Tampa Criminal Defense Lawyer Computer Law

Internet and Computer Law Topics

• eDiscovery - Electronic Discovery
• Cybercrime - Many ways the computers have already been incorporated into existing laws and there have been new laws to address computers specifically
• DMCA Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Brings technology to intellectual property
• FBI Prosecutions - Partial Listing of Federal Bureau of Investigation Prosecution Indictments of cybercrimes
• USA PATRIOT ACT - Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism - allows the use of tools developed to investigate organized crime and drug trafficking against crimes of terror; formed avenues of information sharing and cooperation among government agencies; updated laws to reflect new technologies and new threats; increased penalties for terrorist crimes.
• CAN SPAM - U.S. Law to limit or reduce unsolicited emails

eDiscovery - Electronic Discovery

eDiscovery includes the exchange and disclosure of electronically stored information (ESI)in civil litigation. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure include specific requirements and guidelines regarding how to handle eDiscovery. More than 90% of documents are now created electronically, and less than 30% of those electronic documents are ever converted to paper. Rules on preserving electronically stored information make having an eDiscovery team more important than ever before. An expert may be needed to search terabytes of data that litigants may have. Contact CentralLaw today for help in this maze.

Your Own Forensics Team (Law Enforcement Has One Working Against You)
Police have specialized equipment preventing any alteration of original digital media such as hard drives, disks, and flash drives disks in the computer forensics lab. There is special hardware and software that retrieves evidence from cell phones, including text messages and pictures. For computers, specialized software is used to examine the computers and extract the evidence. Methods adopted from the International Association of Computer Investigative specialists (IACIS), a worldwide organization for computer forensics examiners, are sometimes used. At CentralLaw.com we use a forensics expert to help sort through data used in prosecution of federal indictments and state charges, fraud, hacking, theft of trade secrets, and other forms of cybercrimes.

Information from mobile devices can be forensically retrieved. Forensic data includes corporate e-mail, personal e-mail, Short Message Service (SMS) text messages, personal notes, calendar entries, photographs, address books, and inbound and outbound call logs. This type of information can be invaluable to prove certain facts for a case. An expert can preserve the chain of custody and this data can be useful in litigation.

Cybercrime

Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) - Instructions from the Department of Justice on Prosecuting Computer and Internet Crimes

Prosecuting Intellectual Property Crimes Manual - Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section Criminal Division U.S. Department of Justice Prosecution Manual

PROTECT Act - Prosecutorial Remedies and Tools Against the Exploitation of Children Today Act - permits disclosure of communications by computing service provider to to a governmental entity or to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in an emergency

Cyber Security Enhancement Act of 2002 - an amendment to Homeland Security Act of 2002 allowing immediate reporting disclosure of information with a 90 day reporting filing date

Searching and Seizing Computers and Obtaining Electronic Evidence in Criminal Investigations Manual - this explains how the courts apply the "reasonable expectation of privacy" test to computers, the governing laws for search and seizure of computers pursuant, how to obtain records from network service providers, governing laws of electronic surveillance including Title III as modified by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, Pen Register and Trap and Trace Devices statute and finally addresses evidentiary issues in computer-related cases

NET Act - The 1997 "No Electronic Theft Act" allows criminal prosecution of the copyright infringement when there is no financial or commercial gain.

DOJ special Report On "PHISHING" - Describes different methods of PHISHING including specific methods that criminals use to deceive Internet users into disclosing personal data such as financial information, usernames, and passwords.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act - DMCA

Call-in guest on G4 The Screen Savers: W. F. Casey Ebsary, Jr. (www.g4techtv.com)

Comcast's DMCA Notice letter - One company's letter to potential violators of the DMCA

Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA - The Electronic Frontier Foundation finds the DMCA is being used: to deny Free Speech and scientific research, threatens Fair Use, hinders Competition and Innovation, interlopes Computer Intrusion Laws.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - read the full text here.

FBI Prosecutions

Innocent Images or Operation Candyman - A nationwide crackdown on internet child pornography

Ask the FBI: Operation Candyman (USA Today www.usatoday.com) - A question and answer with the FBI including "The possession of [sic] child pornography is illegal."

3 Indictments in Massive DMCA Scheme - Three individuals are indicted in scheme to pirate over 325,000 copies of copyrighted CDs and software

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Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT ACT) Act of 2001

Read DOJ overview of the USA PATRIOT ACT Allows the use of tools against crimes of terror;

• Law enforcement can use surveillance against more crimes of terror.
• Federal agents can follow sophisticated terrorists trained to evade detection.
• Law enforcement can conduct investigations without tipping off terrorists.
• Federal agents can ask a court for an order to obtain business records.

• Police officers
• FBI agents
• Federal prosecutors and
• Intelligence officials

• Obtain search warrant where terrorist-related activity occurred
• Allows victims of computer hacking to request law enforcement assistance

• Prohibits harboring terrorists
• Increased maximum penalties for likely terrorists crimes
• Increased conspiracy penalties
• Punishes terrorist attacks on mass transit systems.
• Punishes bioterrorists.
• Eliminates the statutes of limitations

Read the complete text of USA PATRIOT ACT from US Government Printing Office

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CAN SPAM - Controlling the Assault of Non - Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (S. 877)
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act is an attempt by congress to limit or reduce unsolicited emails by requiring all unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to be labeled and to include instructions to include opt-out and the physical address of the sender. It also false headers and false subject lines. It also suggests the FTC establish a "do-not-email" registry. (For complete text see David E. Sorkin, Spam Laws, www.spamlaws.com)

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