FEATURED GUEST

ERIC WILSON – ENGAGE.DC

In February of 2007, Eric started on Capitol Hill as a Policy Analyst for the House Republican Policy Committee. While working for the Chairman of the HRPC — an elected leadership post — he was introduced to the emerging realm of social media, which House Republicans lead the way in embracing. In 2009, Eric started as the Executive Director of the Congressional Health Care Caucus under the leadership of Rep. Michael C. Burgess, M.D. Eric joined the Engage Team in December of 2009. At Engage, Eric is focused on House races, social media, and political trends. Engage is a full-service interactive agency with a track record of winning the toughest battles in politics and public policy. We have held senior new media roles on presidential campaigns, the Republican National Committee and, dozens of statewide campaigns and policy initiatives.  From the web’s earliest days, we were leaders at harnessing its political potential. Today, digital media is changing the fundamental dynamics of how public policy fights are won. Once relegated to the sidelines, “new” media is now a primary strategic vehicle driving victory or defeat. You need a new kind of partner who recognizes this new reality and can shape the field of battle in your favor. We thrive at the nexus of strategy, media, and technology — and bring this holistic approach to winning elections.

RESOURCES

		Revenge of the Nerds: How Online Activism is Changing the Way DC’s Biggest Policy Battles are Fought and Won
		The SOPA War: A Frantic Call, an Aborted Summit, and Dramatic New Details on How Hollywood Lost
		A Political Coming of Age for the Tech Industry
		The Good And The Bad Of The New OPEN Bill From Wyden And Issa

SEGMENT ONE

(1)  UNITED STATES V. JONES (U.S. SUPREME CT. JAN. 23, 2012)

The Government obtained a search warrant permitting it to install a Global-Positioning-System (GPS) tracking device on a vehicle regis- tered to respondent Jones’s wife. The warrant authorized installa- tion in the District of Columbia and within 10 days, but agents in- stalled the device on the 11th day and in Maryland. The Government then tracked the vehicle’s movements for 28 days. It subsequently secured an indictment of Jones and others on drug trafficking con- spiracy charges. The District Court suppressed the GPS data ob- tained while the vehicle was parked at Jones’s residence, but held the remaining data admissible because Jones had no reasonable expecta- tion of privacy when the vehicle was on public streets. Jones was convicted. The D. C. Circuit reversed, concluding that admission of the evidence obtained by warrantless use of the GPS device violated the Fourth Amendment. Held: The Government’s attachment of the GPS device to the vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle’s movements, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. Pp. 3–12. SOTOMAYOR CONCURRENCE:

More fundamentally, it may be necessary to reconsider the premise that an individual has no reasonable expecta- tion of privacy in information voluntarily disclosed to third parties. E.g., Smith, 442 U. S., at 742; United States v. Miller, 425 U. S. 435, 443 (1976). This approach is ill suited to the digital age, in which people reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of carrying out mundane tasks. People disclose the phone numbers that they dial or text to their cellu- lar providers; the URLs that they visit and the e-mail addresses with which they correspond to their Internet service providers; and the books, groceries, and medi- cations they purchase to online retailers. Perhaps, as JUSTICE ALITO notes, some people may find the “tradeoff” of privacy for convenience “worthwhile,” or come to accept this “diminution of privacy” as “inevitable,” post, at 10, and perhaps not. I for one doubt that people would accept without complaint the warrantless disclosure to the Gov- ernment of a list of every Web site they had visited in the last week, or month, or year. But whatever the societal expectations, they can attain constitutionally protected status only if our Fourth Amendment jurisprudence ceases to treat secrecy as a prerequisite for privacy. I would not assume that all information voluntarily disclosed to some member of the public for a limited purpose is, for that reason alone, disentitled to Fourth Amendment protection. See Smith, 442 U. S., at 749 (Marshall, J., dissenting) (“Privacy is not a discrete commodity, possessed absolutely or not at all. Those who disclose certain facts to a bank or phone company for a limited business purpose need not assume that this information will be released to other persons for other purposes”); see also Katz, 389 U. S., at 351–352 (“[W]hat [a person] seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitu- tionally protected”).  Resolution of these difficult questions in this case is unnecessary, however, because the Government’s physical intrusion on Jones’ Jeep supplies a narrower basis for decisio

n. I therefore join the majority’s opinion.

(2) MegaUpload Indictment

Seventy-two page indictment filed on January 5, 2012, along with DOJ Press Release.

MORE INFO ON MegaUpload – watch video

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RESOURCES

		Sonia Sotomayor’s Heartening Defense of Privacy
		A Supreme Court Justice’s Radical Proposal Regarding The Privacy of Your Google Searches, Facebook Account & Phone Records

		Megaupload Drops Lawsuit Against Universal Music Over Viral Video (Exclusive)
		Megaboned? Long odds against legal success, say law profs Why Feds Smashed Megaupload
		Megaupload Mayhem: Vengeful Hackers Wreak Havoc Across Web
		NEW FEATURE – 2012 HACK EXCHANGE.  MONITOR PROMINENT GROUPS THAT HAVE BEEN HACKED.

CYBER LAW AND BUSINESS REPORT IS HOSTED BY BENNET KELLEY, FOUNDER OF THE INTERNET LAW CENTER.
WWW.INTERNETLAWCENTER.NET

WE ARE BACK FOR OUR FIRST EPISODE OF 2012 – A SPECIAL FIRST ANNIVERSARY EDITION.

WALTER O’BRIEN

Walter O’Brien (Scorpion) is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Scorpion Computer Services. Walter serves as a member of the Board of Directors for the public renewable energy company American Environmental Inc. He is one of the world’s leading experts in the application of computer science and artificial intelligence to solve industry challenges. He was born in Ireland and at the early age of sixteen ranked number one in national high speed computer problem solving competitions. At the age of eighteen he competed in the World Olympics in Informatics and has ranked as high as sixth fastest programmer in the world. He was a child prodigy with an IQ of 197. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence with honors from Sussex University.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security certified Walter as being of National Interest to the United States Economy and granted him an Extraordinary Ability EB 1-1 Visa (also granted to Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill). Walter has since become a US citizen. He recently completed a seven-year engagement with the largest mutual fund company in the US – Capital Group Companies (parent of the American Funds). While there Walter successfully developed over 50 new initiatives and managed over 400 systems releases. This work drastically reduced downtime and led to opportunity cost savings in the tens of billions.

Walter has created many software inventions including a globalization engine that aids translation of any natural language from any machine language on any platform. Walter’s latest invention “ScenGen” is a Scenario Generator that can think of all possibilities for any given circumstance defined in it’s modeling language. ScenGen has many applications including that it finally makes it possible to ensure that no functional defects exist in a piece of software or that there is no single point of failure (SPOF) in a network.

Previous employers have been: The Capital Group Companies (World’s largest mutual fund manager and Parent of the American Funds), Fujitsu, Uniscape (Microsoft-Trados), Oracle Corporation, Baltimore Technologies, and Critical Path. Walter has previously served as chairman or member of the advisory board to companies such as Starglobe, BestTeachersandschools.com, Toin Corp, and Keltech.

JAYNE HITCHCOCK

Jayne’s own experience with cyberstalking, which garnered international headlines, led her to become a noted cybercrime and security expert. She speaksabout cybercrime and online security to educational institutions, librarians, corporations, the general public, students and parents, and trains law enforcement personnel throughout the USA. She consults for several organizations, including the Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime, the National Center for Victims of Crime and many law enforcement agencies. Jayne has also been actively involved in getting online harassment, cyberstalking, online dating, child protection and other laws passed throughout the USA.

A freelance journalist, Jayne is the author of eight books. Her most recent book is Net Crimes and Misdemeanors 2nd Edition: Outmaneuvering Web Spammers, Stalkers, and Con Artists , which details different types of online crimes, scams, spams and more, complete with case histories, experts, and advice on how to protect yourself, your family and your computer online.

Video Professor created a 3-CD tutorial based on my Net Crimes book. View several interviews with me below by clicking the play button.

ZAPPOS HACKED – 24 MILLIONS ACCOUNTS AT RISK

HUFFPOST TWITTER ACCOUNT HACKED

ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN HACKERS TRADE ATTACKS IN RISING CYBER GNAG WAR

ILC CYBER REPORT – CYBER SECURITY 2012 THREAT PREDICTIONS

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THE NET GOES DARK

HOW SOPA WOULD AFFECT YOU – DECLAN MCCULLAGH (DEC 21)

CONFUSED BY SOPA – FIVE MULTIMEDIA EXPLAINERS (DEC 28)

A LEGAL ANALYSIS OF 2. 968, THE PROTECT IP ACT (JULY 7)

FINANCIAL CONDITION OF US MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY (DEC 9)

The year end and start of the year is an excellent time to inventory and evaluate your business ​activities.  This includes reviewing (i) insurance coverage; (ii) corporate record and minute book status; (iii) intellectual property (including domain names); (iv) employee handbooks and policies; and (v)  and standard terms and conditions (for online and offline activities).  What lessons did you learn in 2011 the hard way and is there a way you can prevent it by altering your contracts or policies or through insurance for the risk?  

If you do update your materials, be sure to collect the old matter and use a different format for the new policies so it will be easy to spot when employees are using outdated materials.

Also many new laws go into effect on January 1st.  Check with your state Chamber of Commerce, since many of them will have updates on changes impacting in-state employers.  For example, the California Chamber of Commerce provides a list of changes impacting California businesses

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#1  AMAZON WARS

2010 ended with the Amazon Tax in effect in three states totally approximately ten percent of the population and GDP.  With the addition of Arkansas, Calfornia, Connecticut, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Vermont the tax has some applicability in states which comprise about 1/3 of the population and GDP the country.  The focus of the Amazon Wars in 2012 may be in Congress where there is a push for the “Mainstreet Fairness Act” which would clarify states authority to collect taxes for online sales.

Join us today at 10AM PT on WebmasterRadio.fm.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

It remains to be seen whether UIGEA supporters in Congress will seek to block the move.  The move would not impact the nearly decade old trade dispute between the US and Antigua  under which the World Trade Organization awarded Antigua $21 million per year in sanctions and permitted it to disregard US intellectual property laws to recoup its damages, but the island nation has not taken any such action.

The executive summary of the opinion is below.  The full text is available here.

WHETHER PROPOSALS BY ILLINOIS AND NEW YORK TO USE THE INTERNET AND OUT-OF-STATE TRANSACTION PROCESSORS TO SELL LOTTERY TICKETS TO IN-STATE ADULTS VIOLATE THE WIRE ACT

Interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a “sporting event or  contest” fall outside the reach of the Wire Act.

Because the proposed New York and Illinois lottery proposals do not involve wagering on sporting events or contests, the Wire Act does not prohibit them. 

            September 20, 2011

MEMORANDUM OPINION FOR THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, CRIMINAL DIVISION

You have asked for our opinion regarding the lawfulness of proposals by Illinois and  New York to use the Internet and out-of-state transaction processors to sell lottery tickets to instate adults. See Memorandum for David Barron, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of  Legal Counsel, from Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division (July 12,  2010) (“Crim. Mem.”); Memorandum for Jonathan Goldman Cedarbaum, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, from Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General,  Criminal Division (Oct. 8, 2010) (“Crim. Supp. Mem.”). You have explained that, in the Criminal Division’s view, the Wire Act, 18 U.S.C. § 1084 (2006), may prohibit States from conducting in-state lottery transactions via the Internet if the transmissions over the Internet during the transaction cross State lines, and may also limit States’ abilities to transmit lottery  data to out-of-state transaction processors. You further observe, however, that so interpreted, the Wire Act may conflict with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (“UIGEA”), 31 U.S.C. §§ 5361-5367 (2006), because UIGEA appears to permit intermediate out-of-state routing of electronic data associated with lawful lottery transactions that otherwise occur in-state.   In light of this apparent conflict, you have asked whether the Wire Act and UIGEA prohibit a state-run lottery from using the Internet to sell tickets to in-state adults where the transmission using the Internet crosses state lines, and whether these statutes prohibit a state lottery from transmitting lottery data associated with in-state ticket sales to an out-of-state transaction processor either during or after the purchasing process.

Having considered the Criminal Division’s views, as well as letters from New York and Illinois to the Criminal Division that were attached to your opinion request, we conclude that interstate transmissions of wire communications that do not relate to a “sporting event or contest,” 18 U.S.C. § 1084(a), fall outside of the reach of the Wire Act.  Because the proposed  New York and Illinois lottery proposals do not involve wagering on sporting events or contest, the Wire Act does not, in our view, prohibit them.  Given this conclusion, we have not found it necessary to address the Wire Act’s interaction with UIGEA, or to analyze UIGEA in any other respect.

McAfee lists the top 10 threats as:

1. Industrial threats will mature and segment
2. Embedded hardware attacks will widen and deepen
3.  Hacktivism and Anonymous will reboot and evolve
4.  Virtual currency systems will experience broader and more frequent attacks
5.  This will be the “Year for (not “of”) Cyberwar”
6.  DNSSEC will drive new network threat vectors
7.  Traditional spam will go “legit,” while spearphishing will evolve into the targeted messaging attack
8.  Mobile botnets and rootkits will mature and converge
9.  Rogue certificates and rogue certificate authorities will undermine users’ confidence
10.  Advances in operating systems and security will drive next-generation botnets and rootkits.

Cisco also warns about the threat of “hackativism” – a blending of hacking and activism as seen with groups such as Anonymous.  Cisco provides a useful checklist of action items for 2012 for enterprise security.  The top 10 list includes:

• Determine what data must be protected. “You cannot build an effective DLP program if you don’t know what information in the enterprise must be secured. You also must determine who in the enterprise is allowed to have access to that information, and how they are allowed to access it.”
• Know where your data is and understand how (and if) it is being secured. “Identify every third party that has permission to store your company’s data— from cloud providers to email marketers—and confirm that your information is being secured appropriately. Compliance requirements, and now the trend in cybercrime toward ‘hack one to hack them all,’ means enterprises must never assume their data is secure, even when they put it in the hands of those they trust.”
• Use egress monitoring. “This is a basic thing, but not enough enterprises do it—although compliance demands have more organizations adopting this practice. Egress monitoring is a change in focus from just blocking ‘the bad’ from coming in. You monitor what is being sent out of your organization and by whom and to where—and block things from leaving that shouldn’t be.”
• Create an incident response plan. “IT-related risk should be treated like any other business risk. This means enterprises need to have a clear plan in place to respond quickly and appropriately to any type of security event, whether it’s a data breach resulting from a targeted attack, a compliance violation due to an employee’s carelessness, or an incident of hacktivism.”
• Implement security measures to help  compensate for lack of control over social networks. “Do not underestimate the power of technology controls, such as an intrusion prevention system for protecting against network threats. Reputation filtering is also an essential tool for detecting suspicious activity and content.”

Cyber Law and Business Reports airs Wednesdays at 10AM on WebmasterRadio.fm and podcasts are available through iTunes.  The show is hosted by Bennet Kelley, founder of the Internet Law Center which also publishes Cyber Report.

As described by Wikipedia:

Randazza has gained notoriety for his defense of the adult entertainment field and for handling high-profile free speech cases. He represented Anthony Ciolli, one of the administrators of AutoAdmit in the high profile case regarding that website, securing his dismissal from that case. He has represented the defendant in Beck v. Eiland-Hall, a case before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) filed by political commentator Glenn Beck, concerning a satire website parodying Beck. The WIPO arbitrator ruled against Beck in the case, and in favor of Randazza’s client. Citizen Media Law Project assistant director Sam Bayard said of the WIPO arbitrator’s decision, “It’s good to see that this WIPO arbitrator had no interest in allowing Beck to circumvent the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution.” He went on to congratulate Randazza, “Congratulations to Marc for this big victory and for his innovative brief that not only won the case, but also brought ‘spock ate my balls’ into the legal lexicon.”

It is fitting that Marc appears on the anniversary of the landing at Plymouth Rock and Roger Williams’ birthday as the tension between separation of church and state which Roger Williams brought to Providence after being expelled from Massachusetts and Puritanism is at the heart of some of his work today.

More Info:

Marc’s Website

Marc’s Blog Legal Satyricon

75509017-Defendant’s-Motion-to-Appoint-Receiver-and-Compel-Assignment-of-Intellectual-Property-GRANTED(1)

Being a Rhode Islander, I am keenly aware of the importance of Roger Williams in both founding the state and in shaping what ultimately became the First Amendment.  Below are two Huffington Post columns I wrote addressing the Christian Nation movement in this context.

Sarah Palin’s Christian Nation and the Road to Providence (Huff Post May 3, 2010)

The Christian Nation Movement and the Alabama-ban (Huff Post April 16, 2006)