ManyMedia

The names of those arrested won’t be announced, but it’s a first step:

Federal and state law enforcement agencies have quietly arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams in recent weeks, according to several people involved in the actions.

The cases, which have been brought by law enforcement offices around the country, are expected to be announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft in a news conference in Washington on Thursday.

Federal authorities have stepped up their efforts to crack down on junk e-mail messages, or spam, since Congress passed a law last December criminalizing fraudulent and deceptive e-mail practices. The law subjects spammers to fines and jail terms of up to five years.

Identity, Policy fraud, identity theft, Junk Faxes, spam, TCPA

Might a civil RICO claim lie against junk faxers under section 1962(c) of the RICO Act? Here are the elements you’d need to prove.

Section 1962(c) prohibits any defendant person from operating or managing an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity. So long as a civil RICO plaintiff is injured by reason of the defendant’s operation or management of the enterprise through a pattern of racketeering, the plaintiff is entitled to treble damages, attorneys’ fees and costs under section 1964(c) (commonly referred to as RICO’s civil liability provision). …

The elements of a section 1962(c) civil claim can be described in many ways. Generally, to establish a claim under section 1962(c), the plaintiff must prove that (1) a defendant person (2) was employed by or associated with an enterprise (3) that engaged in or affected interstate commerce and that (4) the defendant person operated or managed the enterprise (5) through a pattern (6) of racketeering activity, and (7) the plaintiff was injured in its business or property by reason of the pattern of racketeering activity.

The problem with this claim is that TCPA violators are not engaged in (6) racketeering activity. According to a knowledgeable source, “The only people who could even possibly make a civil RICO claim might be the client of the blaster, where the blaster committed some serious intentional fraud.”

RICO 1. Defendant Person

The Nutshell page explains that the defendant must be a person and not a company, enterprise, or entity. Moreover, the person named as defendant must have been the person engaged in the criminal activities.

One of the named defendant persons would be Kevin Katz. Katz was the president of Fax.com, previously named FaxSynergy.com. Additionally, Fax.com was the successor in interest to FaxID. Katz was also president of FaxID, which dissolved in 1999. All of these companies are/were fax blasters.

A second named defendant person would be Fax.com’s VP Thomas Roth. A third named defendant person would be Fax.com’s Chief Technical Officer, Eric Wilson.

Policy Junk Faxes

RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS (The RICO Act) includes:
Sec. 1961. Definitions
Sec. 1962. Prohibited activities
Sec. 1963. Criminal penalties
Sec. 1964. Civil remedies
Sec. 1965. Venue and process
Sec. 1966. Expedition of actions
Sec. 1967. Evidence
Sec. 1968. Civil investigative demand

Policy Junk Faxes

The old concept of a time-sharing computer may be returning to replace purchase of the future “office suite” software. Soon you can rent Word or PowerPoint?

The new design makes programs like Word, Excel and Outlook e-mail part of collaborative work spaces. In theory, an employee working in Word could tap into all the corporate information on a customer or project.

“Making collaboration faster, easier and more efficient will be the next revolution in worker productivity, and we want to be in the forefront,” said Peter Rinearson, vice president for new business development in Microsoft’s information worker group.

Automating collaborative work, many economists agree, is a promising frontier for productivity gains. The low-cost networked communications of the Internet make it possible.

But there is a long way to go. Analysts estimate that 95 percent of today’s workers use the telephone and e-mail for team projects. Microsoft has plenty of competition in the emerging market, and Office’s past success could prove an obstacle.

“Microsoft is trying to make Office less a product and more like an online service,” said Nate Root, an analyst for Forrester Research. “Adoption is going to be slow because Microsoft is trying to change the paradigm. It’s a fundamental cultural change in how people think of and use Office.”

Content cloud computing, collaboration, Microsoft

Scheming for a video’d and escrowed future…

When on, it would light a red LED, so anyone present would know they are being recorded. The recording would not be stored locally, but would rather be immediately transmitted via a 2.5G or 3G cellular telephony network to a server. This transmission would be encrypted at the source, and incorporate a space-time stamp (e.g., GPS, or time of flight from three cellular towers). Once in the server, it would be possible for the creator of the video clip to cause it to be served up – but NOT to be edited or replaced – the server would be an escrow server.

There is no viewfinder in Fair Witness. There is no local playback. The lens is wide angle. The video created by fair Witness is not highly produced – it might not be very pleasant to watch, but it would be veridical. And it would be non-alterable, with a provable chain of evidence.

So what kinds of social uses could such a video device and escrow service be put to?

Content, Devices 3G, escrow, evidence, mobileTech, social media, witness

DMA’s fact sheet describes the current state of the law on sending faxes, including the DMA’s Guidelines.

Content, Identity, Policy Junk Faxes

New standard proposed, using multiple antennae, MIMO technology, makes WLANS way-fast?

A new Wi-Fi standard that promises to significantly boost the speed of existing wireless local area networks (WLANs) is being submitted for approval by a consortium of companies looking to take broadband wireless to the next level.The WWiSE (worldwide spectrum efficiency) group said it has developed technology for review by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.11n task group, which is overseeing a next-generation Wi-Fi standard capable of sustaining data throughput exceeding 100Mbps.

Network 802.11, IEEE, mobileTech, spectrum, wi-fi, WLAN

I graduated in Dec., took the first day of the Feb. 2004 bar exam (then had my appendix removed on the second day), and finally took the July bar exam. Now I have free time. Enough free time to realize how broke and in debt I am (as in “gotta get a job, so much for free time”). And more recently, I’ve been reminded how short life is.

I just spent a couple more days in the hospital with my study buddy Tom. Tom is in the process of being diagnosed with something. It may be liver cancer. If that is so, Tom (whose graduation is currently pending) may not live to take the Feb. 2005 bar exam.

sigh.

Life cancer, law school

Senate bill 2603 will make several changes and additions to the original TCPA, as marked up on this document.

Content, Identity, Policy Junk Faxes

a. Definitions: 1. Automatic tele dialing
system; 2. Established business relationship; 3. Telephone
fax machines; 4. Telephone solicitations; 5. Unsolicited advertisement.

Added to this section is a term (Established business relationship) and definition
which refers to subsection (b)(1)(C)(i) [not in existing text] and “section
64, 1200 of title 47, Code of Fed. Regulations, as in effect on Jan. 1, 2003,”
except it shall include any relationship or time limit.

b. Restrictions:
1. Prohibitions; 2. Regulations

Subsection 1 has a new provision excepting established business relationships.
Subsection 2 has several new provisions for opting out, time limit on established
business relationship, exception for non-profits, unsolicited ads, and regulations.

c. Privacy Rights: 1.
Rulemaking proceeding required; 2. regulations; 3. use of
database permitted; 4. considerations for database use; 5.
Private right of action; 6. Relationship to §§b

d. Standards: 1. Prohibition;
2. Fax machines; 3. Artificial and pre-recorded voice systems

e. State law: 1. Not
preempted; 2. State use of databases

f. Actions by States: 1. Authority; 2.
Exclusive jurisdiction of Federal courts; 3. Rights of Commission; 4. Venue,
service of process; 5. Investigatory powers; 6. Effect on state court proceedings;
7. Limitation; 8. “Attorney General” defined

no specific changes to § c – f

g. Junk fax enforcement (annual)
report

Requires The Commission to submit an annual report including details like number and results of complaints, imposition of liability and/or forfeiture, and recovery of fines.

New § 4: GAO Study of
enforcement

Requires U.S. Comptroller to conduct a study re: complaints, to determine mechanisms established to receive and investigate complaints, level of enforcement success, whether complainants get a response, and additional enforcement measures are necessary to protect consumers. Report will also examine enforcement remedies and their effectiveness.

Content, Identity, Policy Junk Faxes