Cyber Law

Fake Profile

SSullivan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:54:38 GMT

My boyfriend came across an adult online personals profile Friday (10/23/09) and called me immediately after, accusing me of cheating on him! The profile is a FAKE and someone took my information from an old personals account or somewhere! I never signed up for these adult sites!

If you type my Username (Skavixen) into Google, the first link above comes up under the third listing. It is exactly my Username I always use for Internet accounts; I even have another email with it in the name. The profile description is exactly my profile: blonde hair, blue eyes, 5’ 9”, Sagittarius, from Tracy, CA, etc. It’s too much of a coincidence!!

This same profile shows up in two websites, both registered to the same person. When I try to request a password for the account using the username (Skavixen) it says “We cannot locate your account please try again” (because its fake)

But if I request a password for an account I created Friday it says “Your account details have been sent to your email address” and it does get sent!

This person/profile is a paying member, I would never pay for that!
Please help me!! My boyfriend has since then broke up with me and kicked me out of his home. We have been together for almost four years and I have NEVER cheated on him. I love him very much and I hate to have him thinking I would do something like this!

Isn’t there anything I can do? Please help me

Thank you for your time.

Myspace and charges

confused9090 — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:52:12 GMT

In May of 2009, I was called three-way by a supposedly friend-acquaintance from a church I used to attend. She was ranting on and on about another girl who took her place in a play and was put up on a pedistal by the pastor of the church. The other female happened to be a "close friend" of the girl ranting on and on... she called me and another girl to tell us that the other female had gone to her house, used her computer and forgot to log off her email account. The girl ranting, went through her email and discovered that the other girl was not only cheating on her husband but sending top half, naked pictures of herself to yet another guy from the same church. To make a long story short, she took 4 different screen shot of the other girls emails and pictures and sent an email to me. I do not know who else she sent them too. I never deleted the emails because I just felt something off about this situation and the girl.

About a week or so later the same girl asked if I could open a myspace page for her. This is not unusual for someone to ask me for this favor, because I was the person in charge of helping out in the church with these things. I opened countless myspace pages, and other network pages for them. For the youth group. ME not thinking twice or anything about it, i did. Giving her all the info so that she can log into her new page. I let her know that I did not have time to work on it. She is part of the drama/ play team and i was told that this page would be for that. The creative arts ministry.

Turns out, she went ahead and posted these pictures on the myspace page and and wrote to the pastor and to the girls soon to be ex husbands sister.

Fast forward to September. I go back to school and the president of the school asks me if I ever heard from the detectives that came looking for me back in July. I was totally shocked because I have not heard from a detective and didn't know for what.

Two days ago, the pastor of the church came to my school and i am not sure if he was looking for me but we actually bumped into each other.... he started accussing me telling me that I am malicious, evil and that they traced the page back to me and that the cops were looking for me, they were going to get me and that the girl pressed charges on me.

I am VERY confused.. yes, the page will go back to me, because i DID open it but not for those reasons. Wouldn't they trace back the other person using the page? They just traced it back to the person who opened it, but can't I fight this? Isn't there a way to trace the IP back to the girl who actually sent out the messages?

If they pressed charges, I have yet to receive a call or anything. The pastor told me they were just going to arrest me and that they know i go to the school i go too...

Arrest without warning? Should I get a lawyer before hearing from a detective or receiving a letter, a notice?

I called three lawfirms with free consultation over the phone. The first said for me to just go in and he will discuss my options, he said i will be arrested since they pressed charges. Told me to print out the emails (which is the ONLY proof I have that the other girl went into her "friends" email and forwarded those pictures out)... the second and third lawfirm i called told me to wait until i get some notice or a call from a detective...

I just really want to informed and prepared to defend myself. The incident happened in NYC and I live in NJ.

Thank you for your time.

Adding content to a webpage using a toolbar

janerson — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:30:36 GMT

We are creating a toolbar that will add content to the current webpage being viewed. I've seen this done many times (especially google search results), but I would like to know the full surrounding issues.

Thank you,

character defamation and libel/physicians

punchingbag — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:10:53 GMT

I've been libeled on a physician rating site. I'm talking outrageous comments...not just I hate Dr. So and so. I have proof that at least one potential patient called to cancel his appointment (and I have his comments, name and contact info) because of content of the statement on this site which can be proved false. The statement includes a personal attack on my appearance and on my clinical skill in areas not related to the patients office visit and about which the patient can have no accurate knowledge both of which have caused me significant emotional distress .

I think I can prove malice especially since they posted more than once on the same site under different pseudonames. I can identify the author of the libel and they have assets.

My professional reputation is very important to me and to my livelihood. I feel that I must do something to fight back especially as unfounded and abusive attacks against physicians on websites and the internet are a trend likely to continue. Frequently the blogger knows his statements to be untrue but either doesn't know or care that he can be held liable for his statements on -line. I've also found that satisfied patients don't as a rule rate physicians on these sites. It is too much of a burden to the physician to encourage patients to write positive ratings as some have suggested (and too weird). I'd like to pursue the person responsible (and anyone else who does the same thing ) but can't spend tens of thousands of dollars each time this happens. An internet attorney suggested on his blog that a suit could be filed in Small Claims Court but I'm not certain what damages to ask for or whether I can sue for character defamation , invasion of privacy, or emotional distress in that venue. My practice spent $100,000 in marketing last year. It's a new practice and doesn't have a large patient base yet so this kind of attack could really damage us. I have no way of knowing how many other potential patients were "scared away " by these statements . I'd appreciate some helpful legal suggestions. I'm not open to turning the other cheek. I'm fresh out of cheeks.

Some attorney's practices are based on volume. I know that other physicians are just as upset by this abuse as I am. If the physician could do the ground work and identify the person libeling them (might be easier now that Google had to cough up the ID of the blogger who called the New York model a skank) and the potential defendant had assets might this not be a new niche for some enterprising legal types. Most bloggers I imagine would rather settle than pay to defend themselves and risk a much larger judgement....no?

Product Pictures and logos on a website

IGG — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:09:03 GMT

What does the law state as far as showing pictures of products on a website and perhaps their logo? If the photo and logo are a link does it make it acceptable?

For example, google and yahoo images show product and logos when you search using their site?

How to get pornagraphic pictures of myself off a website?

twinkietop — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:13:33 GMT

I made the stupid mistake of videotaping sex with someone I trusted a long time ago under the verbal promise that it was "just for us" and would never be shown to anyone. A year later, he had some beef with my new significant other and decided to publish the tape all over the net. I've spent seven months begging, pleading and threatening websites to take it down. I got all of it down except for still pictures that were extracted from the video and published on a website called encyclopediadramatica....

The page is encyclopediadramatica.... You can see numerous shots of me there, face absolutely identifiable. I understand I screwed up and I've been lectured to death and called every name in the book so many times I'm completely worn down. I've tried to just get over it, but my significant other is not taking this lightly and is demanding I find a way to get it off that site. I don't want to sue, but I don't know what else to do to stop getting yelled at and get my life back to normal again. It's destroyed my family and my social life as completely as possible.

I've heard different ideas pertaining to similar situations, such as a tort claim for invasion of privacy, or filing an injunction prohibiting the publishing of pictures. I'm living off about 650 dollars per month so it's going to be slow obtaining the money to do whatever I have to do. But I will do anything at this point. Seriously.. I will do just about anything. I'm tired.

Paid to service provider, but job not completed.Elance Scam

yflcs — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:14:47 GMT

I am a buyer/client, i hired this student in North America on elance to order some products and ship for me. This service provider wouldn't order my products unless i release funds to him. I thought about it and it made sense, i wouldnt want to take a risk by ordering goods on somebody's behalf and not get payment. I released it to him on good trust, and i have not heard from him for a month.

The service provider took the funds that was meant for purchasing my orders, ran off, switched off his cell (probably a prepaid), cancelled his email addresses, and is never heard again. I lost a total of $322 USD.

Elance cannot get a hold of the buyer. Not thru phone, emails. And elance will not refund my $. Elance says they cannot force refunds or payments from him, but can only send me his contact details, and that i should take up any legal action i may wish to. I'm in Singapore, not in US. What am i suppose to do?

Posting e-mail exchanges on a website

jchandler88 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:17:29 GMT

I tried to search if there was an existing post that covered this topic, but I didn’t find anything that matched exactly. My wife is involved with another man and I have been collecting e-mail exchanges between the two of them as a result of the way her e-mail account was set up. I didn’t hack anyone’s system or steal any passwords. He uses his company e-mail address and is a bit of a local celebrity where he lives (not near me), so the subject matter contained in the e-mail exchanges would certainly be embarrassing for him.

I am considering creating a website and posting some or all of these exchanges for the sole purpose of embarrassing him and hopefully convincing him to stop messing around with my wife. My question is, aside from everyone judging me for being petty and vindictive, is there anything illegal about this plan? Could he take any legal action to make me take things down from the site? The words are his, not fiction, and the material was not obtained through illegal means. Thoughts?

adult content online laws in canada

kingmack — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:01:51 GMT

It is amazingly hard to find information about cyber laws about adult content in canada. if anyone can help with these questions it would greatly appericated.

-is it a benefit to have my server offshore? if i had an incorporated business in bc canada would it matter if the server i used was offshore.

-what are the laws in bc about adult online content operating from bc?

if anyone can help or give me a link to where i can find this information an possibly in greater detail that would be awesome,i really need some help here

thanks

Personal Internet Libel

WorriedinWSNC — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 03:55:15 GMT

I have a friend who is a law enforcement officer. There is a website being hosted by an ex-volunteer with an axe to grind and that has managed to gather disgruntled employees together to post on other employees. They have become very malicious by naming specific individuals. One in particular has called my friend by name and called him a felon which is not true. Being a law enforcement officer this can be very damaging to him as far as credibility in court and can have a lasting effect on his career as he serves in a position which is at the leisure of his employer who is elected. I have also had posts made about me, but which I feel are much less damning as others are having to endure but could prove to be a hinderance to me should I ever attempt to seek other employment as this website is the "talk of the town." The direct comment about me is false and is easily proved to be so. Do either of us have any hopes of having the individuals exposed who hide behind screen names through a libel suit? There is a great deal of harm being done to individuals for no other purpose than character assasination.

Need to stop online harrassment of ou business on Craigslist

sleslie99 — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:25:37 GMT

Hello,

I have an interesting challenge. My husbands ex-business partner has made it his mission in life to drive my husband out of business. About 3 months ago he began a campaign to permanently keep my husbands advertising out of Craigslist. Our online ads will be live for maybe an hour if we are lucky, then we have to repost them. We don't think he is manually deleting them as its quite time consuming to delete this number of advertisements, especially so quickly.

Unfortunately- this is where the consumers go, so no alternate form of advertising is as effective. We are unable to keep his ads online and Craigslist doesn't care about this type of harrassment. We are pretty much against a wall with trying to prove anything, but there must be some way to track and have some type of cease and desist retainer.

Internet Libel

FLHS83 — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:02:46 GMT

If you post a feedback online on a seller and they feel it is Libel and you are in different countries say you are in US and they Europe where do they file the action? How long do they have to file?

false accusations of PRIVATE info on message board?

mommiex3 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:42:07 GMT

Is this something that can be stopped. A public message board has taken rumors and lies and kept them on the board as warning against me. The accusations are exaggerated and could only be proven true or false with PRIVATE psychiatric medical records. Is this legal?

Customer hasn't paid for website

StelianB — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 08:43:09 GMT

I'm a web developer - I create websites for a living. I recently made the mistake of delivering the finished website to my customer before he had paid me for it. This is in fact how I usually do business and I've never been scammed before - I find that showing a bit of trust goes a long way in establishing a good business relationship.

Still, it appears that this was a mistake, because I never got paid, and he stopped answering my emails.

We never signed a contract. All I have to go on are the emails that we exchanged back and forth. (and of course a copy of the original website that I designed for him) The last email he responded to was when I asked straight up if he was going to scam me and he just answered "Yep." I should also mention that I live in Europe, whereas my scamming customer lives in the US - I'm not sure who settles such international cases.

I'd like to know if, given all of the above, I have any chance of legal recourse.

business software for web orders comprimised?

Molly S. — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:31:55 GMT

My employer provides me with a computer for my home to work one of my 5 work days from my home. I also use the computer for personal use. Here is my problem. My husband and I are in a nasty divorce, with my husband still living in the same household. My husband’s attorney had him to remove (steal) the hard drive from the household computer that is owned and property of my employer and took the hard drive to his attorney to have a computer tech gain access to any personal information about me to gain an edge in our divorce proceedings. My husband’s attorney was not told initially by my husband that the computer was property of my employer and it did not belong to me, but was informed prior to the tech accessing the information and copying/downloading etc. the information stored within the hard drive. The hard drive had over 1700 internet web site orders placed by customers (from all over the United States) to the business, with their names, addresses, personal credit card information and email accounts and passwords. In addition business and my personal credit card information was stored on that computer with account numbers and passwords to access credit card accounts and bank account information. Is this computer fraud or unethical on an attorneys part? Do I or any of the 1700 customers have a legal issue, civil or criminal with personal information being accessed?

Libel and Defamation?

timemagfan — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 03:33:16 GMT

Someone is threatening to sue me for something I wrote on the Internet which I believed to be true based on the information I was provided by someone they work with and know. My perception of the subject might be different than theirs since I am not a breeder, but based on the details I was told - verbally and in writing - I believed that this breeder did not do all they could to show an animal a lot of love. I did not mention the breeder's name, kennel, address, etc. nor did I say anything defamatory like "XYZ Kennel should be shut down." I merely said what I thought was true based on what I was told and how the animal acted so differently than what was told to me.

I'm being vague intentionally to cover myself but the jest is...if I did not mention who they are, can they sue me? And if I believed the information to be true, how can it be libel? And if I had no intention to cause damage to their business and their business has not suffered because of what I wrote, how can it be libel? Their feelings are hurt and so is their pride but that's it.

If they sue, do they have any chance of winning? Or would the judge most likely deem this to be frivolous since no names were mentioned and no one would know which breeder I was referring to?

adult websites

Nicole31 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:09:47 GMT

I would appreciate any information or legal advice for creating an adult website.

Can I get hosting company to remove site?

AlexK — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 23:49:52 GMT

Hi,

I have a registered trademark against a brand which i own.

A forum web site is using my name on their site and making unjustifies derogatory statements about my product/name which is losing me customers.

Can i get the hosting company to take the offending web pages down?

Also is there an attorney I can use to write this letter?

Thanks for any help!

Cybersquatting

jds6k — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:38:26 GMT

Can anyone describe what is cybersquatting? And, how do you declare someone is doing cybersquatting?

Thanks!

PACER/open records Question

redson — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:46:25 GMT

I'm following a federal lawsuit involving a website linking controversy on PACER. I know that two people were deposed in relation to the lawsuit, one deposition is available on PACER, the other isn't. When I called the local district court, they said the missing depo isn't on PACER because it isn't on the docket, so I would have to contact counsel about it.

Does that mean I would have to do an open records request from the attorney of the person deposed? Or can I request it from any of the three attorneys who are involved?

Thanks!

Website is using my name.

gadsden — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:57:10 GMT

Several years ago I registered on a joke website that required your name. At the time I didn't realize that it would display my full name to the world. Anyways, I posted some, let's just say off-color, jokes and images on the site. I forgot about the site and a few years later I Googled my name and the site came up. I realized that this could harm my reputation and I wanted to remove my personal information from the site. The only problem is that I couldn't remember my login information. Well I still had the email address and so I chose the recover password option, but no email ever came. So I then resorted to sending an email to the owner of the site explaining the situation which went ignored. So I sent another, and another, and rinse and repeat for THREE YEARS!. The owner has not returned any of my emails, his website will not send me an automated email so I can recover my password and log in, and my personal information is still there. Anyone (friends, family, and employers) who Google my name will come across this site and it's embarrassing.

So basically my question is: What legal action, if any, can I take to ensure that my personal information is removed from this site?

How do I collect against e-mail spam?

Ken W. — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 07:00:07 GMT

E-mail spam has caused considerable loss of limited internet time (eg. on most days this would be time allocated per day at a public library terminal, or at a "hot spot") and caused loss of timely communicat... of information, oppo... and by cause and effect certain key resources which would have been acquired on time have been delayed (and late or never acquired).

I understand that there are laws against e-mail spam and that losses may be compensated (for example in Revised Code Washington RCW 190.90 et al. there is a $500 penalty per e-mail spam delivered). How should I proceed or what is the best way to claim compensation for time, opportunities, and resources "lost" in this case?

harassment and death threats via social networking sites

Forlorn — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:32:48 GMT

i have been a victim of extreme harrassment through various social networking sites (friendster, facebook, multiply, imeem etc). this started about 5 years ago. a bogus account was created under my name in friendster. what i thought to be someone's senseless prank turned into a nightmare for me, my family and friends. at first i ignored these seemingly harmless attacks on me and my personal life. but now, 5 years after it started, it has grown into a full-blown attack on my life, safety and security. this person began sending threatening messages, knows very private details about me, has my personal mobile number and texts me constantly. calls me at work to pester me and report untrue crimes i allegedly did. placing orders for boxes of pizza and other food items under my name and having them delivered to my house. just recently that person placed rediculous orders on ebay for items i supposedly ordered. good thing sellers had the liberty of confirming the order first by calling me through my personal mobile phone which the stalker/perpetrator posted online for everyone to see. if you can try searching for my name in google, various links will pop out, including malicious refeences to me. i am sick and tired of these attacks. it has deeply affected my way of life and i am feeling hopeless because there's no help that can be done here in the philippines. i've tried reporting these harrassments to the various social networking sites but all they do is suspend the account which leads to the stalker creating another account and proceed to doing the same thing all over again. i hope you can offer me an advice on how to correctly go about this. any kind of help will do. thanks!

Business being defamed [online]

Kingfisher432 — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:43:04 GMT

Hi, a competitor keeps defaming my business [online] , calling me a scammer and what not. He's kept up regular postings like this for over a year now (!).

-Asking him to stop has done no good

-Contacting [the site] has done no good

So I feel it is time (long past time, really) to file a lawsuit. I might file one in small claims court, at least initially, because that's easier/cheaper, and that'll hopefully be enough to scare him off.

I know that in order to file a libel case what they're posting has to be factually incorrect, and I believe they also must be aware that it is factually incorrect (?) I believe this case should fit those requirements.

-He is posting that we are the same company as a number of other companies, and are just posting under many different names. This is not true, and we've disputed this in emails to him -- is that enough for me to now claim that he was posting factually incorrect info, and was *aware* of this?

-similarly with claims he's making that we are unlicensed / scammers / cheaters / not professional

So, do I have a case? Any advice on making the case?

thanks

I Think I'm in A Lot of Trouble

RachelWhat — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:30:10 GMT

I obtained a password to an email account of a girl I suspected was having an affair with my husband. I was able to read her emails for about a week, however, I think she suspected something and changed her password.

I also created a fake facebook account and sent her messages through that account that I was on to her and wanted to talk to her, but I did not express my real identity.

I received a phone call from the police over the weekend that she had contacted them about harrassment. I, of course, denied, but obviously she's has figured me out.

What can she do to me at this point? I think I may be in a lot of trouble if she can prove who I am since I did obtain her password. Can it be traced that I was accessing her account?

What kind of suspenea can get her that information and is it difficult for her to obtain one? There was nothing sent to her that threatened her in any way, just that I knew where she lived and I wanted to talk to her.