Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Are Attorneys Afraid Of Using Social Media?

One of the easiest ways to find an attorney in today’s times is via social media. The legal business just like any other business today is learning the ropes of what it means to be part of the social media network and benefit from it. Whether it’s a Kansas City attorney or a law firm in New York, they’ve been forced to explore social media and what it can do for their business.

There is another side to this story though. While it has its advantages social media is a very open platform. Things go viral and quite honestly, once something has been uploaded on the web via a social media channel, there is little control over where it might land eventually or who might see it.

For most other professions this does not pose as a big risk. But that is not the case with the legal industry. Because of the sensitive nature of their field and the kind of work they do, lawyers have to be careful about what they post on the web, especially when they use social media as a personal space.

So the question is- Are attorneys afraid of using social media? Yes, possibly so. There are a number of reasons why an attorney might be afraid that social media can land them into trouble. The legal profession has always been categorized as a serious profession. When anyone is out in the market to find an attorney, they have a certain image in mind.

In such a case, anything that a lawyer has written on their social platforms can be used as a medium to judge them professionally. Sometimes an innocent remark or update written just for fun can cast a shadow on the reputation of the attorney and cost them a case.

Another factor to consider is the confidentiality status quo that lawyers have to maintain at all times. Under this, in no circumstance can a lawyer reveal any information knowingly or unknowingly about a client. When it comes to social media, an attorney can never be sure when something they might have posted can be linked to breach of confidentiality.

This is especially true in the case of blogging. Presumably, the posts might be related to cases or experiences on cases and this will warrant divulging some facts.  There is also the possibility that a lawyer might end up discussing legal issues on a social media platform with someone who is against a current client of theirs. This can be seen as a conflict of interest.

Another risk for an attorney to openly talk about law on social media is the fact that it can unintentionally lead to unauthorized practice. For e.g.: a Kansas City attorney might end up giving advice to someone in Florida but he is not licensed to practice in Florida, this might be considered a violation.

While the risk of using social media are many for attorneys, it is very hard to ignore the fact that social media is here to stay. The key eventually is in using the platform responsibly and with extreme caution and awareness.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Intellectual Property (IP) Disputes Have Increased Tremendously

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) have assumed tremendous importance these days and both individuals and organisations are doing their level best to protect and enforce the same. As a result, the IP battles are increasing world over and India has also witnessed a growth in IPR disputes.

IP like trade secrets, patents, copyright, trademarks, etc have become crucial for the growth and expansion of various businesses. Add to it the domain names and you cover the cyberspace and techno legal areas as well.

Intellectual property (IP) disputes have increased tremendously. As more and more individuals and organisations have started asserting their IP claims, the litigation and court cases have also increased.

At the international level, the international trade commission (ITC) has recently held that Apple and Microsoft did not violate the patent rights of Google. Kim Dotcom has accused Google, Facebook, Twitter etc of violating his two step authentication patent.

Mozilla has also issues a cease and desist notice to Gamma International for maliciously using its brand and reputation. The Japanese Company Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has also accused Chinese Company CSR Sifang of stealing its Shinkansen Bullet Trains.  

The U.K. Supreme Court has also decided that storing of cache on a users computer of the copyright protected work is not copyright infringement. Similarly, the supreme court of India also held that Novartis has no patent rights in its product Glivec. U.S. Pharmaceutical Company Merck Sharp and Dohme’s (MSD) has also appealed before Division Bench of Delhi High Court.  

On the Trademark and Domain Name fronts, India has submitted Instrument of Accession to the Madrid Protocol for International Registration of Marks. In a domain squatting case, Tata Sons And Tata Infotech won domain name lawsuit against Arno Palmen. The objection and dispute resolution for ICANN’s new GTLDs registrations is also in full swing. The Financial Times and Times of India are also fighting trademark battle in Supreme Court of India.

On the legislation front, the recent Indian Copyright Amendment Act, 2012 (CAA 2012) has incorporated provisions related to digital rights management. These include protection of technological measures used by copyright owners and making their unauthorised circumventions punishable under the Copyright Act. Similarly, the proposed U.S. legislation would target companies using stolen intellectual property of U.S.

This trend of protection of IP is going to be more severe in future. The IP portfolio management in India and online brand protection in India is going to be a trick issue and individuals and companies must keep this trend in mind.  

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Online Cyber Security Courses In India By PTLB

Cyber security courses in India are in great demand in India. If media reports are to be believed, cyber security professionals would be in demand in India in the near future. However, cyber security skills and capabilities development is not an easy task to achieve.

At Perry4Law’s Techno Legal Base (PTLB) we believe that we must have both offensive and defensive cyber security capabilities in India. This is easy to say but very difficult to achieve.

Similarly, cyber security is a techno legal field that requires techno legal skills development in India and not merely an academic syllabus. We have been trying to achieve this herculean task and have achieved moderate success in this regard as well.

Our virtual campus is the exclusive techno legal cyber security virtual campus in India. It has been providing techno legal trainings and skills development in the fields like cyber law, cyber security, cyber forensics, cyber crimes investigation, e-discovery, e-commerce, e-courts, online dispute resolution (ODR), etc.

We achieve this task through the exclusive techno legal cyber security e-learning platform of India that is managed by PTLB. The “application form” can be downloaded from here. See the students’ enrollment and FAQs segments of PTLB for more details. For payment of the fees, see the payment mechanism of PTLB.

The objective of the online cyber security courses of PTLB is to provide on the spot trainings and skills development to masses. Since the trainings and skills development are technology driven, any person or institution from any part of the world can avail the benefits of our trainings and skills development initiatives. We hope our trainings and course would prove useful to all concerned.

Source: Virtual Campus Of PTLB.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Online Pharmacies Are Under Scrutiny

The online sales of prescribed medicines in India are by and large still unregulated. Illegal and unscrupulous online pharmacies, both Indian and foreign, are taking advantage of this lacuna of Indian laws.

However, those days of chaos and non regulation are gone. Indian regulatory authorities are now scrutinising these online pharmacies for violation of various pharmaceutical standards, codes and regulations.

Although we have no dedicated e-retailing laws and regulations in India yet the legal aspects of online pharmacies can be found under multiple legislations of India.

According to Praveen Dalal, managing partner of New Delhi based ICT law firm Perry4Law and leading techno legal e-commerce expert of India, Online Pharmacies of India are under Regulatory Scrutiny. There are many Online Pharmacies in India that are openly violating the Pharmaceutical and other Laws of India.

Further, these Online Pharmacies are also violating the Cyber Law of India, especially the Cyber Law Due Diligence of India. There is an urgent need on the part of States to crack down upon such Illegal Online Pharmacies of India, opines Dalal.

Illegal online pharmacies are grave danger to the lives of millions of Indian citizens who readily rely upon such pharmacies for their medical requirements. The central drugs standard control organisation (CDSCO) must play a more pro active role in this regard. Till now its role has been passive and non-interfering in nature when it is must be otherwise.

We hope the CDSCO and Indian government would take strict penal action against the defaulting and illegal online pharmacies that are openly flourishing in Indian that also right under the nose of Indian government.

Source: Cjnews India.