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The company said it only tracks aggregate browsing activity which isn’t linked to any individual user. There’s nothing to say this hire is connected to that issue. But there’s a good chance it was at least a factor in the decision. Consumer privacy laws are growing and the increase in regulations is targeted towards online privacy. That doesn’t just mean that Internet-based companies should be worried. It also affects any company that does business online and has access to private consumer information....

This answer apparently has not satisfied Rep. Markey, who said that the company still hasn’t explicitly explained what they would be using customer information for. It’s a touchy area of law, and one that other web-based companies, including Facebook, have had to face scrutiny over. It’s certainly something that may be giving consumers some pause. You might think your web browsing is confidential, but maybe it really isn’t. Related Resources:...

Unless you are from the ATL, you probably haven’t heard of the Battle of Atlanta. Two parties, armed with pro bono lawyers from BigLaw firms, have battled for decades over the homeless. Earlier this week, the Eleventh Circuit may have ended the federal dispute by affirming summary judgment. Before we get to the case, you need to know about the history of homelessness in Atlanta. According to the ABA Journal, the city of Atlanta has torn down nearly 4,700 public housing units, engaged in sweeps to arrest the homeless for trespassing, and now has set their sights on the Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless, a facility that houses between 500 and 700 men each night....

Leonard DiCaprio can’t afford to buy his party yacht – fully equipped with three swimming pools, a gym, fitness hall, cinema, and helipad. DiCaprio, who is reportedly worth about $245 million, rented the $678 million “Topaz” to party with his friends. What’s a guy to do when he can’t buy everything? To lease or buy, that is the real question. It’s as true for the rich and famous as it is for the law office manager, especially when it comes to tech equipment....

It’s nearly that time of year again: continuing legal education (CLE) credits are due soon. The deadline to submit your CLE compliance may be coming up depending on your jurisdiction. This leaves many attorneys wondering where to find CLE courses. First off, make a decision. Do you want to do online CLE courses or traditional in-person events? The former is probably easier to fit into your schedule. The latter will likely draw out more of your undivided attention....

In the age of instant messaging, the longest thing you may read in a day is the text of the “Terms of Service” for some new software or web service. Oh, wait, I forgot: no one actually reads those. It’s a frightening thought that even lawyers don’t read boilerplate contracts. The general consensus seems to be: even if I did read the terms of service for any given site or application, I would still sign up anyway....

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily enjoined enforcement of two provisions of the new Alabama immigration law in response to the Obama administration’s emergency appeal challenging the law and a law suit filed by a coalition of civil rights groups. The law, Alabama House Bill 56 (HB 56), “requires public schools to check students’ immigration status, criminalizes giving an undocumented immigrant a ride, requires employers to use E-Verify to check potential employees’ status, and instructs police to check the immigration status of anyone they stop if they suspect the person of being an undocumented immigrant,” reports the Latin America News Dispatch....

Bank of America was recently made the target of a digital prank in the form of a fake Google+ page. Google only recently unveiled Google+ pages for businesses. And it seems some Internet jokesters were already ready to make their disgruntled attitudes against the bank publicly known. The bogus Bank of America page touted the byline “we took your bailout money and your mortgage rates are going up.” The introductory paragraph under the “about” tab also went on to say that the bank is “committed to making as much money as possible from usury, coercion, bribery, insider trading, extortion, and debit card fees as possible....

America celebrated Constitution Day this week with hoopla and fanfare and a possibly-unconstitutional requirement that educational institutions which receive federal funds must hold educational programs about the Constitution on Constitution Day. Whether or not the observance violates the First Amendment, the late Sen. Robert Byrd created Constitution Day to commemorate the signing of the Constitution and to help students learn about the history of the document. And so a “holiday” was born....

The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit took sides against a bad-faith debtor when it reviewed the facts of the case and described the plaintiff’s actions as “an exercise in chutzpah.” In this Chapter 7 dismissal case, the plaintiff used every trick in the book to “flagrantly and repeatedly abuse” the bankruptcy court proceedings. Plaintiff Krueger and Defendant Torres were shareholders in a newly formed Cru Energy, Inc. They both sued each other for breaches of fiduciary duties including fraud, conversion, and tortious interference....

It will be a happier holiday for a veteran newswoman this year, thanks to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. Wednesday, the Boston-based federal court dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Barbara Walters. In the early 1980s, plaintiff Nancy Shay attended Wykeham Rise, a boarding school located in Washington, Connecticut. While there, Shay became friends with Jackie, whose mother happens to be Walters. In 1983, Jackie and Shay “engaged in conduct that resulted in the school suspending both of them....

The United States came out as a victor in a land title dispute with a Florida Corporation. F.E.B. Corp., a Florida company that sought to quiet title in Wisteria Island, an artificial landmass that was created by the Navy as a dumping grounds for seabed in order to improve shipping and aviation access. It lost a major fight in the Eleventh Circuit Court this week. The case implicates the Quiet Title Act, possibly the only federal act that allows claimants to challenge a US claim to property....

Google Plus for businesses is up and running – and it could make law firm marketing a whole lot easier. Four months after Google rejected businesses from its fledgling Google+ network, the world’s most visited website has launched Google+ Pages. Google+ Pages is open to all businesses, including law firms. But why get a Google+ Page, when you’re already finding it hard enough to fill your Facebook and Twitter feeds?...

Google Voice is a Google application that has been getting a lot of attention from attorneys for quite some time. However, until Tuesday it was by invitation only and millions of potential users were left out in the cold. Now that Google Voice is available to everyone, for the low, low price of free, you should highly consider using it to benefit your law practice. It can save you time and money, and offers a variety of convenient features that a regular phone does not replicate....

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the Internet. The holidays seem to be coming a bit earlier than expected, as Congress has delivered a gift in the form of no Internet access taxes going-forward. According to SiliconValley.com, Senate and House members involved in negotiations announced last week that agreement has been achieved on bipartisan legislation to extend permanently a moratorium that bans states from taxing Internet access....

As in-house counsel it’s up to you to make sure everyone in the company stays in line – even the board of directors. Allegations of board member misconduct can not only hurt the company’s reputation and value, but can cause strife among employee ranks. Nobody likes internal investigations, but as part of the legal department, the responsibility in this area falls on you. A comprehensive ACC Docket article talked about ways to handle an investigation of board member misconduct....

Lawyers are not very serious about changing their business model, according to a recent survey of nearly 400 law firms. Less than one-fourth of the survey respondents said they were seriously considering a change in their legal service delivery model. Nearly two-thirds blamed the reticence on the law firm partners. The Altman Weil “Law Firms in Transition Survey” says lawyers are not ready to change, despite a competitive pinch from legal tech and legal service providers....

When it comes to non-disclosure agreements, what’s good for the lawyer may be good for the porn star. That’s not exactly what a court said in a case against lawyers who signed a confidential settlement agreement. The court said the lawyers were not bound by the NDA because they only signed to approve form and content. But it could be what’s good for the goose is good for the gander in the most famous NDA in America....

A man who was criminally convicted for having used a fake trade name to bilk thousands of victims into writing him checks failed to get the First Circuit to overturn his sentence. It appears that unless fortune smiles upon Darren Stokes, his four-year sentence in federal prison will stand. The court found that no reasonable expectation of privacy exists in pieces of mail that do not feature a potential defendant’s personal address....

When MetLife admitted last year that it failed to pay pensions to deserving people, the company said it owed beneficiaries an average of $150 a month. But according to a new lawsuit, MetLife owes more like $500 million. What’s more, the attorneys say, the payments are long overdue. In Roycroft v. MetLife, Inc., the complaint alleges the company has delayed paying some beneficiaries for up to 25 years. By the time it gets sorted out, many of them could be dead....