Lots of people do not realize that, technological innovation misuse can often be handled in both civilian law court and criminal court. The procedure and purpose for using each law court is various and you may achieve various outcomes depending upon which law court you remain in. What are the fundamental distinctions in criminal and civic court cases? In criminal court, the case is filed by the community or local prosecutor and the function is to penalize the abuser for breaking the law, which might lead to prison time. In civic cases, the case is submitted by you (the victim) or your attorney and the purpose is typically to have the abuser pay you for damages that his/her habits triggered you. In domestic cases, you are not asking the judge to send out the abuser to prison for his/her behavior (despite the fact that the abuser’s behavior might be a criminal activity in your territory). In some scenarios, there might be both local and criminal cases taking place at the same time or close in time based on the abusive habits. For instance, in 2008, Erin Andrews, a commentator on ESPN, was stalked by a man who recorded her in her hotel room through a peephole. A year later on, the stalker was founded guilty of stalking in criminal court and sentenced to over 2 years in jail. Five years later on, Erin Andrews successfully took legal action against the stalker (in addition to the hotel and others) in municipal court for resources damages based upon negligence, intrusion of personal privacy, and emotional distress. It might not always be clear what legal alternatives are offered to you and so it’s important to seek advice from a lawyer who is well-informed about the laws surrounding technological innovation misuse.

One way to address the misuse of technology can be through the domestic court system. To file a lawsuit in civic court, you can utilize an attorney or file on your own. You (the victim) can sue for money damages for things like lost salaries, loss of your job, emotional discomfort and suffering, damage to yours reputation, and even punitive damages (to penalize the offender). If your damages are below a specific amount, you may be able to submit by yourself in small claims court. In some states, if you were the victim of the criminal activity of disclosure of intimate images, the law may permit you to take legal action against the person who discloses or uses the image for damages that increase every day the abuser is in violation of the law. You can learn more about the option of taking legal action against an abuser in municipal court by reading our Suing an Abuser for Money webpage and selecting your area from the drop-down menu. You can also ask the court to release an order (often called an injunction or a containing order) in which the judge orders the defendant to stop doing specific things (like sending out pictures of you to others) or to force him/her to do certain actions (such as turning or ruining over images). Containing orders may be a legal remedy for victims experiencing numerous kinds of abuse including modern technology (and not just for nonconsensual image sharing cases) depending on your jurisdiction’s legal definition of domestic violence.

There also might be other important domestic legal choices to think about in technology-related abuse cases, specifically those that deal with the sharing of images of you without your approval. In a local claim, it may be possible for you to request– and for a judge to order– that the defendant sign over any copyright ownership of the images to you (the victim). For advice on whether or not you may have a valid legal claim to get the copyright of any images taken of you, please consult with an attorney who is educated about copyright law and technology abuse. More information is available, when you need it, simply click on the hyperlink here all frequency jammer ..!

Another method to attend to modern technology misuse is through the criminal court system. In the criminal law system, cases are filed by the territory district attorney (also called the district attorney or chief law officer in some regions) based upon infractions of region criminal law. (Or if a federal law is violated, the federal district attorney would be the one to submit the case.) Typically, when you call 911 or go to the cops department to file a criminal problem, the authorities will do an investigation and if there is “likely cause” to make an arrest and adequate evidence to prosecute, the abuser may be charged with a crime. To see a list of some typical criminal activities in your jurisdiction, specifically those that include modern technology abuse, go to our Crimes resource and enter your place in the drop-down menu.

One important distinction in between a criminal and domestic case is that in a criminal case, the prosecutor is the one who decides whether or not to submit the criminal case versus the abuser and whether or not to withdraw the criminal charges. When a criminal case has been filed, if you later decide that you do not desire the case to continue (you wish to “drop the charges”), the prosecutor does not have to drop the case, because the district attorney is not “your attorney. It depends on the prosecutor whether to continue the case or not. You do not always have the very same ability to start or dismiss a case in criminal court of justice the method you may be able to in municipal law court.

Absolutely nothing is more important than your security and your wellness. If you are being abused or stalked by somebody who is misusing technological innovations, it will be very important to analyze methods to increase your security and privacy that take that modern technology into factor to consider. Considering that modern technology is constantly changing and the application of laws in this area are still developing, there could be scenarios where the existing law may not resolve precisely what is taking place. Nevertheless, the majority of acts of misusing technological innovations for the functions of harassment, stalking, and abuse are unlawful.

Even if you are not able to or select not to seek defense, damages, or other forms of justice in civil or criminal court, you can still make a plan for your safety and get help to deal with the psychological injury that you might experience. See our Safety Planning resource to learn more on methods to increase your security. You can contact your local electronic cyber stalker company for extra help creating a security strategy or for other help and more practical resources available to you about technological innovations criminal activities and its misuse and increasing your privacy and safety on the internet.