September 25, 2009 | Posted by Editor
Perkins Coie Partner Albert Gidari was featured yesterday in National Review Online's blog The Corner in a post titled "Re: Dishonorable Recrimination," providing legal analysis of the recent Maryland lawsuit filed by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) against the filmmakers who secretly recorded footage of ACORN employees providing financial advice to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute.
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September 18, 2009 | Posted by Editor
Topic: Case
Perkins Coie Partner Albert Gidari was quoted this week in an article in BNA's Electronic Commerce & Law Report, "Attorneys, Academics Sort Through Landmark Case on Computer Searches."
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September 9, 2009 | Posted by Editor
The federal government's high-profile investigation into steroid use in Major League Baseball has now yielded more than just newspaper headlines and embarrassed sluggers, namely a decision by an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announcing new, enhanced and clear guidelines for search warrants for computers and electronically stored information.
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August 6, 2009 | Posted by Editor
Perkins Coie Partner Albert Gidari was quoted in "Snooping on Web Traffic Gains Favor Amid Fears," a Wall Street Journal article published on July 29.
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July 13, 2009 | Posted by Editor
In an article on the use of cell phones as an investigative tool for law enforcement, Perkins Coie Partner Albert Gidari told The New York Times that wireless carriers "receive hundreds of requests a month from law enforcement" for real-time tracking.
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June 19, 2009 | Posted by Barry Reingold
Topic: Commentary
The keynote speaker at the ABA Consumer Protection conference in DC on June 18, 2009 was Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Dave Vladeck. He identified as one of this goals "rethinking" the agency's approach to privacy issues. He asked for the audience's "help," meaning the agency will probably convene a town hall meeting this fall to address these issues. We and our clients are all invited to attend. A synopsis of his substantive views follows.
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June 3, 2009 | Posted by Michael Sussmann and Ryan Mrazik
Topic: Case
Today, a federal judge dismissed all claims against communications providers who were alleged to have cooperated with the NSA in undertaking warrantless wiretapping in the United States, beginning soon after 9/11. The dismissal upheld Section 802 of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA), which Congress passed in July 2008 to provide complete retroactive immunity to any provider who did participate in the NSA program. Despite upholding immunity for providers, the court allowed lawsuits against the government to proceed. Although there may be appeals, this decision brings the lawsuits a considerable step closer to final conclusion. And as legal challenges to the FAA (or its predecessor, the Protect America Act) fail, providers who are subject to the enhanced surveillance provisions created under the FAA should be reassured about the Constitutionality and legality of new statutory obligations they are under.
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May 18, 2009 | Posted by Gidari, Al
Topic: Commentary
The Department of Justice's May 12, 2009, Report to Congress covers all applications made by the Government during calendar year 2008 for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and physical search for foreign intelligence purposes under FISA, all applications made by the Government during calendar year 2008 for access to certain business records (including the production of tangible things) for foreign intelligence purposes, and certain requests made by the Federal Bureau of Investigation pursuant to national security letter authorities. While the number of wiretaps and searches conducted in 2008 were lower than in 2007, the number of National Security Letters increased.
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May 11, 2009 | Posted by Editor
Topic: Commentary
In big and small screen thrillers law enforcement is able to track you via your cell phone signal in seconds flat. But how real is that capability and what privacy safeguards are in place when everyone’s got a cell phone? In an interview featured on the NPR program On The Media, Perkins Coie Privacy Partner Al Gidari explains how your cell phone signal may know you better then you know yourself.
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May 1, 2009 | Posted by Gidari, Al
Topic: Commentary
The 2008 Wiretap Report is out! A total of 1,891 intercepts authorized by federal and state courts were completed in 2008, a decrease of 14 percent compared to the number terminated in 2007. Not surprising given past reports, the vast majority of wiretaps were conducted on cell phones or mobile devices, and the vast majority of wiretaps involved drug investigations. There were two instances reported of encryption encountered during state wiretaps; neither prevented officials from obtaining the plain text of the communications. For more interesting observations on the 2008 Wiretap Report, read the full post.
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March 25, 2009 | Posted by Al Gidari, Susan Lyon, and Ryan Mrazik
Topic: Commentary
A report commissioned by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada concludes that Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act (PIPEDA) applies to Second Life, a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) operated by Linden Lab, which is based in San Francisco, California. The report also concludes that the centralized collection of content, personal information, and "player data" in Second Life, and other MMOGs, may raise significant privacy concerns. The original report, written by a law student at the University of Ottawa, is available here. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is inviting responses to the report on its blog.
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March 24, 2009 | Posted by Gidari, Al and Mrazik, Ryan
Topics: Case, Commentary
In Van Alstyne v. Electronic Scriptorium, Ltd., Nos. 07-1892 and 07-1899 (March 18, 2009), the Fourth Circuit vacated and remanded a district court award of statutory and punitive damages and attorney's fees and costs under the Stored Communications Act (SCA). The court found that under the SCA: (1) statutory damages are available only where a plaintiff can prove actual damages; (2) punitive damages are available where a plaintiff can prove intentional or willful conduct, even if there are no actual damages; and (3) attorney's fees and costs are available even where there are no actual damages. Practically, this case actually makes it easier for plaintiffs to survive motions to dismiss for failure to plead actual damages because they now can assert the conduct was "willful or intentional" and discovery will be required to determine if punitive damages are warranted. And, because whether conduct is willful or intentional is a question of fact, it will be difficult for defendants to win summary judgment after discovery as well. In sum, the Fourth Circuit's decision may open the door to much more SCA litigation.
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March 2, 2009 | Posted by Editor
The government uses your mobile phone as a tracking device, and they don't believe probable cause need be shown to track you. But civil litigants and private application providers are also tracking you, and there are few standards for the practice on the civil side. Albert Gidari will be addressing this issue at an upcoming seminar.
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January 15, 2009 | Posted by Sussmann, Michael
Topic: Case
On January 15, 2009, the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review affirmed an earlier classified opinion that denied a provider challenge to the warrantless surveillance provisions of the now-defunct Protect America Act. The appellate court confirmed that providers who received warrantless "directives" have standing to challenge the directives on behalf of their customers; it held that an exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement permits collection of foreign intelligence pursuant to directives; and it found harmless the "incidental collection" of communications of Americans if an American were communicating with a targeted non-U.S. person who is overseas.
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December 28, 2008 | Posted by Roche, John
In Murray, et al., v. Financial Visions, Inc., et al., No. CV-07-2578-PHX-FJM, 2008 WL 4850328 (D. Ariz. Nov. 7, 2008) (unpublished opinion), District Judge Frederick J. Martone recently declined to rule as a matter of law that email interceptions can never form the basis of a claim under the Wiretap Act.
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November 3, 2008 | Posted by D'Jaen, Miriam
Topic: Commentary
Last week, Microsoft, Google and Yahoo!, alongside a diverse coalition of leading human rights organizations, academics, investors and technology leaders, announced the launch of the Global Network Initiative. The Initiative's participants view this as a significant step forward in the effort to protect and advance technology users' freedom of expression and privacy rights.
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May 7, 2008 | Posted by Editor
Perkins Coie Partner Al Gidari was quoted Monday in a story focusing on NeuStar, a company that runs a digital directory for telephone companies. The story explains how the FBI sought access a few years ago to one of NeuStar's databases that "contained 310 million phone numbers in the United States and Canada."
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May 5, 2008 | Posted by Gidari, Al
Topic: Commentary
The Administrator of U.S. Courts has released the 2007 Wiretap Report, and the number of wiretaps is up 20% over 2006. But the real story is that the increase was fueled by state wiretaps; federal wiretaps actually decreased. The Wiretap Report is published each year, and it never fails to disappoint. Read the full post for the details....
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May 2, 2008 | Posted by Editor
The article, entitled "ISPs, Not Government, to be Affected by Holding," discusses the impact of the ruling in New Jersey v. Reid.
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April 28, 2008 | Posted by Editor
Author Declan McCullagh blogged on proposals for warrantless surveillance of the Internet presented by FBI Director Robert Mueller and Republican Representative Darrell Issa of California at a hearing on Capitol Hill. Gidari raised the issue of how such a plan will conflict with more restrictive state laws.
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