Co-written by Timothy Bahorski, Mark E. Morley and Bruce Truex
This edition of the Secrest Wardle Lynch Report explores some of the legal issues that have arisen concerning business on the Internet ("e-commerce").
As more and more people around the world connect to the Internet, new legal issues and areas of concern abound. Businesses engaging in e-commerce, corporations using e-mail and companies setting up web-sites all face new legal headaches that the courts are just starting to address. Accordingly, Internet players must look to traditional areas of contract law, copyright and trademark law, and privacy law for guidance.
Of immediate concern to most consumers with Internet access is concern over the security of private information transmitted over the worldwide web. Many consumers are understandably cautious about transmitting credit card numbers through computer modems for fear that unauthorized users might obtain the numbers. Under federal law, however, credit card users' liability for unauthorized use of credit cards is limited to $50.00.
Equally worrisome is the amount of private information about individuals that can be obtained on the Net. Telephone numbers, addresses and even maps to private homes are readily accessible to anyone with Internet access. Virtually all listed telephone numbers from every state are available through web-sites such as "people.yahoo.com" and "555-1212.com." As a result, more Americans are resorting to unlisted telephone numbers to avoid releasing such instantly accessible personal information.
Year 2000 Team
The Year 2000 Team of lawyers at Secrest, Wardle, Lynch are ready to address your questions and concerns regarding the litigation, insurance and legal issues surrounding the Millennium Bug. Please contact one of our Year 2000 Team Leaders with your Y2K questions or concerns:
Domain Name Litigation
"Domain names" are business addresses for companies on the Internet. For obvious reasons, a company wants its domain name to be identical to its actual name so consumers can find it easily while surfing the Worldwide Web.
Ideally, an American for-profit company will use its company name followed by ".com" as its internet address. American non-profit organizations increasingly are using their corporate names followed by ".org," while colleges and universities typically list their names followed by ".edu."
With the proliferation of thousands of new domain names over the last decade, litigation has followed. Some companies have found that their own names have been taken by other companies or individuals on the Web. Initially, courts adjudicated domain name disputes under traditional trademark law. However, in 1999, the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act was enacted to create a new cause of action under the Lanham Act.
In addition, since 1999, domain name registration has been spread among those registrars that have been accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers ("ICANN"), a non-profit corporation.
ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP") permits a trademark holder to seek cancellation or transfer of an existing domain name if it can establish, among other things, that the domain name was registered and used in bad faith. The trademark holder must also prove that it owns the same or a confusingly similar domain name, and that the other user has no legitimate right or interest in that name. ICANN's UDRP is an alternative to litigation under the Lanham Act, but it may prove to be costly.
Before the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act was passed, disputes were brought concerning domain names such as "candyland.com" (Hasbro sued and successfully chal-lenged an adult-entertainment web-siteÕs use of the popular children's game name); "mtv.com" (MTV settled its legal challenge against a former video jockey who used this domain name after he left the network); and "peta.org" (an on-going dispute between "People Eating Tasty Animals" and "People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals" caused the suspension of the name, which is still registered to "People Eating Tasty Animals").
Is E-Mail Secure?
Attorneys must be cognizant of the mode of communication they use with clients to maintain the protection of the attorney-client privilege. In the last decade, attorneys have been warned to avoid discussing sensitive matters on cellular phones, checking voice-mail messages from cordless telephones, and now, using e-mail.
Clients, too, must be aware that such modes of communication can be less than secure. However, protecting e-mail messages by encrypting them and using digital signatures is becoming more common.
The PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) computer program permits users to encrypt messages as a means of protecting them from unintentional disclosure to third parties. It also allows the users to affix digital signatures to messages sent via the Internet. Several states have already passed digital signature legislation to create "cyber-notaries" and give legal effect to digitally-signed e-mail messages.
Spotlight On The Insurance Coverage Team
The Insurance Coverage Team at Secrest Wardle Lynch handles a wide variety of insurance coverage matters for our clients. Headed by Mark E. Morley, a partner in our Farmington Hills, Michigan office and Jennifer N. Pahre, a partner in our Champaign, Illinois office, the coverage team works with insurance companies in all aspects of insurance coverage matters.
Our insurance coverage team works with insurers to issue formal legal opinions about insurance coverage issues and represents insurers engaged in litigation at both the trial and appellate court levels. Our coverage attorneys handle cases originating in state and federal courts across the country.
If you would like us to address any insurance coverage issues for you, please contact a member of our Insurance Coverage Team:
Copyright 1999 Secrest, Wardle, Lynch, Hampton, Truex and Morley, P.C. This Report is published for the purpose of providing information and does not constitute legal advice and should not be considered as such.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
