Will internal email die

Friday, December 2, 2011 by Chris Stephen
Initially, I will state for the record the apologies of your friendly, neighborhood Indiana Technology Lawyer for not posting a blog in a while.  I know that you, my loyal readers, have been waiting with bated breath in the hope that I would again grace cyberspace with my knowledge and wit.  And, alas, I have failed to deliver.  In my defense, this little technology law firm has been experiencing exponential growth and prosperity, which has dictated more work for yours truly.   But, that is...Read More »

New York guarantees lawyers to foreclosure debtors

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by Chris Stephen
 The first caveat is that I'm sorry I haven't posted anything recently.  Work here at Alerding Castor Hewitt has been going like gangbusters and yours truly has been up to his distinguished eyeballs in work.  Trust me, however, I'm now dutifully committing myself to continue providing insight and humor as your Indiana Internet Litigation guru. 

Second caveat is that this post actually has nothing to do with privacy litigation, software litigation or really any other technology law issues. ...Read More »

TECHNOLOGY LAW FIRM – THE SEASON OF CELEBRATION

Monday, December 20, 2010 by Scott Kreider

Your friendly neighborhood litigation attorney at Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP with a final post for the year to all of our business, Indiana internet litigation, and technology law clients.  Saturday, December 25th will no doubt be a date of celebration in many homes.  As you spend time with your family, remember how special the day is and all of the changes that have taken place in the last 20 years.

Some of you might wonder what I mean exactly.  I’m not referring to Christmas.  And for those...

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The Legal Landscape of Corporate Blogging - Part 1: Introduction

Monday, November 15, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I can read your mind.  You are thinking, "oh, great and insightful technology legal counsel, what do you mean by a 'legal landscape' and what does that have to do with blogging?"  My initial response is that, (a) you've asked two questions and (b) if you plan to use blogging as a component of your business model, you need to know what potential pitfalls exist.  That is the legal landscape of blogging.  It is made up of the hills and valleys that must be overcome or avoided to reach blogging...Read More »

New interface for Creative Commons search engine

Friday, November 12, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Thanks to the wonderful folks over at Compendium Blogware, I presented a fun webinar last week on the Legal Landscape of Corporate Blogging.  Don't fret, dear reader;  I intend to put together several posts over the weekend that hit the highlights of my presentation.  Overall, I discussed topics like privacy litigation, copyright, defamation, Section 230 protections, etc.  The fun stuff of blogging. 

One area that I discussed and have had several questions about is Creative Commons.  For those of...Read More »

Are we losing sight of the "social" aspect of social media

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I know that you are expecting witty and poignant analysis of some new and exciting aspect of technology and / or privacy litigation, but that's not really the point of this post.  Rather, the impetus of this concoction of literary excellence is a realization that I had regarding social media.  In the last two weeks I have experienced the following (all on a large social media site that shall remain nameless but that has a movie):  (1) received birthday announcements and pictures of my niece in...Read More »

The interesting privacy litigation issues raised by a Duke student's sex-ploitation

Monday, October 11, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Ok, I'll admit it.  I was in a rut.  Although I found numerous interesting tidbits through-out cyberspace, I could not find anything that piqued my interest enough to put aside the billable hours of a technology legal counsel for a few moments to blog about it.  But, lo and behold, a college student with a sense of panache, an aspiration for humor, decent journaling skills, and access to PowerPoint and the Internet has become my muse. 

For those of you that don't know,  2010 Duke graduate...Read More »

Connecticut Insurance Deparment Requires Notification of Privacy Security Breaches

Wednesday, September 8, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Here is one of those convergence points where business law and privacy law intersect and effectuate additional administrative duties on the business holder.  In a rather interesting bulletin, the Connecticut Department of Insurance issued a directive on August 18, 2010, requiring "that all licensees and registrants of the Department notify the Department of any information security incident which affects any Connecticut residents as soon as the incident is identified, but no later than five (5)...Read More »

Memo from Uncle Sam: Die Hard 4 wasn't all that impossible; let us help you

Monday, August 30, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Another post that doesn't quite fit neatly into Indiana Internet litigation or privacy law, but that intrigues me.  BusinessWeek, passing along a Tim Greene article from NetworkWorld (found here: www.networkworld.com/nwlookup.jsp), is reporting that the U.S. military has issued an essay in which it urges its expertise in defense be put to use in protecting civilian networked infrastructure, such as power grids, financial institutions, etc.  The essay from Foreign Affairs sets out the concept...Read More »

Repost: Internet Rewards Program Class Action Survives Initial Motion to Dismiss -- In re Easysaver Rewards

Sunday, August 29, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I don't often blanket repost other blogs that I see, however, in this instance, I think it is appropriate.  Venkat, writing for Professor Goldman's blog, writes an excellent analysis of the recent ruling in the In re: Easysaver Rewards Litigation(S.D. Cal. August 13, 2010).  This is a very interesting case in that it covers several different, more traditional causes of action and analysis.  I'm interested to see what ramification this case is going to have on SaaS law and privacy litigation....Read More »

FTC settles case with paid reviewer

Sunday, August 29, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Back in October, 2009, I posted about the new endorsement / testimonial rules set out by the Federal Trad Commission (blog.alerdingcastor.com/blog/alerding-castor/0/0/ftc-makes-changes-to-blog-law).  There has been some development since that time, but mostly everyone is still watching and waiting.  The FTC did threaten to pursue Ann Taylor back in April, but otherwise, it has been relatively silent.

That is, however, until now.  On August 26, 2010, the FTC reached a settlement with Reverb...Read More »

Never underestimate your staff, but rather, allow them to envision and strive for excellence

Sunday, August 22, 2010 by Chris Stephen
The ACH litigation team had its first ever (as far as I'm aware) litigation retreat this weekend, and as I reminisce on our time, I am struck by the realization that to be a successful business, you have to allow your team to envision and strive for excellence with you.  This weekend we had some great discussion and "vision-casting" on the areas of privacy litigation, Indiana probate litigation, business law, Internet litigation, banking law, SaaS litigation, and several other areas where we are...Read More »

Discoverability of social networking profiles in Federal court

Friday, August 6, 2010 by Chris Stephen
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 »

INDIANAPOLIS LITIGATION--AN ETHICS LESSON FOR BUSINESSES AND LAWYERS

Thursday, August 5, 2010 by Scott Kreider

Your friendly Indianapolis attorney and Partner In Success at Alerding Castor Hewitt, LLP here with another post, this time for both business entities and lawyers who find themselves in the trenches of business law, SaaS law, internet laws, and privacy litigation and probate litigation.  Partner and fellow blogger Dave Castor sort of beat me to the bunch by pointing out a great blog post by Michael P. Alerding (ACH’s Mike Alerding’s father) at Alerding & Co., LLC, which Dave re-posted below.  I...

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Cloud Computing: German data police say "Nein!"

Thursday, June 24, 2010 by Chris Stephen
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 »

Imposing the long-arm of the law over the Internet

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 by Chris Stephen
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 »

Social Networking and the Web - So much more than ambulance-chasing

Thursday, June 17, 2010 by Chris Stephen
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 »

Who are Alerding Castor Hewitt LLP

Friday, June 11, 2010 by Chris Stephen
Every once in awhile, I have the inkling to make a blog post that is not about developments in privacy litigation or technology litigation or cloud computing law or foreclosures or any of the other endless stream of ideas and legal thoughts that pass across my desk.  This is one of those times.  Because, while I think it is important for our readers to know that Mexico passed a new data privacy law or that litigation related to CAN SPAM is likely a rising field, I think it is equally important...Read More »

Mexico Passes New Data Protection and Privacy Law

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 by Chris Stephen
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 »

Privacy Law - Part 2: What the Heck Is It?

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 by Chris Stephen
I must take a moment to open with a caveat.  The study of privacy and hence privacy law or privacy litigation is an analysis that spans centuries.  In fact, while it seems like privacy issues have only recently come to the forefront with the advent of technology, they have, in fact, been prevalent in ever major level of recorded history.  I put this point out there to help you recognize that there are books and books addressing the issues of privacy and my little foray into the issue is but a...Read More »