Lost in the Cloud: Information Flows and the Implications of Cloud Computing for Trade Secret Protection

As has been noted elsewhere, the advent of digital technology and the Internet has greatly increased the risk that a company’s trade secrets will be lost through the inadvertent or intentional distribution of such secrets. The advent of cloud computing adds another dimension to this risk by placing actual or potential trade secrets in the hands of a third-party: the cloud computing service. This article explores the legal and practical implications of cloud computing as they relate to trade secret protection. While there are many types of cloud computing services, this article focuses on cloud-based services that offer businesses the ability to upload and store information and data remotely via the Internet (hereinafter “cloud storage services”). The first part of the article discusses the practices of cloud storage services and the current state of trade secret law in order to identify and explain the risks posed to trade secrets stored in the Cloud. It begins with an overview of the cloud computing industry, including an examination of the terms of service agreements used by cloud storage services. After a brief explanation of the requirements for trade secret protection (with particular emphasis on the reasonable efforts requirement), the article then explains the third-party doctrine of trade secret law and how that doctrine threatens to waive trade secrecy for information stored in the Cloud. Because the analysis of the relationship between cloud storage services and their customers leads to the conclusion that, at least in the absence of an express or implied-in-fact agreement to the contrary, no duty of confidentiality is established and trade secrecy is likely to be waived, the article ends by exploring potential refinements and exceptions to the third-party doctrine of trade secret law. After concluding that no existing definition of disclosure provides a workable exception to the third-party doctrine of trade secret law, the article ends with a proposal that the law officially recognize an expanded taxonomy for trade secret law that recognizes a distinction between trade secrecy destroying “disclosures” and non-trade secrecy destroying “mere transfers.

Lost in the Cloud: Information Flows and the Implications of Cloud Computing for Trade Secret Protection

As has been noted elsewhere, the advent of digital technology and the Internet has greatly increased the risk that a company’s trade secrets will be lost through the inadvertent or intentional distribution of such secrets. The advent of cloud computing adds another dimension to this risk by placing actual or potential trade secrets in the hands of a third-party: the cloud computing service. This article explores the legal and practical implications of cloud computing as they relate to trade secret protection. While there are many types of cloud computing services, this article focuses on cloud-based services that offer businesses the ability to upload and store information and data remotely via the Internet (hereinafter “cloud storage services”). The first part of the article discusses the practices of cloud storage services and the current state of trade secret law in order to identify and explain the risks posed to trade secrets stored in the Cloud. It begins with an overview of the cloud computing industry, including an examination of the terms of service agreements used by cloud storage services. After a brief explanation of the requirements for trade secret protection (with particular emphasis on the reasonable efforts requirement), the article then explains the third-party doctrine of trade secret law and how that doctrine threatens to waive trade secrecy for information stored in the Cloud. Because the analysis of the relationship between cloud storage services and their customers leads to the conclusion that, at least in the absence of an express or implied-in-fact agreement to the contrary, no duty of confidentiality is established and trade secrecy is likely to be waived, the article ends by exploring potential refinements and exceptions to the third-party doctrine of trade secret law. After concluding that no existing definition of disclosure provides a workable exception to the third-party doctrine of trade secret law, the article ends with a proposal that the law officially recognize an expanded taxonomy for trade secret law that recognizes a distinction between trade secrecy destroying “disclosures” and non-trade secrecy destroying “mere transfers.

Information Outlook, October 2000

Volume 4, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_io_2000/1009/thumbnail.jp

Mathematics of Quantitative Finance

The workshop on Mathematics of Quantitative Finance, organised at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach from 26 February to 4 March 2017, focused on cutting edge areas of mathematical finance, with an emphasis on the applicability of the new techniques and models presented by the participants

Barriers to the evaluation of human resource management initiatives : three public sector case studies

In the context of Human Resource Management (HRM), organisations have been increasingly encouraged to implement a range of practices which, it is argued, will improve their competitiveness in the global market place. Thus, change initiatives within organisations follow one after the other. Yet, although there is apparent acceptance among practitioners and academics that evaluation is a crucial step in any process of continual improvement the reality is often that little has been done to assess the impact and degree of success of each initiative before organisations progress to the next. However, despite wide acknowledgement within the literature that is a significant problem there are few explanations offered and little evidence of any in-depth empirical exploration of the issues involved. This thesis reports on a study which sought to identify and explain the factors which created barriers to evaluation. Using a case study approach the research explored the reality of the evaluation process as it occurred in three UK public sector organisations, each of which was seeking to evaluate a Human Resource Management (HRM) change initiative. Two distinct types of barrier were found to exist which were labelled primary and secondary. As anticipated, there were barriers (secondary) that arose during an evaluation process that related to the choices made about purpose, process and responsibility and which made it difficult for 'good' (thorough, unbiased, relevant) evaluation to occur. However, of greater significance was the discovery in all three organisations of other factors (primary barriers) which, in combination, created a context in which the failure to undertake formal evaluation could be justified as a reasoned, and reasonable, action on the part of managers thereby offering an explanation for why such evaluations are rare. These primary barriers relate to the organisational and individual value placed on the act of evaluating and the learning that occurs as a result of any findings, including the way that it informs the change. Among those responsible for the initiation and implementation of the initiative (normally those who have control of the resources necessary to enable formal evaluation to take place), informal evaluation of the initiative and the context in which it occurred determined the perceived degree of need for formal evaluation to take place. Past experience, observation and shared perceptions suggested that formal evaluation activity was neither valued nor required by the organisation and was likely to have negative personal consequences. Matters are further clouded by an academic and practitioner literature which actively promotes the benefits of HRM strategies, supported by simplistic prescriptions for success, while the majority of empirical studies offer examples which substantiate these claims. In each of the cases reported here the nature of the chosen HRM initiative was assumed to be inherently good, something which would inevitably benefit the organisation in some way, by those responsible for its adoption and implementation thus making formal assessment unnecessary. The research clearly identifies the complexity of the barriers; each type having its roots in different factors that need to be addressed in a variety of ways if they are to be overcome and thus enable the organisation is to achieve the collective, and productive, learning from experience increasingly called for by the management literature. Until evaluation is valued at senior levels and accompanied by the necessary incentives, responsibilities, resources and rewards, wider perception of it as an important and valued activity is unlikely to become an active reality. Thus, the failure to learn from experience, to share understanding and to achieve both continuous improvement and greater levels of success in the management of change will continue. It is also clear that the same academic literature which is currently advocating a key role for HR and evaluation in the context of change needs to offer more in the way of information, guidance and support to make a positive contribution to the changes in perception that are required

Social capital and engagement in Nigerian small business marketing.

This study explores social capital and engagement in Nigerian small business marketing. It examines how Nigerian small business owner-managers develop and use social capital in the network of relationships to overcome marketing constraints. Social capital can be viewed as a marketing asset available in network relationships. The process perspective of social capital enables understanding of the formation and use of social resources in networks. Social resources in networks are accessed through relationships built on trust and commitment over time. Although small businesses in Nigeria contribute to the nation's economic and social development, they operate under severe resource constraints. These constraints are mainly due to business size and limited resources, such as limited market impact, limited marketing skills and expertise, and limited access to resources. However, small business' inherent advantages, such as strong drive and enthusiasm, enable social connections with networks. This study builds on and develops engagement as an advanced form of relationship marketing in Nigerian small businesses. The concepts fit the context of a developing country with low resource availability and limited access to marketing resources. However, despite the increasing use of the concept "engagement", empirical-based understanding of processes underpinning engagement in small business context remains underexplored. A qualitative research approach is adopted to investigate the processes and dynamics of Nigerian small business owner-managers' engagement with various networks for marketing. The complex nature of the phenomenon requires a range of qualitative techniques for data collection and analysis to understand the meaning of small business owner-managers' actions during networking. Qualitative data were obtained through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with small business owner-managers in Nigeria. The thematic data analysis approach was adopted using the constant comparative analysis method to compare emerging themes and categories. This approach provides a description and understanding of data interpretations. It explains how Nigerian small business owner-managers engage with multiple networks in a long-term relational exchange relationship for marketing. The research findings identify engagement as a dynamic and iterative process resulting from network interactions, the strength of network ties, network interdependence and stability. This study's novelty lies in explaining the formation and use of social capital by engaging various networks in small business marketing. It further explores and develops the concept of engagement as a much stronger network relationship to involve networks in marketing. This study proposes a research model that explains the social capital formation and engagement processes of various networks in small business marketing. It develops and demonstrates small business marketing beyond transactions and offers theoretical contributions to the concept of social capital formation and use in small business engagement marketing. Finally, this study proposes recommendations for practice, theory and suggestions for further research