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Protecting Intellectual Property

Protection of digital Intellectual Property (IP) is a vital part of our modern infrastructure/economy. Protecting IP gives an incentive to the creators to do what they are good at: Inventing. Intellectual Property Rights also helps in recovering the costs associated when creating a new technology as well as any profits for continuous investments. What is IPR? “IPR refers to the legal rights given to the inventor or creator to protect his invention or creation for a certain period of time.” ( 1 ) With the advancement of technology, opportunities are arising for businesses to develop and share their inventions around the world. The gap between production and customers is shortening. Consumers can access digital products near instantly. Business can receive payments instantly through online payment systems. This seamless interconnection between manufacturers and consumers is possible because of new tools and software, such as payment systems, being invented. Why is protecting Intellec
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Organizations and Independent Contracts

Contracts and Contracting: Laws, Issues, and Tips A Contract is described as “a written or spoken agreement, especially one concerning employment, sales, or tenancy, that is intended to be enforceable by law.” ( 1 ) Generally, a contract should be set in place to legally bind an individual or an organization to the agreed upon work, otherwise, a lawsuit may not stand in court. For an organization, establishing contract agreements is essential to protect itself of any litigation.  In many cases, organizations opt for Independent Contractor (IC) Services for work. When hiring an IC, organization run the risk of misclassification employees as ICs as there are certain tax (payroll, FICA, etc.) responsibilities tied to the employee, and IRS considers a worker to be an employee unless proven otherwise ( 2 ). These risks “can be minimized by following certain tips as stated in this article.  • The IC’s work should not be supervised and have freedom to hire subcontractors. • An IC should n
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Legal aspects of Website Development and Maintenance

In the 21 st century websites are essential for any business. Most consumers are either gained or retained through some form on interaction with the website. This interaction can be buying a product from an ecommerce website or signing up for a newsletter using a form. In-fact, 80% consumers initially look and assess a product or service through the website. (1) While the process of creating a website is easy, there are many legal issues to lookout for that could make any organization liable to high statutory damages. By Copyright law, without a Website Development Contract in place, the web developer holds the rights to the website. That is why it is necessary to have a formal contract with the web developer that addresses the responsibilities of both parties. The Website Development Contract is a formal agreement between the developer and the organization that legally binds the responsibilities and should have the following components addressed that could raise legal issues. (2) W
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Technology and Scams

 Piracy and Crime: Schemes and Scams Cybercrime has many forms (e.g., financial fraud, Identity Theft, spoofing, phishing, malware, piracy, intellectual property crime, etc.) that can negatively affect an individual’s life. It can cause either a major inconvenience to the victim or downright lead the victim to financial ruin, or even threaten the safety of the victim. Because of the increasing easy access of digital world, criminals are finding new ways to steal, harass, and commit crimes. According to FBI, Internet crimes scams and schemes are stealing millions of dollars each year (1). The scammers are not even taking a break during the recent pandemic. Rather, they have increased their attempts on scamming people for money or information and are even leveraging the COVID-19 by sending fake CDC emails asking to click on harmful links or download attachments, sending phishing emails asking for private information such as Bank information to receive stimulus checks (2). Although,
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Privacy, Policy, Encryption

 Privacy, Policy, Encryption Https Encryption Since before the invention of modern technology, privacy was a major concern for organizations and individuals. Locks on filling cabinets and renting safety deposit boxes were used to protect sensitive data such as proprietary research materials. However, with the advancement of technology much of privacy concerns have moved to data privacy. In the digital age, data privacy refers to the personal identifiable information (PII) of an individual or, in the case of businesses, besides the PII of customers and employees, it can refer to financial information or the proprietary research and development data. Leak of such information can result in misuse of personal data to cause scams and fraudulent activities. Or release the companies’ proprietary data to the competitors. How can data privacy be protected? There are many policies set by government agencies and agreed upon by experts. Once such is the General Data Protection Regulation (
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Venture Capital and Financiers

 Venture Capital and Financiers: Getting Started More and more businesses are opening in the modern era, and to make a small business reach a new level, massive funding is required. One of the ways to get funding is to gain the interest of Venture Capitalists (VC). However, with the increase in businesses, venture capitalists have started a very discerning process when selecting who they want to invest in. To attract VC investments, businesses, at minimum, should have a minimal viable product, an established customer base, and a solid team. One of the most important things that will determine the investors interest is the presentation of the business plan. Business plan and presentation should capture the attention of the investor and should also cover the size of the market, estimated revenue, experiences of the management team, etc. Most VC firms will invest specific industries. Therefore, it is important to do research on the VC beforehand, and ensure their interests are aligned
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Negotiations, Policies, and Suggestions

Negotiations, Policies, and Suggestions The term negotiation is referred to a method by which two or more parties come to an agreement. Both parties hope to achieve the best possible result for their sides. There are some basic steps that can be taken to reach a desired outcome for a successful negotiation. In the tech industry, businesses buy technical services, such as developing custom software programs or buying maintenance services. My previous job outsourced some web application projects to other software development companies. One of the first steps my company did was to release an RFP that listed the scope of work, the desired functionality of finalized product, general terms and the time frame the project was due. In the next step, both companies negotiated, and contract was put in place that listed the scope of work, payment terms, warranty, liability that both parties agree upon.  References: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixbay
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