Technology Archives - Page 3 of 4

New HIPAA Rule

08/17/202007/01/2013 by Report from Counsel

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has adopted a new rule concerning privacy and security for health information, to take into account changes that have occurred in health care since enactment of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Some of the key features in the 563-page final rule are outlined below.

Privacy notices given by covered entities, such as health-care providers and health plans, must now include a statement about a patient’s right to restrict the disclosure of his or her health information when paying out of pocket for the service.

Long Arm Of The Law

08/17/202006/22/2013 by Report from Counsel

Long-arm statutes permit a court in a particular state to bring within its jurisdictional reach nonresident persons who, by their actions, have had at least such “minimum contacts” with the forum state that it is fair and just to subject them to the powers of a court in that state. In earlier times such contacts were as likely as not to take a physical form. But today, as a recent case illustrates, in the age of computers and the Internet the only thing physical about the contact may be someone’s clicking a mouse or striking a keyboard from his or her home in another state or country.

A chemical company based in Connecticut decided to terminate the employment of Jackie, an employee of a Canadian subsidiary of the company. Jackie lived and worked in Ontario, Canada. According to the company, upon learning of her impending termination and just before it, Jackie forwarded from her company email account to her personal email account some confidential and proprietary data files belonging to the company.

Facebook Posting Leads to an "F"

08/17/202003/07/2013 by Report from Counsel

We all know that the right of free speech has its limits. There is no right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater. Those limits apply even in settings most closely associated with the free exchange of ideas, such as colleges and universities. In that academic setting, limits also exist even for speech that takes place off campus, such as on a social networking website, but that is connected to a student’s academic program.

Confidential Emails: Proceed With Caution

08/17/202007/26/2012 by Report from Counsel

Even the most technology-challenged among us would have to admit that the ease with which we can communicate by e-mail is an improvement over the forms
of correspondence that have preceded it. For most of us, there is no going back to the days before e-mail. This is no less true for communications between
attorneys and clients than it is for other types of communications.

Deleting Company E-mail

08/17/202007/18/2011 by Report from Counsel

When a telecommunications company went defunct, almost literally on his way out the door, the former president and CEO of the company allegedly deleted certain e-mails from the company’s computers. When the company was placed in receivership, the receiver sued the former executive for a variety of his actions taken in connection with the collapse of the company. Among these claims was an assertion that when he deleted the e-mails, allegedly to cover up some misconduct, the executive violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).

Social Media In The Workplace

08/17/202007/18/2011 by Report from Counsel

The prevalence of social media, including postings that are meant for employment-related topics in particular, has led to an increase in litigation on the subject between employees and their employers. The scenarios leading the parties to the courtroom are as varied as one might imagine. A company fires a worker over her criticisms of the boss that she posted on Facebook. Repeated attempts by a manager to “friend” a female employee on Facebook eventually leads to allegations of sexual harassment. A disappointed job applicant sues when a job offer is retracted after a hiring manager turns up something about the applicant on Twitter that the manager finds disturbing.

Cybersquatting And The Courts

08/17/202006/15/2011 by Report from Counsel

A former employee who refused to give up a domain name that he had registered for the benefit of his former employer has been hit with a sizeable damages verdict. The federal appeals court that heard his case looked unfavorably on his having held the domain name for “ransom,” and agreed that the employee had violated the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). Meanwhile, an Illinois company was unsuccessful in bringing a claim against a Texas company under the ACPA. Although the Texas company had registered a domain name similar to one held by the Illinois company, there was not sufficient jurisdiction for the Texas company to be sued in Illinois.

Cybersquatting and the Courts

08/17/202004/04/2011 by Report from Counsel

A former employee who refused to give up a domain name that he had registered for the benefit of his former employer has been hit with a sizeable damages verdict. The federal appeals court that heard his case looked unfavorably on his having held the domain name for “ ransom,” and agreed that the employee had violated the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). Meanwhile, an Illinois company was unsuccessful in bringing a claim against a Texas company under the ACPA. Although the Texas company had registered a domain name similar to one held by the Illinois company, there was not sufficient jurisdiction for the Texas company to be sued in Illinois.

Websites and Where to Sue

08/17/202009/10/2010 by Report from Counsel

After she became dissatisfied with the services of home remodeling contractors that she had obtained through an Internet referral website, Victoria sued the referral business for breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation, and negligence.

MySpace, Students, and Free Speech

08/17/202005/05/2010 by Report from Counsel

In separate cases, two public school students used MySpace to post disparaging comments about each of their principals. Each of the students was punished with a suspension from school, and each made a federal case out of it, literally, by suing on the basis of alleged infringement of the right of free speech. Both cases arose in the same state, and the same federal appellate court decided appeals in the cases on the same day. The parallels end there, however, because one student succeeded in his First Amendment argument, while the other student did not.