With inexpensive yet high-powered software and e-mail, businesses, large and small, can compete for work in Europe and Asia just as easily as in Hometown, USA. In the rush to exploit the time and cost-savings of digital technologies and communications, however, how many understand the legal rules of this new world?
Although cutting-edge computer and Internet laws remain fuzzy, basic principles affecting both home and office are clear. However, problems - and losses - can multiply as quickly as the instant it takes to copy a document and email it around the globe. Let's make a "back to business" review of common risks of today's digital office technologies - and legal precautions you can take against them.
* Do you have ironclad contracts with your software developers?
"Independent contractor" programmers of internal software and websites generally own the resulting work - not their employers - and can even resell it to competitors. A simple form assignment of the programmer's rights in the work-product protects the employer.
* Did you or your developer clear all rights - copyrights and trademarks - to your web site?
Web site designers cannot use copyrighted images or text. Just because something is easily available on the Internet doesn't mean that it can be copied for free commercial use.
* Can I use - or sell - the marketing information my web site collects?
The Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly investigated data collection from unsuspecting Net surfers, particularly children. Despite annual calls for clearer privacy laws, however, and for better disclosure of how a site will use information, no laws or widely accepted guidelines yet exist.
* Do you have proper licenses for all the software on your firm's computer hardware?
Copies of software for use by coworkers or at home by well-intentioned employees are illegal, without a more expensive multi-user license. (A single backup copy is usually permitted.) A major city recently paid several hundred thousand dollars to settle software piracy claims, and even law firms that should know better have been caught. (See http://www.bsa.org for a software publishers' trade group's sample policy and audit.)
* What rights do you and your employees have to information stored at the office?
In fact, employees have few privacy rights to electronic data. Employers may monitor email, Internet usage or conventional files as long as personal information is not abused. Many employers even track employee medical records, reported by self-insured health plans and HMO's, because digital records make them an easy source of legal - and illegal - management information. Since few employees are aware of this rule, morale can suffer when employers must exercise this right (as discussed below).
* Do I have to snoop on my employees' hard drives and Internet cookie files?
According to many recent cases, employers remain responsible for how employees use (or misuse) technology. For example, several prominent firms have been sued for "tolerating" harassing or bigoted email on internal networks. As a result, many firms have announced strict policies - like those for sick days - to prevent abuse.
* Are your business secrets really safe?
Sensitive information can be easily leaked without warning, when disclosed online or in portable phone conversations. Since the technology of digital snooping has outpaced the practical effectiveness of legal protection, such information must be kept confidential with special precautions, such as encryption.
* Can the electronic dead come back to haunt you?
Perhaps, if you are sued and must reveal information you "deleted." A deleted file remains easily recoverable in computer memory until new data is recorded over it. Courts have even demanded copies of backup files from home offices to simplify the task. As a result, record-keeping policies must cover the new risks of electronic files. For example, special procedures are necessary to completely destroy unwanted information.
Few of us would drive a new car without reading the owner's manual. Why should we be less careful when cruising on the Information Superhighway?
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