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Liability for a Security Breach |
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Who is Liable for a Security Breach? What to Do in Case of Security Breach? New Legislation Pending in USA: Identity theft laws in the United States are a patchwork that apply to specific types of transactions or personally identifiable data. Existing U.S. privacy laws cover healthcare data (HIPAA) and financial data of consumers (GLB). Under the Federal Trade Commission has adopted regulations against unfair and deceptive practices relating to privacy. Security breach laws in over 35 states require data processors to warn of security breaches that risk identity theft. However, existing U.S. laws do not impose personal liability on all persons in the service delivery chain that support consumer transactions. Proposed legislation would fill the gap. Consequently, it is vital for all enterprises, whether insourcing or outsourcing, to adopt a strategy for managing liability in cases of possible security breaches
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Impact of New Corporate Governance Structures |
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The Administrative Committee of the Board of Directors: Impact of New Corporate Governance Structures of Board upon Global Sourcing: Management gurus view strategic sourcing as an important management tool, to be implemented under appropriate conditions. In March 2007, the board of directors of General Motors Corporation adopted new By-Laws that enable more hands-on involvement by a limited number of directors in the sourcing function. This may be a watershed to promote a re-examination of the role of committees of the Board of Directors in business process management and the life cycles and integration of multi-silo, multi-shoring, multi-provider outsourcing into the enterprise’s core operations.
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Change of Control |
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“Change of Control” through Acquisition by Private Equity Fund and Management Team: “Going Private” Transactions by a Publicly Traded Outsourcing Service Provider: Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (“ACS”) is a American-based leading provider of business process outsourcing services to industry and government. On March 20, 2007, ACS received a proposal from its CEO, Darwin Deason, and Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. to acquire for cash all of the outstanding shares of the ACS (not including certain shares and options held by Mr. Deason and members of ACS’s management team). Aside from the $11 billion Sungard Data Systems, Inc. acquisition by a consortium of private equity funds in 2006, the ACS proposal would be perhaps the first case of a “going private” transaction for a U.S.-based major service provider of IT and business process services with a global services delivery model, in the form of a management buyout financed by a private equity fund (with a promise of future debt funding from the financial markets). The proposed transaction highlights complex legal issues and business considerations in how a change of control of a BPO service provider can impact an entire BPO ecosystem.
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Patents for Business Process Methods in Outsourcing |
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Patents for Business Process Methods in Outsourcing: The combination of two known processes into a third one can bring competitive advantage and consumer benefits such as the "mashups" of Internet maps and data (such as demographics, real property assessed values or voting patterns) and computer- telephony integration. Are such combinations patentable? On April 30, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court restructured the principles underlying the protection of patents, particularly patents covering business processes used in "business process outsourcing" ("BPO"). The decision has significant ramifications for BPO service providers and their global enterprise customers, all of whom can breathe a little more easily about worries about the risk that the BPO’s services will use a patented business method that infringes on a third-party’s patent. This article explains how this tidal shift in judicial interpretation of patent law will promote use of business process methods, whether the methods are outsourced or in-sourced.
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