On March 17, 2011, CNIL fined Google €100,000 for improperly gathering and storing data for its Street View application.   Founded over thirty years ago, CNIL is an independent administrative authority that protects the privacy and personal data of French citizens. Although this is the largest penalty ever awarded by CNIL, it certainly does not begin [...]

While some data breach victims will eventually sustain an ID theft, it is generally acknowledged that the vast majority will not.  Accordingly, the direct damages sustained by ID theft victims are not very helpful in a class action — there are just not enough plaintiffs.  Over the years, plaintiffs’ class action counsel have spent many [...]

As reported in this recent article in American Lawyer, in less than a year, “the UK’s legal landscape will change forever.”   This sea change is taking place given the third and final stage of the UK’s Legal Services Act comes into effect in October 2011 – allowing for UK law firms to accept outside equity investments for the first time.   [...]

An August 17, 2010 New Jersey decision may be negative for businesses in New Jersey despite what on the surface is  a win for a large corporation.   In Cain v. Merck & Co., Inc., the New Jersey Appellate Division addressed whether the New Jersey Business Corporation Act entitles shareholders to inspect the minutes of the [...]

Today’s Bilski v. Kappos decision rejected having a Federal Circuit test for determining patentable subject matter as a “knock out” test for business methods.  If affirmed, this Machine-or-Transformation Test (if applied as the sole test) would have likely rejected all business method patent applications.  As it stands, the United States is the only country that allows for business method patents.  After today’s [...]

The recently released Carnegie Mellon CyLab 2010 Corporate Governance survey confirms that there is little change in senior management’s views towards data security – it’s not really a priority.   The CyLab annual survey, which measures board and management attitudes towards the protection of digital assets, is based upon results received from respondents at the board or [...]

The Devil’s Casino, Vicky Ward’s first book, is the latest account of the fall of Lehman Brothers.  Released in April, this Lehman tome applies  a gossipy approach to storytelling.  Although we learn much about the shopping habits of some Lehman wives, repo transactions are nowhere to be found.   The book, however, becomes noteworthy when Ward details a September 9, 2008 meeting between JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon [...]