and if so, they seek to identify the types of electric records that may be at risk.

The Trustwave 2012 Global Security Report sheds some light on these concerns by identifying top data-security risk areas. Highlights of the report include the following findings:

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February 8, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Don’t Fall Prey To Facebook “Timeline” Scams

You may be either “pro” or “con” when it comes to Facebook’s new Timeline feature. If you are in the “con” category, you may wish for a solution that will cause the service to revert back to how it was before it changed. But beware: In so doing, you could become the victim of a scam.

Indeed, ever since Facebook introduced Timeline, a variety of fraudulent Internet postings have cropped up, proclaiming they can restore your profile to its original pre-Timeline state.

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February 1, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

FBI’s Social Media Monitoring Plan Must Balance Privacy, Security

A few weeks ago this blog pointed out that the Department of Homeland Security’s command center regularly monitors social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, popular sites like Hulu, controversial sites including WikiLeaks, and news and commentary sites like The Huffington Post and Drudge Report, according to a government document.

Now, there is an indication that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is developing a web application that will have the ability to monitor social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Such an application supposedly will give the FBI intelligence about potential security threats.

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January 26, 2012July 19, 2016 by Eric J. Sinrod

Steve Jobs Action Figure Will Not Come To Market

There is little doubt that Steve Jobs was at the forefront of the tech revolution. He was an innovator in the realms of computers, music, film and handheld devices. His passing in late 2011 led many to consider the incredible impact he had on modern society. A number of articles and books have covered the life and times of Mr. Jobs. But what about the creation of a Steve Jobs action figure?

Earlier this month, the head of In Icons, a company based in Hong Kong, announced the company was producing a Steve Jobs doll. The doll was to closely resemble Mr. Jobs, with his closely cropped beard, jeans, a dark turtleneck shirt and frameless spectacles.

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

Is Homeland Security Watching You Online?

Are George Orwell’s fears of a governmental “Big Brother” from his novel 1984 coming true now? Well, let’s hope not, but read on.

Recent press has reported on a particular government document: a Privacy Compliance Review issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in late 2011. The document reveals that the DHS command center regularly monitors social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, popular sites like Hulu, controversial sites including WikiLeaks, and news and commentary sites like Drudge Report and The Huffington Post.

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