FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod  writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

So often we hear about bad conduct on the Internet, be it identity theft, distributed denial of service attacks, or online defamation and character assassination.  Well, how about a feel-good story?  Some people actually do the right thing online.  Indeed, blogging now is emerging as a philanthropic force.

Take, for example, Bloganthropy.org, an Internet site which seeks to harness the power of social media to incorporate giving resources.  Its mission is to unite companies and bloggers in an effort to address societal needs.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

In the wake of the airline pilots of infamous Northwest Flight 188 telling National Transportation Safety Board investigators that they were out of touch with air traffic controllers and airline dispatchers because they were working with new crew scheduling programs on their laptops, Congress now is considering a ban on the use of laptops and personal electronic devices in airline cockpits.

According to recent press reports, Senator Byron Dorgan, who is the Chairman of the Aviation Subcommittee, has stated that his staff intends to introduce a bill very soon. He reportedly expressed his surprise that the Federal Aviation Administration does not already go beyond barring the use of laptops and electronic devices below 10,000 feet during landings and take offs.

Senator Dorgan reportedly has expressed the view that his bill could be encompassed into a more expansive aviation bill pending in the Senate. He is reported to have stated that he does not anticipate opposition, and Senator Robert Menendez also is reported to have stated an intent to introduce his own legislation barring the use of laptops and electronic devices by pilots during flights.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

Like nomads searching for oases, we roam in our quest to find Wi-Fi hotspots from which to connect to the wireless world. Unfortunately, these cozy areas where everything seems so right actually can be black holes where our private data can be siphoned away.

Indeed, BBC's Watchdog reports that connections provided by three major Wi-Fi networks in the United Kingdom are susceptible to hacker attacks, making network users vulnerable to potential fraudulent activities. Watchdog, in a recent program, indicated that literally thousands of UK hotspots, in places such as airports, trains and food establishments, are not as secure as people may think.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

Not surprisingly, educational institutions possess all sorts of private data with respect to their students. However, a bit more surprising is how easy it is for the privacy of that data to be compromised.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

You probably know already that Facebook is a huge social networking phenomenon here in the United States, not only for teenagers, but also for adults. However, you might not know that the Facebook rage is sweeping the globe.

For example, Facebook use way down under in Australia is a large component of online activity.

Indeed, according to recent press reports and Nielsen Online, Australians each spend 6.5 of their 26.5 weekly online hours on Facebook. That is an incredible ¼ of all online time for Australians.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

Our nation can be threatened not only by physical attacks on terra firma, but also in Cyberspace. Indeed, Cyber attacks could threaten all sorts of mission critical systems.

For this reason, aides to Senator Jay Rockefeller reportedly have been working recently on a revised draft Senate bill that would give the President broad powers in the event of a Cybersecurity emergency, and that apparently would go so far as allowing the President to temporarily seize control over computer networks in the private sector.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

The Internet has made life easier in so many ways, including the ability to shop and conduct financial transactions online. Of course, just like in the world of bricks and mortar, criminals also lurk in Cyberspace, seeking to steal identities, data and money. While Cyber criminals, of course, are responsible as a matter of criminal and civil law for their own wrongdoing, the question arises as to whether others also can be deemed responsible for the harm suffered as a result of this illegal conduct.

The recent case of Patco Construction Company, Inc. v. People's United Bank d/b/a Ocean Bank, filed in state court in Maine, tees up this very question for resolution.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

If you were under the misguided impression that attorneys and their litigant clients only need to deal expressly with electronic discovery in federal court, you need to wake up and smell the e-discovery coffee. In the wake of the 2006 e-discovery amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, state legislatures have been getting into the act, adopting e-discovery rules for state court cases. Indeed, more than half of our 50 states have gone this route so far.

California is such a state. At the end of June, Govenor Schwarzenegger signed into law the California Electronic Discovery Act. This law closely resembles the federal e-discovery rules in key respects, and is applicable to cases in the California state court system.

Jurors empaneled for a trial typically are instructed by the judge not to do anything on their own to learn about the facts and circumstances of the case outside of the courtroom.  This traditionally has meant that they should not talk to people with knowledge of the case, they should not visit the scene of the events at issue, and they should try to avoid any television or any newspaper coverage of the trial.  But in the new Internet age, it appears that judges have to be even more specific in their admonitions to jurors.

We live in a world where we can find out almost anything from the Internet by the simple movement of our fingers on relatively tiny devices.  In just a matter of seconds, from practically any location, jurors can seek information relating to parties, witnesses and the issues at stake in a given trial.  This, of course, can taint the jurors such that they would not be deliberating in the case based only on the facts presented to them at trial.

FindLaw columnist Eric Sinrod writes regularly in this section on legal developments surrounding technology and the internet.

With the advent of the Internet, cell phones, wireless email devices and portable music players, many of us wear as a badge of honor our ability to multitask. But not so fast - a recent study by Stanford researchers concludes the opposite of what we might think: those of us who frequently are inundated with multiple sources of electronic information do not pay as close attention, control memory, or move from one task to another as well people who tend to complete one function or task at a time.