Proprietary Rights and Corporate Torts - Essay Example

This paper considers some of these cases that applied intentional tort against defendants who have gained wrongful access to company files and properties, and discusses the impact of their use on corporate law. Methodology This research paper was conducted initially by gathering suitable materials such as books and cases that are related to the subject. The method primarily used is data mining on the subject of intentional torts, including classifications thereof, and corporate cases that involve intentional torts.

This entailed electronic searches of relevant materials and a subsequent search for primary sources such as cases from various jurisdictions and secondary sources such as books. The next stage is to actually get a copy of the sources thus gathered either electronically or on tape. Finally, the data gathered were summarized and presented. Intentional Tort and its Application in Corporate Trespass Cases A look at case law across the country reveals that a number had applied intentional torts in corporate trespass cases.

This is true in the states of New York, Ohio, Virginia, California and Indiana, among others. In CompuServe Incorporated v Cyber Promotions, Inc and Sanford Wallace, 1 a preliminary injunction was granted to the plaintiff in an action for trespass to chattels. . Similar cases to the foregoing are AOL v LCGM , 2 AOL v IMS, 3 AOL v NHCD 4 where the defendants were charged with trespass to chattels, among others, under Virginia common law for sending unsolicited email advertisements to AOL subscribers, and Hotmail Corporation v Vans Money Pie Inc, 5 where defendant deceitfully used Hotmail accounts as addressees.

In all those cases, trespass occurred with intermeddling of personal property without authorization or when the use amounts to the impairment of its value. Other similar cases are EarthLink, Inc. v Carmack 6 decided in Georgia, and Tyco International (US) Inc. v Doe, 7 decided in New York. Three cases, viz., eBay v. Bidder’s Edge, 8 Register.com v Verio, 9 and Oyster Software Inc. v. Forms Processing Inc., et al, 10 used crawlers/search robots to search plaintiffs’ websites. In eBay, auction listings were obtained from the plaintiff’s site, in Register.

com, domain name registrants and in Oyster, meta tags. The courts ruled that the acts constituted trespass to chattel because they interfered with possessory right without authorization and damage ensued. The Sotelo v DirectRevenue, LLC 11 case, on the other hand, involves the use of spyware and the defendant was an internet-based company that provided internet games for download bundled with spyware, which allowed pop-ups while users use the internet. The trespass to chattel was justified due to lack of authority and electronic contact that caused damage to the computer.

In Thrifty-Tel, Inc., v Bezenek 12 the defendants were the parents of minors who had tapped into a telephone system by cracking its authorization and access codes using computer technology. Initially tried for conversion, the cause of action was