[Fredslist] Internet Hacking Case

[Raj Goel, CISSP]

Susan, Gotham,

      I am NOT a lawyer, and I definitely recommend engaging an 
attorney that has experience in these issues from a legal perspective.

      From a technical perspective, the attorney is welcome to contact 
me for the IT security and cyber forensics issues.  I'm happy to 
assist at low cost or as  pro bono.

      I am CC'ing this to Fredslist for the following reasons:

1) Folks, be aware that many of these subpeonas are scams run by 
crooked law firms and entrepreneurs to commit legal shakedowns
- Several such cases have been thrown out of court OR the plaintiff 
has dropped charges at the last minute to avoid going to court.
- Several law firms and attorneys have been sanctioned in the US 
courts for this.
- A law firm in the UK was driven into bankruptcy for engaging in 
these practices

2) RIAA - the Record Industry, has a history of suing their customers 
and engaging in legal shakedowns
- The majority of people who have fought the RIAA have won -- however, 
some people have lost and had to pay damages

3) Several porn companies have started sending subpeonas on the theory 
that people will settle, rather than "admit" to downloading porn.

4) Several recent court cases have decided  (or I am inferring) that 
simply having an IP address does NOT imply that your client is the 
guilty party.

5) Other court cases have decided (or I am inferring) having open wifi 
is NOT a crime.  If someone uses your open wifi network to download 
illegal materials or commit crimes, you may NOT be held liable for the 
damage caused.

Again, I am NOT a lawyer and this is NOT legal advice.

However, I AM an internet security expert, I advise hospitals and 
corporations in developing security policies, conducting IT security 
audits, and as a result, I follow case law on internet security issues 
more closely than most attorneys.  Having trained/provided CLEs to 
hundreds of attorneys nationwide, I think I'm on safe ground when I 
say I have expertise in these issues.

No, this is not an ad for me -- get a good attorney (I know several 
internet law specialists) and I'm always delighted to meet more.
If necessary, the attorney can then contact and engage me.





--Raj

Rajesh Goel, CISSP
cell (917) 685-7731
CTO: Brainlink International, Inc.
You run your business, and leave the IT to us.
raj at brainlink.com
www.brainlink.com
www.linkedin.com/in/rajgoel


>
> --- Original message ---
> Subject: [Fredslist] Internet Hacking Case
> From: Susan Zinder <sfzinder at aol.com>
> To: Fredslist <fredslist at gothamnetworking.com>
> Date: Thursday, 20/10/2011  3:42 PM
>
>
>
>
> Gotham -
>
> Friends of mine (who have just had a baby and are very financially 
> stressed) have gotten a letter (and a copy of a subpoena duces tecum) 
> from Cablevision that their IP address is the subject of a lawsuit in 
> Florida.
>
> It appears from what I can gather from the paperwork that on June 22 
> someone used their unsecured I.P. address to download proprietary 
> stuff from the web (probably porn given the names of the plaintiff 
> corporations).  The plaintiffs are a group of California corporations, 
> but the case is venued in Miami Dade (making me think that there may 
> be something very plaintiff friendly in the law in Florida).   In June 
> my friends were living in Connecticut and they are currently living in 
> NYC (with a currently secured internet connection) - so they have no 
> Florida connection.
>
> So… does anyone have experience with cases like this?  They really 
> have no money to fully respond but need to get rid of it.  If there is 
> a gothamite out there with experience of this kind of case who I could 
> consult with for a half hour it would really be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
> Susan_______________________________________________
> Fredslist mailing list
> Fredslist at gothamnetworking.com

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