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When may a court order file decryption? This article analyzes a recent Colorado criminal case which dealt with this relatively new (and therefore unsettled) legal question. It also details the Constitutional provision at the heart of...
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This article synthesizes some common threads which have appeared in recent news stories involving Terms of Service for websites such as Pinterest, Google, Dropbox, Twitter and more. The article notes that much popular furor is due to overly...
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This article profiles a product from a startup which has the potential to force a shift in how consumers view internet security. The company in question is OneID, and the article explains how this company aims to enhance consumers' internet...
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This article reviews a relatively high profile case before a New York court in which prosecutors are subpoenaing Twitter for certain information pertaining to one of its users' tweets. Beyond constitutional concerns, this case also contains an...
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This article reviews a legislative battle in the nation's most heavily populated state over a bill which would limit law enforcement officials' ability to get location data from cell phone providers. The article explains why this data touches...
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The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act--more commonly known by its acronym, CISPA--represents another Congressional attempt to regulate the internet which according to some (including this article) does not adequately address privacy...
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This article points out that although many websites' Terms of Service contain language which seemingly tramples on the rights of those websites' users, the sites often use this language for reasons other than granting themselves extremely broad...
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This article reviews recent trends in court decisions (especially court decisions from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over California and other western states) which interpret safe harbors in the Digital Millenium...
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A new California law requires companies to notify California residents when certain information of theirs is compromised in a security breach. This article details the motivation of this new law, the requirements of the law which it is...
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This article relates the facts of a case before a California court about the ownership rights and value of an employee-operated company Twitter account (and its followers). It also examines how this lawsuit illustrates the increasingly...
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Have you ever wondered when a photograph you take (whether it be for personal use or for business) is legal? This article answers this question by sharing a video and a statement from the ACLU which attempts to explain your rights as a...
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This article reviews a new program by ICANN which allows anyone (provided such person or entity meets certain qualifications and pays a fee) to register and operate a top-level domain. The article explores possible benefits and drawbacks of...
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The PATRIOT Act, passed in the wake of 9/11, gave the United States government broad new powers to access data contained in computers covered under the law. As this article explains, "computers covered under the law" potentially covers an...
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This article highlights the alternative Congressional proposal to the often-maligned Stop Online Piracy Act--the OPEN Act. The article contrasts the two proposals' methods of creation and their approaches to infringement claims (OPEN is much...
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This article highlights a recent controversial Oregon defamation case which saw a judge hold that a blogger was not a journalist, pursuant to Oregon's Shield Law. The article examines the facts giving rise to the dispute, the Shield Law which...
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Astrolabe is a publisher which compiles, produces, and distributes astrological data. This article relates the story of a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Astrolabe over allegedly improper repurposing of data they purchased from...
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Attorneys who help startups obtain financing are intimately familiar with the most commonly-used exemptions in the federal securities laws--especially Regulations A and D. This article highlights a lesser-used, but still important,...
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The Stop Online Piracy Act purports to give the government and private actors new, relatively opaque power to shut down websites. However, as this article details, this power is not entirely new; the Department of Homeland Security alleged...
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Crowdfunding has gained in awareness and (arguably) popularity with the recent Congressional deliberations over and proposals of a crowdfunding exemption in the federal securities laws. This article highlights a different (yet conceptually...
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With the increased number of environmentally conscious businesspeople and business customers, socially responsible business has become a driving force for many companies, both new and old. This article highlights a new approach to sustainable...
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This article details one legislative proposal which aims to increase jobs growth by encouraging investment in startups and making establishing and growing a new business easier. The article details the seven prongs of this bill...
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This article explains why the Stop Online Piracy Act ("SOPA") is a misguided response to the problem of internet piracy. SOPA, according to the article, risks stifling innovation in the crucial tech sector, which is increasingly becoming more...
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This article reviews an emerging threat to the creation of a robust crowdfunding community--patent litigation by the purported holder of a business method patent which allegedly covers crowdfunding platforms. The article highlights the issues...
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Many people assume that the best way for a startup to raise capital is for it to issue equity to investors (whether new investors or investors increasing their contribution to the company). As this article explains, this assumption is...
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This article highlights a new trend in Silicon Valley startups--cashing-out founders, early investors, and early-stage employees in rounds of financing prior to an initial public offering. The article highlights instances of this...
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This article reviews the initial draft of the SEC Small Business Forum's recommendations to help facilitate small business's access to needed capital in non-public and other limited offerings. These recommendations are important because they...
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This article updates a tangled web of patent infringement litigation involving Apple, S3, and HTC (which is attempting to purchase S3, possibly in part because of S3's patent infringement lawsuits against Apple). The article examines this...
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This article looks at clues as to how Congress should answer a key question about the final structure of the crowdfunding legislation--namely, to what extent should a crowdfunding exemption preempt current or future state regulation which could...
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Crowdfunding is a relatively new concept (at least on the scale which the proposed crowdfunding exemption contemplates), but it is not unique to America. This article looks at crowdfunding platforms which (similar to Kickstarter) connect...
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Recently, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") has been stepping up enforcement against operators of peer-to-peer ("P2P") file-sharing networks based on those P2P networks' default privacy settings. This article examines a recent FTC action...
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Professor John Coffee of Columbia Law School recently testified before the Securities and Exchange Commission about the proposed crowdfunding exemption's impact on small business capital formation. Mr. Coffee's testimony opposed the...
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Forum selection clauses (also known as venue selection clauses) are common to form contracts, and specify the jurisdiction(s) in which litigation can be brought pursuant to the contract. The rise of the internet has led to new questions about...
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While crowdfunding would still be possible without social media, the availability and ubiquity of social media definitely makes it easier to reach the number of potential investors which crowdfunding requires to be a useful tool in a startup's...
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This article compares two versions of the oft-talked-about crowdfunding proposals currently in Congress--one which has been passed by the House, and one under consideration by the Senate. The article calls attention to three main areas of...
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Ardent followers of the drafting and debate over the legislation creating a crowdfunding exemption know that the efficacy of any resulting legislation, both in terms of making it easier for entrepreneurs and small businesses to raise capital (which...
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This article details proposed changes to Regulation A, a little-used exemption designed to facilitate the raising of a relatively small amount of capital without requiring the expense and time commitment of an SEC filing. The article explains...
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The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA") prohibits websites from performing certain activities with a child's personal information (where such child is under the age of 13) without parental consent. This article looks at two...
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Such digital ink has been spilled about the House's recent passage of a bill to create a crowdfunding exemption from the federal securities laws. This article takes a look at the process the Senate will follow if the crowdfunding exemption is...
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Regulation D remains the primary vehicle which startups use to raise capital (such as venture capital and angel investment) without having to comply with the burdensome disclosure requirements of the Securities Act of 1933. This article notes a...
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The crowdfunding exemption has created excitement among many entrepreneurs and startup lawyers, as it would legalize a way to use the power of the internet to raise capital without burdensome disclosure regulations. This article highlights a...
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This article steps back and takes a bigger picture view of the crowdfunding bill which recently passed the house. The article explains the niche crowdfunding will fill in startup financing, and why startups cannot raise funds via crowdfunding...