Everything You Need to Know when Doing Business Online
by Mark Grossman, Esq.
MarkG@EComputerLaw.com
Miami - 305.260.1018, Toll Free - 800.533.4874

This column will tell you everything you need to know to do business online and use computers in your business. Your first reaction is probably that it's impossible to fit all that in this space. Well, you're right, but humor me while I cram in as much as I can.

I'll do this as a true/false quiz so you can get a read on your own knowledge. This format only works if you assume that every answer has a "but" attached to it. After all, it's rare that a legal question has a pure "true" or "false" answer. There are always exceptions and "buts," but this column will skip the depth and replace it with quantity.

Let's call my answers the default you should assume even if they're not purely correct. I caution you that I've oversimplified many of these answers to make them fit this format, so you should consult with your tech lawyer before you assume anything.

The Internet is the public domain and when you publish something on the Net, you lose your copyright. False.

If you post a libelous statement on a website, you can't be sued for libel. False.

If you put a link on your site that says, "Terms and Conditions of Website Use" and it links to a contract that governs use of your site, the contract is enforceable although the web surfer never read it. True.

Whatever you post on the Internet must comply with the laws of every country because the Internet can be viewed everywhere. False.

You can't enter into a contract with a faxed signature because a fax is not a "writing," but rather is nothing more than a series of beeps and chirps. False.

On this "beeps and chirps" issue, I have to break from my simple true/false format to comment that I don't have enough imagination to come up with the idea that a fax isn't a writing because it's - well - created by "beeps and chirps." For this deeply analytical thinking, we needed a judge from Georgia. Without further comment by me, a mere mortal, I will let the judge speak for himself:

"It may also be added that a facsimile transmission does not satisfy the statutory requirement that notice be 'given in writing.' Such a transmission is an audio signal via a telephone line containing information from which a writing may be accurately duplicated, but the transmission of beeps and chirps along a telephone line is not a writing, as that term is customarily used. Indeed, the facsimile transmission may be created, transmitted, received, stored and read without a writing, in the conventional sense, or hard copy in the technical vernacular, having ever been created."

You just have to wonder about someone who thinks "hard copy" is "technical vernacular." I should just stop here because I'm not sure that I have (in the technical vernacular") the "bandwidth" to analyze the tremendous depth of thought given to us by this learned court.

It is against the law for an employer to read an employee's email if the employee has password protected her email. False.

Europe generally has more stringent privacy laws than the United States. True.

It is illegal to send a blast of unsolicited commercial faxes. True.

It is illegal to send a blast of unsolicited commercial emails (spam). False.

Your website could give a court in a far away state or country the power to hear a case against your company. True.

If your company chooses to post a privacy policy, it would be illegal to act in a way contrary to your posted privacy policy. True.

Threatening emails alone can never be enough to commit the crime of "stalking." False.

It's okay to hack into someone's system as long as you don't modify or delete any data. False.

If you pay a software developer to create or modify software for your company, you will automatically own all the rights to his work as of the moment you pay him. False.

An employee could subject your company to liability if he views adult sites at the office during his lunch break. True.

If you hire a big company like CSC or IBM to do work for you, they have nonnegotiable form contracts, so don't bother even trying to discuss their form because they won't touch it. False.

A computer talking to another computer without human intervention can never form a contract. False.