Cyber Criminal

In most unlawful arrest or imprisonment cases, private security is involved. While the law in California allows for any private person to make a “citizen’s arrest”, there are restrictions and limited authority to do so. Compared to a police officer, a security officer has far less authority in detaining individuals. When a person has been detained or arrested unlawfully, that person becomes a victim and has a right to be compensated for any physical harm or emotional upset that results.

To protect their property and maintain business peace, most retailers and large property owners hire guard and agents. These are generally uniformed guards from a security service patrolling the location. Their primary function is to ensure certain rules are obeyed (relative to parking and other activities), and they rarely have the chance to capture suspected law violators. When guards detain or arrest a person, they are taking a chance of violating that individual’s right to be free of unlawful imprisonment.  For instance, if someone is detained by a guard for breaking into a car, which happens to be that individuals own car, that person has the right for compensation for any unlawful use of force in the arrest. In the worst case scenario, a guard can use his weapon and hurt someone that he wrongly believes committed a crime. For this situation, there may be some liability issues for substantial damages and injuries, and the employer and guard may be legally responsible.

Agents in retail security and loss prevention probably come into contact with more suspected law violators than others in the field of private law enforcement. It is not unusual for an “undercover” shoplift agent to catch an alleged shoplifter and follow through with criminal prosecution. If the agent is not reasonably sure that the shoplifter really stole something from a shop, compensation may be given to the victim for emotional and physical harm that he suffered. It is possible for the agent to be immune from liability if there is “probable cause” to believe the suspect did in fact take or attempted to take store merchandise unlawfully. This is called “merchant’s privilege” and, although not absolute, it can be called into play to protect a retailer in the even of a lawsuit.

Not only may the retailers and property owners be held responsible for false arrest and imprisonment, they may also be held liable for malicious prosecution of a criminal case if the accused is found not guilty in the end. Sometimes, an inexperienced or overzealous guard or agent will unlawfully apprehend or arrest an individual and then add to the trouble by insisting on a criminal prosecution. If the case goes to court resulting in an acquittal, the falsely accused person has a right to be compensated for the initial detention and arrest, as well as the criminal prosecution. They will not impose liability on the guard or agent until it can be proven that said guard was not acting with probable cause. Because most private law enforcement employees do not have the same training or education as police officers, it is common for these errors to occur.

There is an endless amount of harm that can be caused if someone is falsely arrested or imprisoned. A trial lawyer with experience will assist you in sorting through the truths and the legal system to achieve a fair outcome.

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URL theft by a partner or co-owner: We receive calls every week from companies who essentially tell us that an ex-partner or company owner has taken control of their domain registrations and that the now-ex-partner refuses to release the stolen name to the company. Perhaps the name was registered initially in one partner’s name. In some cases, that business owner redirects the domain to another website, essentially putting the online business out of business. More often, the business owner demands some sort or money or other consideration in exchange for the domain name. Essentially, they use the URL as leverage to obtain something they couldn’t achieve in the context of the partnership. This is perhaps the most common example of domain name theft. Domain names stolen in this fashion account for about 25% of the calls and emails we receive in the domain theft area.

URLTheft by Employees: Unfortunately, corporate management is rarely involved in the registration process of their domain names. Registration of domains is often handled by the IT department, and even delegated to lower level web site employees. Because of the high turnover rate at that level, the employee with access to the domain registrant login information ends up leaving the company, taking that information with them. Again, if there is a dispute with the employee, it often turns into a domain name dispute after termination. Once the domain registrant information is stolen, it can be difficult to retrieve.

URL Theft by Vendors: Sometimes, a technology vendor or web site developer uses their own information to register your companies domain name, even going so far as to list their company as the registrant of your trademarks. If a billing dispute arises down the line, the web developer uses the URL as leverage to get paid. Even more common, the web vendor goes out of business and the company doesn’t realize that they have no way of obtaining control of the domain name or even renewing the domain name at the end of the registration period. If a domain name is stolen by the web developer or vendor, you could be in big trouble if the vendor’s company folds, the web developer moves away or you become the target of cyber-extortion.

The words “someone stole my domain name” are words said far too often in our business. Companies must take their intellectual property rights more seriously and protect their intangible assets like they do other tangible property. An ounce of prevention is really worth a pound of cure. Control your registrant login and you will control your domain name from theft.

Mr. Schaefer is a seasoned trial attorney practicing internet, domain and trademark law on a global basis. Mr. Schaefer has first chair trial experience in a wide variety of litigation matters, including class action litigation, internet and domain law, cybersquatting actions, intellectual property, commercial and fiduciary litigation, UDRP and IP licensing. He has represented some of the largest companies in the world in litigation, domain name, trademark and related matters. He is a frequent author and presenter on issues related to protecting business interests in a global internet economy. To find out more about trademark protection, copyright law, cybersquatting and complex litigation, please visit Traverse Legal, PLC or visit our domain name protection blog or cybersquatting blog Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Enrico_Schaefer

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