Cyberlaw: As Vital as Cyberspace Itself

Philadelphia, PAJust as the Internet has led to an entirely new economy, the cyber world has required its own unique brand of cyber law. Cyberspace is largely unregulated. While corporations have found ways to monitor, and to some degree influence the cyber activities of its workforce, and investigative forces have devised ways to police the cyber world for obvious breaches, it is still largely an open book. Thus privacy is a rarity and breaches are frequent. Cyberspace law is growing in kind.

This is evident in the number of news reports highlighting lawsuits for loss of privacy and intellectual piracy.

One of the latest examples of cyberlaw in action is the case of a former television anchor in Philadelphia, Larry Mendte, who stands accused of raiding a former colleague's private emails stored on a protected computer. It is not clear how Mr. Mendte managed to access the documents, but it is assumed a password must have been obtained illicitly.

It is also not clear exactly when, and for what purpose Mr. Mendte allegedly leaked some of the correspondence to the press. However, he is accused of doing so and has been accused in court documents filed in Philadelphia US District Court of "intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization and thereby obtaining information in furtherance of a torturous act."

Alycia Lane worked alongside Mr. Mendte in the CBS3 Philadelphia newsroom until various details of her personal life made their way into the press, prompting her employer to fire Ms. Lane in December. The woman was arrested that same month for allegedly striking a police officer, but that charge was eventually dropped.

Still, her employment was terminated and in Lane's view unjustly, so she has sued her former employer for wrongful termination. It has been reported that federal attorneys believe Mendte may have leaked the contents of the ill-gotten emails in an effort to frustrate that litigation.

In this case Mendte does not appear to be facing an onerous amount of jail time if convicted, given that the economic impact of his alleged actions against Lane have been described as low. While the statute under which Mendte stands accused provides for a jail sentence of as long as five years, the minimal economic impact on the victim caused by his alleged actions suggest a jail term of six months at most.

The greater issue, suggests acting US Attorney Laurie Magid, is the alleged violation of Lane's privacy. "People reasonably expect confidential information…to remain private when it is transmitted," she said in comments to The Bulletin.

Just as cyber law has met a growing need amongst the wronged online, "email has changed the way we communicate with one another," said Janice Fedarcyk, special agent in charge at the FBI's Philadelphia field office. "Now our personal thoughts and information can be accessed simply by typing a stolen password."

Cyberlaw ensures that such violations of privacy are met with the proper response. If you feel that your privacy has been encroached by those not authorized to have access, or if you have been harmed as the result of private, personal and protected information falling into the wrong hands at the behest of someone who obtained the information by illicit means, a cyber law professional skilled in the relatively new frontier of cyberspace law can help you, and ensure that the violation is met with the proper legal response.

After all, it's your reputation—and it's out there for all to see. You protect that reputation as best you can. However when someone sullies that reputation needlessly, the damage has already been done. It's out there.

The next email you send should be to a good cyber law legal professional.