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 are 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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In November 2006, Blogging Asia: A Windows Live Report released by Microsoft's MSN and Windows Live Online Services Business revealed that 46% or nearly half of the online population have a blog

Cookies have attracted lots of attention recently. I mean the tracking kind, not the edible kind in Christmas patterns and colors.

ScanScout, an on-line advertiser, recently settled a FTC enforcement action regarding the language in their privacy policy ("PP") about cookies. ScanScout's PP claimed that users could configure their browsers to block the cookies they use to gather information about users in order to send them targeted advertising. Turns out, however, the tracking cookies they were using were flash cookies that could not be blocked as stated. FTC found this to be deceptive and the enforcement action ensued.

What does this mean to you or your business?

Use of cookies

Consider not using flash cookies if you are currently doing so or considering so. Many people consider flash cookies deceptive and invasive. In fact, a primer on flash cookies by the Electronic Privacy Information Center shows that the breadth of information gathered by these cookies to probably be beyond the comfort zone of today's privacy-conscious consumers.

Have a Privacy Policy

Yes, it might be tempting to resolve this issue by simply not having a PP. After all, if you don't have a PP, you can't be found to be violating it right? Maybe, but you create other risks by deciding not to have a PP. First, consumers have increasingly shown themselves to be skeptical about having anything to do with websites that do not have privacy policies, so you might be losing business. Second, not having a PP will prevent you from using certain useful services (such as Google Analytics, which requires users to post a privacy policy) and conducting promotions or contests using many social media platforms.

Reference cookies practices in your Privacy Policy

Make sure that you have a full understanding of your cookies practices and that of any third party (such as Google Analytics) who provides apps or tools you use in your interface with users. Your PP should spell out exactly what cookies are used, whether they are persistent, whether you use flash cookies, how you use information gleaned from cookies (e.g. do you utilize information for targeted internal or external marketing), whether you share gathered information with third parties, and how users can block cookies (including providing a mechanism to block flash cookies - a key requirement of the ScanScout consent decree). Finally, if you use third-party services that utilize cookies, consider referencing the third-party service's cookies policy in your PP.

Finally, if you are going to be making any changes to your website privacy policy, make sure it is properly publicized to your clients, customers and/or users, ideally with a click-through mechanism where they must accept the new privacy policy before accessing your site.

What are your thoughts on use of cookies for marketing?

ERIC HSU is a Legal Success Strategist, accomplished speaker, and owner of Clear Focus Law.

The mission of Clear Focus Law is to show entrepreneurs, small biz and social marketing professionals how to use the law as a tool for empowering innovation and achieving success, both by building strong legal foundations to support the innovation and by establishing an effective and legally successful social media and web 2.0 presence to grow their business.

In addition to advising clients, Eric also speaks on social media legal topics, writes legal guides and blogs, and provides on-going training solutions.

Visit Clear Focus Law's website to learn how you can start to get a handle on how social media law affects your business.

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Have you or your employees defamed anyone lately? Are you sure?

Is the prevention of defamation liability part of your social media policy or protocols? If not it should be. Recently an Oregon blogger found out the hard way with a $2.5 million defamation judgment. Luckily, defamation liability can be easily minimized by knowing what it is (and is not) and by using some easily implemented best practices.

What it is
Defamation liability results when you publicize false, purported facts about someone when these purported facts would subject the person to hatred, ridicule or shame, and you knew or should have known that the purported facts were false. Since social media is, by its nature, public, the "publicizing" prong of defamation is always satisfied as soon as you (or your employees) post your blog, update, tweet, etc.

Just the Facts
Defamation requires that the publicized information be in the form of purported facts. For example, posting that someone has AIDS, has been convicted of a crime, or is a cheat, are all purported facts and would be potentially defamatory if false. On the other hand, stating that someone was not pleasant to deal with is an opinion, as is stating that the writer simply does not like someone. Defamation liability generally cannot arise out of these opinion statements, caution is advised since many statements can straddle the gray area between fact and opinion. For example the statement that someone is "not ethical" or is "greedy" might sound like an opinion, but can easily be twisted around to be factual enough to be the basis of a defamation lawsuit.

Truth
The purported facts must be actually false. Truth, it is said, is the ultimate defense against a defamation lawsuit. If a person really does have AIDS, has been convicted of a crime, or is a cheat, then saying so through social media channels should not be the basis for defamation liability. Of course, there may be other reasons, including privacy liability why saying so may not be wise.

Negligent
Finally, even if the publicized information was in fact false, it must be shown that you either knew or should have known (with reasonable inquiry) that the facts were false. In other words, you must be shown to be malicious (knew it was false and posted anyway) or negligent (did not take the reasonable steps a reasonable person would have taken to verify the facts before posting).

Best practices
1) Have a Social Media Policy or protocol. This is critical, whether you have 500 employees or are a solo practitioner. The importance of having guidelines in place that everyone agrees to follow every time they post on social media for your business cannot be overstated. This is especially the case when defamation liability avoidance is concerned.

2) Be Professional. Regardless of how ugly things get with competitors, customers or anyone else, resist, at all costs, the urge to use your social media networks as a giant megaphone to air your differences. Nothing good ever comes out of this practice and usually you are just inviting trouble. Social Media should be used for purposes that advance your business' mission and goals. Period.

3) Report Facts through Links. If part of your social media strategy involves reporting on news or facts related to your business, consider using links to established, trustworthy media outlets, instead of being a reporter yourself. The federal court in the Portland blogger case made it very clear that bloggers don't have the same protections that traditional news media enjoys. By linking (and commenting on the news without adding or implying any additional facts if you need to) you let the pros take on the risk of defamation while still being able to get the facts out as needed.

4) Research if you Need to Report. If you simply must break a story yourself or put a different factual spin on an existing story, you simply must make sure that you have researched your facts and have a reasonable basis to believe they are true. Make sure to also keep good records of your research.

5) Make sure You are Insured. Finally, if worst comes to worst, make sure you are insured. While most of us are not going to have sufficient insurance to cover the $2.5 million verdict in the Portland blogger case, at least make sure that the commercial general liability coverage covers defamation liability. When I say "make sure" I mean to not only ask your insurance agent, but to find it in your policy!

ERIC HSU is a Legal Success Strategist, accomplished speaker, and owner of Clear Focus Law.

The mission of Clear Focus Law is to show entrepreneurs, small biz and social marketing professionals how to use the law as a tool for empowering innovation and achieving success, both by building strong legal foundations to support the innovation and by establishing an effective and legally successful social media and web 2.0 presence to grow their business.

In addition to advising clients, Eric also speaks on social media legal topics, writes legal guides and blogs, and provides on-going training solutions.

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A website contract can be used when hiring a person or company to do any type of work on a website for you.

You can hire a contractor to help you design your website or use the contract to hire a website developer to set up the code and functionality of your site. You can also use the contract to hire someone to help you with the layout and the search engine optimization so that you will rank higher in a search on Google or even to hire a contractor to help with ongoing website support.

By using a website contract, you and your contractor will both have a clear expectation of the work to be completed: the scope of the work, the timing for the work, a description of phases of work, payment for phases, and clear terms and conditions for completion of the work and payment.

As a result, a website contract provides benefit to both parties and ensures payment for work to be completed is clear. It also provides other protections such as requiring a warranty from the contractor for the work to be performed and ensuring they confirm they are properly qualified to do so. It will also protect your intellectual property for your site and your ideas.

Your contract should include a confidentiality provision so that they are restrained from discussing your idea and design with others. Such a provision should also protect your information in relation to your intellectual property rights in your website, graphics and other elements associated with your website.

From a contractor's perspective, they will appreciate the confirmation and understanding of your expectations as well as confirmation of work to be performed in return for payment. There should also be a dispute mechanism clause in your contract, in the event that you both do not agree on an element of the work performed. This will provide further protection to both you and your contractor in the event of any disagreement.

Finally, your contract should also contain clearly defined terms for termination of the contract. In the event you do not want to continue working with the contractor, your agreement should provide for payment for the last phase of the work completed which grants ownership in the work to you and subsequent termination of the contract with no requirement to continue.

A website contract is a professional way to make hiring someone to help with your online business easy while minimizing your liabilities and protecting your website.

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

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An internet crime, or cybercrime, refers to any illegal practice that involves the use of a computer or network, or targets a computer or network. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, their key priorities in regards to cybercrimes are: computer intrusion, online predators, piracy, and fraud. Computer intrusion costs individuals and companies billions of dollars every year. By breaking into personal computers, laptops, and networks, hackers can disrupt and sometimes permanently damage vital computer systems. The reasons for computer intrusion vary from the theft of personal information to illegal business practices to terrorism.

Child pornography and online predators are another important focus of the FBI. The Innocent Images National Initiative is part of their Cyber Crimes Program and is dedicated to fighting the spread of child pornography online. It is against federal and state laws to make, own, sell, or distribute any pornographic materials that contain minors. Although each state is different, even the possession of one picture can lead to five years in prison. As one of the fastest growing crimes on the internet, it can be used for a number of purposes. Pedophiles view it, but others use it to prepare children for child prostitution, an act known as child grooming. 18 U.S.C. Chapter 110, Sexual Exploitation and Other Abuse of Children, states that violators can be punished by fifteen years in federal prison.

A crime that has garnered a mass amount of media attention is that of piracy: intellectual property theft. Intellectual property includes: music, books, movies, art, inventions, phrases, designs, and more. Materials that are protected by copyright or trademarks are illegal to copy or distribute without permission. Penalties for piracy vary based on the amount copies or distributed. The FBI has been working on educating the public regarding the seriousness of this crime and the fact that it is theft.

Lastly, another widespread internet crime is fraud. Fraud is a broad category of crimes that involve dishonest acts. When misrepresentation occurs on the internet, it becomes a cybercrime. The most common reason for fraud is monetary gain and can be civil or criminal in nature, depending on the law of the state. The main types of fraud are: identity theft, credit card fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and securities fraud.

If you have been accused of any type of internet crime, it is highly encouraged that you speak with a legal professional as soon as possible. As these crimes can be investigated by government agencies, you need a strong legal representative to be on your side. Time is crucial, so do not wait to get the help you need.

The Miller Law Firm has over twenty years of experience in criminal defense law. With a former assistant state prosecutor on their team, they have the skill and ability to handle even the most complex and serious criminal cases. By speaking to a Sarasota criminal attorney from their team, you could receive the strong legal representation you need to get your case dismissed. From drug crimes to DUI to sex crimes and theft crimes, they have handled hundreds of criminal cases. You deserve professional and high-quality legal defense and they could be able to help you get your life back on track and retain your freedom. To learn more about how they can help you, contact a Sarasota criminal lawyer from their firm. They are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, so call today or visit their website at http://www.sarasotacriminaldefenselawfirm.com.

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Purpose:

The purpose of these Open Source Software Compliance Guidelines (Guidelines) is to provide guidance in the development of procedures designed to verify compliance with the license requirements of various open source software applications and code (OSS) used internally or included in products for distribution. Technology lawyers, advisors and consultants need to be aware of issues surrounding open source software in order to properly advise their clients.

The output of these Guidelines should be (1) an Open Source Software Compliance Policy (OSS Policy) that describes the policies and procedures applicable to the company's use of OSS, and (2) an inventory (OSS Inventory) of all OSS approved for use within the company.

The OSS Policy must be designed with the company's culture and specific way of operating in mind in order to be effective. The OSS Policy should also be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

The OSS Inventory is the ultimate output of these Guidelines and the OSS Policy. However, it will also serve as a ready document, in modified form, that can be provided to customers that may request a listing of OSS contained in distributed products and to a potential partner or acquirer which is performing due diligence.

It is important to note that 3rd party proprietary software will often contain OSS components. Therefore, particularly when such software is being included in a distributed product, it is necessary to have the vendor identify all OSS components so that they can be considered along the lines as set forth below.

Designated Gatekeeper:

A person or committee should be designated for approval of all OSS proposed to be used internally or included in products for distribution. In order for this procedure to be effective, notice must be provided to relevant company personnel that the company requires prior approval of all OSS utilized in any manner within the company. Such notice must be conspicuous and repeated at regular intervals. In addition, supervisors must also be instructed to reinforce this requirement. Special attention must be paid to development teams which are accustomed to pulling OSS from various places, and usually operate subject to tight deadlines.

Request for Approval:

1. Requests for approval should be submitted within the amount of time prior to use/implementation as stated in the OSS Policy. The approval process should be initiated with the submission of a document that contains at least the following information:

2. Name/Version Number/Source of Open Source Software

3. Name of Applicable License (e.g., GNU General Public License v.2, zlib, BSD), and Source Address for the License

4. Name of Entity/Person Granting License

5. Source Address from which OSS will be Obtained

6. Description of How OSS will be Used (e.g., internally, as a development tool, embedded in distributed product, etc.)

7. If included in distributed product, description of the manner in which these OSS will interact with the company's proprietary source code (i.e., will the OSS be compiled and/or linked statically or dynamically with the company's proprietary source code?)

8. The manner in which the OSS will be implemented (e.g., modified vs. unmodified, standalone, statically linked, dynamically linked, etc.).

9. Description of whether the OSS will be modified

10. Statement as to whether the OSS is a key product component

11. Statement as to whether the OSS well-known and widely used

12. Target date for OSS use/implementation

Approval Process:

The approval process involves examining risk areas relating to using the particular OSS. Risk areas may include:

1. Does the OSS license require making modified source code publicly available?

2. Does the OSS license require that source code for company's proprietary software be made publicly available? (e.g., will there be static linking of GPL code with company's proprietary software?)

3. Has there been litigation or other issues relating to the subject OSS?

4. Does the OSS license contain ambiguous terms, thereby potentially placing a cloud on company's rights to use the OSS in a certain manner?

5. Will lack of warranties and intellectual property indemnification pose a risk to company vis-à-vis customer expectation and demands?

It is important that the approval process be conducted quickly, and the expected time period for approval should be set forth in the OSS Policy. Otherwise, users and developers are likely to get frustrated and find ways to get around the procedures as deadlines approach.

When new versions of approved OSS are used, an expedited approval process should take place. This allows the OSS Inventory to be kept up to date, and will prevent gaps forming in the inventory that could end up becoming large holes.

Compliance:

The goal of an OSS Policy is to achieve compliance with each OSS license. Depending upon the licenses involved, compliance may include any of the following:

1. Inclusion in appropriate documentation of warranty disclaimers, liability exclusions, author attribution, and proprietary rights notices.

2. Inclusion in appropriate documentation of the applicable OSS end user license agreement.

3. Public delivery or availability of source code for the unmodified version or the modified version.

4. Public delivery or availability of source code for company's proprietary software if linked to a "copyleft" open source software code in a manner that requires this result.

5. Marking of modifications made to the OSS source code.

Audits:

On a periodic basis, at least annually, an audit should take place to verify that the OSS Inventory is accurate and up to date. The audit process can be as simple as distributing the OSS Inventory to key personnel who will sign off on it, or as complex as installing monitoring software that will identify OSS on the company's computer system. The extent of the audit will depend upon company's needs and the volume of open source OSS in use.

OSS Training:

Current and new employees should participate in an OSS Policy training session to ensure that they are aware of the company's procedures and requirements in this area.

William Galkin, Esq. is an Internet lawyer who has dedicated his legal practice to representing Internet, website, e-commerce, computer technology and new media businesses in the U.S. and around the world. Learn more about agreements needed by websites.

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Terms: The Background

Why do we care about a web site's Terms and Conditions? Everyone knows that a site needs to have legal Terms. Few people think about the obvious question: Why?

While our statutes, regulations and past cases are full of laws and their applications when it comes to everyday interactions, few laws and cases exists with respect to online interactions. Why? Our cyber universe, as a mature legal arena, has existed for only some ten or fifteen years. When compared to the hundreds of years of "real world" interactions, its easy to see why many legal "holes" exists in our system.

Under US law, these legal "holes" are filled up with with either judge-made interpretations or privately drafted contract law. Given that on any single day, a judge reviewing an online case may have come from family, criminal or juvenile courts, we would rather leave as little for judges to decide on their on as possible. We achieve this through proper negotiation, drafting and implementation of site Terms.

Luckily for us, the US, as opposed to many civil code jurisdictions, respects privately negotiated contracts. Web site Terms are nothing more than privately negotiated contracts. Unless you realize this important point, you will end up leaving too much for judges to decide.

Three Common Mistakes

Failing to realize that web Terms are privately negotiated agreements, most web site operators make three common mistakes.

They Copy Other Sites' Terms: The most common way for site administrators to "draft" site Terms is by copying it from other sites. Worse, they copy it from some site touting its Terms as a standard that once edited can be used by anyone. Why? because, few administrators understand how important these Terms are. Fewer still understand the impact Terms have on each and every future online dispute.

They fail to Negotiate the Terms: The most common mistakes made by site administrators is believing that if they post Terms on the internet, they will bind visitors. That is equivalent to posting mortgage papers on the wall of a bank and believing that everyone who enters will be bound by those documents. Web site Terms must be negotiated to be valid. This is a critical component of online compliance; few, however, understand how online negotiations take place.

They Don't Change with the Times: Internet laws "develop" or "mature" through case law on a daily basis. Since so few cyber laws are codified through statutes, compliance can only be reached through Terms amendments reflecting these latest rulings. Many site Terms, however, were drafted 6 months to 3 years ago. Administrators must start thinking about making key changes to Terms on a regular basis.

The Risk of Non-Compliant Terms

In our representation of online companies, we see four main areas of risks faced by clients. These risks are easily avoidable; however, due to a lack of understanding risks often mature into costly if not destructive forces for a young company.

Many online companies unknowingly make promises to online users that they never intend. I've seen clients with subscription based pricing models having copied Terms relevant only to one time charge sites. As a result, they were liable for wrongful charges. Some clients with upstart e-tail sites, ended up making consumer support promises which only the like of Amazon or Buy.com could make.

Important contract provisions get struck down. When online companies fail to understand that Terms must be "negotiated" with users, they end up surprised when judges strike down provisions that are employed by countless other sites. The typical response is, "How could a judge do this? It is Standard industry practice."

The Company assumes unnecessary levels of liability. When Terms are not properly drafted and negotiated, incorrect provisions can result in substantial corporate liability. There are countless class-action websites run by attorneys soliciting clients for class action law suits against online companies. Having the wrong Terms can be devastating.

Administrators facing personal liability. Hard to believe, but when Terms are drafted improperly the owners and operators of sites can face liability personally, not just as a corporation.

Step 1: Define Your Goals

It may sound strange, but before you can start drafting any Terms you need to figure out what your goals are. The Terms must reflect your goals. More importantly, they need to avoid saddling you with unnecessary obligations.

If you are building an affiliate marketing campaign and deploying squeeze pages, what are your goals? You want to build a mailing list, that's obvious. But what are the Terms of the transaction? You may want to give them a free gift or service in exchange for information. Alternatively, you may want them to read product descriptions. Either way, what do you want you customers to do?

If you are building a forum or soliciting product reviews, what do you want users to do? You want them to post comments but you want them to behave in accordance with the law. What does that mean? How can their behavior make you liable to third parties?

If you are building an e-tail site, what do you want to accomplish? You obviously want to make sales, but you also don't want to be liable for faulty products, lost shipments or false advertising.

What if you are designing software that runs on the internet? You want to make sure it is deployed in accordance with legal allowances. You also want to make sure that its not distributed without your consent. What about a dating site? Here you want to make sure that members are truthful and that people interact safely.

Every online product or service is unique. Start by defining your goals. There can never be too many. The mistake is to just ignore this stage.

Step 2: Where is Your Liability?

Once you figure out what your goals are, you need to think about where potential liability can come from.

If you're developing an affiliate marketing campaign, you face liability from potential false advertising and product liability.

If you you built a widget that runs off of tweeter, you face potential trademark and copyright violations in redisplaying tweets.

If you run a forum, you face publisher liability for comments made by users.

If you developed software that automates posting to Craigslist, you face liability for enabling your users' unintentional violation of that site's terms of service.

If you develop a squeeze page you may face privacy concerns due to follow up advertising.

If you develop a digital entertainment download site, you may face liability due to copyright infringement for ringtones and games.

If you build a social network site, you face liability for intellectual property infringements for users' posting.

There is unlimited forms of liability faced by online companies. The trick is to give some thought to all potential issues that can arise in the future, however remote. Always ask, what can someone end up being unhappy about? Even a $2.99 download product can result in millions of dollars in liability.

Step 3: Define Your Customer's View

It's one thing to figure out what you want. It's quite another thing to figure out what your customer wants to achieve. Don't forget what we said earlier on: A web site's Terms is a negotiated agreement. It can never be one sided or it risks being thrown out by a judge. So what do your customer want?

A customer who clicked on an advertisement to an affiliate marketing site, wants truth in advertising regarding the product.

A visitor to a squeeze page wants an exchange of his information for value. The e-product must be delivered as promised.

A subscriber to a newsletter wants his information kept confidential from 3rd party marketers.

A member to a dating site wants his personal information kept confidential from other members unless he wishes them revealed.

A customer of a digital entertainment site wants his digital game to operate properly.

A customer downloading a ringtone wants to make sure that he is paying for one download and not paying for a subscription.

A buyer from an e-tail site wants to know who to return the product to in the event of a complaint.

A client posting a review wants to make sure you keep his identity confidential.

If you haven't given thought to what your customers want, a judge will. The negotiation starts by you thinking about your customers needs.

Step 4: Enable through Negotiation

So how do we put everything together? How do we enable our goals, while minimizing potential liability and allowing for customer wishes? We negotiate with the customer. I know this sounds strange. How can you ever negotiate with a visitor to a splash page?

Terms of service are worth little if a court is likely to later dismiss many of the key provisions. Courts over the past few years have struck down many important sections of leading sites' Terms as being too one sided. How do you avoid it?

Focus on the best form of "consent". Most web sites at best offer a link at the bottom of a page to the site's Terms. Others go a little further by requiring the users to check a box as having "agreed" to the site's Terms. However, if you have a provision that you "must" make sure that a court will uphold you can do better. There are countless options available to make sure that a client reads and consents to important terms (e.g. displaying summarized terms of service).

For some key issues, like dispute resolution, afford the user options. Most attorneys, inexperienced in online law, draft straight forward terms. As they try to bind users, they fail to understand that unless they build options into the Terms (like how to best resolve disputes) judges are likely to strike the provisions down.

Don't fail this step. Negotiate fair Terms with your customers by giving them ample chance to consent to important provisions and providing them with options on how to best implement the Terms.

Step 5: How to Make Changes?

You can be assured of one thing. You'll have to make ongoing changes to your Terms. Not only are your business practices likely to change over time, online laws change on a regular basis. As online legal cases make it through the court system, we must incorporate into existing Terms any new legal interpretations and findings. Failing to do so, assures us of stale and irrelevant Terms. Basically, absent amendments to our Terms, the goals we set up earlier while minimizing liability will be ineffective.

But how do we make changes? If we look at the typical terms of service agreement, we are likely to see a statement such as this: "XYZ reserves the right to amend these terms of service at any time, with or without notice to the users. It is the user's obligation to check this page from time to time to see if any changes to the terms were made."

Does this provision seem strange? How often have you heard of a contract that can be amended unilaterally by one side without notice or the option to back out? Not often! That's because, in our normal daily lives we would never agree to such a contract. So why should such a contract apply online?

Courts have, in online cases, consistently rejected contract provisions which were deemed too onerous when one side did not have the opportunity to choose among alternatives, negotiate or withdraw. From cases concerning arbitration clauses to subscription pricing, courts have rejected provisions that are too one sided.

While this provision is widely accepted in the industry, I would not advise building an online business based on the broad application of unproven and legally weak provisions. Avoid the risk of a court rejecting your Terms. The solution: NOTICE. Go out of your way to provide your users with notifications of any changes made to your policies. Send out email and txt messages. Post notices of revisions to your site. Have members "re-accept" the new Terms.

You can never do too much when it comes to providing notice of changes.

Step 6: How to Control Liability

So by now, we negotiated compliant Terms for our online business. Is that enough to control our liability. No! To assure that any potential future liability is contained, you must follow these three steps:

Follow the Terms: This may seem so simple, but so few actually follow it. You need to know your Terms and you need to follow the Terms. If you made promises, keep them. If you provided customers with procedures they need to follow, respect them. Don't create a situation where you actually create liability for yourself by having drafted compliant Terms but having failed to follow them. Remember, since there are many "holes" in the online legal system, judges rely on privately negotiated contracts such as Terms. Your failure to follow your own Terms will be read against you. You would have effectively breached your agreement with your clients.

Teach your Clients: So you "negotiated" your Terms through proper usage of the "acceptance" procedure. But do your clients know what to do? Often you liability is tied to your clients' behavior. So go out of your way to teach them proper and lawful behavior. From support forums to seminars, from conference calls to newsletters - Build a culture of education by teaching your clients the lessons that are important to you.

AND... Build Liability Proof Domestic and Offshore Corporate Structures.

Build Liability Proof Corporate Structure

After all is said and done, don't forget that your best ally when it comes to managing potential liability is the corporate structure that you've set up.

Basic corporate structures, if properly set up and managed over the years, will provide you with some liability protection. That might be enough for some simple online businesses such as squeeze page powered affiliate marketing campaigns and e-tailers.

For other online businesses, a more sophisticated form of domestic and offshore corporate structure is needed. Believe it or not, your greatest risk will not come from government. It will come from competitors. Everyday, large tech companies compete with smaller more nimble companies using the court system. And why not? In court, the larger companies have an advantage - money.

Many entrepreneurial companies have gone out of businesses after being dragged into court by larger companies. For many online and software companies, compliant Terms will not suffice. They need to supplement those Terms with a structure that evens out the odds in court.

This is a topic too large for this eGuide. Speak with an attorney about the design of domestic and offshore networks of online compliant corporate businesses.

Where Do We Go Next?

Sit back and start designing your site's Terms. The more questions you have, the better it will end up. And remember what we said in the beginning of this eGuide: A Site's Terms is only one component of its overall online compliance.

Make sure your Terms integrate and support your business' overall online compliance strategy including:

Online Privacy Software Compliance Mobile Compliance Direct Marketing (email and txt) Intellectual Property Compliance (trademark and copyright) Online Advertising Online Promotions (contests and sweepstakes).

Once you design an overall compliance strategy, examine your business' liability exposure and the ability to incorporate an online liability management system based on both domestic and offshore corporate structures.

By: Lior Leser, Esq. - Web 2.0 Lawyer
www.web20lawyer.com

Lior Leser counsels Internet, mobile and software companies as a head of the LYL Law Group. Mr. Leser earned his J.D. at Stanford Law School (Stanford, CA). He also attended Sophia University (Japan) and the London School of Economics (London, UK) for advanced studies in Finance. He attended Brandeis University (Waltham, MA), where he earned an M.A in International Economics and Finance and a B.A. in Economics.

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Getting an online business up and running is a real challenge. Once you figure the process out, it is vital that you realize that one success does not necessarily guarantee a second success with other products or services. While you should investigate other profit opportunities, isolating your risk when doing so is critical.

Blogging is all the rage these days, so let's talk about a common situation that comes up. You start a blog and develop a strong following. Your blog covers some particular niche that you establish yourself as an expert in. You start making money through affiliate product sales and leads. To protect yourself, you form a business entity to hold the site. This is an ideal and typical approach on the web.

As your blog become more and more popular, you will start receiving unsolicited joint venture offers. Most are junk, but a few catch your eye and you investigate them. One looks like a really good idea that could bring in a good bit of money. You decide to move forward with the business relationship, but how do you deal with risk?

This is where most online businesses make a huge mistake. They don't isolate their risk. They enter into a contract using the business entity that holds their original successful website. Can you see how this might be a problem down the road? An example can show you how.

Let's say the joint venture involves putting together an all-in-one software package that will help people make money online. A nice sales page site is developed and the software is put up for sale. People flock to it and buy like mad. A year later, complaints start rolling in that it doesn't work. You don't have insurance or any way to deal with the complaints. Lawsuits start coming and your partner alerts you to the fact they don't have any money and are filing bankruptcy. You are now isolated.

Now things get ugly for you. You can't file bankruptcy because the business entity you used also contains your original money making blog. Well, you can file but you will lose the blog and all your income. That is a disaster by any measure.

I'll be the first to admit that doing business on the web has a certain informality built into it. Generally, there isn't anything wrong with this, but strategies need to be put in place to isolate risk. Exposing successful sites to the potential failure of new sites is not a smart move, so make sure to isolate your risk as much as possible. Doing so might require the use of multiple business entities or other strategies.

The web used to be a place where people could, shall we say, get away with anything. Those days are long gone. Protecting yourself is a must these days, so make sure you take steps to do so.

Richard A. Chapo is an internet lawyer with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com.

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Socrates once said that the virtue of goodness comes from knowledge. The counter to that is ignorance, or lack of knowledge, which is considered "evil." In modern terms this means the ability of the media to withhold information in a way that alters its meaning. Censorship, propaganda, conspiracy, these are the worst case scenarios that can result from the power of the media which would be considered immoral. But perhaps we should look at it in a different light. Instead of knowledge being purely goodness and ignorance being purely evil, we should consider instead how that knowledge or ignorance is being used. For example, the Department of Home Security usage of social media monitoring as a means of assessing public belief and sentiment towards certain "sensitive" topics. This isn't immoral because of the government withholding information from the people but rather the accessibility of information about the people by the government.

The Social Networking/Media Capability was officially announced in a Privacy Compliance Review on November 15th of 2011 but was formulated as early as June of 2010. According to the review, this capability was meant to allow the government to utilize the openness of the web's social media for early identification of possible threats and "collect information used to provide situational awareness and establish a common operating picture." The problem is that, like in many government documents, the words are rather ambiguous and noncommittal. What types of threats are they looking to identify? What kind of "common operating picture" are they trying to create? They make it seem like these monitors have a specific purpose, but the extent to which they use them in pursuit of that purpose is not stated.

Here's what we do know: The government has implanted monitor accounts in multiple forms of social media including top sites Facebook, Twitter, and Wikileaks but the full list of monitored sites is unknown. The privacy and civil rights ethics of this is obviously questionable but in light of the SOPA/FIPA backlash and controversy it seems we've reached a double edged sword. If the internet is free to access the way that it is then we must also allow the ability to monitor sites. It's not just the government with the ability to do this but really anyone with a computer and internet access. Saying the government can't do this is directly contradicting our belief in the freedom of the web. So which is worse, too much information or not enough?

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Most people start forums because they are interested in a subject and want to create a community where others can chat about the subject as well. There are, however, downsides to forums from a legal perspective if you aren't careful. One is the potential liability a forum owner can face in relation to copyright infringement issues.

For all the talk about the Stop Online Piracy Act, the truth of the matter is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

As happy as one is when they are getting married, it's ten times more depressing when the same marriage falls apart. It is not only stressful for the parties involved but there are a number of legal formalities that only increase once the case engages children as well. However, with the breakdown of a home the financial position of the partners are also affected. In this regard, one of the parties that are most affected financially due to the divorce are give the latitude to apply for spousal support that is also known as alimony. This article will enlighten you with all the important things you need to know before hiring an Albany attorney.

Spousal Support or alimony are monthly payments that one spouse is supposed to give to another one who is in a financially inferior position. The payments are court-ordered and the payments continue until the other party finds a stable job to support their household or their remarriage can also end the support. The laws regarding spousal support may vary according to the State and in order to gain the prior knowledge regarding the paperwork and documentation it is always best to reach an Albany Spousal Support Lawyer or an Albany attorney.

Once the parties are through with the dissolution of their marriage, it is very normal for the legal professionals to discuss the dynamics of alimony. Many legal experts sort this out by discussing some of the important questions such as the amount that both parties must agree on to, the length of support, the method through which the amount will be collected and finally if any changes to the agreement are to be made is usually discussed with both parties and then the paperwork is done accordingly.

There are some implications in the matter that every individual must understand. When it comes to alimony the legal expert first assess the length of time the marriage lasted and the assets that were acquired during this period. The financial assets of both parties are then evaluated and if proper assessments of the assets points towards the fact that one of the parties may be unable to support the same post-divorce lifestyle and the marriage lasted for a longer time then the alimony would be a long-term one. On the other hand, it is completely the other way around if the marriage lasted only for a brief period of time.

However, it must be further noted that when spousal support proceedings are in progress all assets including estate and even your liquid assets can become a major risk; therefore, a spousal support lawyer should be by your side to help you protect your investments. It is further important to carry out proper research before you hire an Albany Attorney to represent your case; usually an inexperience lawyer can only worsen things up for you for both parties who are either seeking spousal support or giving one. Hence, always exercise caution in such matters and do not make the split more distressing than it already is.

Spousal Support Lawyer and Abandonment Divorce are the legal representation to protect your rights during a divorce proceeding.

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The attempted passage of laws such as the Stop Online Piracy Act has acted like a shot of espresso for many webmasters and site owners. Many are realizing that the days of paying only passing attention to laws applicable to the internet are over.

The majority of site owners now have basic legal terms on their site. This is primarily due to the fact that Google stuck a spur under everyone's virtual derriere by making the presence of legal terms, privacy policies, contact pages and what have you part of the 200 plus factors it looks at when ranking a site. The problem now is not whether sites have these terms, but where they are getting them from.

As an attorney, I would like to believe that you are using original legal terms on your site. As someone who has been working on the web since the late 1990s, I know that is a laughable notion. The number of people who have simply copied legal terms from one site and republished them on their own must number in the millions. Each of these sites is sitting on a time bomb that is just ticking away.

The initial difficulty with this approach is that most people don't really understand what the legal terms mean. From privacy policies to terms of use, the legal language defines your relationship with visitors to your site. You are essentially laying down the rules of how they can use the site and what you will do and not do with their information.

Where site owners get into trouble is they don't comply with their own legal terms. One of the more infamous stories that floated around the web for a bit was the site owner that was sued for copyright infringement. His site had a DMCA notification page on it. The only problem was he had copied it from another site. The DMCA Agent and address for takedown notices were still listing the information from the site he had "borrowed" the documents from! He never received the takedown notice and ended up paying a good bit of money on the copyright infringement claim!

Another problem that arises when you "borrow" legal terms from another site is copyright. Let me ask you a simple question. Who do you think originally wrote the language you are borrowing? The answer is an attorney. Do you really think it is smart to infringe upon the copyright of an attorney? How do you think that attorney is going to react to having their work republished without their consent? The answer should be obvious.

Most webmasters and site owners have a hostile view towards legal terms for their website. This is a huge mistake. Things like privacy policies and terms of use are written to help you minimize the risk of running into problems with visitors. This is a good thing for you, so stop publishing language on your site that you probably don't even follow and get a set that will help insulate you from problems.

Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - providing website audit services to online businesses.

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Last year one of the more controversial pieces of legislation passed by the Information Commissioners office (ICO) when it comes to the internet and website development was the law that was brought in to deal with the use of cookies.

Cookies are the messages that are given to a web browser or server that is created from historical data of the user. The message contains data about the user picked up from memory and can influence the way we use the internet based on what we are interested in or have previously browsed. So it is effectively stored memory of the user.

Most websites use this information to improve functionality for the user and to track their own websites performance so they can continue to improve the user experience but it's the minority that use this information dishonestly that have convinced the ICO to bring in this new law.

So what did the new law state when it was brought in? Well basically websites can no longer use cookies or similar processes unless they are considered absolutely necessary.

Necessary cookies are ones that remember login details or basket details when you're shopping online. Anything that simply remembers your searching habits or the websites you have been looking at are now banned.

So what does this mean for websites? Is it a good thing or bad? Well for most websites within the EU it actually means that they are in fact breaking the law and could be classed as illegal.

Do not threat though, as you have until May 2012 to either get rid of the cookies associated to your site or create warnings for your users and the option to turn them off. But that, for a lot of website owners, is the problem and it also poses an annoying inconvenience for web users to, as in most cases it will mean the excessive use of pop ups.

The main problem with this method is, as I have previously mentioned most websites within the UK use cookies, so when you are browsing the internet as a user, you will soon become plagued by pop ups. This measure would effectively kill the internet experience for people and in turn cost a lot of companies business that they used to get without problems.

Of course the other way around the problems caused by the new cookie legislation is to simply remove them all. But this will also damage the user experience as website functionality is one thing that will particularly suffer.

What will happen you ignore the new law?

The ICO have not yet put any formal style of enforcement in place yet for those who do not become compliant to the new law but have hinted towards civil monetary penalties. These will not be enforced until after May 2012, largely down to the fact that even the ICO can see that making the necessary changes to meet the law, will have difficulties.

This is displayed in the action they have taken on their own website, where they have introduced a yellow pop up at the top of the page. This explains how the site uses cookies to track how people use the site and for some functionality and then offers them the opportunity to turn them off, with the warning of the effects this will have on the site.

The problem with the way they have done it is that it clearly contradicts the issue they are trying to counteract by introducing the law. It is written in a way that assumes that the person entering their site knows what a cookie is and what it does. The laws purpose is to help protect those who don't know what a cookie is or does, so effectively by their own legislation their site is not compliant.

Overall Summary

Well ask any website developer what they think of the law and you may wish to cover you ears when they give their honest opinion. Yes, protecting people's privacy is definitely an issue that needs addressing but bringing in this law is too sweeping for its purpose.

To put it into perspective, if one window cleaner was stealing from the properties he worked at. You wouldn't then go out and ban all window cleaners or enforce that they get permission slips signed every time the come to clean your windows. It would slow their work down and annoy you as a home owner. You would instead sanction against the ones who are breaking the law.

The same can be said for website owners who use cookies. The majority use them for innocent purposes such as tracking how their own website performs so that they can improve the experience for future visitors of the site. It is the minority that are using them for dishonest means and it is them who should be punished.

Will this law ever be properly and fully enforced? Well the fact that when you set a pop up requesting  permission to use or not to use cookies, you will then need to use a cookie to record and remember the users answer, it is going to be extremely tough for the ICO to draw the line on this legislation.

For now most websites are carrying on as they go, but by May 2012, all website owners will have to of found some way to ask user consent for the use of cookies.

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The regulations would change the way people purchase things for the better. For online marketing, it gave people the feeling of safety they needed when buying through the Internet.

Every day millions of people perform some sort of transaction online. Whether you're buying your shopping through the local supermarket or using the ever popular auction sites such as eBay and Amazon. You can literally buy anything and everything through the click of a button.

But what about the risks of fraud? How are we protected when we buy?

Pre-sale Information

Under the regulations you are entitled to receive full information about the product or service that you are purchasing before you make the decision to buy. So if you are an e-commerce site it is a good idea, in order to keep to these rules, to include such information as what the product is, does and what exactly comes with the product or service that you are selling.

Written Confirmation

The consumer has the right to receive these details in writing before the sale is done. Basically to comply with this regulation all you need to do after you have received contact from a potential consumer is provide them with a written confirmation about the potential sale making sure that basic information such as your name, address, details of their right to cancellation, cancellation conditions and after sale process are all included. Be wary if these details are not there then the contract is not binding and therefore you, the seller, are not protected.

Cancellation Period

As standard when selling a product online, you are required to leave the customer with a 7 day cancellation period. This is what is known as the cooling off period and the consumer MUST be aware of it. If not then as mentioned in the previous point the contract is not legally binding and you will be in breach of the regulations.

Payment Card Protection

One of the scariest things about purchasing goods or products online is what happens when you use a payment card. The Consumer Protection Regulations 2000 took action to provide the consumer with guarantee that they can purchase safely and that if any fraudulent activity took place then consumer would be entitled to cancel any payments without prior notice. This regulation covers all types of payment cards and not just credit cards.

What the Regulations don't apply to

Although the regulations cover a large band of people and consumers, it doesn't in fact apply to everyone or every situation. If you are doing a business to business sale then you are not covered by these regulations.

Other services and sales that are not covered by these regulations include financial services that are sold at a distance, the sale of land and auctions attended by auctioneers. These other examples are covered by other legislation.

What are the punishments that make these regulations tough on offenders?

Well anyone who is found to be in breach of a Distance Selling Regulation can be sued by the consumer who has suffered as a consequence. So it really is a good idea to comply to avoid a damaged business reputation and the severe financial implications for your company.

Conclusion

The points above are just a basic outline of the regulations that were brought in to protect the consumer from dodgy online dealings and being left out of pocket. Although these regulations were brought in primarily to protect the consumer, there are also parts of the regulations that offer protection to the seller. For example if the goods that have been sold are sealed on delivery and then the consumer opens them this automatically removes the guarantee of a cancellation within the contracted 30 days. The same applies for goods that are specified for the consumer and in most cases a transport service.

For more full information about the legislation visit the Office of Fair Trading Website or contact us

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As strange and shocking as it may sound yes there are certain laws that are set out by the government designed to keep us safe...from the internet? Amongst the many laws about the internet that here is a look at the top 4 strangest internet laws. In no particular order here is the first one.

Upsetting the entertainment industry
It is made up mostly by penalties for people who upset the entertainment industry through actions such as downloading and sharing content illegally. The penalties also include the three strikes rule which allows for your family to be cut off completely from the internet if anyone single member of the household is accused of copyright infringement. The worst part about this is that this can happen without needing any sort of proof or evidence or even a trial. There is also a newer rating system for the gaming industry making more games easily rated not suitable for children or peoples under 16 or 18.

There is also a fine of up to

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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Bill C-28, Canada's anti-spam legislation, was recently passed and will come into effect later this year. While its intended target is deceptive forms of spam, Canadian small and medium sized businesses should be aware of the Act in order to ensure their compliance when contacting leads, networking and developing marketing campaigns. Here are highlights of the important aspects of Bill C-28 that you and your employees need to know:

Definition of Spam

Generally spam is considered to be mass, unsolicited email from unknown or unwarranted senders. However, the new legislation applies to the sending of "commercial electronic messages", which can encompass email, instant or text messaging and social media messages and other forms that we may not consider to be spam. Many times information that is sent may not be considered to be spam by the sender, but can be viewed as spam by the recipient. It's important to think of how the message will be received on the other end before sending. Hopefully, the yet to be released regulations will provide some added details or thresholds to more readily define the scope of this term.

Expressed and Implied Consent

Electronic messages are not considered spam if the recipient consented to receive the message so it is important that you first determine whether or not you have approval from the recipient to send the message. Consent comes in two forms - express and implied.

Expressed consent, as defined in the Act, is what is known as "opt-in" consent, whereby the person or corporation expressly agrees to be contacted before any communication is sent. Usually this would come in the form of a newsletter subscription sign up, adding an email address to a written or electronic list, or checking a box to receive more information. This is a more viable option for business owners because it is less likely that an issue will be raised from those who have clearly indicated interest.

Implied consent has a broader use, which can actually be beneficial to marketers and small business owners, but could also pose to be harder to prove if any issue arises. According to the new Act, implied consent occurs when "

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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Laws and regulations are an integral part of modern society, and they have been with us for a very long time, many centuries to be exact, giving us a guide to follow and conventions to respect. Well, the Internet has also become an integral part of modern society, and it's no wonder that many countries all around the world are trying to create Internet or Cyber laws that will govern everything we do online. One of the most important Internet laws is in fact the Internet Copyright Law, and here will be discussed how it works in some detail.

The US Internet Copyright Law
Everything created on the Internet after the date of April 1 1989 is protected under the American Internet Copyright Law. This can in many cases probably be difficult to understand, but the fact is that if you come from the USA, and you have created something and uploaded it on the World Wide Web is the last 20 years or so, this work of your is protected, and it cannot be stolen by anybody. However, this is true only in theory.

The Problems with the Internet Copyright Law
Yes, it is true that you hold all rights to your work as the original author ever since your work has seen the light of the Internet day. Yes, it is also true that you have the right to take action if someone happens to steal your original work from the Web. However, the problem arises when there is more than one country involved in this process. Namely, if you are an American, and your work has been illegally downloaded by a person from let's say Albania, there's probably nothing you'll be able to do about it. The reason for this is the fact that most countries don't have any rules or regulations regarding the Internet, so even though you might know exactly who stole your work, in many cases you will not be able to act on this fact.

Another important issue related to the Internet Copyright Law is the fact that you often cannot know who violated the law, meaning that there are ways to steal your work from the Internet without you knowing who was actually responsible. For example, modern technology can, by tracing IP addresses, tell you where the person who stole your work was, but can never tell you exactly who this person is.

The Internet Copyright Law and Plagiarism
Plagiarism is another interesting subject related to the Internet Copyright Law, as in many cases it cannot be proven. For example, if you have taken a photograph and uploaded it to the Web, and if someone took this photo without crediting you as the original author, then you can make this person remove the photo, or even sue the person. However, if you have written an original article, for instance, and uploaded it on the Internet, you cannot do anything if someone read your article and steals the idea, even though plagiarism is actually defined as using someone else's words, quotes or even ideas as their own.

You can read more Internet Articles at the ISP 1 Internet blog:

http://isp1.us/blog/

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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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