Information Technology and Electronic Communications
To preserve confidence and security in the field of information technology and electronic communications that require among others, ecommerce service providers, network operators, service providers of electronic communications, publicists , managers and people in charge of personal data files, virtual market managers, sales managers or on line customer service, and general consumers and users of Internet services and telematic communications.
Belzuz Lawyers offers a multidisciplinary consultancy specifically focused on the field of technology and telematic communications which involve other law matters. At this department we combine all legal aspects affecting areas like distance commerce or electronic communications, such as intellectual property, protection of personal data, rights of consumers and users or the security of information.
See and download PDF presentation of the Digital law (ITC) Department
Within this department the following areas are included:
We give advice to companies on the process of adapting their Web sites to legislation on ecommerce regarding content, apps applications, and in general the means of distance selling, analyzing the fulfillment of requirements on matters of rights and obligations under applicable laws, the liability for contents and the intervention of all parties involved in the online commerce and distance selling (wholesaler, online buyer, hosting company, etc...).
We draft the necessary texts as the "Legal Notice" (to identify the online service provider, information on how to use the Website, the rights of intellectual property, exclusion of liability, notices, legislation, jurisdiction, etc...).
Regarding elaboration of contracts with service providers and contents, of internet access, legal texts for communications products and services, commercial offers, and promotional campaigns, contract of internet access.
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Given the comprehensive nature in terms of consumers and users we have adapted our advisory services to trade on line, distance selling and other specificities as the online Games.
We make the necessary texts as “General Conditions”, "Distance Selling Policies" on issues such as information on the procedure for recruitment, conditions in case of withdrawal, terms, payment, delivery, etc.
Some of the most common queries are usually about:
- Direct debits or undue payments for contracts made via internet.
- Claims to the online commerce for sending defective products or for refusing any refund in case of cancellation, when an obligation exists.
- For not applying the terms of Sales and Promotions.
In general we adapt all political and legal conditions about sale of products and services to distance selling on issues like commercial and legal guarantees, sales, clearance, promotional products, changes, refunds, withdrawals, customer services, prices, and advertising.
We give advice and mediate in consumer complaints (in Consumer Arbitrations and Court Proceedings), both from the perspective of consumers and users and the providers of online services.
We intervene in judicial proceedings relating to consumer complaints (products warranty, products liability, liability for defective products, etc).
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In this department we focus on a concrete advice on advertising to be developed on the Internet and the distance selling referring to aspects such as:
- Advertising, labelling, advertising strategies, marketing communications or promotions against unlawful advertising strategies.
- Copywriting contracts, sponsorship, assignment of rights, use of intellectual creations. • Liability of content distributed through online channels.
- Managing online promotional giveaways.
- Intervention in judicial and extrajudicial proceedings regarding advertising issues.
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Domain names, as an essential part to identify the origin and destination of information transmitted via the Internet, require a specific advice, as an example, the case of online games require a website with a domain name “.es" and its notification to the National Gaming Commission to ensure that all activities are conducted from Spain or from a Spanish registered user operated from website under the domain name ".es".
This implies specific advice covering from the development of strategies for choosing the domains name (depending on the different systems of registration and logos) to its recovery against appropriation by others (cyber squatter) with the different organizations of national and international arbitration or to the Courts to act.
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As on advertising or domains name, the issues concerning industrial property are closely linked to Internet, the most obvious case is the conflict between trademarks and domains name, so we advise on the following:
1. In the field of inventions (patents, utility models) with projection on line such as:
- Protection strategies, feasibility registration and use, for which specific audits of rights are performed.
- Drafting of exploitation rights, technology transfer, assignment and licensing of patents, know –how or confidentiality.
- Intervention in judicial and extrajudicial proceedings relating to infringement, validity of patents and utility models. Free Records Management ( European Patents / PCT and utility models).
- Protection of patents and utility models before administrative agencies of national and international record (oppositions and appeals)
- Development of legal reports on patentability of inventions, infringement or validity of rights. • Law enforcement interventions.
2. In terms of distinctive signs (trademarks, trade names, industrial design, appellations of origin) with projection online such as:
- Protection strategies, registration feasibility and use, audit of rights.
- Drafting of assignment contracts, licensing, merchandising, franchise.
- Intervention in judicial and extrajudicial proceedings for copyright infringement, piracy, nullity and forfeiture of marks, industrial design and unfair competition.
- Trademark management and national, international and EU industrial design.
- Protection of trademarks and designs before administrative agencies of national and international record (oppositions and appeal).
- Law enforcement interventions.
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Same aspects as for Industrial Property on line, so concerning intellectual property , internet and information technology is a field that must have specific protection strategies and therefore extraordinary advice (on computer programs, in the use of literary, scientific or artistic works, etc) and we offer:
- Audit on copyright (computer programs, scientific literary or artistic works, music, films and videos), royalties, rights management and rights infringement.
- Drafting of creation contracts, transfer of content exploitation rights, development of website, etc.
- IT Contracting: licensing contracts and software development, cloud computing, escrow, deposit source code and data migrations.
- Free registration and protection of intellectual creations (software, databases, audiovisual and phonographic works, multimedia, software and graphic works).
- Management of image rights.
- Intervention in judicial and extrajudicial proceedings regarding infringements of intellectual property rights.
- Negotiations with rights management entities.
- Law enforcement interventions.
More information about the Digital Law Department (ITC) | Lisbon & Porto (Portugal)
One of the biggest transformations brought about by technological innovations such as the Internet has been the capacity to store, access and exploit information, the best-known example of which is personal data.
Guaranteeing and protecting individuals’ fundamental rights, honour and privacy require the specific advice we offer our customers, both with regard to companies’ compliance with legal requirements, and protecting the rights of the holders of those rights. Our advice covers, amongst other things:
Corporate compliance
- Companies’ compliance with the legal requirements concerning the protection of personal data.
- Drafting privacy policies and procedures for protecting personal data.
- Ensuring security measures are adequate.
- Management and resolution of the exercise of the rights of access, rectification, erasure and objection (“AREO” rights).
- Design and adaptation of reporting channels.
Audits
- Biannual statutory audits and the auditing of security measures.
- Preparation of the Security Document and adaption of Security measures to comply with legal obligations.
- “Website auditing” (analysing content relating to image rights, privacy, honour, privacy policies, cookies) of the different areas of the website, sections, social networks, blogs, forums and links to other sites.
Legal texts, agreements
- Drafting agreements governing confidentiality and the processing of personal data.
- Data Processor and subprocessor agreements (access to data on behalf of third parties), assignment of databases.
- Drafting texts for compliance with information obligations, obtaining consent.
- Special clauses for “cloud computing”.
- Special clauses for obtaining consent for receiving advertising via electronic media.
- Obtaining consent for specially protected data.
International data transfers
- Agreements with standard EU clauses and specific clauses.
- “Binding Corporate Rules” for international transfers of data.
Administrative and court proceedings
- Planning, determination of the structure and registration of files with the Spanish Data Protection Agency. Erasure of files.
- Assistance with informative, protection of rights and disciplinary proceedings.
- Obtaining authorisation for international transfers of data and other authorisations and communications.
- Procedure for obtaining exemption from the duty to inform.
- Appeals for judicial reviews to the Spanish High Court in relation to the protection of personal data.
Other
- Exercising the rights of access, rectification, erasure and objection (“AREO” rights).
- Exercising AREO in relation to files concerning financial solvency, advertising and commercial research.
- Exclusion files for the sending commercial communications.
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Along with the emergence of internet and the information society, new crimes have emerged committed via the Internet or against computer systems themselves, and existing ones have found new accommodation in these remote means (injuries, slanders, threats, coercion, theft, fraud, etc.).
In this field we advise on those we identify as computer crimes:
- Fraud in online commerce through unauthorized use of personal information (credit cards, bank accounts, usernames and password or personal identification).
- Against intellectual property, for the contents disclosed without consent in Internet (computer programs, music, literary works , etc ). Downloads or possession and distribution of illegal files.
- Against industrial property for the unauthorized use of distinctive signs on internet brands, Cyber squatting.
- On line reputation. Against privacy, identity, honour and image:
- "Phishing”: impersonation or identity theft by obtaining personal passwords to web sites. Threats on social networks.
- "Pharming": obtaining without consent, personal passwords to web sites.
- "Child Pornography ".
- Misuse or unauthorized use of the DNI, NIE, Passport, etc.
- Discovery and disclosure of company secrets (Hacking).
- Telecommunications frauds.
- Introduction in a computer unauthorized applications breaching the security measures instead of preventing it.
- System damages or against data elements (damage, deletion, deterioration, alteration, suppression or data inaccessibility, software or external electronic documents with or without viruses spreading).
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The emergence of tools such as the digital signature or the electronic ID (both in the individual user and in the enterprise environments allow acting as signatories, in order to be integrated in the telematic traffic), symbolize the practical application of technologies information, in this case, in order to ensure the authentication of the parties and the integrity of messages in business transactions or processing before the Public Government.
In this informatics tools area, we give advice to:
- Provision of certification services.
- Obligation of certification by the service providers for their business development.
- Liability of certification service providers.
- Content of certificates.
- Valuation and legal effectiveness of electronic documents.
- Termination of certificate validity.
- Creation devices and electronic signature verification.
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Generalization of telematic communications in an increasing media world, involves the regulation of new legal relationships among network operators, electronic communications services providers and its users with these guarantees of rights.
In this area we advise on activity development, in areas such as:
- Compliance with the conditions for registration and operation of networks or provide electronic communication services, in the negotiation with operators for interconnection with the purpose of providing the available electronic communication services to public and, in general, in the relations with the Commission of Telecommunication Market.
- Liability for breaching in telecommunications.
- Regarding aspects on the secrecy guarantee of communications and the protection of personal data of users.
- In disputes between operators and consumers and end users:
- Liability for damage
- Information of end users rights.
- Deadline for the promotions revision.
- Rights of certain services to shutdown with the user’s previous request.
- Right to be compensated for a service disruption.
- Right to conclude contracts with the operators by the end users.
- Minimum content of contracts.
- Right to terminate contracts without penalty though notices of contract terms modification.
- Right to receive comparable, relevant and updated information regarding the quality of electronic communication services.
- Right to choose a method of payment for the services hired.
- Right of access to emergency services for free.
- Right to change the operator maintaining the national telephone numbers of the numbering plan.
- Respecting to rights of subscribers to electronic communication services:
- Traffic data to be anonymous or cancelled when is no longer needed for communication purposes.
- Traffic data shouldn’t be used for commercial purposes or to provide added value services without previous consent.
- Reception of non-itemized bills when requested.
- Processing of location data.
- To stop automatic call forwarding to your terminal made by a third party.
- To prevent from the identification of the line.
- No reception of calls or automatic communications without human intervention, or fax messages with direct marketing purposes without consent.
- Regarding development and marketing guides for subscribers to electronic communications services with guarantees on the protection of personal data.
More information about the Digital Law Department (ITC) | Lisbon & Porto (Portugal)
Constant innovations caused by the different technological areas represent a radical change in the strategy and also in the required advice that the security of information of the available business management that companies have.
Ensuring information security is an overriding goal to every business, in this context we offer advice on what we call "on line security policies ," on which we cover confidentiality, various threats , risks and defence of assets to be protected, either by preventive actions (preparation of security documents regarding the use of computers, internet and social networks, such as documents protection know-how, trade secrets and confidentiality) and judicial actions against acts of unfair competition or offenses by disclosure of company secrets.
Keeping the information and its security means having security policies and development processes in which company must be involved, depending on their level of participation - not only for its potential liability - company personnel (management and employees) and all third parties involved in confidence processes on online media.
So reduce the risk of sanctions, to prevent from crimes, the disclosure of business secrets and establishment of a security culture among users of information in the organization's environment should be the goal of anyone building a corporate security online environment.
More information about the Digital Law Department (ITC) | Lisbon & Porto (Portugal)