Search by the tax investigation office in Germany: When the tax investigation office arrives on the doorstep, panic is rife – and it’s deliberate. In many scenarios, it’s part of the process to deliberately increase stress and pressure in an already oppressive situation. The hope of sparing oneself embarrassment and annoyance through supposed explanations then does the rest. And it is precisely here that this applies: The surprise visit of the tax investigation is reason enough to keep calm and to realize that from now on the time for one’s own defense has come.
Lawyer for arrest warrant – arrest warrant, what to do? What can a criminal defense lawyer or attorney do in the case of an arrest warrant? It is possible that you have suddenly learned that there is an arrest warrant against you, then the obvious question is how to deal with it. We can help you if you are affected by an arrest warrant and also advise that you seek advice immediately and in any case do not do anything stupid as well.
Cybercrime is changing more and more, not only in terms of the increasingly monetized and professionalized approach, but also in the investigators’ approach: Whereas in the past the focus was on perpetrators and also delimitable perpetrator structures, today, in my view, it is increasingly infrastructures that are the focus.
Computer gaming has changed considerably in recent years: Where floppy disks and CDs were common in the past, sometimes in combination with obscure-looking copy protection measures (I like to remember the Mix’n’Mojo hub at Monkey Island,which, by the way, is also available online today), not only downloads prevail today, but also completely new gaming cultures that have partly shifted completely to the online realm.
Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have heralded a real cultural change in this respect – and also completely new legal issues: Whereas people used to be most concerned about how best to copy games, other desires prevail today. At a time when accounts cost money and virtual goods have a real market value, cheating in games is valued very differently. This is also reflected in current court decisions. Attorney Jens Ferner, active in the field of software law including the legal issues of online games, gives an overview of the legal situation in Germany.
Note: In our law firm by specialist lawyer for IT law Jens Ferner the creative industry is represented in the field of software law – especially game developers and software houses. No activity for consumers / private individuals!
The Federal Labor Court (9 AZR 187/22 and 9 AZR 260/21) once again dealt with an agreement between employee and employer on training costs. The problem regularly lies in the fact that an employer finances further training for an employee, but the employee then quits and uses the qualification acquired at the employer’s expense for another job.
Against this background, repayment clauses have developed in the event of termination, but these are regularly subject to legal review. And here, too, it is possible for courts to review the content – so that the written word alone is not decisive. In the present case, the employer had no claim against the employee for repayment of the training costs under the relevant clause of the training contract. This was because the provision did not stand up to a review of its content and was therefore invalid.
How does the liability situation in the subject complex of IT security, especially for management (managing directors and board of directors), present itself in Germany?
In my presentation on liability in the event of IT security breaches, tailored to management and board members, I address the relevant circumstances: After a presentation of general liability issues, and building on this, specific liability issues for employees & board members will be highlighted, and finally, very briefly, ways of limiting liability will be presented – up to the question of whether it is not a reason for liability if a company does not buy Bitcoin as a precaution. In the following, I present essential parts of the lecture on the liability of the management board in case of IT security breaches.
IT security is the core topic of modern information technology and is increasingly the focus of political developments as well – nevertheless, there is still a lack of a differentiated, binding set of regulations; although there are specifications at the EU level and initial legal regulations at the national level. However, in the area of original problems, especially in the development and use of software or the liability of a company’s board of directors, unclear liability situations immediately arise. In legal practice, IT security as such seems to wither away and boil down to the practical application of sub-areas of the GDPR – but in fact there are immediate liability scenarios.