Patents and copyright laws give the inventor the exclusive rights to the invention. No one else can produce the invention for a set period of time under patent and copyright law. Patents and copyright laws are set up to protect inventors. The law on patents can be found in the United States Constitution, Article 1, Section 8 and in Title 35 of the United States Code. The agency in charge of patent laws is a Federal Agency known as the Patent and Trademark Office. Anyone w...

Identity Theft is not restricted to just digital media contrary to what you may read in the news today. Granted, there are a lot of breaches of University computers or retailer?s networks or lost/stolen laptops that are reported all the time, but Identity Theft can occur at home as well. Are you doing what it takes to make sure it doesn?t happen to you? Think about all of the mail that you receive at home. Does it include banking statements, utility bills such as gas and e...

Don?t download anything when you don?t trust the source. Even if you are emailed or given a link in a chat room or forum you should be cautious. Look at the URL. Some links will directly download programs ? including viruses ? without your consent. While using anti-virus and anti-spyware programs will help avoid problems they can?t catch everything. Know where you?re going and who is sending you. What can you do to prevent identity theft? Get free adware download and prot...

If you are contacted by a bank or service provider through email you must never submit any personal or financial information to them. These attempts to ?trick? you into believing they are a legitimate business is called phishing. If an email claims that you must validate your information and provides you a link to the form DO NOT OPEN THE LINK! If you are concerned that the request may be legitimate close the email and enter the URL to the actual business in your browser ...

?Spoofs? are also called ?phishing? emails. ?Phishing? refers to any email that attempts to get you to share personal or financial information that can be used to commit fraud. While ?spoofs? pretend to be a known business or institution, ?phishing? emails also include offers to collect prizes, requests for help, charity donations or false notices that you have won a lottery or a trip. They tell you that to reserve your prize you must give them a credit card number for ver...

Get Copies of Your Credit Report Send for your credit reports following the instructions from the credit bureaus. Review the reports carefully. Look for creditor?s names that you did not request credit from. Also check your personal information; SSN, address, name, initials and employer information. Order your credit report at least every three months for the first year of the fraud. Some areas provide a free report every 12 months. Other areas will give you several fr...

One of the essential steps to protecting your privacy is understanding how to read a privacy policy. Privacy policies should be made available in some form anytime you are asked to provide personal information. Financial institutions, health facilities or other businesses that collect your information can be asked to show you their privacy policy before you give them your information. If the company does not have privacy policy consider doing business elsewhere. It is...

We often take our liberties for granted. What you know life to be can suddenly change if you?ve been a victim of identity theft. While you?ve been busy with your day-to-day life someone could have stolen your personal information and racked up debts or committed fraud ? all with your name on it. What happens then can be anything from being denied employment, credit or even being arrested for a crime you didn?t commit. Identity theft is that serious. Victims of ide...

CYA Disclaimer: The following is intended for reference purposes only and not as legal advice. Do you own the water on your property? Well, that depends. Lakes: If you own all the land surrounding the lake, then the water should belong to you. If you only own some of the land surrounding it, then you have what are called usufructuary rights, meaning that you can drink it, swim in it, fish in it, etc. (unless there is a law expressly prohibiting this). You own water as ...

CYA Disclaimer: The following is intended for reference purposes only and not as legal advice. ?He?s such a nuisance, constantly drumming his fingers on the table like that!? Just what is a ?nuisance?, anyway? Well, it has one meaning in common parlance and another more specific meaning in law, although the meanings are somewhat similar. A nuisance is legally defined as ?an unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of property?. By the way, lawyers just LOVE...