Cyber-Extortion: Duties and Liabilities Related to the Elephant in the Server Room

This is a comprehensive analysis of the legal frameworks related to cyber-extortion – the practice of demanding money in exchange for not carrying out threats to commit harm that would involve a victim\u27s information systems. The author hopes it will catalyze an urgently needed discussion of relevant public policy concerns. Cyber-extortion has, by all accounts, become a common, professionalized and profit-driven criminal pursuit targeting businesses. 17% of businesses in a recent survey indicated having received a cyber-extortion demand. An additional 13% of respondents were not sure if their business had received such a demand. Awareness of the risks of cybercrime has spread. Advancements have been made in the field of cyber-security. Furthermore, statutes, regulations and recent FTC settlements have begun to articulate a minimum standard of care that businesses should maintain with regard to the security of information systems. Yet not all businesses have taken readily available precautions. To complicate matters, cyber-extortions often involve a threat to commit a harm using hijacked networks of computers owned by other businesses. Thus, an analysis specifically dedicated to cyber-extortion is required because of the unique web of liabilities that may arise from a typical cyber-extortion scenario. This article first reviews the available means for prosecuting or recovering damages from a cyber-extortionist. The article then considers the duties and potential liabilities of businesses that are victims of cyber-extortion. For example, an extortionist may follow-through on a threat to disclose or sell private customer data, resulting in the targeted enterprise being liable to its customers. However, a victimized business could conceivably be able to recover damages against a business that failed to take adequate steps to secure its information systems, such that its systems became the tools of the crime. This article reviews current trends and possible theories for recovering damages in such a scenario. The article concludes with a discussion of the public policy implications of finding businesses liable for damages caused by their unsecured information systems

Through the Looking Glass: What a Comparison with the New Polish Legal Framework of Arbitration Reveals About the U.S. Legal Framework of Arbitration

Domestic and international arbitration in Poland is regulated by the Civil Procedure Code. In October of 2005, a new set of regulations went into effect that completely altered the Polish legal framework for arbitration. A comparison of this framework with that of the United States reveals several similarities and a few key differences. These differences involve the power of arbitrators to decide upon their own jurisdiction, the arbitrability of employment disputes and the consequences of an arbitrator\u27s failure to consider applicable national law. A comparison of how similar cases would be resolved under new Polish standards versus U.S. standards raises the question of how U.S. standards evolved and whether they are truly the most desirable or practical. Ultimately, as a result of this comparison, the author concludes that Congress should amend the Federal Arbitration Act to eliminate certain troublesome ambiguities. Reprinted by permission of the publisher

Through the Looking Glass: What a Comparison with the New Polish Legal Framework of Arbitration Reveals about the U.S. Legal Framework of Arbitration

In Poland, domestic and international arbitrations are regulated by the Civil Procedure Code. A completely new set of regulations concerning arbitration went into effect in October, 2005. A comparison of the Polish and American legal frameworks of arbitration reveals many similarities and a few key differences. The differences involve the powers of arbitrators to decide upon their own jurisdiction, the arbitrability of employment disputes and the consequences of failure to consider applicable national law. Comparing how similar cases would be resolved under the new Polish standards and U.S. standards raises the question of how U.S. standards evolved and whether they are truly the most desirable and practical. Ultimately, the author concludes that Congress should ammend the Federal Arbitration Act to eliminate certain troublesome ambiguities

City Sustainability Reporting: An Emerging & Desirable Legal Necessity

This article will begin with a brief history of sustainability reporting, including recent developments related to its adoption by cities. The author will then review two major trends that, considered together, indicate sustainability reporting should be viewed as an emerging legal necessity for municipalities in the United States. First, the exemption shielding cities from the disclosure requirements of securities laws has eroded. Second, sustainability disclosures now fit the definition of what must—as a matter of materiality, if not specific mandates—be reported to investors. This means that the cities that have collectively issued over $3.67 trillion in securities2 should all be disclosing sustainability data. The author concludes that this emerging legal requirement is in the interest of all stakeholders and is pragmatic public policy

New perspectives for preventing hepatitis C virus liver graft infection

publisher: Elsevier articletitle: New perspectives for preventing hepatitis C virus liver graft infection journaltitle: The Lancet Infectious Diseases articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(16)00120-1 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Ultra Vires Statutes: Alive, Kicking, and a Means of Circumventing the Scalia Standing Gauntlet in Environmental Litigation

44 p.The primary purpose of this Article is to provide citizen enforcers of environmental laws with an efficient tool for establishing standing in the face of Justice Antonin Scalia’s heightened standing doctrine. This Article also significantly contributes to the literature on ultra vires statutes in corporate law by tracing their historical origins in greater detail, clarifying terminology, and summarizing recent case law that explicitly affirms the power of ultra vires statutes

Indigenous Shared Governance, International Law, Mixed Use, and Preserving Rainforest During the Covid-19 Pandemic

This article takes a transdisciplinary approach to examining a range of issues related to the topic of Indigenous shared governance. It examines concepts such as free prior informed consent and the role of international law in affecting local reality in the context of a specific illustrative example in South America in the Amazon biome: the Iwokrama Forest and its communities in Guyana. The role of international law in preserving biodiversity, climate, and rainforests is considered as well. The article also considers legal, ethical, and scientific perspectives on issues related to mixed uses of rainforests. These include shared stewardship of natural resources, ecotourism, the means of funding scientific research and use of rainforests for science, reduced impact logging and green commerce certifications, and whether benefits of a mixed-use approach to natural resources are shared with Indigenous people. Finally, the article describes the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and considers options for responding to the additional stresses of the pandemic, which include exacerbation of illegal mining and logging in protected areas. Besides describing difficult decisions and trade-offs that arise in reality and generalizable take-away observations, the reflections and opinions of local Indigenous representatives are included, and directions for future research are suggested.This material published in Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy is made available by the James E. Rogers College of Law, the Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library, and the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact the AJELP Editorial Board at https://ajelp.com/contact-us