Author Archives: Nick Akerman

The answer is yes. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last week reversed a district court and reinstated a Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”) claim brought by an employer against a labor union for “bombarding” the computer systems of its sales and executive offices with emails and voicemails making it impossible for the company to communicate with its customers and vendors. Pulte Homes, Inc v. Laborers’ International Union of North America, 2011 WL 3274014 (6th Cir. Aug 2, 2011). This case is a good example of how the federal Circuit Courts of Appeal are taking control of the interpretation … [ Continue reading → ]

The New York Times recently reported that the UK telephone hacking scandal could result in News Corp. and its executives being charged in the United States with criminal violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Title 15, U.S.C. § 78m, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2511, and the Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1039. See NYT, “News Corp. Braces for Legal Trouble in the U.S.,” July 18, 2011. What the New York Times, as well as all of the politicians and pundits who have commented on this issue, failed to mention is that … [ Continue reading → ]

By Jamie M. Nafziger, partner Dorsey & Whitney Yesterday, ICANN approved the launch of its new generic top level domain name (gTLD) plan.  It will accept applications for new gTLDs from January 12, 2012, to April 12, 2012.  Under ICANN’s plan, anyone can apply to own and manage a gTLD, the part after the dot.  However, the expense for doing so is expected to exceed $500,000 over the first eighteen to twenty-four months, with significant yearly expenses thereafter. This move follows years of ICANN wrangling with brand owners and governments over opposition to the plan.  It is expected that the … [ Continue reading → ]

By Nick Akerman and Melissa Krasnow. Melissa Krasnow is a corporate partner in the Minneapolis office of Dorsey & Whitney LLP who also is a Certified Information Privacy Professional and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals Publication Advisory Board. What does a company do if it is faced with a possible or actual breach of customer, employee or shareholder personal data? California enacted the first state data breach notification law in 2003, obligating companies to notify individuals whose personal data had been compromised in a data breach. Since then, 45 more states have followed California’s lead in … [ Continue reading → ]

There are few reported cases that reflect the problems that can result from computer investigations being inexpertly performed. U.S. v. Koo, 2011 WL 777965 (D. Or. March 1, 2011), decided this month by an Oregon federal district court, illustrates what can go wrong when a novice directs a computer investigation. The underlying facts of the case are not atypical. Lawrence Hoffman, the owner of a manufacturer and distributor of after-market auto parts known as the Hoffman Group, discovered on eBay that JES Suppliers, LLC was offering to sell one of his products. A corporate records check revealed that JES Suppliers … [ Continue reading → ]

If anyone deserves a longer sentence, it is a sex offender who victimizes minors. But no one would ever have anticipated that a sex offender would receive extra prison time for using a basic cell phone in the furtherance of his crime. Last week the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the enhanced sentence of the defendant Neil Kramer who pleaded guilty to transporting a female minor in interstate commerce with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, Title 18, U.S.C. § 2423(a). Kramer’s prison sentence was increased by an extra 2 1/3 years because he had used his … [ Continue reading → ]

In Liberty Media Holdings, LLC. v. Does 1-59, 2011 WL 292128 *3 (S.D.Cal. Jan. 25, 2011) unknown individuals hacked into Liberty Media Holdings’ web servers and obtained “certain motion pictures” that it “reproduced and distributed . . . onto their local hard drives and other storage devices.” Not knowing the identity of these hackers Liberty Media Holdings filed a “John Doe” lawsuit alleging violations of three federal statutes: the Electronic Stored Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S. C. §§ 2701 and 2702, violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“CFAA”), 18 U.S.C. §1030 and copyright infringement in violation of 17 … [ Continue reading → ]

On January 26, 2011, the federal district court in the Northern District of California granted Facebook a default judgment against Philip Porembski and PP Web Services LLC for obtaining “login credentials for at least 116,000 Facebook accounts without authorization” and for sending “more than 7.2 million spam messages to Facebook users.” Facebook, Inc. v. Fisher, 2011 WL 250395 *1 (N.D.Cal. Jan. 26, 2011) This case is a textbook example of how a company can use self help and available federal law to protect itself and its customers. Not only did Facebook bring a halt to the spam that was plaguing … [ Continue reading → ]