e-Lawg

Guide to Using RSS

Thu, 12 May 2005 00:48:58 GMT

Personal Technology article on RSS here.

Wed, 11 May 2005 02:09:05 GMT

Legal Ethics Sites. by Tom Mighell | Tom Mighell explores legal ethics Web sites in search of information to help you avoid malpractice claims. [Law Practice Today]

Website does not give personal jurisdiction

Wed, 11 May 2005 01:56:40 GMT

From [InternetCases.com]

Barbados website doesn't give Pennsylvania courts personal jurisdiction.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has held that neither a website operated by a Barbados hotel nor a third party site used for making reservations at the hotel was sufficient grounds for the exercise of personal jurisdiction.

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:47:35 GMT

Describing privacy

When I give presentations and teach about privacy, I always start with a discussion of "what is privacy". The concept means very different things to people, depending upon their background and the baggage they bring to the discussion. to help us wade through this, Daniel Solove, of George Washington University Law School has written an article in the U. Penn Law Review that addresses the vocabulary and taxonomy of the slippery concept of privacy:

SSRN-A Taxonomy of Privacy by Daniel Solove:
"Privacy is a concept in disarray. Nobody can articulate what it means. As one commentator has observed, privacy suffers from 'an embarrassment of meanings.' Privacy is far too vague a concept to guide adjudication and lawmaking, as abstract incantations of the importance of 'privacy' do not fare well when pitted against more concretely-stated countervailing interests.
In 1960, the famous torts scholar William Prosser attempted to make sense of the landscape of privacy law by identifying four different interests. But Prosser focused only on tort law, and the law of information privacy is significantly more vast and complex, extending to Fourth Amendment law, the constitutional right to information privacy, evidentiary privileges, dozens of federal privacy statutes, and hundreds of state statutes. Moreover, Prosser wrote over 40 years ago, and new technologies have given rise to a panoply of new privacy harms.
A new taxonomy to understand privacy violations is thus sorely needed. This article develops a taxonomy to identify privacy problems in a comprehensive and concrete manner. It endeavors to guide the law toward a more coherent understanding of privacy and to serve as a framework for the future development of the field of privacy law. "

Thanks to Bruce Schneier for the link: Schneier on Security: A Taxonomy of Privacy. - David T.S. Fraser [PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law]

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:44:58 GMT

Getting started with RSS : instructions on using Bloglines. Internet Week has an excellent article on getting started with RSS. Perhaps better, it gives step-by-step instructions for how to set-up Bloglines, the most popular web based RSS reader. Bloglines is completely web-based, as opposed to downloading an aggregator for... [Real Lawyers :: Have Blogs]

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:44:36 GMT

Tips for promoting your law firm with a blog. Gary Stein publishing a blog as part of the Jupiter Research Analyst Weblog group, has surprisingly found blogs to be powerful company marketing vehicles. He says exposing our analysts' insight helps establish us as thought leaders. In an excellent post,... [Real Lawyers :: Have Blogs]

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:44:04 GMT

The 1.0 Guide to the Blogosphere for Marketers and Company Stakeholders. Edelman, the largest independent worldwide PR firm, has issued a fabulous 22 page whitepaper on blogs. It's called The 1.0 Guide to the Blogosphere for Marketers and Company Stakeholders (pdf file). This one goes on the shelf as one of... [Real Lawyers :: Have Blogs]

Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:38:03 GMT

Privacy Commisioner of Canada releases her report on the CIBC faxing incidents

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada has just released her report on the "CIBC faxing incident", in which faxes related to customers of the bank repeatedly were sent to a junk yard in West Virginia and Dorval, Quebec. The incident garnered a huge amount of press when the incidents came to light and CIBC faced a barrage of criticism for allowing it to continue unabated for three years. In her

- David T.S. Fraser [PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law]

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 01:20:19 GMT

Dealing With Misleading "Confirmatory" Letters. You know the kind of "confirmatory" letter I'm writing about: the one that posits fiction, not fact, and makes you furious when you read it. To deal with the problem, one lawyer--a participant in LexThink, founded by Illinois lawyer Matt... [The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog]

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 01:04:28 GMT

Identity theft and corporate liability. Be sure your client is prepared to deal with the nation's fast-growing crime. Source: Law.com [ABA Section of Litigation - Online Resources for Litigators]

Legal Podcasting

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 00:37:17 GMT

A new website specializing in legal podcasts: BlawgCast.com.

Employee Right to Privacy

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 00:31:03 GMT

Yes Virginia, there is a free-standing non-statutory right to employee privacy in Ontario. Maybe. This month.

In December of '04, I blogged about a case in which an arbitrator ruled that employees in the provincially regulated private sector in Ontario have no right to privacy. (See PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law: Employees in Ontario (and perhaps other Canadian provinces) have no right to privacy.) Since this area is consistently inconsistent, here is a rececent decision of an Ontario arbitrator who

- David T.S. Fraser [PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law]

Government Took Reasonable Precautions to Safeguard Data

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 00:23:13 GMT

From PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law: A British Columbia Court has ruled against a British Columbia Union. The union was arguing that the Court should prevent the B.C. government from entering into a contract that involved locating confidential health data in a subsidiary of a U.S. company. The union argued that the U.S. parent could be ordered to produce the confidential information under the U.S. Patriot Act.

The provincial privacy commissioner had previously held that there was a reasonable probability of disclosure of confidential information under the Patriot Act.

The Court examined the contract and concluded that the government had taken all reasonable steps to ensure the privacy of the data.

del.icio.us

Tue, 05 Apr 2005 00:07:01 GMT

An article explaining the advantages of del.icio.us - a useful program for keeping track of your bookmarks.

Mon, 04 Apr 2005 23:57:07 GMT

A Fantastic Article about Opening Statement. In "The Opening Statement: Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You," the distinguished lawyer Michael Jones emphasizes the importance of telling a story. Jones's article, which itself tells a story, focuses on a trial in New Orleans: Though not familiar... [The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog]

CRTC Requires VOIP to Deliver 911 Service

Mon, 04 Apr 2005 23:45:28 GMT

The CRTC gave notice that VOIP carriers will be required to deliver 911 service or provide ongoing notice to clients along with acknowledgement of limitations on 911 service. Most VOIP carriers have indicated they will likely be able to meet the new requirement.

Here is the Government announcement.

Thu, 24 Mar 2005 01:02:42 GMT

Defining Jurisdiction On The Internet [OJR: Copyright, Law & Ethics]

RSS and Privacy Risks

Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:19:59 GMT

David T.S. Fraser [PIPEDA and Canadian Privacy Law] picked up an interesting post on the impact of RSS on privacy issues. Because you can subscribe to an RSS feed without giving any personal information, it is superior, from a privacy perspective, to opt in mailing lists where some information usually has to be disclosed:

The Information Security News - Blog Archive - Editorial: How RSS can reduce privacy risks:
"Offering web site content updates via an RSS feed rather than by opt-in email can reduce the risk of privacy exposures. Because subscribing to an RSS feed is a 'pull' technology, it avoids the collection of personal information (email address, name, etc.) that would normally get collected in order to maintain a subscription to a site update alert, newsletter or digest..."

Lawyers, Blogging and the Public Interest

Tue, 22 Mar 2005 23:56:24 GMT

Alex Barnett and Kevin O'Keefe are having an interesting discussion of whether blogging furthers the ethical obligation of lawyers to advance public discourse of legal issues and educate the public.

While I would not go so far as to suggest a moral obligation to blog, anything that enhances the public's access to legal information and access to justice is laudable.

What's Big in 2005

Mon, 21 Mar 2005 00:25:24 GMT

ABA Law Practice Today has an article on What's BIG in 2005.

Managing Security in a Law Office

Mon, 21 Mar 2005 00:19:25 GMT

Dan Pinnington of LawPro has written a helpful booklet on Managing Security and Privacy of Electronic Data in a Law Office.