Chapter 9

FTC

Federal Trade Commission lacked the authority to investigate foreign spamming Congress enacted the US Safe Web Act. The act allows the FTC to cooperate and share information with foreign agencies in investigating and prosecuting those involved in spamming, spyware, and various Internet frauds and deceptions

DVD File-Sharing

File sharing also creates problems for the motion picture industry, which loses significant amounts of revenue annually as a result of pirated DVDs.

Exceptions

Although the courts generally have construed the CDA as providing a broad shield some courts have started establishing some limits to this immunity.

Licensing

a company may permit another party to use a trademark under a license. A licensor might grant a license allowing its trademark to be used as part of a domain name.

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)

amended federal wiretapping law to cover electronic forms of communications. It applies to communications through social media. It prohibits the intentional interception of any wire, oral or electronic communication. It also prohibits the intentional disclosure or use of the information obtained by the interception

Cookies

are invisible files that computers, smartphones, and other mobile devices create to track a user's web browsing activities. Cookies provide detailed information to marketers about an individual's behavior and preferences, which is then used to personalize online services

Cyber Torts

are torts that arise from online conduct. Because the internet enables individuals to communicate with large numbers of people simultaneously, online defamation has become a problem in today's legal environment.

Cybersquatting

occurs when a person registers a domain name that is the same as, or confusingly similar to, the trademark of another and then offers to sell the domain name back to the trademark owner

Trademark dilution

occurs when a trademark is used, without authorization, in a way that diminishes the distinctive quality of the mark. Unlike trademark infringement, a claim of dilution does not require proof that consumers are likely to be confused by a connection between the unauthorized use and the mark

Stored Communications (SCA)

prohibits intentional and unauthorized access to stored electronic communications and sets forth criminal and civil sanctions for violators. A person can violate the SCA by intentionally accessing a stored electronic communication. The SCA also prevents "providers" of communication services from divulging private communications to certain entities and individuals.

Social Media

provide a means by which people can create, share, and exchange ideas and comments via the Internet. Studies show that Internet users spend more time on social networks than at any other sites.

The Safe Web Act

provides a "safe harbor" for Internet Service Providers (ISPs)-that is organizations that provide access to the Internet.

Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act

the legislation applies to any "commercial electronic mail messages" that are sent to promote a commercial product or service. Prohibited activities include the use of a false return address and the use of false, misleading, or deceptive information when sending e-mail, and "dictionary attacks" which is sending messages to randomly generated email addresses.

Spam

Businesses and individuals alike are targets of spam. Spam is the unsolicited "junk e-mail" that floods virtual mailboxes with advertisements, solicitations, and other messages.

Goodwill

By using an identical or similar domain name, parties have attempted to profit from a competitor's goodwill (the non-tangible value of a business).

Typosquatting

Cybersquatters have also developed new tactics, such as typosquatting, or registering a name that is a misspelling of a popular brand, such as googol.com or apple.com.

Company-wide Social Media networks

Employees use these sites to exchange messages about topics related to their work such as deals that are closing, new products, production flaws, how a team is solving a problem, and the details of customer orders. Thus, the tone is businesslike. Protection of Trade Secrets: an important advantage to using an internal system for employee communications is that the company can better protects its trade secrets. The company usually decides which employees can see a particular intranet files and which employees will belong to each specific "social" group within the company. Other advantages: real time information about important issues, such as production glitches, posts can include tips on how to best sell new products or deal with difficult customers, as well as information about competitors' products and services

Domain Name

Every domain name ends with a generic top-level domain (TLD), which is the part of the name to the right of the period that often indicates the type of entity that operates the site. (.com, .edu) The second-level domain (SLD)-the part of the name to the left of the period-is chosen by the business entity or individual registering the domain name.

Methods of File Sharing

File-sharing is accomplished through peer-to-peer (P2P) networking. Rather than going through a central web server, P2P networking uses numerous personal computers (PCs) that are connected to the Internet. Individuals on the same network can access files stored on one another's PCs through a distributed network. Parts of the network may be distributed all over the country or the world, which offers an unlimited number or uses. An newer method of sharing files via the Internet is cloud computing, which is essentially a subscription-based or pay-per-use service that extends a computer's software or storage capabilities. Cloud computing can deliver a single application through a browser to multiple users.

Liability of Internet Service Providers

General Rule: The communications decency act (CDA) states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider" Thus, under the CDA, ISPs usually are treated differently from publishers in print and other media and are not liable for publishing defamatory statements that come from a third party.

Legal Issues

Social media posts now are routinely included in discovery in litigation because they can provide damaging information that establishes a person's intent or what she or he knew at a particular time. Criminal Investigations: law enforcement uses social media to detect and prosecute criminals Administrative Agencies: federal regulators also use social media posts in their investigations into illegal activities. Employers' Social Media Policies: Employees who use social media in a way violates their employer's stated policies may be disciplined or fired from their jobs. Courts and employment agencies usually uphold an employer's right to terminate a person based on his or her violation of a social media policy

Anticybersquatting Legislation

The ACPA makes cybersquatting illegal when both of the following are true: 1. The name is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark of another 2. The one registering, trafficking in, or using the domain name has a "bad faith intent" to profit from that trademark

Privacy

To maintain a suit for the invasion of privacy, a person must have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a particular situation.

Issues on the Internet

e-mail domain names cybersquatting trademark infringement dilution online

Exclusions

excluded from the ECPA's coverage are any electronic communications through devices that an employer provides for its employee to use "in the ordinary course for its business." Consequently, if a company provides the electronic device to the employee for ordinary business use, the company is not prohibited from intercepting business communications made on it.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA)

gave significant protection to owners of copyrights in digital information. The act established civil and criminal penalties for anyone who circumvents (bypasses) encryption software or other technological antipiracy protection. Also prohibited are the manufacture, import, sale, and distribution of devices or services for circumvention. Also limits the liability of internet service providers (ISPS). Under the act, an ISP is not liable for copyright infringement by its customer unless the ISP is aware of the subscriber's violation.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

is a nonprofit corporation, oversees the distribution of domain names and operates an online arbitration system.

Copyright law

is probably the most important form of intellectual property protection on the Internet. This is because much of the material on the internet is copyrighted, and in order to transfer that material online, it must be "copied"

Mega tags

key words that are inserted into the HTML code to tell internet browsers specific information about a web page. Mega tags increase the likelihood that a site will be included in search engine results, even though the site may have nothing to do with the key words. Using another's trademark in a meta tag without the owner's permission, normally constitutes trademark infringement.