Spotlight on Privacy Law: What Are Your Responsibilities?
[Things don’t stand still in the world of data privacy. Check out our short updates: Spring Cleaning: Fix Contract Terms for Data Transfers From The UK; The Clock is Ticking: Are Your Contract Terms Out-of-Date for Transfers of Personal Data Subject to the GDPR?; Third Time Lucky? Personal Data Transfers between the U.S., EU, UK; Draft EU […]
Don’t Use License Agreements for Software-as-a-Service
Many software-as-a-service (SaaS) contracts grant a “license” to use the vendor’s software. That’s a mistake. Licenses authorize making copies of on-premise software. SaaS isn’t copied, so it doesn’t need a license. And if you’re the vendor, a license can hurt you. SaaS Customers Don’t Copy Software The confusion stems from the role of “software” in […]
Protecting Your Data in Enterprise Cloud Computing Agreements
CIO.com recently published an article by our founder, David Tollen. Please click here.
Open Source in Software Procurement – 5. Data Security
By David W. Tollen This is the fifth in a series of five posts on Open Source in Software Procurement. Click here for the prior post, and click here for the intro, which lists all five topics. Many licensees worry about the security of open source software. Does OSS in vendor products have vulnerabilities hackers can […]
Open Source in Software Procurement – 2. When It Matters
By David W. Tollen This is the second of five posts in a series called Open Source in Software Procurement. Click here for the first/introductory post. Open source software is software licensed (a) with its source code included and (b) with the right to modify and redistribute. What’s wrong with that? Nothing. Concerns about OSS arise […]
Open Source in Software Procurement – 1. Intro
Contract drafters rarely understand open source software (OSS). They see it as a threat, so when they’re buying software, they try to exclude OSS from their vendors’ products. In most cases, the concern is misplaced. Software licensees may have good reason to worry about copyleft software, which is one type of OSS. But other open source […]
Law Review Article Cites The Tech Contracts Handbook
A South Carolina Law Review article cites The Tech Contracts Handbook — and in fact relies upon it heavily. The article is THE UNDERCOVER DETECTIVE LOOKS AT DATA BREACH CONTRACT CLAUSES: WHO SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE UNDER THE CONTRACT FOR COSTS OF COVER? (67 S.C. L. Rev. 535, Spring 2016). The author is Professor Jill Bronfman of […]
When Law Firms Buy Cloud Services
by David W. Tollen and Nathan Leong You’re a lawyer looking for online software and other tools to run your firm—tools like email, word processing, calendaring, timenotes, legal research, and particularly document management. You stumble across a great suite of tools from a reputable company and sign up. You love your new powers; now you’re […]
Is Technology a Threat to Attorney-Client Privilege?
By Phil Brown and David W. Tollen Lawyers love tradition, but many clients want to communicate with 21st Century tools. Texting, Skyping, SnapChatting: all of these would mystified most lawyers ten years ago. But habits change. The flood of technological “advances” in communication methods brings new threats to attorney-client privilege and confidentiality. The truth is, […]
New Form: Customer’s ITMA (Information Technology Master Agreement)
We’ve posted a new contract in the forms library — and it’s available in MS Word (no charge, as always). It’s meant to serve as a customer’s primary contract for purchasing any and all IT (other than hardware or IaaS): namely, licensed software, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and/or IT professional services. You can use it to acquire […]