Category: Internet Law

A recent trend in cybersquatting cases shows that federal courts are serious about rigorously enforcing the “intent-to-profit” element. “Cybersquatting” is a form of trademark infringement where a person or entity uses a trademarked name as an internet domain name and attempts to profit from that domain name registration by “ransoming” the domain name or by […]

In yet another example of the importance of encrypting mobile devices and laptops, a small Rhode Island healthcare system called Lifespan ACE has agreed to pay $1.04 million to the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) to settle an investigation resulting from an unencrypted MacBook laptop computer that was stolen in 2017. The OCR is a […]

To drive sales and market share, trademark owners create websites that use their trademarked words or phrases as the internet domain name. However, many times some third person or business has already registered a domain name that is the same as or is very similar to the trademarked word/phrase. If this is done in bad […]

When the COVID-19 health crisis began, many companies sent their employees home to begin working remotely. Often, as a matter of convenience and cost-savings, businesses allowed — and maybe encouraged — employees to use their own devices such as smartphones, computers and tablets. As the pandemic continues, remote working may become one of the “new […]

In 1991, Congress enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (“TCPA”) designed to prevent “robocalls” to consumer telephones. See 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A)(iii). More specifically, the TCPA prohibits anyone from calling or texting someone “using any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice” without the “prior express consent of the called party.” The […]

In today’s business environment, domain names and websites are often key assets when a target company is being acquired during a merger/acquisition. Due diligence with respect to the domain name(s) and any websites is essential. In general, due diligence is the process by which the buyer verifies various aspects of the transaction. Due diligence is […]

As businesses begin to reopen and as we all continue to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses must be cautious with data that has been collected during this time. Many of the new privacy statutes require that consumers be given notice, at the point of collection, that personal information is being collected […]

A recent decision from the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has held that web scraping data from a public website can, under some circumstances, be deemed a misappropriation of trade secrets. See Compulife Software, Inc. v. Newman, Case Nos. 18-12004, 18-12007 (11th Cir. May 20, 2020). The case was decided under the […]

In 1986, Congress enacted the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”). See 18 U.S.C. § 1030, et seq. The CFAA is one of the major federal statutes that empowers the federal government to seek criminal penalties against hackers and cybercriminals. The statute has also been used to punish employees and others who “misuse” computers to […]

In late March 2020, all provisions of the New York SHIELD Act went into effect. This is New York’s amended data privacy and cybersecurity law. “SHIELD” is an acronym for Stop Hacks and Improve Electronic Data Security. Like many similar statutes recently enacted, the SHIELD Act not only applies to New York businesses, but also […]