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Warner, Norcross & Judd, LLP

Concern for Sale of Cell Phone Records Extends Overseas; Methods Used by Records Vendors Revealed



Police in Ireland are concerned about an American website that sells cell phone records. In the recent aftermath of the disclosure that a top official in Sinn Féin has been an informant for the British government, police fear that the handlers of other informants could be exposed by republicans or loyalists in the conflict in Northern Ireland. “Police fear US website could 'out' informers,” http://www.nuzhound.com/articles/irish_news/arts2006/jan16_web_site_could_out_informers.php This concern about the safety of informants is a similar to one expressed by the Chicago police earlier this month. See “Chicago Police Warned of Sale of Personal Phone Records,” In the News, January 6, 2006.



Wired News has an article that details just how operators of a website are able to get private cell phone records to sell. Its reporter reviewed records from a suit filed by Verizon Wireless against cell phone record vendors in Florida late last year. The article describes the tactics as follows:



According to the suit, online cell-phone record vendors placed hundreds of thousands of calls to Verizon customer service requesting customer account information while posing as Verizon employees from the company's "special needs group," a nonexistent department. The caller would claim to be making the request on behalf of a voice-impaired customer who was unable to request the records himself. If the service representative asked to speak with the customer directly, the caller would impersonate a voice-impaired customer, using a mechanical device to distort his voice and make it impossible for the service representative to understand him -- a variant of a widely used social-engineering technique known as the "mumble attack."



The article notes that selling telephone records is not illegal. But it is illegal to obtain them under false pretenses. “Devious Tactic Snags Phone Data,” http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70027-0.html





Million Dollar Website Hit by Cyber-Extortionists



Alex Tew’s homepage brought him fortune, fame, and a rude awakening to the criminal element that lurks on the Internet. A third-year university student with more debts than income, Tew decided one afternoon that he needed an idea to become a millionaire. In less than 20 minutes he had his idea. In four months he had his first million dollars. For $50, bought a domain name (milliondollarhomepage.com) and set up a website. He then sold pixels, the little dots that make up a computer screen for $1 a pixel, minimum order 100 pixels. His idea caught on and over the past four months he has sold 1 million pixels to people who want to advertise their own websites on Tew’s homepage. “The million-dollar student,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4585026.stm



Tew efforts to make a quick million also attracted the attention of hackers who threatened to shut down his site with a denial of service attack unless he paid them $5,000. When Tew ignored the demand, the hackers launched their attack, overloading his site with hits from zombie computers, and effectively shutting it down. And their ransom demand grew to $50,000. His site has been active only intermittently since January 11. “Blackmailers target $1m website,” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4621158.stm



Much of the focus of the media’s attention on information security relates to personal identity theft issues. Cyberextortion, however, is a growing and costly crime. The New York Times Magazine featured an article on cyberextortion on August 7, 2005. “The Rise of the Digital Thugs,” htttp://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30B14FB3A580C748CDDA10894DD404482 (subscription required). We linked to articles regarding a British gaming company and a British charity who were victimized in December. “Internet Gaming Company and Charity Are Victims of Cyber-Extortion,” In the News, December 20, 2005. In October, we linked to a fascinating article in the New Yorker about a computer engineer who regularly does battle with cyberextortionists. “Hunting Down Zombies and The Criminals Who Use Them,” In the News, October 7, 2005.






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Current and past issues of In the News are now available online at www.wnj.com/privacynews.html


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This message is provided by the Privacy and Information Security Taskforce at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP to advise you of recent developments in the law affecting privacy and data security. Because each business situation is different, this information is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice on any specific facts and circumstances.



Warner Norcross & Judd LLP (www.wnj.com) is a full service law firm with four offices in Michigan. Our Privacy and Information Security Taskforce includes lawyers from across the firm’s practice areas who work together to help businesses ensure the security of their information systems and electronic data and to assist businesses who have experienced a data breach to limit their liabilities and prosecute hackers and data thieves. For information about the Privacy and Information Security Taskforce at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, e-mail Rodney Martin at rmartin@wnj.com or write him at Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, Suite 900, 111 Lyon Street NW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503.

01-18-2006

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Vinson & Elkins L.L.P.

V&E Adds New Partner, Forms New Alliance to Expand Public Policy Team
(Austin) January 18, 2006 — Vinson & Elkins LLP is significantly expanding and strengthening its Public Policy Group with the addition of a prominent Texas government relations lawyer and the creation of a new alliance with a group of some of the best known lobbyists in Texas.

V&E is pleased to announce that Bill Jones, the former General Counsel to Texas Governor Rick Perry, has joined the firm as a partner in the Austin office.

A 1985 graduate of Baylor University Law School, Jones is experienced in public policy, government affairs and legislation in Texas. After law school, he spent 15 years as a trial and appellate lawyer practicing in state and federal courts. He was president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association in 1997, served as General Counsel to Governor Perry from December 2000 until November 2003, and is currently the vice-chair of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

"Bill Jones is a bright, talented lawyer," says former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk, who joined V&E's Public Policy Group in February. "Bill's experience in public service and legal skills will be of real benefit to our clients. His addition immediately positions V&E to take our public policy team to the next level."

"Vinson & Elkins is committed to building a great public policy practice based on integrity and professionalism," says Jones. "I am very excited about joining a team that shares my philosophy of getting the job done effectively and efficiently."

Vinson & Elkins also is proud to announce that the firm has formed an alliance with The Texas Capitol Group. The Group is led by Mike Toomey, who was the chief of staff to Texas Governors Rick Perry and William P. Clements, Bill Messer, the former state Representative who chaired the Texas House Calendars Committee and chaired the transition team for Rep. Tom Craddick when he became Speaker of the House and Walter Fisher who has almost three decades of experience at the Texas Capitol including serving as Director of Legislative Services for the Texas Municipal League and Parliamentarian of the Texas Senate under Lieutenant Governors Bullock, Perry, Ratliff and Dewhurst. Texas Monthly magazine recently named Toomey and Messer as two of only four lobbyists listed in the "top 25 most influential people in Texas politics." While V&E and the Texas Capitol Group will remain separate institutions and practices, V&E looks forward to the opportunity to work with the Texas Capitol Group.

"These moves will enable us to offer our clients access to a team with valuable experience in Austin as well as traditional Vinson & Elkins legal ability to address client's needs in the Legislature, the Executive Branch, independent agencies and the courts," said Joe Bill Watkins, who has led the Vinson & Elkins Public Policy Practice for more than 10 years. "I am delighted that our partners have agreed to take these actions."

"We expect that the combination of adding Bill Jones and teaming up with the Texas Capitol Group will further strengthen Vinson & Elkins' growing public policy practice," says V&E partner John Howard, who joined the firm in 2004. Howard served as President Bush's Federal Environmental Executive from 2002 through 2004, and was Environmental and Natural Resources Policy Director for then-Gov. Bush from 1996 to 2000.

V&E's Public Policy Group includes 20 lawyers, including Ron Kirk in Dallas, John Howard, Bill Jones, Elizabeth Rogers and Joe Bill Watkins in Austin, and Barron Wallace and Susan Harris in Houston. The group is led by Dallas partner Monty Humble, who is the past president of the National Association of Bond Lawyers. "We are very happy that we have been able to recruit partners such as Bill Jones, Ron Kirk and John Howard to join our team," says Humble. "They have the high ethical standards and personal integrity that fit V&E's culture. They will allow us to further integrate our agency and legislative practices to meet our clients' needs. Our alliance with the Texas Capitol Group will add another dimension to our ability to help our clients in Texas."

For more information about Vinson & Elkins' Public Policy Group and the addition of Bill Jones as a partner, please contact Monty Humble at 214.220.7746 or via e-mail at mhumble@velaw.com. You also may contact Ashley Battelle in the Vinson & Elkins communications department at 713.758.2052 or at abattelle@velaw.com.

Vinson & Elkins was established in 1917 and is one of the world's largest international law firms. The firm has more than 700 lawyers practicing in Austin, Beijing, Dallas, Dubai, Houston, London, Moscow, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Washington D.C. Vinson & Elkins offers a wide range of legal services. Clients include public and private companies, financial institutions, municipalities, governments of sovereign nations, entrepreneurs, families and individuals.


01-18-2006

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Thelen, Reid, Brown, Raysman & Steiner, LLP

Jonathan Howden Joins Thelen Reid & Priest LLP San Francisco Office Welcomes Prominent New Partner from U.S. Attorneys’ Office
SAN FRANCISCO (January 18, 2006) – Thelen Reid & Priest LLP announced today that Jonathan R. Howden, former longtime Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of California, joined the firm as a partner in the Commercial Litigation department.

Mr. Howden is a top flight white collar lawyer who has had substantial experience in trying a wide range of federal criminal cases, including those involving international and domestic money laundering, bank fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, false statements to financial institutions and corruption. He has briefed and argued multiple cases in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Jonathan’s considerable talent and experience in high-profile government prosecutions in money laundering and antitrust will add depth to the firm’s white collar criminal practice,” said Stephen V. O’Neal, chairman of Thelen Reid & Priest. Michael S. Elkin, Vice Chairman of Thelen Reid and Managing Partner of the firm’s litigation practice, added “We've been looking to add further depth to our white collar practice in the Bay Area, and Jonathan’s addition does exactly that.”

In his practice, Mr. Howden also focuses on bid rigging and price fixing issues, as well as antitrust enforcement actions and related litigation. He has successfully investigated and prosecuted a variety of complex federal crimes, in addition to participating in and supervising complex criminal and grand jury investigations. As a former federal prosecutor, Mr. Howden was part of the prosecution team during the five-year investigation and prosecution of Pavel Lazarenko, the former Prime Minister of Ukraine.

Mr. Howden earned his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and his A.B. from the University of California at Berkeley.

“Thelen Reid is one of the country’s foremost commercial litigation firms,” said Mr. Howden. “Its reputation for complex litigation working particular in the antitrust area, immediately drew me to the firm.”


A photograph of Jonathan R. Howden is available upon request.

For further information, contact:
Craig Soderstrom
Chief Marketing Officer
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
212.603.2437
csoderstrom@thelenreid.com




About Thelen Reid & Priest LLP
Thelen Reid & Priest LLP is a national law firm with more than 440 lawyers located in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Silicon Valley and northern New Jersey. The firm provides superior legal services with a focus on complex commercial litigation; corporate and capital markets transactions; project and asset finance; construction; labor and employment; intellectual property; domestic and international tax; employee benefits; government affairs; and real estate. Thelen Reid's client service philosophy emphasizes teamwork, collaboration and communications—values that are critical to a successful attorney-client relationship. Thelen Reid is committed to recruiting, retaining and promoting attorneys and staff who reflect the diversity of its clients and surrounding communities. The firm is the proud recipient of the Defense Research Institute's (DRI) 2004 Commitment to Diversity Award, as well as the California Minority Counsel Program’s 2005 Drucilla Stender Ramey Majority-Owned Law Firm Award, which is given annually to the CMCP majority-owned law firm member that has demonstrated the strongest commitment to diversity.

01-18-2006

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Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP

Article: Los Angeles Times: Walter Van Dorn Quoted on SEC's Proposal Regarding Stricter Corporate Disclosure
Walter Van Dorn was quoted in an article entitled, "SEC Seeks Clarity in Executive Pay," regarding the SEC's proposal advocating stricter corporate disclosure of executive pay rates.

The SEC approach "will smoke out the more egregious compensation packages," said Mr. Van Dorn, who had helped oversee the SEC's executive compensation rules in the 1990s. Mr. Van Dorn acknowledged the difficulty in sorting out how disclosure affects pay trends. He noted that the previous rules did not push pay downward in the last decade. "I'd have thought that would be the case," he said. "But I think if the rules weren't on the books, salaries would be even higher."

01-18-2006

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Thacher Proffitt & Wood LLP

Ranking: Thomson Financial: Thacher Proffitt Again Named Top Issuer Counsel
New York, January 18, 2006 – With securities underwriting activity in the US on
the rise and US IPO activity experiencing a substantial recovery, law firms’
advisory work increased accordingly during the first three quarters of 2005.
According to statistics released today by Thomson Financial, a leading provider of
financial information and solutions, the total proceeds from US debt, equity and
equity-related activity gained 22%, compared to the same period in 2004, with $2
trillion. Thacher Proffitt & Wood led all issuer legal advisors with $230.7 billion in
total proceeds on 509 issues, up from 373 issues a year ago. McKee Nelson took top honors for manager legal
counsel with $442 billion in total proceeds on 726 issues, a 50% increase in proceeds compared to the first nine
months of the previous year.
Activity of Worldwide IPOs by US issuers decreased slightly during the first three quarters of 2005 to $28.5 billion
compared to $30.3 billion during the same time last year. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett set the pace for issuer legal
advisors with $3.8 billion in total proceeds on eight issues, compared to six issues for $3.7 billion million during the first
nine months of 2004. Vinson & Elkins took second place with seven issues and $2.4 billion in proceeds. Kirkland &
Ellis took third place with $1.8 billion in proceeds, lending counsel on seven transactions. Skadden, Arps, Slate,
Meagher & Flom took the top manager counsel spot for Worldwide US IPOs with $3.6 billion on ten issues. Cravath
Swaine advised on six offerings for $2.8 billion in proceeds and second place. Latham & Watkins lent counsel on eight
offerings during the first three quarters of 2005 for third place and $2 billion in proceeds.
Sidley Austin Brown & Wood finished atop the US investment grade corporate debt market for issuer legal advisors
with $25.1 billion in total proceeds. For manager legal advisors, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised on 45 issues
for $39.7 billion in proceeds for first place. For securitizations, Thacher Proffitt & Wood commanded 21.6% of the
Asset-backed market for issuer legal advisors during the first nine months of 2005 for first place, compared to 18.2%
during the same period of 2004. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft took first place for issuer legal advisors in the
Mortgage-backed market with $114 billion and 25.3% of the market. McKee Nelson continued as the top manager
legal advisor in the Mortgage-backed and Asset-backed markets, with a 37.6% and 31.8% share of the market,
respectively.

01-18-2006

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Susman Godfrey LLP

SUSMAN GODFREY WELCOMES NEW PARTNER FLOYD G. SHORT TO THE SEATTLE OFFICE
SEATTLE – Susman Godfrey L.L.P. announced today that Floyd G. Short has joined their Seattle office as a partner. Floyd Short handles complex commercial litigation and criminal matters. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Short spent ten years as a federal prosecutor focusing on computer crime, securities fraud, investment fraud, and other white collar crime. Mr. Short has tried a dozen cases, three of which involved sophisticated Internet crime and technical evidence concerning multiple operating systems, encryption software, and transnational computer network intrusions. From 2002 to 2005, he supervised the Complex Crimes Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. Since 2001, Mr. Short has also taught Internet crime and privacy as a Part-Time Lecturer at the University of Washington School of Law. Prior to his service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Short spent three years at a Seattle law firm handling a variety of litigation matters.

Mr. Short attended law school at Yale Law School and graduated in 1990. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, in 1985 from Williams College. Mr. Short served as law clerk to the Honorable Betty Binns Fletcher, United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Ninth Circuit (1990-91).


Parker C. Folse III, partner at Susman Godfrey’s Seattle office, said: “Floyd is an extremely talented and highly respected attorney with a wealth of experience. He will be a tremendous asset to our firm and our clients. We are fortunate that he chose to re-enter private practice with us.”

01-18-2006

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Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, LLP

Court Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Simpson Thacher Client, J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.
Simpson Thacher is representing Focus Media Holding Limited (Nasdaq: FMCN) in its announced merger with Target Media Holdings Limited. The transaction is one of the first, private sector mergers between two Chinese companies, each of which has U.S. backing. Under the terms of the share purchase agreement, shareholders of Target Media will receive $94 million in cash and 77 million ordinary shares of Focus Media. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006.
Focus Media operates the largest out-of-home advertising network in China using audiovisual flat-panel displays based on the number of locations and displays in its network. Over 1,200 international and domestic advertisers had placed advertisements through its networks as of September 30, 2005. Target Media is one of the largest out-of-home flat panel display advertising network operators in China in terms of number of locations and number of flat-panel displays in its network. Both companies are based in Shanghai.
The Simpson Thacher team includes Chris Lin, Adam Furber, Anthony Choi, Daniel Fertig and Zhangming Pan in the Hong Kong office, and Patrick Naughton (M&A), Robert Holo and Thomas Gray (Tax) in the New York office.
Lawyers:
• Anthony Chung-In Choi
• Daniel Fertig
• Adam C. Furber
• Thomas Gray
• Robert E. Holo
• Chris K.H. Lin
• Patrick J. Naughton
• Zhengming Pan

01-18-2006

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