My Blog About Cyber Laws

The internet is often deemed to be like the Wild West. It is viewed as a lawless region where people can act outside the laws of the land. This is not the case. The jail sentences handed down to a number of individuals who tweeted or posted Facebook messages about the riots in England in August clearly illustrate that there laws governing what can be posted online carry real consequences. Breaking the law online is as serious as breaking the law offline.

The law that the social media users broke was the Serious Crime Act 2007. Although the law was not set up to cover the use of social media, the use of social media was much lower in 2007 than it is now, the law of the land applies online to the same degree that it does off line.

The Serious Crime Act 2007 states that either "intentionally encouraging or assisting an offence" or "encouraging or assisting an offence believing it will be committed" is viewed as being as serious as carrying out the act itself. So if you post a Facebook message encouraging people to riot and loot then it viewed the same in the eyes of the law as if you were rioting and looting yourself.

Defamation and Libel Online

Defamation and libel laws apply to the online world in the same way that they apply to more traditional forms of print media, TV and radio. If you slander someone online without being able to prove it then you can be open to being sued for libel.

You may think that something you post about an individual of company may well be lost in the billions of webpages in cyberspace. This is not the case as many individuals and companies actively police what is said about them online. Many will issue civil proceedings if they feel the statements are defamatory.

The cyber smearing does not have to take place on a website you own for you to be open to being sued. If you have smeared someone using social media, message boards, forums, review sites, auction sites or email then you are open to being pursued for libel damages.

You also do not need to be the originator of the rumour. If you simply repeat the allegations then you can be sued. It is very foolish to just repeat allegations without double checking that they are true. A re-tweet of somebody else's link to a post about a rumour can place you in line for being sued. It is also worth noting that you cannot defame someone using their nickname and thing you are safe if the nickname is well known by the public.

Attempting to hide behind an anonymous username is also no protection from the law.

Difference between Slander and Libel

A landmark ruling in August 2008 by Mr Justice Eady drew a distinction between de Defamatory comments on internet bulletin boards and forums and those published within articles on websites. The Judge stated that those on internet bulletin boards were more likely to be slander and not libel.

Currently the UK is looking at reforming its libel laws and this will take into account both online and offline forms.

Tony Heywood

Corporation is a distinct and legal and separate entity from the persons who have created it. Of all the business organizations, corporation is the most common form, and its owners are not responsible to pay for its liabilities. Corporations can be classified as: profit corporations, non-profit corporations, public corporations, private corporations, professional corporations, publicly-held corporations and closely-held corporation.

In this article we are going to comprehensively outline the formation of corporations and the importance of the role commercial and real estate lawyers play in this formation. It follows a procedure which includes the following steps: First of all, a name is to be decided for your corporation which should not be the same as any other registered corporations. The name should end with a corporation designation like 'corporation', 'limited' or 'incorporated'. However, some of the restricted words cannot be used such as 'federal', 'national' etc. To avoid any complications you need to contact the corporation's office and get a name registered. Since this process can get a little technical most individuals prefer appointing a business lawyer.

The second step is to appoint a board of directors, who make the financial decisions for the corporation and finalise the policies. They also appoint different officers and decide their salaries, make approvals for loans to be taken and other major decisions such as issuing stocks. They are appointed by the owners of the corporations before the beginning of the business.

The next step for the formation of a corporation is to file the 'articles of incorporation' with the corporation filing office. These are to be created and signed by the owners of the corporation. A member of the board of directors is appointed as the 'agent' so that public can contact the corporation through this 'agent'.

The formation of a corporation also requires you to create the bylaws, also known as the internal laws for your corporation which deal with daily decisions. For this, usually a lawyer is appointed who drafts them out for you. Another important step is the signing of an agreement, for the transfer of ownership of the corporation, after the owner becomes disabled, dies, retires or decides to leave the corporation.

The final step is obtaining required permits and licenses for your business. The most important being the business license, which is your tax registration certificate. You also need an employer identification number and a permit from the local planning board for your business. All these tasks can be performed efficiently by a business attorney.

If you are thinking about starting a corporation then you should get in touch with Miss Lubna K. Jahangiri, her real estate and commercial law firm is located in the State of California. Her expertise and knowledge in business law can make the procedure of forming a corporation convenient and hassle free for you; the vast knowledge she processes can act as a sole source of guidance throughout the procedure. The second pertinent advantage of consulting Miss Lubna is the reasonable fee she charges. The unmatched quality of her services along with a very affordable fee makes her the perfect choice for formation of your corporation.

Miss Lubna K. Jahangiri is one of the most qualified law consultant and experienced business and corporate lawyer in the State of California.

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Defamation law in England is reported to have been created as early as in 1307. Since then, the substance of English defamation law has not changed much. However, since the rapid expansion of the internet as the medium of choice for many individuals to air their views, many traditional defamation solicitors are finding it difficult to apply the traditional defamation law rules to modern defamation cases which mainly involve the use of the internet and email to disseminate information.

This in turn has led to the creation of a new breed of defamation solicitors who recognise the fact that traditional defamation legal solutions might not always be compatible with modern online defamation.

Many of the old-fashioned legal tools have hardly evolved over the past 100 years and they are being practiced by traditional defamation solicitors whose knowledge and understanding of the internet is probably, generally speaking, not greater than that of the average person on the street. After all, solicitors normally learn the practical aspects of their work from their supervising solicitor in the law firm and these tend to be very senior lawyers indeed, who might find the internet world a little bit too difficult to comprehend.

The experience of many of the traditional online defamation solicitors is mainly based on old-fashioned defamation cases, which in the majority of cases, relate to traditional publications such as books, newspapers and letters. Online defamation is a different illness altogether. Treat it with traditional text-book defamation medicine and you are likely to make a bad problem even worse.

This is why, with all the best intentions, old-fashioned defamation advice in relation to online defamation can sometimes backfire, in the sense that even if the case is won at court, the defamation still remains online and can even increase in volume.

So what has changed? Why might traditional defamation legal solutions not be compatible with modern online defamation?

The causes of defamation have changed

Some of the root causes of online defamation cases are very different in nature to the causes of traditional defamation. Online defamation is occasionally inflicted maliciously but sometimes it comes as a result of ignorance, strong emotional feelings, disgruntlement, self-righteousness or due to financial reasons.

Compare this with the main causes of traditional defamation, which are more or less confined to erroneous beliefs or innocent misconceptions and you will see why online defamation incidents must be treated in a different way altogether.

It is obvious, isn't it, that before one attempts to resolve a problem, one must first fully identify and understand the causes of it and if these causes are not deeply understood, then one might find oneself in the place of a patient with a sore eye who goes to receive treatment from the most expensive and highly prestigious brain surgeon in town. With respect, brain surgeons know very little about sore eyes and the last thing you would want the brain surgeon to do, is to open your brain up to try and administer medicine to your sore eye. In such a case, one can expect nothing but general deterioration in one's health with the original sore eye now constituting the least of one's problems.

Some players who are involved in defamation cases have been replaced

Over the past 100 years or so, the law of defamation has been developed by expert judges over countless court cases, mainly involving newspapers and book publishers. Broadly speaking, the playing teams who developed our defamation laws used to be very well read and highly experienced judges, a small number of newspaper publishing groups and a few highly paid lawyers, largely based in the City of London.

Pick up a text-book on defamation law in England and you will see that the same names of the parties involved in many of the defamation cases are repeated over and over again. The composition of the parties involved in defamation cases used to be almost set in stone and this is why reading a traditional defamation law text-book could feel like a Dj vu. You read time and time again about the same judges, the same lawyers and the same defendants. It used to be a small world.... Now this has all changed.

When appearing in court on matters of online defamation, the players can hardly recognise one another any longer. As a result of the dramatic increase in defamation cases, the number of Judges who are sitting on such matters has increased. And because of the different nature of the modern online defamation, a new breed of defamation solicitor has started to emerge.

This new breed of online defamation solicitor is very different to the traditional defamation solicitor, who used to almost exclusively occupy the court rooms. The modern online defamation solicitors are highly technically skilled, are incredibly internet savvy and they tend to possess vast knowledge of IT related matters.

Modern online defamation solicitors pay a great deal of attention to the psychological aspects of online defamation. They build psychological profiles of offenders and some of them are even NLP trained, which means they can tailor an individual approach to each act of online defamation by analysing the personalities of the offenders and by then dealing with each and every one of them in a personalised and highly effective manner.

The modern defamation solicitors are increasingly entrepreneurial like in their approach to the problem at hand. They approach online defamation issues from legal, technical and entrepreneurial angles and their solutions are not necessarily confined to local legal issues but are much more versatile. They tend to focus on obtaining successful results and workable solutions for their clients, who primarily, want their reputational problem to disappear rather than seek damages.

This refreshing approach which is often taken by the modern online defamation solicitors is pretty much in line with the latest technical developments and is reflective of their client's needs. They understand the fact that winning a defamation case through the courts, may not be sufficient on its own, for their client's on-going online defamation problems to completely disappear or even not to reoccur soon after the legal battle was won. This is another reason why modern online defamation solicitors spend so much of their time researching and genuinely trying to understand some of the underlying roots of each specific online defamation issue.

The use of personalisation by modern defamation solicitors, together with their ability to effectively communicate technical issues to their clients, makes it easier for them to find effective solutions to online defamation issues. And because of their deep routed understanding of the law as well as of technical matters, they are managing to develop personal relationships with key people in the social medial organisations and within the internet world, relationships which help them to affect the removal of websites, posts and comments with relative ease.

The ability to speak the same language and to effectively communicate with internet service providers is probably the most important asset of a modern online defamation solicitor because the reality is, that it is much cheaper and more cost-effective to facilitate the removal of material off the internet via dialogue than through legal action.

Lastly, many of the defendants who are now involved in online defamation cases are different in nature from their predecessors. In the past, most defendants in defamation law cases were editors of major newspaper titles, whilst currently defendants in online defamation cases are, generally speaking, normal people like your neighbour across the road who possesses very limited legal skills and experience. They sometimes appear in court in person, without a lawyer to represent them but with a lot of passion instead. The defamation courts now allow litigants in person to even use video links, whenever regular travel to the court room is not practical for them.

The Size of the Defamation Field has increased

Traditionally, the playing field where defamation was created was very small in size. Newspapers, text-books and letters, mainly published in the UK used to provide the main source of defamation cases. The old players in defamation law cases were therefore acting within some sort of comfort zone, limited both in size and in scope. This allowed the traditional defamation law solicitors to develop expertise within a very limited field of the defamation law.

This has now changed because the scope of defamation law has been widening. An opportunity to defame exists almost everywhere you look: on websites, blogs, forums, social media, emails and other online forums. Furthermore, defamation can now be initiated from anywhere in the world and be transmitted instantly worldwide. Defamation law is no longer a local or a national matter. Very often it involves cross jurisdictional issues which means the modern online defamation solicitor must have a sound knowledge of multi-national laws.

Modern online defamation solicitors spend hours upon hours researching, studying and investigating their playing field and they must, in addition to having a sound understanding of the law, be vested with specific knowledge of how the online world works and operates. They must be able to speak the language, be fluent in the jargon and fully understand the way things work on the internet, as well as the mechanics which cause online defamation to be created and then spread across. And to enable them to keep up with the rapid changes that are occurring on the internet, modern online defamation solicitors must now possess a rare combination of skills, which include legal, analytical and technical and they must maintain these skills constantly afresh.

It is not surprising therefore that some of the old-fashioned defamation solicitors, who for many years had been successfully scoring time and time again within a 'Mini Football field', are finding it difficult now to keep up with this rapidly changing area of law.

The Training which is required is not traditional at all

Whilst traditional defamation solicitors have almost always enjoyed the benefit of being trained up by their firm's experienced defamation law partner (hence the reason why lawyers from other, smaller practices have in the past found it difficult to enter this field of law), much of the knowledge and skills of the modern online defamation solicitors have been acquired independently and by sharing experiences with colleagues all over the world.

In other words, internet law and online defamation law are not subjects which are taught at law schools. They can only be mastered by constant usage and by plenty of practical experience.

One of the reasons why many modern defamation solicitors acquire their unique skills independently, is that there was no one around to teach them these skills, because these skills are not traditionally associated with solicitors' work. They are not listed in legal text-books and are highly technical. In fact, many of the special skills that effective online defamation solicitors must possess, are not necessarily legal skills but are skills which did not really exist up until very recently.

These skills are not written (yet) into text-books and neither are they taught on legal courses. Knowing your law well is one thing, but understanding the magic that makes pages appear on or disappear off the internet is a completely different matter so it is not surprising at all that some traditional defamation solicitors are finding it a bit difficult to adapt and participate in this new arena.

Traditional defamation solicitors are lawyers not IT specialists, not SEO gurus, not detectives and very often not NLP trained. And because one can only teach what one knows, trainee solicitors in some traditional, corporate like law firms might not receive the opportunity to enhance skills which are not strictly speaking, regarded as legal skills. Training in large law firms is normally confined to the legal matters and legal matters alone. Modern online defamation solicitors, on the other hand, have always enjoyed the freedom to learn, to study and to pursue knowledge, without the constraints that sometimes exist within old-fashioned law firms, whose focus tends to be directed more on the production of billable hours almost from day one.

This is why modern online defamation solicitors can offer their clients much more than traditional thinking and traditional legal genius. They possess skills, which are not normally associated with traditional corporate-like, old- fashioned defamation solicitors. And furthermore, it is important to note that most victims of online defamation, regardless of the size of their organisations, are looking for an online defamation solicitor with technical, psychological, investigative and inter personal skills in addition to the traditional legal abilities.

Goodbye Damages Hello Damage Limitation or The Trophy is not gold plated any longer

Wining a defamation case for a client is without a doubt considered to be the ultimate result for most defamation solicitors. This is one of the reasons why highly expensive and emotionally charged legal proceedings on behalf of lucrative clients, have been the bread and butter of some of the old-fashioned defamation law firms. But this has now also changed.

Many victims of online defamation are now measuring success by using a different formula altogether.

Because of the immediate and potentially disastrous consequences of online defamation to their businesses, (regardless of size), victims of online defamation, tend to measure success in relation to the speed by which their business can be brought back to normal operation. Most victims of online defamation have little or no time at all for highly expensive and everlasting defamation trials. By the time their defamation trial comes to an end, there might be nothing left of their business reputation. It is no longer about damages: it is now about damage limitation.

Court actions for defamation could constitute a serious distraction for the entrepreneur who invariably understands that a lawyer, with even the greatest possible advocacy skills, cannot bring him his business reputation back following a successful defamation trial. Court actions for defamation are considered by most entrepreneurs as 'last resort' options.

This is why modern online defamation solicitors tend to commit their various special skills to help solving their client's immediate online defamation issues, whenever possible, outside the court room and it is now clear that what many victims of online defamation consider to be a good result is not only the fast disappearance of defamatory comments from the internet, but also the learning which follows from a successfully defeated online reputation attack and the help and support which they receive from their internet lawyer, which helps them build up new systems and processes to prevent or at least minimise future online reputation attacks on their business.

It is very possible that the above developments in English defamation law will lead to an overhaul change to the way defamation law in England is being practiced and this change will perhaps result in significant amendments of the law of defamation in England.

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 Yair Cohen's blog http://www.yaircohenuk.com

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If you are under investigation for a computer crime, or if you have already been arrested for such an offense, you are probably under a great deal of stress. Computer crimes involve a wide range of activities that are otherwise illegal. When people use a computer or the internet to further commit such crimes, then they are categorized as computer or internet crimes.

These days, nearly every aspect of our society is digitalized. People can download movies, apply for a credit card, transfer balances between accounts, and pay their bills all with the touch of a button. The expanding functions of the internet have opened a whole new world to criminal outlets and activities. Criminals are finding new ways to break the law at a pace that law enforcement is struggling to keep up with. Because computers have such a large impact on society as a whole, federal prosecutors waste no time or expense in securing criminal convictions against the individuals who commit such crimes. In fact, the federal government has entire task forces devoted to tracking down and arresting people who commit these types of crimes.

What categorizes a computer or internet crime? One common aspect of computer crimes involves financial fraud and money laundering schemes. Other financial crimes committed via the internet include credit and debit card fraud, hacking and identity theft.

Computer crimes also involve harassment, spamming, phishing, and sex crimes against children. People who possess child pornography on their home or work computer, and people who distribute child pornography via the internet are in violation of the law. Unfortunately, internet crimes involving children can oftentimes be a case of mistaken identity. Perhaps you were not aware that the images were of minors, or perhaps someone else used your computer. Revealing the truth of what actually happened will be dependent upon the highly investigative tactics of an experienced defense attorney.

Because these crimes typically cross state lines, they are often classified as federal offenses. If you are under investigation for a federal crime, you could have a large government entity assisting your local law enforcement agency. This means that the prosecution will have unlimited manpower and means to pursue a conviction. If you want to effectively protect your legal rights, you are going to need the assistance of a seasoned federal criminal defense attorney on your side. Your lawyer will have a wealth of proven defense tools at their disposal. The last thing you would want to do is hire an inexperienced or apprehensive lawyer when you are fighting to preserve your reputation and your freedom. If you are under investigation for a computer crime, don't hesitate to contact a federal criminal defense attorney immediately.

The Law Offices of Guy L. Womack & Associates, P.C. is conveniently located in North Houston, Texas. Their firm has been providing their clients with outstanding defense representation for all sorts of federal and state criminal offenses. Whether your case is going to military, state or federal court, they have the knowledge, experience and tools necessary to protect your legal rights. A member from their legal team is prepared to meet with you in person for a free consultation. They would like to provide you with both sound advice and potential defense strategies that may aid in your defense. Their goal is to help their clients obtain the best possible outcome in the charges against them. They will search for any mitigating circumstances that might get the charges against you reduced or dropped entirely. You are urged to contact a Houston federal criminal defense lawyer from their firm at (800) 990-8762 today.

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The internet has changed many industries including the way that lawyers practice their trade. While this might not be the first industry to come to mind in terms of how it uses the internet, the World Wide Web has had a huge influence on the practice of law.

Thanks to the internet, geography is no longer an issue. Even having a website can draw in hundreds or thousands of clients that the firm would not have had if it hadn't been for a foray into the internet. There are many examples of firms which have been able to expand into foreign countries and thrive there all thanks to the doors that the internet has opened. In addition, it is now easier than ever to communicate with lawyers who are half a world away. Thanks to email and instant messaging, lawyers can work together no matter where they are located.

The internet has also led to the proliferation of electronic publishing. Now lawyers and firms can print such things as bulletins and have them distributed all over the world. Many of these bulletins have become very popular, but if they were a traditional paper publication the cost associated with them would be too high. However, thanks to the internet, firms can publish papers and have them read in all corners of the world.

Lawyers frequently need to talk to each other when dealing with a large case and thanks to the internet, they no longer have to be in the same room with each other. This has led to a lowering of travel costs as teams of lawyers can discuss the case over Skype or another similar program. Video conferencing is now the wave of the future and can be done much easier than trying to get everyone in the same room at the same time.

Lawyers need information in order to win cases and that has also been made much easier thanks to the internet. Instead of having to haul around reams of paper or huge law books, lawyers can now find the information they need by simply logging onto the internet. Lawsuits, judgments, phone numbers, liens and other records are easily accessed and can make prepping for a case much easier. In addition, all team members will have access to the same information no matter where they are located.

The practice of law also involves a lot of paperwork and lawyers can now easily access the forms they need on a wide variety of websites. In addition, even regular people can go to websites and create their own legally binding documents such as articles of incorporation for a business or a last will and testament. This has also cut down on the number of fees that can be charged and opened the law to more people than ever before.

The internet will continue to change the way we live our lives and how we operate in the world of law and justice. It will be interesting to see how it continues to affect the practice of law in the future.

MyBlueDish is an informative website on Satellite Internet and High Speed Internet Service.

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A legal litigation lawyer is primarily concerned with providing officially authorized proficiency desired to determine the resolution to a special kind of legal disagreement that primarily do not fall under the category of criminal offences. The conflict can range from among small individual units to among large corporations. For instance, when two neighbors come across a difference of opinion pertaining to any topic like property boundaries, and if they are unable to resolve their disparity outside the legal court, only then the role of a civil becomes essential. Each side would hire a lawyer to support each of their positions before a judge or the jury.

A second prominent situation that calls for the essential role of this lawyers is when Businessmen from time to time come across a difference of opinion regarding some legal concord on contract conditions to an extent that it calls for an authority or the procedure of a lawsuit to resolve the differentiation. A litigation lawyer will usually have the required awareness of the contract and the law, which would give him the ability to construe the diverse contractual sections so he or she can help the authority in reaching a conclusion desirable to the party involved. Also, where there is a compromise on the contractual clauses, the lawyer may be capable of helping the entities involved in rectifying the differences of opinions without actually going for a legal lawsuit. But when the easier way out is not conceivable, both parties can appoint litigation lawyers who will have the required knowledge to deal with the case proceedings effectively to a desirable conclusion.

Another important property specific to the litigation lawyers, which is made most evident when going through the local phone book for the contact of a litigation lawyer, is that a person will notice that there are lawyers with specialties in various fields out there. Every lawyer of this category chooses to specialize in some special kinds of cases, for illustration, whenever an operative feels the impression that there has been percipience or discrimination of particular sort at his work place, he will easily be able to find a litigation lawyer who concentrates in that individual field of law. Federal, state and local laws can be very diverse and complicated and the way they administer behavior in the workplace. Therefore, it can be rather difficult to understand, so hiring a skillful and knowledgeable expert can assist the employee get the reimbursement he merits.

With all the arguments presented above, one conclusion that can be evidently drawn is that a litigation lawyer clearly possesses a very momentous domicile in any society. Given the latest trend, common among people of many countries suing one another clearly acts as empirical evidence of the importance of litigation lawyers in a country. Unquestionably this is the very motivation why so many lawyers out there have constricted their practices to specialisms rather than going for "general" practice.

Miss Lubna K. Jahangiri is one of the most qualified law consultant and experienced business and corporate lawyer in the State of California.

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