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

A recent study relating to data security breaches in the United States shows that total per-incident costs are substantial.  The average total per-incident costs in 2009 were $6.75 million, comprised of an average cost of $204 per customer with a jeopardized record.  Breaches included within the survey varied from 5,000 records to more than 101,000 records from 15 different industry sectors.  The most expensive data breach within the ambit of the study cost almost a whopping $31 million dollars to resolve.

PGP Corporation, an enterprise data protection company, and the Poneman Institute, a privacy and information management research firm, as part of their fifth annual U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study, tracked a wide array of cost elements. These elements included outlays for detection, escalation, notification, and response along with legal, investigative and administrative expenses, customer defections, opportunity loss, reputation management, and costs related to customer support like information hotlines and credit monitoring subscriptions.  The study analyzed companies from 15 different industries. These industries included the financial, retail, healthcare, services, education, technology, manufacturing, transportation, consumer, hotels and leisure, entertainment, marketing, pharmaceutical, communications, research, energy and defense industries.

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

The days of reading a daily newspaper appear to be part of the past, and newspapers are trying to come up with solutions to remain viable. With online content available on the internet, less people are reading printed newspapers. Free online content is available, but will charging readers for online content save the newspaper industry?  The answer, unfortunately for now, appears to be "no," according to a recent poll.

An Adwork Media/Harris Poll of last month indicates that while 64% of Americans aged 55 and above still read a daily newspaper practically every day, the percentages of readership go down with age.  Indeed, 44% of Americans aged 45-54, 36% aged 35-44, and only 23% aged 18-34 read a daily newspaper most days.  And 17% of Americans aged 18-34 never read a daily newspaper.

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

Once upon a time, and actually not that long ago, online social networking truly was the province of high school and college students.  Those days are over, and whether the youth likes it or not, older generations now are rampant on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and other social networking sites like LinkedIn; who manage online social networking while they carry on other daily tasks.  

The demand for online social networking has become so ubiquitous that a recent reported outage of severe Internet controls in China was greeted with enthusiasm as usually blocked socially networking platforms briefly opened up.  While social networking does present a number of potential benefits, care must be taken that proper practices are followed, especially in the workplace.

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

Whole body image scanning machines are designed to peer through clothing and capture three-dimensional images of individuals as if they are completely undressed. This raises a lot of questions about the impact of a citizen's civil liberty rights and a citizen's privacy interests.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), a public interest research organization that monitors federal actions to determine their impact on civil liberties and privacy interests, has wanted to find out how whole body imaging machines have been used on US citizens by the federal government. 

Accordingly, EPIC submitted a Freedom of Information of Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Justice (DOJ).  Because the DOJ did not provide the requested information, EPIC has filed a lawsuit in United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

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

Tiger Woods has disappeared from the golfing scene while there has been a media feeding frenzy. Numerous women have come out of the woodwork claiming sexual relationships with the megastar.  And while Tiger has sought respect for his privacy in this delicate time for his family, his attorneys have taken a more aggressive approach in court to protect their client.  But can this approach work, especially in the Internet era?

As previously written about in FindLaw's Celebrity Justice blog, Mr. Woods' attorneys apparently have gained an injunction from an English judge that bars the publication of photos of Tiger Woods nude.  The sweeping UK injunction reportedly prohibits the dissemination of any photos, video or images of Tiger while naked, any naked parts of his body, or showing him in any sexual activity.  The order apparently threatens imprisonment, fines and the potential seizure of assets for violations.

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

When it comes to teenagers behind the wheel of automobiles, perhaps it is time to be afraid, very afraid.  Indeed, recent research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project  presents some fairly sobering statistics about texting and driving. Pair that with some statistics about car crashes and car crash fatality numbers with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and it gets downright scary.

According to the research, 75% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 17 own a cell phone, and 66% of them use their cell phones to send and receive text messages.  So far, so good.

Probably not surprisingly, older teenagers are more likely to have cell phones and to send and receive text messages, as 82% of Americans ages 16 and 17 have cell phones and 76% of them engage in text messaging.  OK, fair enough.

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

You have to be on another planet not to know that YouTube is the dominant site for accessing video streaming media.  You also have to be on an inaccessible island not to be aware that Facebook has become an Internet social networking beast.  But did you know that Facebook is coming on strong in the video streaming space?  Read on.

The Nielsen Company recently has come out with some interesting U.S. statistics.  For example, the number of unique viewers for online video usage for October, 2009 stood at 138,623,000, up 14.8% from the year before.  The total number of streams was 11,226,935,000 for October, 2009, an increase of 26.2% over the prior year.

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.