Author Archives: John DiGiacomo

A hacked credit card is one of the biggest problems consumers face. Someone who is not authorized to use a card can gain access to the credit card number, the name on the card, and the PIN. They can then use this information to make unauthorized purchases. Alternatively, hacked credit card information is sold to thieves through […]

According to reports, a February 2016 breach has caused Weebly, a user-created website service, to be the latest victim in the rising trend of data breaches.  The data breach at Weebly, affecting 43,430,316 customers dating back to 2007, revealed email addresses and/or usernames, IP addresses and encrypted (bcrypt hashed) passwords for a large number of […]

Information Age has reported on a survey by Thales of UK consumers, which found that data breaches influence consumer purchases. The survey found that 84% of UK consumers would  stop using a brand’s service after a data breach. Only 16% of consumers would continue using a brand if they discovered they had many data breaches. […]

Montana Data Breach Notification Law has been updated to expand the definition of “personal information” and also require notice to the state attorney general’s consumer protection office. A data breach is generally a security incident in which sensitive, protected, or confidential data is copied, transmitted, stolen, viewed, or used by an individual unauthorized to do […]

Yelp’s Terms of Service Section 5(A) of Yelp’s Terms of Service states: [A user] may expose [herself] to liability, for example, Your Content contains material that is false, intentionally misleading, or defamatory . . . contains material that is unlawful, including illegal hate speech . . . violates or advocates the violation of any law […]

Affirmative Defenses in Trademark Infringement Affirmative defenses in trademark infringement cases is an excuse for the conduct of a potential trademark infringer, which would allow continued use of the mark. There are two affirmative defenses to trademark infringement: fair use and parody. Fair Use Defense A fair use defense in trademark law applies when a […]

What is Defamation? Whenever there is a statement made that injures someone’s reputation, the terms defamation, libel, and slander are thrown around. The terms are commonly misused interchangeably. Defamation is the act of making a false statement that harms someone’s reputation. Both libel and slander are forms of defamation. All of the terms fall under […]

John DiGiacomo has a new article published on PracticalEcommerce.com: How to Protect Against Scraping of Prices, SKUs. ….storeowners will often scrape prices from their competitors’ websites. By analyzing this data, storeowners can reduce their cart abandonment rates, obtain insight into their competitors’ inventory, and ensure that their goods are competitively priced — on the fly. […]

What is Nominative Use? What is nominative use? When most people need to blow their nose they will ask for a Kleenex. Most people do not realize that what they are actually asking for is a certain brand of face tissue. However, many people equate Kleenex with all face tissue regardless of the brand. This […]

In May 2000, the FTC Dot Com Disclosure requirements were released. That document explained the applicability of the Commission’s consumer protection statutes, rules, and laws to online advertising and sales. In May 2011, the FTC sought to modify and update the document according to the innovative changes in the online world. The updated document was […]