By now, news of the Ashley Madison hack is widespread. The online dating and social network service seeks to facilitate infidelity by targeting people who are married or in a committed relationship. The target line is "Life is short. Have an affair". Depending on the source, it has been reported that between 32 and 39 million users' private … Continue reading Information security: Ashley Madison legal action mounts…
Cyber Bullying – advice for parents and teens
With increasing numbers of child suicide reported as a result of cyber bullying, it is more important than ever before for parents to give their internet active children some common-sense advice.The overriding message should be: when using social media, your conduct should be no different to how you would behave at school, home, the movies, at a shopping mall or any … Continue reading Cyber Bullying – advice for parents and teens
Social Media Policy for the Workplace
In South African law, there is no specific legislation regulating the use of social media. That being said, it is by no means an unregulated area – there are a variety of intersecting laws that will apply to the use of social media in the work place. Given the pervasive nature of social media and … Continue reading Social Media Policy for the Workplace
Debt collection industry gets well deserved kick up the backside
Towards the end of 2012, the Banking Association of South Africa and the Minister of Finance reached an agreement to suspend the use of emolument attachment orders (‘EAO’) with a view to curbing the irresponsible collection of debt. This agreement was not legally binding and many entities continued to use this methodology to collect outstanding … Continue reading Debt collection industry gets well deserved kick up the backside
Digital legal material – dearth of decent Apps
LexisNexis consumers will be pleased. The company has released a legal mobile app which allows users to access their entire loose-leaf library remotely. If you have any tablet or smart phone it is definitely worth downloading. Although I love traditional libraries, and still spend many hours in various legal libraries in South Africa, the mobile … Continue reading Digital legal material – dearth of decent Apps
The debt collection industry is rife with fraud and abuse
I am not the first, nor I suspect the last, that will testify to the fact that the debt collection industry in South Africa is in a total mess. Moneyweband ENCAhave both reported extensively on the topic. Unfortunately, and the powerful National Credit Act notwithstanding, thousands of individuals continue to be exploited via fraudulently obtained … Continue reading The debt collection industry is rife with fraud and abuse
The difference between murder and culpable homicide (manslaughter) in South African law
In South African law there are no degrees of murder. There is only a distinction between murder, which is the intentional killing of a human, and culpable homicide (manslaughter), which is the negligent killing of a human. Simply, murder requires intention, whereas culpable homicide requires negligence. Prominent criminal law author CR Snyman[1]argues that South African … Continue reading The difference between murder and culpable homicide (manslaughter) in South African law
Oscar Pistorius Trial – how far will the media push it?
After the ground-breaking decision allowing media almost unfettered access to the Oscar Pistorius criminal trial, a local 24 hours news channel, in direct contravention of a court order allowing the broadcast of the trial, published a still image of the witness. It apologised almost immediately. At any stage, the Court may decide to pull the … Continue reading Oscar Pistorius Trial – how far will the media push it?
Digital Legal Wrap 2013; and into 2014…
Around this time last year I wrote an article Legal Social Media Roundup 2012 and thought it about time I did something similar for 2013… So, although the legal position hasn’t dramatically changed during the twelve of so months per se, law in the digital realm has been developing gently, and amongst a few key … Continue reading Digital Legal Wrap 2013; and into 2014…
Cyber Bullying
A modern phenomenon that is increasingly prevalent in todays technologically sophisticated society is a nuanced form of harassment and intimidation known as cyber bullying. It has lead directly to several teenage suicides and recently the suicide of a 12-year-old child. Cyber bullying can be formally defined as the use of digital technology or technological devices … Continue reading Cyber Bullying
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