Month: February 2014

Data Breach Forces Lawsuit

February 28, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Privacy, Security

A new “target” on their backs: Target’s officers and directors face derivative action arising out of data breach (Global Regulatory Enforcement Law Blog, 30 Jan 2014) – In the wake of its massive data breach, Target now faces a shareholder derivative lawsuit, filed January 29, 2014. The suit alleges that Target’s board members and directors breached their fiduciary duties to the company by ignoring warning signs that such a breach could occur, and misleading affected consumers about the scope of the breach after it occurred. Target already faces dozens of consumer class actions filed by those affected by the breach, putative class actions filed by banks, federal and state law enforcement investigations, and congressional inquiries. This derivative action alleges that Target’s board members and directors failed to comply with internal processes related to data security and “participated in the maintenance of inadequate cyber-security controls.” In addition, the suit alleges that Target was likely not in compliance with the Payment Card Industry’s (PCI) Data Security Standards for handling payment card information. The complaint goes on to allege that Target is damaged by having to expend significant resources to: investigate the breach, notify affected customers, provide credit monitoring to affected customers, cooperate with federal and state law enforcement agency investigations, and defend the multitude of class actions. The derivate action also alleges that Target has suffered significant reputational damage that has directly impacted the retailer’s revenue.

Provided by MERL

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Grant Cochran

Domain Names As Contractual Rights In Virginia

February 20, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment In the Law

Federal Court in Virginia court says domain names are not property, but contractual rights (Venkat Balasubramani, 14 Jan 2014) – Following the sex.com case from the Ninth Circuit , it is taken for granted that domain names are property that can be converted, sold, transferred, or subject to a creditor’s collection efforts. Interestingly, a federal district court in Virginia took a contrary view. The case arose out of a bankruptcy of Alexandria Surveys International. Two competing Alexandria surveying companies were trying to buy the assets of ASI and ended up with conflicting claims. The first company, Alexandria Surveys, LLC, acquired the telephone number and web address from Cox Communications, the provider, under the theory that these were executory contracts that could be taken over. However, the estate was reopened at the request of a second company (Alexandria Consulting Group) and in the second go around ACG purchased a bunch of assets from the trustee, including the web address and telephone number. The bankruptcy court ordered the ASL to turn over the web address and telephone number (and servers) to ACG. ASL objected, arguing that the web address and telephone numbers were not “property of the bankruptcy estate.” The district court agrees with ASL on appeal. The court largely relies on the Virginia Supreme Court’s decision in Network Solutions v. Umbro : “a domain name registrant acquires the contractual right to use a unique domain name for a specified period of time . . . ‘a domain name is not personal property but rather’ the product of a contract for services.” ACG tried to distinguish Umbro on the basis that it involved a garnishment proceeding, but the court says that the key part of the holding-that a domain name is a “contractual right”-applies regardless. The court says that because ASI did not have a property interest in the website and phone number at most it had a contractual interest and since the trustee did not assume it, there was nothing to be sold to ACG.

Provided by MIRLN.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/jscreationzs.

Non-GPS Cell Tracking- Fact Or Fiction?

February 19, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Tech for Lawyers

Scientific fact or junk science? Tracking a cell phone without GPS (ABA Judge’s Journal, Judge Herbert Dixon, 30 Jan 2014) – Increasingly, competing experts are offering opposing opinions on the reliability of determining the approximate location of a cell phone. In this article, Judge Dixon highlights the significant arguments by both sides and discusses the technology on which these arguments are based.

Provided by MIRLN.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/sippakorn.

What Your IT Needs To Know About Data Security

February 18, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Security

Five things your IT department wants [the GC] to know about data security (Thomson Reuters, 30 Jan 2014) – The year 2013 was pretty terrifying when it comes to data security. Amid the fears created by the breaches at Adobe and Target, plus the knowledge that big brother really has been watching us through the NSA, every corporate counsel ought to be concerned about data security at their organization. However, as the senior manager of IT Operations for Serengeti, a SaaS (software as a service) e-billing and matter management company, Anne-Marie Scollay explains that there is no “silver bullet that provides an impervious layer of security around data.” Anne-Marie frequently collaborates with legal departments and their IT teams as they evaluate Serengeti’s cloud solution and shares insights regarding data security.

Provided by MIRLN.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Stuart Miles.

Avvo Issues: When Online Reviews Go Bad

February 17, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Ethics

Lawyer accused of revealing TMI in response to bad Avvo review is reprimanded (ABA Journal, 21 Jan 2014) – A Chicago lawyer accused of disclosing confidential information about a client in response to his bad Avvo review has been reprimanded partly for the revelation. Employment lawyer Betty Tsamis “exceeded what was necessary to respond to [the client’s] accusations,” according to stipulated findings of fact. The Legal Profession Blog links to the joint stipulation and reprimand by the Hearing Board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Tsamis also bounced a check to a client, partly because she failed to account for credit card fees charged to her client trust account, according to the stipulated facts. She made good on the check with money from her own funds. Tsamis’ Avvo revelation occurred as a result of a negative online review by an American Airlines flight attendant who hired Tsamis in an unsuccessful effort to secure unemployment benefits. The attendant had been fired for allegedly assaulting a co-worker. Tsamis asked the former client to remove his first review, posted in February 2013, and he responded that he would do so if Tsamis returned his files and the $1,500 he had paid in attorney fees. Avvo removed the post, spurring a second negative review by the former client. This time, Tsamis responded to the post and revealed confidential information about the case, according to the stipulated facts. The disciplinary complaint had alleged that Tsamis wrote this: “I dislike it very much when my clients lose, but I cannot invent positive facts for clients when they are not there. I feel badly for him, but his own actions in beating up a female co-worker are what caused the consequences he is now so upset about.” One of Tsamis’ lawyers has said he thinks the client was not identified by last name on the Avvo website when Tsamis responded to his criticism. In mitigation, Tsamis has already taken steps to improve her financial record-keeping, she has no prior disciplinary history, and she has expressed remorse for her conduct, the stipulated facts said. One of Tsamis’ lawyers, Kathryne Hayes, gave this statement to the ABA Journal: “While we believe that Ms. Tsamis’ conduct was within the [ethics rules], this matter raises an important issue for all lawyers-especially those who are active on attorney-review websites and have the opportunity to comment on client reviews posted to these types of websites.

Provided by MIRLN.

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/Stuart Miles.

Why Bitcoin matters

February 14, 2014 Administrator Leave a comment Finance

Why Bitcoin matters (Marc Andreessen in NYT, 21 Jan 2014) – A mysterious new technology emerges, seemingly out of nowhere, but actually the result of two decades of intense research and development by nearly anonymous researchers. Political idealists project visions of liberation and revolution onto it; establishment elites heap contempt and scorn on it. On the other hand, technologists – nerds – are transfixed by it. They see within it enormous potential and spend their nights and weekends tinkering with it. Eventually mainstream products, companies and industries emerge to commercialize it; its effects become profound; and later, many people wonder why its powerful promise wasn’t more obvious from the start. What technology am I talking about? Personal computers in 1975, the Internet in 1993, and – I believe – Bitcoin in 2014. * * * [ Polley : very, very interesting. I’m confused though by the Bitcoin mining motivation issues – as Bitcoin transactions increase (possibly thru micropayments), this’ll require an explosion in block-ledger verification processing (by so-called “miners”). But, if the Bitcoin algorithm in fact has a finite number of possible coins (21 million), won’t miners sometime lose the incentive to do the verification work?] [ Polley : I’ve decided I should know more about Bitcoin, and so am installing the MultiBit.app on my Mac and creating an account—#notstraightforward]

Provided by MIRLN.

Image courtesy of techinasia.com/bitcoin-illegal-thailand/cdn.btcpedia.com.