My Blog About Cyber Laws

Internet "gripe" sites have become very popular over the last three or four years, and they have taken many different forms. Some of these sites have offered students an opportunity to share random thoughts. Others have turned into a bashing forum for people to light into other people. Others still allow consumers to gripe about different businesses. Though it turns out these sites are completely legal, there are some reasons to take pause if you are posting on them. The law provides certain protections for the owners of these sites, but those protections are not ironclad. This is especially true in the changing world where internet laws are under siege.

Laws designed to shield site owners

One of the nice things about today's internet law is that site owners are relatively insulated from litigation. They have a "shield", so to speak, since the law does not allow for prosecution on the basis of simply providing a forum. The way these sites get away with this is relatively simple. They just put out the bulletin board and allow people to post thoughts on it. This puts the responsibility on the individuals doing the posting, since the law does not impute liability onto the site owner in most circumstances. Though many have tried, it is very difficult to get to a site owner based upon these principles.

Coming after site posters

Just because the site is insulated does not mean that individual posters are free to post what they want. Even anonymous posters can be held liable for their words if those words are defamatory to other people. In many instances, subpoenas have been served on the site, requiring the site owners to give up IP addresses on users. This can turn ugly for people who have been posting false statements, as they can be sued for libel as a result of their words.

Site owners and encouraging misconduct

Gripe sites have run into some trouble on the basis of "encouraging" certain kinds of postings. Though they are not civilly liable for defamation on the face, these individual site owners can be implicated if they encourage certain postings. This is where the law gets a bit murky, so site owners have to be very careful in how they craft their sites. Though they are not required to take down postings and they are not generally responsible for all defamation that takes place there, a site owner can have some liability if he is not careful.

The changing nature of internet law

Another thing to note is that the internet law is changing. The US Supreme Court and other federal courts are still relatively new to the proceedings and they are still learning how to apply the law. There is always a chance that the law could shift with judicial interpretation changing in time. This is something that site owners and internet posters alike must be aware of if they plan to test the difficult waters of internet gripe and borderline defamation.

I am an Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer and an Internet Law Attorney

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The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is most closely associated with criminal prosecutions brought by the Department of Justice. But the CFAA also provides for a civil cause of action for anyone who suffers damage or loss because of a violation of the statute. In light of the expansive reading that some courts have given to the law, victimized companies should give consideration to taking the civil route. A civil lawsuit gives the wronged party more control and may provide a quicker fix. By means of such a lawsuit, the victim can retrieve stolen data, enjoin illegal access to data, and even get compensatory damages for the theft and destruction of data.

The CFAA applies to all companies and all computers that are connected to the Internet. Potentially, there are multiple, distinct types of violation of the statute that could support a civil action. On a recurring issue in such cases- whether the defendant had authorization for his actions; the courts look at several factors:

-whether the defendant was an agent of the plaintiff's, with particular powers;

-whether an employment contract, such as may have been embodied in company rules and policies, was breached; and

-whether the defendant's use of the computer exceeded normal use that was expected by the plaintiff.

In recent court decisions, a real estate business was allowed to proceed with a civil action against a former employee for violations of the CFAA. In violation of his employment contract, the employee decided to quit and start a competing business. Before he returned the company's laptop, he deleted all of the data in it, including data that would have revealed his misconduct. Knowing that "deleted" filed can be retrieved, he erased the incriminating data by loading into the laptop a secure erasure program.

All of this, if proven in court, violated the CFAA as "transmission" of a program that damaged the computer (defined to include files in the computer), and as intentionally accessing the computer without authorization. Although the employee had not yet left his job when he installed the program, by law any authorization he might have had evaporated as soon as he violated the duty of loyalty to his employer.

In another case brought under the CFAA, a tour company secured an injunction against a competing company run by one of its former employees. The ex employee improperly used confidential information from his former employer to enable his new company to glean pricing data from his former employer's website, so that his new enterprise could effectively undercut those prices.

Although the website was open to anyone, the unauthorized use of the confidential information, combined with the use of a "scraper" software program, violated the CFAA. On top of the injunction, the plaintiff could recover, as compensable "loss" under the CFAA, the thousands of dollars it had paid in computer consultant fees for the diagnostic work after the defendant's conduct was discovered.

Copyright (c) 2011 Scott Carlyon

Scott Carlyon founded The Law Office of R. Scott Carlyon, P.C. in 1992. The firm has served its clients primarily in the areas of Real Estate Law, Estate Planning, Wealth Preservation, Probate, Businesses Law, and Litigation related to these areas of law; practicing in the state and federal courts of Bexar County, Tx. Learn more at http://www.BusinessLegalCounselor.com

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In the past, people obtained legal forms only through attorneys, public notaries and government offices. In our time and age, legal documents became very accessible on the internet. This provides the consumer with the ease, convenience and inexpensive access to the forms form the comfort of one's home or office computer.

Depending on the forms, some forms can be obtained from government offices and now websites as in the case of court related forms. These forms can usually be obtained at no cost. Other forms such as business forms can be obtained from attorneys websites, law firms websites and business legal websites. The prices and quality of legal forms vary from one website to another and one must exercise due diligence when shopping for legal forms online.

Websites offering legal forms differ not only in price but in content as well. Some websites offer a wide range of forms while others specialize in one specific form. The latter are one form websites. One might think that larger websites are more credible while another might conclude that the one form website is more specialized. The fact of the matter is, it does not matter where you obtain the form as long as you do your research about the website and it's trustworthiness. This can be done by Googling reviews about the website in question as well as by testing the website's customer support reliability by contacting them for information. Some websites offer form samples for free which provides user with an idea of what they are getting.

There are Pros and Cons to buying legal forms online. Some of the Pros include:

- Saving Money

- Saving Time

- Ease and convenience (Especially when forms are downloaded instantly after purchase)

There are also disadvantages to buying legal forms on the internet, some of which include:

- Unprofessionally drafted documents

- The lack of guidance or instruction on how to complete the forms

- Not having the software (such as Word or Adobe) in which the document is formatted

For the aforementioned reasons, Online users have to be browse multiple websites in order to make the most educated decision. As well, it is imperative to thoroughly investigate the credibility and reliability of the website before making the purchase. Whether it is temporary guardianship form or a bill of sale one must exercise due diligence and good judgment because if the form were poorly drafted, it may be legally invalid and therefore useless or worse it may have negative legal ramifications on its user.

A comprehensive resource of business and personal

Companies are using email disclaimers in many instances, the most common reason is to attempt to safeguard confidential information. This may be information that a company holds or information that is intended to be sent to a particular recipient, for a specific purpose or even just information about the company itself.

Similarly, these disclaimers are used when any type of advice is being given for a specific purpose through electronic means. For example, a disclaimer may be used to limit liability where the information should not be passed on to a third party and relied on but there is potential it may be. By using a disclaimer for the transmission of this type of information it lets the recipient know the extent to which it can be used and when it may not be. In many instances a standard email disclaimer will state that if an email was sent to the recipient in error, that person is required to delete the email and not use or pass on any of the information contained in the email. This is used to avoid and safeguard against the wrongful dissemination of confidential information.

Another important reason to use email disclaimers is that a company will not be able to control what is sent by their employees; therefore a disclaimer should appear at the bottom of every email to try to protect the company for emails sent by their employees. An email disclaimer is a standard inclusion on emails for most companies and will outline that the contents of the email are not necessarily the views of the company. This essentially tries to distance the company from the sender, even if it is an employee and means that if there is a misrepresentation or any other type of inappropriate conduct, it is the sender whom is personally liable and not the company.

In other situations an email disclaimer may be used to ensure that the recipient knows the extent of the authority that a company provides to the employee as sender of the email. For example a disclaimer can state that any emails sent by a specific person cannot form a contract. From this, email disclaimers can be very broad or customized for specific purposes. Employers and companies can tailor email disclaimers to specific employees, specific information provided, who may rely on the contents of the email, how it may be used, and many other caveats rather than having a general disclaimer for all employees. The nature of the employee's role and risk involved in emails will determine whether the use of a unique or general disclaimer is appropriate. Lastly, the nature of the company and what is communicated by email will also determine how the email disclaimer is framed and what it needs to contain to be tailored and effective for its particular use.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Email Disclaimer. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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A website disclaimer is a method used to limit the liability of the owner of the website. Providing a disclaimer is an approach that can be used to ensure a website's information is not improperly relied upon. A clear example of this is where a disclaimer states that although the website endeavors to provide up-to-date information, the website makes no guarantee or warrantee that the information posted and contained on the website is always accurate and therefore should not be relied upon. If anyone is to rely on the website's information the site will not be held responsible for any loss or other result. A disclaimer will also state that information on the website may at any time, be changed or updated, without notice.

By providing this type of disclaimer, a website ensures that website visitors cannot sue based on any particular information on the site or reliance on the information on the website. Therefore, the website disclaimer is essentially, is a method used to limit the liability of the website owner as they cannot be in control of how the information on their site may be used or how that information may be interpreted. A disclaimer can be used on any company or business' website, and although most websites endeavor to have the correct and up-to-date information (as it is commercially desirable to do so), posting a disclaimer will protect the website in the event of any error.

Another important aspect of website disclaimers is when a website provides links to others sites or articles, there will be a disclaimer providing that the expression and content in these linked sites is not necessarily the views of that of website or company. An obvious example of this is a news site where authors post articles, in these instances it is very clear that the articles posted are the opinion of the authors (whom are separate from the news website) and a website disclaimer re-enforces this. A disclaimer tries to ensure that any type of representation or opinion may not be that of the site and also protects instances where the website provides a link to any other sites and their content. In most instances the website providing the link has no control over the content of the referenced site. As a result, it is essential to post a website disclaimer to protect your site from making any representations outside the scope of your control.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Disclaimer. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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The phrase 'cyber warfare' appears as if it is ubiquitous at present. With the recent shocking Stuxnet attack, and attacks on a range of government sites across the globe, a number of observers have warned that we are heading into a new era of conflict.

Some critics, on the other hand, argue that this couldn't be further from the truth. It is reasoned that a number of the IT companies who are warning of the threat of cyber warfare are the ones who stand to benefit more than any other in the event of governments around the world decide to take concerted action.

Further, many people believe that there are a number of countries which already have the cyber equivalent of nuclear weaponry (and the group is believed to be pretty similar to those who possess actual nuclear weaponry) and the likelihood of them becoming engaged in a war of mutual cyber extinction seems fairly remote.

Research released last month, on the other hand, reveals that in the UK cyber crime is a truly worrying issue. More than

The new EU e-privacy law comes into force on the 25th of May 2011. Once enacted in the EU member states, this directive will have a significant effect on websites that require users to accept cookies. So, what does this change mean for internet users and what are laws designed to accomplish?

New laws are aimed at 'informed consent' for users who enter a website and download cookies. Currently cookies are downloaded automatically from certain websites without a users' knowledge. The purpose of this is to allow users who frequent websites to do so quicker by storing information on a users' computer. This information is stored on the web browser without the consent of the user of the computer.

In other instances, cookies are used to track the behavior of users, not necessarily for the benefit of the user, but for purposes that may be seen as a hindrance to users such as advertising. This tracking then leads to the user receiving advertising specifically aimed at their internet use and interests. This somewhat unwelcome tracking of information of private information is what the new EU directives aim is to stop. The directive will force the EU member countries to enact laws for websites to gain the users explicit consent before they download a cookie from the website.

Many have criticized this new directive and believe that it will be detrimental to EU websites as it will divert traffic to non-EU member websites and secondly will be very difficult and costly for the EU websites to implement this directive. This has lead to many companies with websites threatening to move their sites to US based providers which would then ultimately impact EU web providers.

Although this is the first directive and internet regulation of its kind, American counterparts have had it on their agenda for some time and have been putting pressure on the industry to self-regulate before levels of distrust and malpractice compel the government to step in. If the new directive does lead to companies changing to internet providers in non-EU countries, it seems that it is likely that there would be increased pressure for other countries to conform and this could be the beginning of the first world-wide internet regulation. This directive could possibly signify changes that will in the next few years have an effect on an enormous amount of websites and internet regulation around the world.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Privacy. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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Since home computer systems have grown so popular, there have been more men, women, and children that become the targeted victims of cyber bullying. This is an extremely frustrating and sometimes frightening problem that can quickly be solved when a reverse email look-up is performed by an experienced private investigator. The California cyber bullying laws that have been enacted can also be of great help to people that are experiencing this type of harassment.

The Education Code Sections 32260 through 32262, it simply refers to the partnership formed between Law Enforcement and Schools. This partnership is comprised of the Attorney General and the Superintendent providing instruction to students of the Public School System. This is a partnership that is commonly known as the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985. As a form of protection of all students this is one of the California cyber bullying laws that consists of the following:

Policies and programs shall be put in place that is required to carry out Article 5 provisions, starting with Section 32280. The administrators of safe school programs, all activities, procedures, and training that are conducted in accordance with this chapter.The cooperation of other state and federal agencies of other states when it comes to the matter of safety in schools.While attending classes on any of the campuses of the California School System, it is the right of each and every student to be ensured that the campus will be peaceful, secure, and safe. Without each of these elements, it is practically impossible for students to benefit from the specific educational programs they are a part of. This is precisely why this chapter of the California Cyber bullying laws was developed.

Legislature's intent is for the agencies that serve California's youth, school districts, law enforcement agencies, and county offices of education to all work together. They are encouraged to create and use various types of programs of in-service training, interagency strategies, and different kinds of activities that are geared towards reducing issues with bullying and other problems that often occur within the school system. California cyber bullying laws in this section refer to bullying that occur with the use of various types of electronic devices. This would include home computer systems, mobile phones, pagers, home telephones, and video recorders.

If one of your children has been experiencing the trauma that cyber bullying can cause, you are urged to review the valuable information contained in the Education Code Sections 32260 through 32262 of the California cyber bullying laws. Another helpful step to put a halt to this type of situation would be to have a reverse email look-up performed by a professional private investigator.

Copyright (c) 2011 Opperman Investigations Inc.

Ed Opperman is President of Opperman Investigations Inc. If you need help with a cyber stalking investigation visit http://www.emailrevealer.com.

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In our younger days, we have all done things which we ended up regretting. We have wronged people, we caused them upset. Guilty as charged. But no one can turn back the wheels of time and usually life goes on and people move on do to better and greater things.

But what if suddenly, almost out of the blue 10, 20, 30 years on, an image from the past decides to make a reappearance in our lives with the sole purpose of destroying everything that we have worked for; our family life, our business, our achievements, our good name and our reputation? You see, before the days of the internet, unless we had left behind a forgotten son or daughter we have been, relatively easily, being able to put the past behind us. It would have been almost inconceivable for someone, especially from another country to make a comeback into our lives and systematically destroy us. Now things appear to have changed, quite dramatically with shadows from the past being able to haunt us almost to the grave through the latest technology, with a click of a button.

Frank Backerfield (not his real name), a successful English entrepreneur who is very famous in the entertainment industry, has recently discovered that an image from the past has made a nasty reappearance with the sole purpose of completely destroying him. You see, when Frank was a bit younger, he used to be, let's say, something of a playboy. He used to travel around the world, telling lots of rich women that he loved them when actually he just wanted to spend some good time with them. Apparently he left a number of broken hearts on the side of expensive hotels, expecting them to foot the bills and forget about him almost as quickly as they fell in love with him. At the time, neither of the parties involved believed that they would ever meet each other again and to be frank, most of the women that he engaged with, did not have any desire to even hear his name again.

After a number of years of messing around, Frank decided he had enough and that time had arrived for him to go 'straight'. With the little bit of money that he had he started a small night club that he managed to run so well, that within a couple of years it was earning him a fortune. He then moved to open 4 more clubs in and around London until he become an established and very respected figure within the UK entertainment industry. Frank even got married to a lady from Middlesex, Clair, and they both lived in harmony with their 4 children in a lovely country home in a small village in Essex.

But then, one day, Frank received a phone call from a trusted friend, asking him if he happened to know a lady by the name of Laura Park, from Canada. The name did ring a bell but no matter how hard Frank tried to remember where he heard of this name before, he was unable to recollect specific details. The trusted friend then advised Frank to do an internet search of his name. It had been ages since Frank used the internet. Normally his wife, Clair, or one of his assistants would deal with the internet stuff for him because Frank was a very busy man who hated wasting time going online.

So Frank did a search on Google and to his astonishment he discovered that a Laura Park had written several blogs and even published a book (available on Amazon) about 'How My Life Was Changed Following My Short Encounter With The Fraudster Frank Backerfield'.

In her blogs, and in the book that she had self published, Laura Park had described her encounter with Frank some 25 years ago and how she claims he allegedly deceived her to sleep with him and to leave her ex husband and two children, just to be dumped by him within a fortnight. In her internet publications Laura Park has described Frank as a living monster; a person who must not be trusted, as a fraud and as a ruthless conman. She declared very openly her intention to destroy him and her personal commitment to turn everything Frank had ever created into ashes.

Unbeknownst to Frank, Laura Park's campaign had gone on for a number of years. She posted personal videos on YouTube, MSN and other websites which host videos. She created tens of blogs and websites and told her 'story' in every possible forum on the internet.

But it was not until Google had changed its algorithm that her blogs started to appear everywhere on the internet against the search of Frank Backerfield's name.

Initially Frank decided to ignore this campaign and to continue his focus on his business instead, but as the inquisitive telephone calls from friends, family and business associates started to increase and as the pressure from his wife, Clair started to grow, he decided that he needed to do something about this matter. His business started to suffer and he could not stand the thought of him being labelled as fraudster, in front of the whole world.

Well, fixing this was not going to be very easy. This woman clearly set herself on a mission and as it appears, was now devoting her life to destroying him no matter what. She was living outside the jurisdiction of the English Courts and was posting all her lies through websites which were located outside the UK. To add to this, the quantity of the defamatory material was so great and a major clear up was required, which was not going to be easy and would not come cheap.

way to deal with this menace was to take a very systematic approach by starting off the cleaning operation from scratch. As there was very little point in trying to persuade Laura Park to stop her campaign, it was decided to obtain injunctions against the internet service providers who hosted the material which she has posted. Once an injunction was obtained, the next step would be to enforce it across the world by using process servers and local lawyers who would serve the injunction on all the parties involved. This way, one by one the posts would be removed and the hundreds of internet links which point to these posts would become inactive and eventually be removed by the search engines' Spiders. At the same time, a defensive Search Engine Optimisation strategy would ensure that the vacuum which was left by the disabled links was filled with plenty of articles, blogs and information about Frank Backerfield.

From this point onwards, Frank Backerfield's kept an eye on his online reputation to ensure that any new postings by Laura Park about him or his company was being removed, using the injunction which has already been obtained. Frank's reputation could be completely restored within 3-4 months and will never be destroyed again in such a way.

Yair Cohen is a leading UK online defamation and internet solicitor. Yair is a partner with the niche internet law firm Bains Cohen. The firm is renowned for its innovative approach to resolving client's online reputation problems and for the exceptional level of client and customer care that it practices.

Yair Cohen is believed to be the first lawyer in the United Kingdom to have obtained court injunctions against Google, YouTube and other main internet service providers to force the companies to remove defamatory content from various blogs and websites. Yair's main strength is in his superior knowledge and understanding of the law in the context of the new realities which the internet presents. The secret to his success in removing defamatory websites is in his unique ability to combine vast amounts of technical knowledge with a unique and creative way of applying it to the law and to business reality.

Visit Bains Cohen Solicitors http://www.bainscohen.com
Visit Yair Cohen's blog http://www.yaircohenuk.com

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Broadly, illegal activity involving a computer may be called a cybercrime. With the advent of the Internet, cybercrime has exploded - not surprising with over one billion people using the Internet worldwide. There is no shortage of potential targets, and victims and perpetrators can be separated by oceans.

The anonymity of the Internet allows for low costs and leaves few traces, and cybercriminals may be either solo operators or parts of larger schemes, possibly even affiliated with organized crime. Ironically, technology makes it easy to create fraudulent online material that looks identical to the Internet marketing Web pages of legitimate entities.

The increase in Internet activity has brought more prosecution. Because of the facelessness of those committing these crimes, it is easy for law enforcement investigators to use circumstantial to prosecute the wrong people.

Unified Law Enforcement Action

The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a joint program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting law enforcement in its fight against "economic and high-tech crime."

The IC3 is a clearinghouse for complaints of cybercrime and related civil law violations. Complaints filed with IC3 online are reviewed by analysts for forwarding to local, state, federal or international law enforcement, or civil agencies with jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute potential cybercrimes.

Rising Rates

The IC3 released its 2009 report on cybercrime in March and the findings show an explosion of illegal online activity. For example, the number of complaints filed with IC3 in 2009 was up over 22 percent from 2008 numbers. Monetary loss connected to online fraud almost doubled to about $560 million compared with $265 million the year before.

Online criminal complaints increased substantially again last year, according to the report. The IC3 received 336,655 2009 complaints, a 22.3 percent increase from 2008. The total loss linked to online fraud in 2009 was $559.7 million, up from $265 million in 2008.

This growth has placed great pressure on law enforcement to "do something" about the problem. This usually means the police arrest more people and prosecutors prosecute more. The increased pressure on law enforcement can lead to a "rush to judgment," such that false accusations are levied at innocent people.

Common Types of Financial Cybercrimes

Identity theft: Someone can steal your identity by using personal information like your social security number (SSN), driver's license number or credit-card account number to commit fraudulent transactions such as opening credit or bank accounts, taking out loans or making large purchases. The Internet can be the vehicle both for pilfering of personal information, and for using it to commit online misrepresentation and theft. Such crimes can severely damage credit ratings.

Internet fraud: The Internet can be used to commit many illegal acts involving fraud. E-mails, chat rooms and websites are used to conduct a variety of fraudulent schemes. Fraud may be used to approach individual victims online, engage in fraudulent business activities or deal deceptively with banks and other financial institutions.

Incomplete transactions: In any exchange of goods or services for money, the parties must act in good faith and rely on each other to complete the transaction. Unfortunately when things are bought over the Internet, either party can get burned. The seller can keep the money and not send the item, or the buyer can keep the item and not pay for it. Many variations on this theme are carried out every day in cyberspace.

Online auction fraud: Auction sites commonly concern allegations of economic fraud. Auction websites conduct virtual auctions for a variety of items and are extremely popular with the public. Unfortunately, fraud can occur in several ways, such as:
A seller may never send the item to the winning bidder after receiving paymentA seller may send an inferior, damaged or knockoff productA buyer may submit a high bid to hold off other bidders and withdraw it at the last minute so a low bid by an associate is successfulA seller may arrange for someone to drive bids higher

International cybercrime: Schemes international in scope include invitations to enter foreign lotteries, and money offers in exchange for assistance with money transfers into the United States or into overseas accounts for supposedly sympathetic causes. Nigeria is often associated with these dangerous offers, specifically called 419 schemes in reference to a section of the Nigerian Criminal Code.

Phishing - Phishing is an attempt to get personal information by using an e-mail that appears to be from a trusted source such as your bank, asking that sensitive data be sent by return e-mail. Phished e-mails are often sent en masse.

Spoofed websites - Those with technical expertise can create professional-looking websites for fake charities designed to obtain personal information in the process of collecting donations.

Protect Yourself from Overzealous Prosecution

With the wide variety of cybercrimes and the enormous increase in their frequency, law enforcement is under pressure to prosecute anyone it suspects of cybercrime. The novelty of methods used to commit cybercrimes often means that many law enforcement entities - with little investigative experience - are not prepared to fully investigate these cases. It is in this context that mistakes are often made in determining whom to charge with a given cybercrime.

If you believe that you are being investigated for committing a crime via computer or the Internet, consult with an experienced criminal lawyer immediately, as soon as you suspect the problem. Your criminal defense attorney can monitor any investigation by authorities and help you launch your own if necessary, employing critical computer and internet fraud experts. Don't go it alone. Get the legal and other professional help you need at an early juncture.

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Generally all websites should have terms and conditions. This will decrease the risk of the owner of the website's liability for damage claimed to have been suffered by a visitor to their site, in a number of ways.

With a website being accessible to anyone, a website owner has no control over who accesses the site or how the information on the site is used. Not only do terms limit liability of the site owner they also, in most instances, form a contract with a user or visitor to your website. Essentially every website that provides any type of goods or service should include terms and conditions governing the payment or delivery of that good or service and in the instance of sale of a product or service on a website, the visitor or customer should be required to click to accept these.

Website terms and conditions are essential for a number of reasons. First with the commercial reality that when there is business online, and with potential clients anywhere in the world, by having terms that are clearly outlined, the governing law will be on the website owner's terms and according to their country jurisdiction so there will be no ambiguity despite location of any buyer of goods or services. Another important note following this is that regulations differ from one country to another so the website owner will need to ensure their terms and conditions comply with the laws in their country.

When a website is providing any type of goods or services, it is absolutely essential to outline how and the terms upon which the goods and services will be provided; this may be as simple as conditionss of shipping or as complex as outlining specifics for a security trading account. These terms and conditions will also need to outline the extent of the website's liability for these goods and services. A common example of this is when goods are provided, the website will be responsible for them while in their possession, but at the time of shipment onwards it is then the buyers responsibility. Other related terms of sale would also be included in the conditions of this type of transaction such as, for example, terms of return of goods, if any, and warranties on the goods or services.

With the worldwide accessibility of websites and website owners being willing to do business with any customer, websites owners should attempt to minimize any possible risks that are posed no matter how foreseeable and wherever possible through strongly worded website terms and conditions.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Terms and Conditions. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au

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I am on the lam. Running for my life. I feel like pinching myself because it is surreal. Is this really happening? How can it be that my life has been so disrupted by one person?

What is worse, is that this is the second time in 15 years that I have had to do this. Sell everything I own. Change my name. Leave town. Start my life over from square one. New friends, new loves, new work, new everything. This just doesn't happen to people. Why can't I stop it?

I am writing this article because I want other victims out there to know how far these kinds of games can be taken, and what to do from the very start. Because at the very start I didn't take this serious enough and it spun out of control so fast and so horrendously.

Cyber stalking and cyber bullying are on the rise. And if you get on the other side of a really sick and sadistic person, as I did 15 years ago, your life can become a nightmare of epic proportion. Cyber stalking and cyber bullying usually flip back and forth between online and offline harassment. Take care if you think somebody is victimizing you online. Online abuse can become offline abuse very quickly, and the opposite is true as well.

I have made so many mistakes throughout the course of my ordeal. If you think that you are a victim of a cyberstalker or cyberbully perpetrator, please read the following and take the necessary action.

Don't ignore the first signs of stalking, bullying and harassment.

This was my biggest mistake. The minute I began having trouble with these people I should have slapped a restraining order on them. Even though I could not prove they were doing anything, a restraining order would have shown them that I was not going to put up with their stuff, and also if I were to get evidence, the consequences would have been more harsh for them. Nobody wants a criminal record, and so it's a good idea to let them know you mean business.

Don't think that they will stop. They will not stop until you stop them.

This has taken a long time for me to learn. I put up with vandalism, harassment and degradation of my character for 3 years before my first time moving, thinking the perpetrators would have moved on to attempting to have a life of their own, and I was wrong.

Then, after 5 or 6 years of thinking the ordeal was over, I allowed myself to be vulnerable to it yet again, and that is why I am in the position I am in today.

This personality type will not stop for anybody or anything. They are mentally disordered, do not forget that. They do not think like you and I or anybody operating within the realms of normal behavior.

If your trouble continues, move and do it fast.

If a restraining order doesn't work and you cannot stop them, move immediately, quietly, and do not tell anybody when or where you are going. Get a P.O. Box at least 2 zip codes away from where you are living. Do not forward mail through the U.S. Post Office. Contact the people you receive mail from and give them the P.O. Box.

Also, these days there is virtual mail. There are a lot of services out there, so pick one that suits you, and don't tell anybody that you are doing it. I made the mistake of thinking that the people working at the service would not give out my information. I gave the address out to one of the perpetrators and the service was compromised. So if you sign up for virtual mail, keep in mind they are not as solid as the U.S. Post Office, and can be compromised. Keep the information to yourself.

Don't give your cell phone number to anybody.

If your stalker/bully is clever like mine, she will infiltrate your social circle somehow to find out where you are. There is a product on the market which allows these types to install software onto their computer, put your cell phone number in, and then your perp will have access to your phone conversations and text messages. More frightening, they can track your movements through the GPS feature on your phone. They do not need access to your cell phone to do this. They can't access your email, but any access to private conversation, texting or your whereabouts is heinous and violating.

Get a land line or VOIP through the computer, change your cell phone number and use the cell for emergencies only. Sorry. It's terrible to have to give up that cell, but if you are in serious trouble, you just have to do it.

Computer security.

When going through your emails, do not click on any links from anybody who you are not familiar with. There is a way for perpetrators to send an email with a link that if clicked will install a software on your computer, without your knowledge, that will give them access to your emails. Be very careful with this, it is all too easy to absent-mindedly click on a link that can cause you a lot of cost and trouble.

Visit www.thejoythieves.com to find out about the cyberstalker/bully personality type and what they are capable of.

Written by Connie Brill. Find out more at http://www.thejoythieves.com

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During the course of your life there are many different occasions where you may well need the assistance and the expertise of an attorney. It may be that you need them to represent you in a criminal case or you may need someone to seek compensation for you after you have had an accident. Whatever it is that you need your attorney for it is absolutely paramount that you find the very best lawyer that you can for the money that you have to spend. If you are not sure how or where to find a lawyer it can be a rather tricky process. Obviously, every law firm claims to be the best and to have the most competitive rates for their work but who can you trust? It is an extremely difficult question to answer but there are some steps that you can take to help you make the correct decision.

How to find the best lawyer for your requirements

There are a number of different ways that you can attempt to locate the perfect attorney for your case. Obviously, you can ask friends and family members that have had experience with attorneys who they have used in the past and they may well be able to point you in the right direction. Unfortunately, this luxury is not always an option for most people so you will need to find a lawyer by yourself. As there are so many different lawyers and law firms to choose between this can be a rather long and drawn out process if you are not entirely sure where to search. The internet is undoubtedly the best place to locate high quality attorneys for any type of case in the shortest amount of time. Here you will be able to find numerous websites and blogs that will provide you with information and facts about all of the various lawyers that are on offer to you. Obviously, there is a vast amount of information for you to read and take in. Due to this fact it is better to seek out the websites and blogs that have attorney videos on them. This type of site is relatively new to the market but they are extremely useful. These sites give you the option to watch lawyer videos of lawyers that practice all types of different law. Watching a video is far quicker than actually reading about every lawyer and it is also a lot more informative. The attorney videos give you a real feel for whether you can trust the attorney and most important of all whether you feel that you can get on well with them during the course of your case.

Choosing the best lawyer for your case

There are many deciding factors to consider when you are trying to find a lawyer. However, the most important ones are the previous case histories of the attorney in question. Obviously, you want one that has been successful in the large majority of their cases. Also, you need a lawyer that is within your price range, budget is extremely important as some lawyers can be very expensive.

Viewmylawyer.com attorney video directory and lawyer finder hosts lawyer videos and has free law library where consumers can go to find free legal information and find a lawyer find a lawyer.

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A website privacy policy and confidentiality policy are the same type of policy and the terms may be used interchangeably. These policies are required on most websites to comply with Australian laws.

The law outlines that anytime personal information is being collected online, any visitors to and users of the site, must be aware of what information is being collected, why and how it is being collected as well as how and where it is being stored. This may seem straightforward in many cases, but this measure is in place to attempt to prevent the misuse of information and to ensure a website user is fully aware that their information is being collected.

A privacy or confidentiality policy is normally found directly on a website or through a link to a dedicated page outlining this important policy. Essentially, it is recommended that every website have a privacy policy.

When entering information into a website, customers and visitors will want to be sure that they know exactly what this information will be used for and how it will be retained. Ensuring you have a privacy policy on your site assists this and gives confirmation to visitors that any information sent or given to a site will not be used for any unwanted or unknown purpose. Privacy policies must even go further than this and outline how data is stored, essentially forcing website owners to securely store personal information.

By owning or running a business website you need to be aware of the significance of misuse of personal information and your requirements as a website owner. It is quite apparent that this legislation is in place to prevent both the inadvertent and intentional misuse of information such selling email and other addresses which may be used to send spam mail to email addresses and also to ensure the safety and secured storage of information such as credit card details.

Implementing these policies is not a change from the typical practice of most websites. It can instead be interpreted as a codification of a websites current practice.

Generally, as both a safeguard and anytime information is received from a website visitor in any way, it can still be used for whatever purpose a website wishes, provided that the privacy policy first outlines what the purpose/s are in the policy on their site and, in some instances, gives the visitors the opportunity to 'opt out'. Users must have the option to review this policy when visiting the website and if they do not agree with it, they can choose not to use the site. This privacy policy option must be available prior to them giving any of their details and if they choose to opt out, the website owner cannot use any of their details.

When publishing any privacy policy, a website will need to ensure that they consider all the ways in which they gather and store information collected from a visitor to their site and outline its exact use. In many cases this collection will be very obvious but in other instances, it may be less direct. However collected, a website privacy policy needs to be written, clear and easily available to website visitors to ensure compliance with Australian legislation.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Privacy. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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are normally won on grounds of privacy and human rights. They are particularly difficult to digest because our embedded sense of justice, which accepts judicial restriction on our freedom of speech whenever the truthfulness of the intended publication is questionable, finds it difficult to logically accept similar restrictions on our freedom of speech when the intended publication is likely to contain truthful information.

We have been brought up to believe that telling lies is wrong, but now it appears the creators of the super injunction are telling us that telling the truth is wrong too. At any other time, this unhealthy mixture of moral messages could have been seen as a massive blow to our democratic system as well as to our personal and social values. However, the on-going democratisation of our world through the internet, which finds its underlying philosophy in the algorithms of the Google search engine, which basically says - 'let the community decide what is useful, important or even truthful', has already started to repair any damage to our moral values by insisting that truthful information should be published, if not by a newspaper then by regular Twitter users, if not in the UK, then outside the jurisdiction or the enforcement power of the local Courts. The democratic nature of the internet has made enforcement of worldwide impossible and Parliament needs to act fast to close the gap between what the public accepts as morally wrong (ie telling false stories) and the heavy penalties which the judicial system is willing to impose on those who are responsible for the publication of true stories.

In the rapidly evolving world of the internet, new laws have unintended and unforeseeable consequences which means that judicial attempts to protect one's privacy are resulting in the forced exposure of the lives of innocent parties. Because Parliament has got the resources to properly assess and develop new law, in the circumstances perhaps it is best to ensure that in future, the law is developed more through Parliament and less through the Courts.

In the meantime, for the simple reason that publication of material on the internet could be done from the most remote parts of the world, and by people who might care very little about what our judges think, will suffer death by a mob and sooner or later, either the courts will simply stop granting them or celebrities will realise that in the fast moving internet world, these will bring them more harm than good.

Yair Cohen is a leading UK online defamation and internet solicitor. Yair is a partner with the niche internet law firm Bains Cohen which has previously obtained injunctions against Google, YouTube and other main internet service providers.
Visit Bains Cohen Solicitors http://www.bainscohen.com
Learn more about online defamation by Visiting Yair Cohen's blog http://www.yaircohenuk.com

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Local country compliance is a question that many website owners may consider when their website deals with international clients, users and visitors to their website. This question cannot be given a definitive answer as its difficult to control access to your website, however general guidance can be suggested.

One of the most important regulations to consider with respect to other country laws and your website is your Privacy Policy. With respect to internet regulation and laws concerning the collection of information, it's the case that some countries will have no or little regulation. Other jurisdictions, particularly English speaking jurisdictions such as Singapore, the US, much of the EU and Canada do have privacy and security regulation which are similar laws to Australia.

With the nature of privacy over the internet, concerns will be the same in many countries so laws and requirements will be similar. Australia has a strict privacy policy requirements and so following Australia's policy will usually be a safe bet that if you will comply generally with most countries internet privacy requirements, however, you should always confirm this locally.

In many instances, a website will be doing business with visitors from the country of their home site. However, as a website owner, you cannot control where your visitors come from nor which countries and visitors view your website. You are best to have a strong privacy policy that has the potential to cover anticipated countries you may be likely to be doing business with.

When creating a privacy policy the safest bet is for a website to create their policy within the scope of the jurisdiction that they are in, as there is really no way of knowing or even controlling who will visit the site. Having a clearly outlined, strong and visible privacy policy that states exactly what information may be collected, the purpose, and security measures in place to ensure it is kept safe is generally the best approach.

Furthermore, if a website is engaging in the sale of a product or service with a customer from another country, the privacy policy and the terms of sale should clearly state that the sale of the product or service is governed by the laws of the country where the website is located. This is the best approach in terms of risk management; if a problem arises with the goods or services, then it will be determined by, and any action will occur in the courts of your jurisdiction or country in most instances.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Privacy. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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Victims of online reputation attacks and online intimidation should take their cases to the High Court instead of reporting them to the police.

In a recent court case where a hospital administrator became the first man in the UK to be jailed for stalking a woman by blogs, the authorities have sent a strong message to all those who wrongly believe that the internet is a lawless land where stalking, bullying, harassment, defamation and blackmail are a fair game and have demonstrated that online harassment shall not be tolerated in our society.

In a case which was heard by a Magistrate Court in Manchester it was alleged that a 38 year old man continuously attacked his female victim by using no less than 35 website blogs in which he repeatedly insulted her, causing her upset and reputational damage. The man also used emails to harass his victims as well as social networking sites such as Facebook.

It is not surprising at all that it took the authorities 18 months before the man was finally jailed. By this time, his victim must have been completely destroyed mentally and emotionally. Her confidence must have been shattered and her trust in people would have been replaced with cynicism and weariness. Had this hate campaign been conducted offline, I have no doubt that the authorities would have acted much quicker to bring it to a halt.

By the time the offender was jailed, he had already appeared in court on a number of occasions. On one occasion, after he admitted harassment, an order was made against him to refrain from mentioning his victim's name on any websites. Again, it appears it took some time before this very limited court order was made and even longer, before breaches were dealt with.

It is very likely, that had this been a case of domestic harassment, where more traditional methods of harassment were being used, the victim would have been relieved from her pain much, much earlier. It seems that the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Magistrates' Courts are not yet ready to effectively deal with these sorts of online harassment cases. The civil courts however are much quicker to act in response to online harassment cases with injunctions being granted within days rather than months and years. Victims of online harassment should be wise to take their cases to the High Court where solicitors can obtain a much more comprehensive injunction on their behalf within 48 hours. There is no need for victims of online harassment to suffer for such a long time before the harassment is stopped.

Despite him being jailed, large number of the defamatory blogs that the offender had created against his victim still remain active and is visible to the entire world to view. It is likely that a properly prepared High Court injunction would have ensured that the blogs and websites were removed by the internet service providers and that once such an injunction was granted, it could last for life, preventing anyone from taking part in the publication of material which is prohibited by the court order.

During his online campaign of harassment, the offender boasted of being so skilled in IT that he could set up and manipulate blogs about his victim quicker than they could be deleted.

It is not unusual for IT skilled individuals to blackmail their victims by making threats to destroy their victim's reputation unless certain demands being met. The police have seemed to so far, failed to recognise the fact that this form of blackmail is a criminal offence, mainly out of ignorance and lack of resources. These sorts of threats should be taken very seriously and perpetrators of such online threats should be told about the civil as well as the criminal implications of their actions.

Yair Cohen is a leading online defamation solicitor in the UK - http://www.BainsCohen.com.

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Websites that give some type of advice or provide goods or services should have both a website disclaimer and terms and conditions on their website.

A website disclaimer is necessary to ensure a site's information is not improperly relied upon and can protect the owner from various claims by visitors and customers to the website.

One difference between the two is that the website disclaimer whilst used more frequently, is less protection whereas website terms and conditions are more specific and normally include a disclaimer as part of the terms.

As such, if a website has terms and conditions, there is no need to also include a disclaimer as in most instances, the website terms and conditions will normally include disclaimer information. However, for added protection and, in particular, if you are concerned about your liability due to the type of goods or services you may be providing or even just to ensure you are additionally protected, you may wish to include the website disclaimer in addition to your terms and conditions of use from a risk management perspective.

Some websites will require a visitor to the site to accept a disclaimer or terms in order to access the site. For example, if a website is in the business of selling alcohol by email order, before entering the website, a visitor may need to verify their age and by doing so, accept either a disclaimer of liability or certain terms and conditions of the website in order to access it and place any order or purchase.

Other common instances where terms and conditions may be used as a requirement to purchase is when entering a website to purchase a product or service, a customer may be first required to accept the terms and conditions by entering information or clicking a button prior to purchasing the service or any product.

A website disclaimer is used more frequently, and generally should be included on all websites as a minimum requirement for anyone setting up a website, particularly with an online business. A disclaimer will generally state that a website will endeavor to ensure all of the information is updated and correct, however, if a person relies on the information and suffers loss as a result, the site will not be liable for any unanticipated or unforeseen loss, or, alternatively, the disclaimer may state that use of the website and reliance on the information on the website is done at the visitor's own risk.

The website disclaimer is a recommended inclusion for any website, irrespective of the business, as information changes regularly and even the most diligent websites may not update this information immediately as it becomes available. Therefore by including a disclaimer, and as there is no way of controlling when or who accesses the information, a website owner will gain some protection from foreseeable and unforeseeable liability of those relying on the site's information. This does not mean you can post whatever you like on your website-there are laws which you must abide by with respect to such things as defamation, false and misleading information and many consumer protection laws to consider.

In summary, each individual website will need to determine site inclusions that are most appropriate to their website, products and circumstances to minimize their risks. Essentially, the rule of thumb is that, at minimum, there should be a disclaimer on all sites and for any site providing and selling products, services or advice there should additionally be terms and conditions relating specifically to what that site is providing.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Disclaimer. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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It is only when you wake up one morning to the devastating reality of seeing your business reputation being tarnished all over the internet that you can fully appreciate the benefits of having in place a reliable online reputation alarm system.

Would any person in their right mind wait until a fire occurs before seriously considering taking out an insurance policy? Surely not. Online reputation attacks spread on the internet (and then continue to spread off-line), in the same way that every fire starts with a single spark, which then turns rapidly into massive balls of fire that burn and raise to the ground everything you ever worked for. Online reputation attacks tend to spread so fast that they can finish off any business, which is not well equipped to deal with them.

The larger your business is, the stronger the flames. After all, fire has never been known to be deterred by the size of the bush and this is a fact. There is simple mathematics to all of this. The more inflammatory the internet posting about your business is, the quicker it will normally spread - by blogs, web links, twitter, Facebook and emails. A single link to a defamatory website about your business can be sent out by email to a mailing list which could contain thousands of subscribers in less than 5 minutes.

Each recipient of the link may then forward it on to their own mailing list the recipients of which, may also forward it on. In total - it could take l0 minutes or less, for what you have worked for all your life, to go up in flames. This is of course the worst scenario. At best, it would take a few days before the defamatory webpages about your business, take up the best part of the first page of the search engines, for everyone else to see.

Very unfortunately, I have seen exactly this course of events occurring to an IT company from Israel who had been trading in the UK very successfully for over two years. Having discovered that its UK Director was stealing from the company, the head office in Israel decided to summarily dismiss him.

The Director, who was well vested in the technical side of the internet, decided to take revenge by posting negative comments and reviews about his former employer on various websites and forums. The comments explicitly suggested that the company was fraud and that it was simply taking its customers' money and never intended to deliver any work. Shortly after this Director left the company, its UK operation had almost died out. The telephone stopped ringing and current customers started to leave the company with various excuses.

This unexpected turn of events must have cost the Israeli IT company tens of thousands of pounds. It wasn't until one of the company's most loyal customers in the UK indicated that they wanted to terminate their

Yes. Although the requirements are similar in each country, there are some differences that websites will need to be aware of to ensure compliance with privacy laws in other jurisdictions. It is possible to amend Australian website privacy policies to ensure that they are in compliance with the requirements of both UK and Australian jurisdictions.

Recently, following an EU directive, amendments were made the UK Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations which came into force in May 2011. The most significant aspect of these UK amendments is that website users and visitors must expressly agree to accepting cookies that give any and all website information from a user or visitor. Prior to this, any information collected, even things as minor as visitor sites that were viewed or visited and collected for the purposes of advertising relevant or related adverts to subject topics they viewed, was exempt from this active requirement. This new regulation now means that any type of 'cookie' which may collect this or any type of visitor information must be actively and positively agreed to by the visitor to the site prior to viewing or access to the website.

This is seen as a very strict and uncommercial policy in comparison to other countries. It is viewed as a barrier and obstacle which will inhibit and stop people from viewing UK websites. Visitors may choose to go to other websites in other countries, such as the US, which do not have this requirement.

Currently in Australia a privacy policy must tell users of websites how information is collected and its purpose (which is stricter than other jurisdictions such as the US) but does not require active agreement for cookies which monitor such things as advertising directional material unlike the UK.

Aside from this major change with visitors and user to sites having to explicitly accept cookies and storage of their information in the UK, there are a number of other modifications Australian websites will need to make in order to ensure that their policies are UK compliant. This includes notifying visitors that their IP addresses, in addition to other information from visitors may be taken and stored.

Although both the UK and Australia generally have similar privacy laws, one should never assume that just because a site complies with a privacy policy in one country that it will also comply with another. Every jurisdiction may be slightly different and may include unexpected or new requirements as website privacy laws are seemingly and constantly changing and being updated.

In addition to new requirements, it is likely that laws may change on a regular basis, as they recently have in the UK and may result in modifications needing to be made to an existing privacy policy. By modifying an existing privacy policy to make it fit the requirements of another jurisdiction will not necessarily void the policy in the home jurisdiction, but rather make it more comprehensive-generally speaking, the stricter the privacy policy compliance, the more likely it will meet local requirements.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Privacy Policy. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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They say every cloud has a silver lining - you get some benefit out of every bad thing that happens to you. When you're very happy, you're on cloud nine! If you aren't paying attention in class, your teacher might tell you to get your head out of the clouds. If the authorities think you did it, you would be under a cloud of suspicion. These days, when your workforce is located in three different countries and five different cities connected by the internet, you're practicing cloud-based staffing and utilizing cloud computing.

Wait, what?

That's right. Utilizing a virtual workforce through cloud computing is becoming increasingly popular, because it allows businesses to access talent outside of the local area, it shortens time to market, and it allows for flexibility by giving access to files and data when working remotely and/or outside office hours. If this cloudy terminology is new to you, here is a basic definition to get you up to speed:

According to Wikipedia, "Cloud computing refers to the use and access of multiple server-based computational resources via a digital network (WAN, Internet connection using the World Wide Web, etc.). Cloud users may access the server resources using a computer, netbook, pad computer, smart phone, or other device. In cloud computing, applications are provided and managed by the cloud server and data is also stored remotely in the cloud configuration. Users do not download and install applications on their own device or computer; all processing and storage is maintained by the cloud server. The online services may be offered from a cloud provider or by a private organization."

Cloud computing is what makes a successful virtual workforce, or "staff in the cloud" possible. Flexibility is a huge benefit of cloud computing, as is its ease of use. Cloud computing is often cheaper and less labor intensive because it's online - and therefore the need for massive amounts of server space for storage is removed altogether (you'll probably just see a slight increase in your monthly fee for more data storage). We could continue discussing the benefits of cloud computing; however, the point is it's here to stay, along with cloud staffing. So legally speaking, what does this mean for your business?

When choosing a cloud-based service provider that will allow you to sustain a virtual workforce there are many important points to ponder. You will need to thoroughly review the provider's Service Agreement or Terms of Service in order to find out the following before signing up:

• Where is the actual data stored? (And we mean the geographic location of the company's servers that house all of the data).

• How many servers does the company have?

• What security measures are in place to prevent hackers from accessing the data?

• What notification procedures are used by the company to alert customers of a data breach?

• Who has access to your data?

• Are customers able to back-up the data stored on the cloud on their own servers?

• How do you migrate the data from the cloud if you decide to cancel the service?

If you take these questions into consideration and get solid satisfactory answers, you're ready to hit the cloud!

Joshua M. Marks, Esq.
JM LAW GROUP, LLC
1818 MARKET STREET, SUITE 3740
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103
215.832.3600

http://www.lawmr.com
josh

On your personal computer are many things, private things, and things which are no one else's business. Bank account numbers, private emails, and all sorts of things. Likewise, when you go online to search various things - that's your business, perhaps you are planning on going to a movie, out to dinner, or shopping for a gift. It's really none of anyone else's business. Unfortunately, authorities would have you believe that it is their business.

Well, that's a scary thought really, especially in the wake of the tabloid scandal listening in on voice mails of the families of murder victims in England. Let's discuss all this for a moment shall we?

There was an interesting article on SlashDot (News for Geeks Recently) titled "Law Enforcement Still Wants Mandatory ISP Log Retention" posted by Soulskill on July 12, 2011 who cites Schwit1 from CNET, which stated;

"Law enforcement representatives are planning to endorse a proposed federal law that would require ISPs to store logs about their customers for 18-months, and a board member of the National Sheriffs' Association says ISPs do not store customer records long enough. 'The limited data retention time and lack of uniformity among retention from company to company significantly hinders law enforcement's ability to identify predators when they come across child pornography'. They want any stored logs available to be used to prosecute any type of crime."

Okay so, I want to collect and prosecute the bad guys and evil-doers as much as anyone else. I have no use for drug dealers, child molesters, murderers, or anyone else that would create heinous crimes against humanity for that matter. However, I also know that in our Constitution our personal belongings are not to be searched or seized without our permission. And no government official, or police are allowed to enter your home and look at your personal belongings, personal journal, or anything else that you own.

So then, why is it okay to command ISPs, and cloud computing companies to save data and information that is personal, even when you've deleted it, or don't wish that information to be collected? Yes, I don't doubt that it could help solve crimes, and it would be nice to solve crimes, I really believe that. But certainly not at the expense of personal freedom, this is the United States of America still. And if the National Sheriff's Association is able to lobby such a law into existence, one could ask exactly how they are helping the American people or protecting them?

After all, The National Sheriff's Association is supposed to be protecting people, and protecting their rights, and they are even swear to uphold the law and constitution, so may I ask why they are lobbying to take away rights from citizens and go against the law of the land? I find this fascinating. I also find it quite troubling, and if you love freedom and liberty you to understand. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,000 articles by July 24, 2011 is going to be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..

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Yes, every country has different laws and regulations governing website privacy and consumer protection. However, there are some countries that have yet to adopt any privacy regulations.

Although there are different requirements under US and Australian law, a privacy policy can be made to satisfy the requirements of both countries. Australia is seen as having very strict privacy policy regulations in comparison to many other countries and in many instances, a strong privacy policy under Australian law will likely be valid and be regarded favourably by other countries with respect to privacy law and compliance with local regulation.

Despite this, if you have a website business which provides goods or services to other countries, you should be familiar with all aspects of the laws of other jurisdictions in relation to privacy regulations. To meet the requirements under US law, for example, and under the laws of other countries such as the UK, there will need to be some additions or amendments made to an Australian privacy policy statement. If these extra requirements are left out for a website that is selling goods and services in the US, a lack of compliant privacy policy with US requirements could cause problems for website owners who operate or sell products or services in the US and there are penalties and sanctions for such activity. In addition, the website could be shut down for non-compliance.

When comparing the requirements of Australia and the US, a key additional US requirement needed for a privacy policy valid under Australian law to comply with US law relates to the collection of information of children under 13 years of age. To meet the US privacy requirement, a website needs to ensure they will not collect information from children under 13 years. If the website is not targeted at children under 13 visiting or does not wish to have children viewing the site, the website the privacy policy must explicitly state this.

For a US website privacy to meet Australian privacy requirements, it is a bit more complex as Australian privacy laws are more detailed in their focus. Australian privacy regulations are quite strict on such detail as, for example, how websites collect, store and disclose personal information, focusing on website cookies. US law currently is not as strict as Australian law which means that if a US website wants to ensure their privacy policy is compliant with Australian standards, there are a number of additional requirements that need to be considered to meet Australian privacy regulations. In addition, Australian law has industry specific requirements that healthcare providers, financial services, medical, legal, credit providers and other specialised professionals must be aware of-all which need to be considered depending on the type of website you are choosing to set up.

In summary, with the differing requirements from country to country it is possible to have a policy that covers multiple jurisdictions. However, when considering the privacy policy to include on a website, the owner will need to ensure they are aware of unique and potentially unexpected features of the laws of each jurisdiction that they may be seen to provide services or products to, so that they ensure they have a compliant privacy policy.

Want to know more? Click here for Free information on Website Privacy Policy. Australian legal agreements and forms from http://Legal123.com.au.

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The birth of the internet has transformed the world as we know it. It has clearly grown to astronomic proportions since it became a household name in the mid 1990's. If you were born before 1980, you have watched the world change from using rotary telephones to iPhones. These days nearly everything can be controlled by the touch of a button.

Bills can be paid online, movie tickets can be purchased online, you can talk to your loved ones online, and you can take a complete college course - without having to step foot on campus. The possibilities of the internet are endless - and technology is changing more rapidly than we can learn to understand it.

Today, teens and individuals in their twenties are grasping and exploiting computer technology like never before. Children are already known for their marked ability to learn and assimilate information at a very young age - absorbing and utilizing the internet and computer systems are no different than learning how to build a tree fort. For some families, their 13-year-old can build an entire computer system as his father built a model car the generation before.

With the advent of the internet, came an entirely new way to commit crimes. The terms internet crime, cybercrime and computer crime are used interchangeably. Simply put, internet crime or cybercrime is a form of crime where the internet or computers are used as a medium to commit crime.

Internet crimes are vast and expansive and can include anything from downloading illegal music files to stealing someone's identity. Cybercrime can also include stealing millions of dollars from online bank accounts to distribution child pornography. One of the most common forms of internet crimes involves identity theft which is commonly done through phishing and pharming. These methods set up fake websites (that appear legitimate) to lure unsuspecting victims. People are asked to give out personal information such as name, address, phone numbers and bank accounts. Criminals then take this information and "steal" the person's identity.

Internet crimes are not limited to targeting the consumer; cybercrimes have gone so far as to take on global proportions. Cybercrimes can also encompass criminal activities such as espionage, financial theft, and sabotage. In May 2010, the Pentagon established the new U.S. Cyber Command, which is headed by the director of the National Security Agency (NSA), to defend American military networks. It also serves to attack the computer systems of other countries.

Due to the fact that criminal activities have spread at a rate that law enforcement has had difficulty keeping up, entire task forces have been developed to crack down on internet and cybercrimes. There is a method called electronic discovery, or e-discovery, which is a type of cyber forensics. Electronic discovery is a process employed by law enforcement where they can obtain, secure, search and process any electronic data for use as evidence in a legal investigation. Electronic discovery can involve just a single computer or it can incorporate an entire computer network.

When you are facing allegations for internet or cybercrimes, it is essential that you seek the advice of a highly skilled attorney who you can trust. When your future is at stake - you need somebody who is familiar with both computer technology and the criminal justice system. You are urged to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer who can help you learn more about what steps you can take to protect your legal rights and your future.

At the Law Offices of Aaron T. Hicks, we are a criminal defense firm that is devoted to serving clients in San Diego and the surrounding areas. We have successfully defended all types of criminal charges including internet crimes. We understand the difficulties that you are presently facing, and make it our mission to thoroughly investigate every aspect of the charges against you. When your future and your freedom are in the hands of the prosecution, you can't afford to have less than a competent defense attorney. Contact a San Diego criminal defense attorney from our firm for a free initial consultation today at (619) 519-7400!

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