|
January 2003 Volume 4, Issue 1
Editors Cherie W. Blackburn Robert W. Pearce, Jr. John C. McElwaine
1-800-237-2000 Nelson Mullins has more
than 275 attorneys firm-wide, with over 25 attorneys having
significant representation of e-commerce clients in areas including
patent, copyright and trademark protection; business planning,
securities and venture capital; and licensing, distribution and
contract preparation. Atlanta Contacts Neil Grayson Cherie
Blackburn Robert
Pearce John
McElwaine Charlotte Contact Jason
Sprenkle Myrtle Beach Contact Franklin
Daniels Columbia Contact Mark Dukes Greenville Contact Marvin
Quattlebaum William
Herlong CyberWatch is an Internet Law Group news digest published as a service to Nelson Mullins’ clients and friends. The articles are summaries of particular developments in the law and are not intended to be a solicitation or to render legal advice. This publication can be considered advertising under applicable laws.
CyberWatch
is a trademark of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, L.L.P. |
 |
|
|
Cyber Murder Law Included in Homeland Security Bill A little-known provision in the newly-passed Homeland Security Bill provides for a maximum sentence of life imprisonment without parole for a computer hacker who “knowingly or recklessly causes or attempts to cause death”. A separate provision in this information security and cyber crime act provides for a 20-year sentence for a hacker who causes or attempts to cause bodily injury through hacking. Criminal defense attorneys believe that federal prosecutors will be able to use these new provisions to gain leverage in most hacker attacks, including those unrelated to terrorism. One commentator says that attaching a life sentence to an area of the law that is still in its earliest stages of development is extremely dangerous. While there are no reported attempts of cyber murder or cyber terrorism such as a hacker changing a blood type for a patient in a hospital, attorneys believe the new law will play a significant role in conventional hacker cases. Credit: theregister.co.uk Uncle Sam Wants You for the “IT” National Guard Included in the recent Homeland Security Bill, the government has also established a new IT National Guard composed of volunteers who will stand ready to help restore communications in the event of terrorist attacks. With the formal name of the IT National Emergency Technology (“NET”) Guard, the purpose of the bill is to mobilize technology and science experts to respond quickly to terrorist attacks and other emergencies such as the 9/11 attacks in New York. Many private-sector technology and science experts tried to lend assistance to the rescue and recovery efforts in New York and Washington but were hindered by a lack of organization of their efforts. Within one year, a database is expected to be developed of non-governmental technology and science experts who can be mobilized to help federal agencies counter the effects of a terrorist attack. Credit: atnewyork.com 22 Percent of Japanese Companies Monitor Employees’ E-mails In a recent survey by the Kyodo News, 22 of Japan’s 100 largest companies were found to routinely check e-mail messages of their employees. The companies’ stated intent is to block leaks of corporate secrets and customer information. Almost half of the companies are also requiring retiring employees to sign confidentiality agreements about such secrets and information, but some question the enforceability of such agreements. Tightened surveillance has come about in the wake of recent scandals including the leak of information from the Defense Agency and the public arrest of an employee of an NTT DoCoMo. Privacy experts in Japan, much like their counterparts in other countries, are loudly complaining that such monitoring might be used for purposes other than preventing the leak of corporate secrets. Credit: japantimes.com Roman Catholic Victims Website Tracks Priests A Roman Catholic victims’ group has recently provided a database on the Internet providing information on each Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing children and adults. Victims’ advocates were stunned to find information during their creation of the database on 573 U.S. Roman Catholic priests who have been publicly accused of abuse sine 1985. Over 100 have been convicted in criminal cases since that date. Advocates had been expecting a list of approximately 325 priests, including a large number who have resigned or been removed from their post since January 2002. The victims’ group has said it will remove names from the Internet site if a priest is found not guilty. Credit: smh.com.au Man Sells All of His Possessions Online and Starts Anew An Iowa City, Iowa man decided back in the fall of 2000, to sell all of the worldly possessions he had collected during his life. He had decided that he wanted to move to New York City and that his belongings would be a burden due to storage space considerations. John Freyer created an online catalogue of the items at “AllMyLifeForSale.com” and he posted more than 600 items for auction. Freyer asked the high bidders for each of his possessions to provide him with e-mailed updates about what had become of his possessions. He ended up raising approximately $6,000, which he used to travel the country to meet the people who took part in his auction adventure. He created another Website “Temporama.com” to detail his adventure after selling all his belongings. Freyer said that this type of auction and distribution of personal items usually occurs only after someone has died. Rather than moving to New York, Freyer has written a book titled “All My Life For Sale” and is currently touring the country promoting it. Credit: abcnews.go.com CYBERWATCH BY THE NUMBERS The Most Valuable Technology Brands Company Brand Value ($ Billions) Microsoft 64.09 IBM 51.19 Cisco 16.22 Compaq 9.80 Nintendo 9.22 Sun 4.78 AOL 4.33 Yahoo! 3.86 Amazon.com 3.18 Credit: Business Week Turnabout is Fair Cyber Play John Poindexter, head of the government’s Total Information Awareness Project, has become a target of personal data profiling. The Total Information Awareness Project is the government’s effort to uncover potential terrorists by examining credit card, travel, medical, school and other records that are available electronically. Since the Defense Advance Research Projects Agency began the Total Information Awareness Project in August, the effort has been highly criticized by civil rights and privacy advocates. One columnist criticized the project and published Poindexter’s home telephone number. Hackers picked up on the idea and published it on more than 100 Web pages along with information regarding the Verizon switch serving Poindexter’s house, and a privacy advocate Web site posted satellite photos of the house. Credit: wired.com ElcomSoft Found Not Guilty A jury has recently acquitted a Russian software company of criminal copyright charges relating to its sales of a computer program that could be used to crack e-book copyright protections. In July 2001, this case began when an ElcomSoft officer was arrested during a Las Vegas hackers conference after giving a speech about his company’s product. Prosecutors working with Adobe, who makes e-book reader software, charged ElcomSoft under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). During the trial, the defense argued that the ElcomSoft software was not intentionally made available to violate United States copyright laws and, in fact, Adobe could produce no evidence showing that any illegal e-book copies were made. Ultimately the judge instructed jurors that in order to find ElcomSoft guilty, the jurors must agree that company representatives knew that their actions violated the DMCA, and that merely offering their product that could violate copyright laws was not enough to warrant a conviction. Credit: news.com PGA Tour Owns Golfers’ Scores A federal judge has recently dismissed a lawsuit filed by The Florida Times-Union against the PGA Tour, rejecting claims by the newspaper that the PGA Tour must allow it to sell real-time golf scores from tour events. The newspaper argued that the Tour was monopolizing scores and violating anti-trust laws by refusing to grant newspaper employees tournament credentials unless they agreed not to publish real-time scores. The judge held that “the PGA Tour controls the right of access to that information and can place restrictions on those attending the private event, giving the PGA Tour a property right that the court will protect.” The company had argued that the scores were placed into the public domain once they were posted at the Tour media center. The judge disagreed that this was sufficient publication until the scores were broadcast. Credit: augustachronicle.com Former Employee Detonates Logic Bomb A disgruntled former employee of UBS PaineWebber was recently arrested for detonating a “logic bomb” computer program that caused more than $3 million in damage to the brokerage’s computer network. The former employee’s plot was to cause the company’s stock price to fall after the former worker had bought put options for UBS stock. The plan failed, however, when the company’s stock price did not decline after the attack. UBS PaineWebber promptly reported the attack and cooperated with investigators. The former employee faces up to 10 years in prison and up to $1.25 million in fines. Credit: SiliconValley.com Washington Sues Spammer Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire filed a lawsuit against a Houston-based spammer, claiming that he deceived state residents by sending e-mails regarding prescription medications, but instead linked the reader to child pornographic Web sites. The prosecutors are asking for an injunction to prevent the spammer from sending more e-mails and asking that he pay $2,000 per violation, which could add up to millions of dollars. Credit: seattlepi.com 2003 Cyberterrorism Predictions One technology research firm’s prediction for 2003 is that there will be a major cyber terrorism event that will disrupt the economy and Internet traffic for a day or two during 2003. The event could take the form of a denial-of-service attack, network intrusion or even a physical attack on Internet hardware and assets. The catalyst of the cyber terrorism will likely be the war or potential war with Iraq, which has been the object of intense international controversy on an international basis. Credit: news.com |
||
