Internet Law

Practice Area

The Internet presents unique challenges which affect web-based and traditional companies with or without an online presence. While “real world” business is governed by clearly applicable law and historical precedent to settle disputes and guide practices, the Internet has no such history to fall back on. Consequently, the Internet calls into question the applicability of many of the most basic time honored legal presumptions governing established conduct and commerce.

We advise clients on a host of Internet issues, including:

Business Formation

Harris Beach can provide assistance in the selection and organization of an appropriate form of entity for your business.

Conducting Business Through the Internet

Harris Beach assists clients with all legal challenges related to establishing, acquiring, or selling online commercial ventures and services including:

Domain Names

The legal issues surrounding domain names can be complex and confusing. Harris Beach has experience obtaining, protecting, and negotiating for domain names, as well as handling domain name disputes, and related litigation matters.

Copyrights and Trademarks

The number of claims of online copyright and trademark infringement by web site owners, bloggers, affiliate marketers, and user-generated content developers is constantly growing. Our attorneys have extensive experience filing, obtaining, and protecting copyrights and trademarks for our clients worldwide. We also offer counsel on open source issues related to “free” software and upgrades.

Patents

Our attorneys have experience with the development, production, sale or use of Internet-based products or services, and with the patenting of electronic technologies.

Contracts and Licensing Content

Harris Beach has experience crafting and interpreting a broad range of Internet contracts and content agreements, including buying and selling Internet-related assets and intellectual property.

Electronic Commerce

Any organization that does business on the Internet has a legal relationship with its customers, which is spelled out in their “Terms and Conditions” statement. We craft terms and conditions for clients who sell products, distribute content, allow end users to post messages, or do anything online that raises the potential for third party liability. In addition, we handle retail tax issues, product specific regulatory issues, and other business issues including electronic signatures, unsolicitated emails, conducting online research studies and distance education.

Privacy Policies

Our attorneys can guide businesses through a wide range of privacy issues, including crafting privacy policies, the use and disclosure of collected personal information, parental consent issues, unauthorized web access, and the use of Internet security filters and tracking technologies.

Defamation

The explosive growth of the Internet and related technologies opens the door to a new legal arena. Blogs, forums, chat rooms, and other technology-driven vehicles may result in defamatory assaults on a client’s name and reputation.

Virtually anyone with a web connection can post smears, slanted news items, rumors, or outright lies – offenses that can penetrate “social media” such as blogs at cyber speed. We’ve seen attacks on high-profile companies such as Microsoft and Dell, but the list of victims is long and represents virtually all industries. Harris Beach can take action against online libel in a timely manner.

Company Policy, Public Records, Employee Discipline

Harris Beach can handle a wide spectrum of online employee issues including, but not limited to, employee privacy matters related to the inappropriate use of a company’s Internet for personal activities.

Jurisdiction

With online business transactions on the rise and a lack of clear rules relative to jurisdiction of the Internet, the legal risks associated with international commerce are expected to rise dramatically. Harris Beach attorneys can provide valuable counsel regarding confusing and ever evolving online jurisdiction issues.

Information Technology

Data on the Internet and other electronic information is now discoverable. Our Certified Computer Examiner® forensic professionals can help clients recover crucial hidden or deleted files germane to a case through a verified process that ensures this discovered evidence is admissible in a court. The greater your organization’s online presence, the greater your exposure to security threats. We offer a full range of services to help your business secure and optimize its IT systems.

Non-Legal Reputation Management Solutions/Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
In addition to legal resolution, there are non-legal solutions and technical aspects of reputation management we can provide to organizations. Harris Beach has combined our extensive legal experience with the technological savvy of a leading SEO company to provide an integrated online reputation management solution.

An SEO firm can implement a reputation management program to restore your hard-won business or personal reputation. We can help facilitate this program which unfolds in three steps: analysis, intervention, and measurement.

Analysis - involves capturing everything that is written about a company online, categorizing and prioritizing the data, and using it to develop a unique intervention.

Intervention - involves both reactive and proactive measures. These include posting defenses to specific attacks and, more importantly, continuous posting of positive content about the aggrieved company to build its overall visible reputation and to replace or suppress negative postings.

Measurement - includes continuous monitoring through Google Alerts, RSS feed subscriptions, screening of news sites, and a variety of other technical venues.

The end result of this online reputation management program is the dominance of positive content to help organizations and individuals restore their reputations quickly and maintain their good standing over the long-run.