Gather 'round kids, this one is interesting. The decision
actually came out in May, 2010, and I regret that I haven't had a
chance to blog on it until now, but it is still a very interesting
order that should have implications to privacy litigation, and
litigation in general. In EEOC v. Simply Storage Management,
LLC, Docket No. 09-CV-01223, the Southern District of Indiana was
faced with the issue of discovery of social networking profiles of
two individuals that claimed sexual harrassment by...Read More »
This is one of those great posts that gets to combine cloud
computing law with privacy law with political intrigue.
Before I get too far in, I want to set out my own caveat. In
my opinion, there is a data war brewing between the United
States, EU, and China and everyone if vying for the top dog
spot. The basis of this is the fact that each faction views
the protection of data very differently and they each want to be
the best. To just give you a surface level scratch of the
differences I'll...Read More »
Your friendly neighborhood technology counsel here: A couple
of recent state court decisions are going to start personal injury
attorneys frothing at the mouth, and might render some sleepless
nights for defense attorneys. Both Ohio and Florida recently
issued opinions in which they applied their state's respective
long-arm statutes to garner personal jurisdiction over an
out-of-state resident for tortious conduct that transpired over the
Internet.
First, you need to know what a long-arm...Read More »
First, you need to know what a long-arm...Read More »
Be
prepared: I'm going to get on a bit of a soapbox. I
read a recent article at WSJ.com entitled "Using Social Networking
as Legal Tool" (Linked Below). There is
nothing wrong with this article. It very succinctly and
pleasantly explains how certain law firms are using social
networking and the Web to find clients for high-value plaintiff
cases. And I don't disagree with that approach. As an
attorney posting on a blog, I too hope to use social networking to
get business, and would be...Read More »China has enacted the "Interim Administrative Measures on
Internet-based Transactions of Goods and Related Services" that
will take effect on July 1, 2010. This regulations should
have a significant impact on e-commerce in China. One can
only assume that it will also impact Software Service Level
Agreements, SaaS law, and cloud computing law. The
regulations appear to be focused on Business - to-Consumer issues
and consumer-to-consumer activities, but the actual language of the
regulation is...Read More »
Your friendly neighborhood technology counsel here: So,
Mexico recently passed a new data protection law. On April
27, 2010, Mexico passed the Federal Law for the Protection of
Personal data, which is likely to be signed into law by the
President in the near future. This law not only allows for a
mind-boggling $1.5 million penalty for violation, but it also
applies to the private sector. Private and public entities will
need to protect themselves from privacy litigation.
This law is much akin...Read More »
This law is much akin...Read More »
We all know the beauty of the SaaS business model: great cash flow
from up front payments, recurring revenue from clients that
renew, ratable revenue recognition that results in
smooth rather than lumpy revenue models, etc.
But what if during your licensing agreement
negotiations the client is pushing back and threatens some or
all of these SaaS model advantages?
This is when its great to work with attorneys that have extensive SaaS legal consulting backgrounds; attorneys that not only...Read More »
This is when its great to work with attorneys that have extensive SaaS legal consulting backgrounds; attorneys that not only...Read More »
Indianapolis has done some amazing things in
SaaS technology markets. As many readers of this blog know,
much of my business law practice focuses on SaaS law, Internet law
and funding law. Most of this is in business-to-business
(B2B) SaaS markets. This week I was thinking about how this
is not just true of my practice, but it also is true for
Indianapolis as a whole. Most software companies in
Indianapolis are in B2B markets.
The other two markets are business-to-consumer (B2C)...
How
many times have you signed up for a service on-line, scrolled past
all the legal jargon, and clicked "I Accept" or "I Agree"
without taking the time to actually read the terms and conditions
you're agreeing to? Admit it. We all do it.
But, just as a warning to be careful the next time you're purchasing that new mp3, or more importantly signing your company up for something on-line... those shrink-wrap and click-wrap agreements have been held by the courts to be binding.
Contracting in...Read More »
For SaaS companies, the customer agreement is critical.
Why? A SaaS relationship is not a 1-time purchase of software
to be installed. The SaaS customer agreement is a
document which will govern (what you hope will be) a long-term
relationship with your client. It must cover the software
license aspect of the relationship, the ongoing maintenance,
upgrading and use of the software and - often overlooked - the
professional services to be provided by the SaaS company to the
client. The...Read More »
Alerding
Castor Hewitt, LLP is proud to announce the addition of Indiana
technology lawyer Bill Boncosky to the firm. The former General Counsel for ExactTarget, Bill has tremendous experience as technology counsel for one of the most successful technology start ups based right here in the heart of Indianapolis. A company that had just over a dozen employees when he joined, Bill has substantial experience in licensing agreement negotiations, ASP Law and Cloud Computing Law serving in that role...Read More »
Google announced in its blog today that Los Angeles has officially
switched to using Google Apps for e-mail and collaboration.
34,000 city employees will now be using the Google cloud to do
their work and, more importantly, their communication. This
is a substantial development in cloud computing law. This
will highlight the pros and cons of cloud computing for the
future,and is likely to shape the success of other municipalities
going the same way. Data issues and privacy litigation...Read More »
As an admitted technophile, I can't help but look into all the
newest gizmos and gadgets. Plus, working at an information
technology law firm, I can even bill it sometimes. Thus, I've
recently begun a fascination with e-books. Jason Wilson
has done a very interesting set of blogs looking at the use
of e-books (or lack of use) for lawyers (www.jasnwilsn.com/).
Jason's viewpoint is as a counterpoint to a recent set of blogs by
Professor Eugene Volokh (volokh.com/2009/10/02/the-future-of-books-...
Read More »
Here
at Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP, often times we work with clients
who have software that inherently transcends state and national
borders. Not just brick and mortor storefronts, many of our clients have customers nationwide and around the world.
Such is the realm of cloud computing law, and it's up to us as technology legal counsel to answer the inescapable question of what state, federal, or even country's law applies should a lawsuit arise.
Well, if you haven't contracted for this simple...Read More »
I am speaking this afternoon at the MBO Conference on the Legal Landscape of
Corporate Blogging. It was an honor to be invited to
participate in this year's conference, and I am truly looking
forward to the time.As an Indiana technology lawyer I monitor areas of law that impact my clients' business worlds. My colleagues and I monitor Internet laws, privacy laws, ASP law, SaaS law, cloud computing law, and various other areas of business law to best advise our clients on how to navigate the...Read More »
I read an
interesting blog
post by Thomas Klein of Sand Hill Group this week on
the evolution and future of enterprise software. Klein states that a new wave of enterprise software has emerged and is “pulsating through the economy” and venture capital will soon take notice. The new platform is marked principally by SaaS and cloud computing. The industry visionaries are referring to this new era of enterprise software as Enterprise 3.0.
I found Klein's summary of the history of enterprise...Read More »
There was a great
post on the bMighty blog last week regarding the debate
between who Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is better targeted
for – large enterprises (+1,000 employees) or small to midsize
businesses (SMBs). According to a recent Forrester research report on cloud computing models entitled Conventional Wisdom is Wrong About IaaS, a higher percentage of enterprise-level businesses are interested in Infrastructure as a Service than SMBs. Fredric Paul, the blog author, argues that...Read More »
There
is a huge potential savings for the U.S. government in adopting
SaaS technologies, cloud computing infrastructure and open source
software. Last week President Obama
requested Scott McNealy, ex-CEO and co-founder of Sun Microsystems,
to
produce a report on potential benefits of such a
move. The current U.S. government IT
budget is approximately $70 billion per year.
According to a recent study by MeriTalk, Red Hat, and DLT Solutions, the U.S. government could save $3.7 billion by using...
Read More »Thank you for continuing to read the Business & Culture Blog. The purpose of this blog is to address those areas of innovation, leadership, entrepreneurship, technology and community that lie at the intersection of business and culture. My law practice focuses on software licensing, entrepreneurship law, SaaS law, legal technology consulting and private equity and funding law. My goal is for this blog to assist business owners and leaders become more excellent at their craft. Be sure to...
Read More »
I
came across the following article on
Industry Week addressing a study on SaaS markets in 2009 by
market
research firm IDC. This is great information for any SaaS
or cloud computing business. SaaS Will Expand Rather than Contract Despite the Economic Crisis
IDC predicts 36-40% growth in 2009.
The Harsh economic climate will actually accelerate the growth prospects for the software as a service (SaaS) model says research firm IDC. A study shows that buyers will opt for easy-to-use subscription...Read More »
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