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A Word from the Editor: Privacy and Data Protection Issues Are Here to Stay
Privacy has been described as “the right to be let alone,” a phrase popularized in an 1890 Harvard Law Review article by the future U.S. Supreme Court justice Louis Brandeis in which he expressed concerns about the threat posed by technology to an individual's control over his own personal information. At the close of the 19th century, the perceived technological threat to privacy was the spread of cheap photography and high-speed printing. Imagine what Justice Brandeis would think of today's camera phones, global positioning systems, employer surveillance of e-mail, and customer relationship management systems, not to mention the myriad other technological developments of the last 115 years.
Although concerns about privacy have ebbed and flowed throughout the history of the United States, such concerns are running high now and show every sign of continuing to climb for years to come. The Internet, telecommunications devices, and increasingly sophisticated computer technology have made it easy to collect, analyze, reproduce, and disseminate information about individuals. Laws at the state and federal level are continually emerging to correct perceived erosions of privacy in the United States, while legal developments in the European Union, Canada, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America remind companies that privacy obligations do not stop at the U.S. border.
Companies are beginning to realize that privacy and data protection laws govern virtually everything they do, given that personally identifiable information (such as names, addresses, and e-mail addresses) underpins the business of most companies. Such information is collected through e-mail, Web sites, B2B exchanges, and extranets. It comes in the mail, by personal courier, through call centers, and via face-to-face interaction. This information is one of the primary reasons for promotions, sweepstakes, and contests. Customer and supplier transactions, clinical trials, and marketing all depend upon it. It is collected from employees, prospective employees, intranets, employee portals, and internal corporate networks. Personal information comes from, and goes to, affiliates, trading and business partners, public sources, purchased databases, and other third parties. It crosses media, departments (virtually every part of a company's organizational chart), and jurisdictions (each with its own ' often highly divergent ' data protection laws).
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?