Balough
April 17, 2015
Phishing is reeling in more victims than in previous years, a new report found. In 2014, 23 percent of phishing email recipients open up the message, up from earlier yearly averages of 10 to 20 percent. In addition, 11 percent of the recipients click on the attachments, the 2015 Data Breach Investigations Report conducted by […]
Balough
March 19, 2015
QVC, Inc. is not entitled to an injunction against a small start-up that sent web crawlers to the online retailer giant, overloading QVC’s servers for two days and impairing consumers’ ability to use the site. QVC alleged that Resultly, Inc. violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) because it sent bots to gain pricing […]
Balough
March 5, 2015
One Supreme Court Justice is ready to hear a case on whether online purchasers should pay a use tax regardless of where the seller is located. Currently, states can collect taxes only if the seller has a “presence” in the state—a holding Justice Anthony Kennedy apparently wants reversed. Justice Kennedy expressed his strong view in […]
Balough
March 4, 2015
Google, Inc. won a preliminary injunction stopping the Mississippi Attorney General from enforcing a 79-page subpoena or bringing a civil or criminal charge against Google under Mississippi law for making accessible third-party content to Internet users. In a brief order, the trial court found that Google had a substantial likelihood of prevailing on the merits in […]
Balough
February 9, 2015
Today’s technology-advanced cars are vulnerable to hacking, which can result in the theft of personal driving information and control of the vehicle taken over by hackers, a new report issued by Sen. Ed Markey’s office finds. The report, “Tracking & Hacking Security & Privacy Gaps Put American Drivers at Risk,” notes its findings “reveal that […]
Balough
January 28, 2015
As the internet of things (IoT) affects more consumers, businesses must build security into the devices at the outset rather than as an afterthought, a report by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) staff recommends. The report, Internet of Things, Privacy & Security in a Connected World, is based upon a workshop last fall discussing what […]
Balough
December 30, 2014
Revenge porn will be illegal in Illinois as a result of a bill signed into law by out-going Governor Pat Quinn. Revenge porn occurs when one person posts or otherwise disseminates intimate images of a former partner without the other partner’s consent. The new law, which takes effect on June 1, 2015, makes it a […]
Balough
December 16, 2014
How and from whom a reporter obtained information, including police and toxicology reports, is not relevant to a murder trial, so it was error for the trial court to require that the sources be disclosed, an Illinois Appellate Court found. Joseph Hosey was a reporter for the Joliet Patch. The news website ran several stories describing […]
Balough
December 13, 2014
In a reversal of previous practice, employees may use their employer’s email system for labor organizing, the National Labor Relations Board ruled. The new case involved the right of employees to “communicate with one another regarding self-organization at the jobsite” under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. In 2007 the NLRB had found […]
Balough
November 19, 2014
TRUSTe, Inc.’s online certifications are not always trustworthy according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC found, and TRUSTe agreed, that the company misled consumers in two respects. First, TRUSTe failed to conduct annual recertifications of websites holding TRUSTe Certified Privacy Seals. Second TRUSTe failed to monitor references in its seals, which falsely stated […]
