January 2011 – TCPA Watch

Wittow authors new article on Cloud Computing

Jan 18 2011

Seattle partner Mark Wittow recently authored an article on cloud computing legal issues, specifically examining recent cases involving cloud computing issues and describing new types of claims that likely will arise as a result of the increased importance of internet-based connectivity (in contrast to desktop or local network-based resources) to provide all types of computing needs and related services. The article – “Cloud Computing: Recent Cases and Anticipating New Types of Claims” – appears in the January 2011 issue of The Computer and Internet Lawyer.

Mark’s article explains how cloud computing, as a leading means of digital distribution, has created new types of business models, which in turn have led to unique legal issues. Cases relevant to cloud computing arise in a variety of areas of law, including contracts, copyrights and privacy.

FTC Proposes Broad New Privacy Framework, and Asks “How It Might Apply in the Real World”

Jan 12 2011

by Henry L. Judy (Washington D.C.), Holly K. Towle (Seattle), Samuel R. Castic (Seattle), Jonathan D. Jaffe (San Francisco).

On December 1, 2010, the FTC released a preliminary staff report entitled “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change” that has the potential to materially change the privacy obligations of all businesses in the United States. The staff report poses important policy choices regarding who controls data and what information will freely flow in the United States. It proposes a broad privacy framework and articulates a number of new and strengthened data privacy obligations that are almost certain to increase business compliance costs and potential litigation.

While the staff report is only a preliminary recommendation, the final privacy proposal that emerges from the FTC will likely serve as both a guide for future enforcement actions, and as a basis for future legislation. The FTC is accepting comments on its proposed framework until the end of January 2011, and it is strongly recommended that businesses do so if they want to register their concerns before the FTC issues its final privacy framework.

Don’t Touch That Technology

Jan 07 2011

by Susan P. Altman (Pittsburgh) and Todd A. Fisher (Dallas).

If your client or customer asks you to input data into its database, do you readily agree, or do you first ask if you have the right to do the inputting?

Most service providers are more than happy to show their responsiveness and helpfulness and sometimes forget to check whether they have the right to use the technology licensed by their client.

The Fifth Circuit in Compliance Source Inc. v. GreenPoint MortgageFunding Inc. reminded us recently that use of someone else’s technology, even if it is only on behalf of and for the benefit of a licensee, may require explicit permission of the owner (not just the licensee) and failure to obtain that explicit permission may result in a lawsuit.

CALEA II – Bigger and Badder?

Jan 04 2011

Recent leaks to the New York Times, as reported in September and October, indicate that the Obama administration will next year be pushing for sweeping expansions of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). CALEA facilitates government surveillance by, among other things, requiring companies subject to the law both to design their systems so that the government can easily plug in and intercept communications in real-time and to provide assistance to the government in these efforts.

A task force comprised of representatives from DOJ, Commerce, the FBI, and other agencies, are discussing amendments to the law. These changes would greatly expand the reach of CALEA, would significantly increase the costs of non-compliance for covered companies, and would include other requirements which may fundamentally change business models for companies promising encryption and decentralized communication services.

Archive:January 2011