"Woefully outdated" trademark laws and insufficient safeguards in the online world could place major players in the corporate world at risk, according to a top information technology (IT) lawyer.
Rowena Bethel, a former advisor to the Ministry of Finance, is also an authority on e-commerce, information technology and telecommunications law and policy. She said crime perpetrated over the Internet is not uncommon, and despite this country's slower move into the online world, "it happens here more than we're aware of".
This week, Sunshine Holdings Limited, the parent company of Sunshine Finance Limited and Arawak Homes Limited, filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court calling for the immediate restraint of former employee Paul Shaw. According to court documents, Shaw transferred the rights to the company's websites to a third party, and has full access to hundreds of email accounts.
The defendant first joined the company in September 2000, and resigned in May of this year.
"This unlawful transfer of the plaintiff's domains is causing great damage to the plaintiff and has compromised the privacy of its employees' business correspondences," the document stated. "Additionally, the plaintiff has been
advised of the attack to the plaintiff's domains which leaves them vulnerable to pseudo-companies being established assuming the identity and emails of the employees of the plaintiff."
While not wishing to comment on this case specifically, Bethel told Guardian Business that issues concerning the registration of web domains can often be best described as "cyber squatting", rather than cyber crime.
The Bahamas has computer crime laws in the form of the Computer Misuse Act, she noted, but it does not have specific laws addressing this highly unique situation.
Speaking in general terms, Bethel explained that issues of cyber squatting can often hinge on whether the employee in question worked directly for the company or as a consultant. If the person worked as a consultant, the fine print of the contract and who owns the rights to the registered websites are crucial points to consider.
"Before you engage any IT services, seek out the assistance of a reputable IT law firm and people who specialize in advising in this type of arrangement and relationship. At some point, that relationship might come to an end, and there are sensitive issues at play," according to Bethel.
A "tight contract" is essential to ensure the safety of the corporation.
The e-commerce expert told Guardian Business that issues that deal with the online world are sometimes overlooked, especially in jurisdictions with less experience in the Internet. E-commerce "can have so much fine print", she explained, and close analysis must occur "because the risk can be so enormous".
In addition to the recent case concerning Sunshine Holdings Limited, the topic of security over the Internet is pertinent with the rise of an official e-commerce platform from Bank of The Bahamas (BOB).
Paul McWeeney, the managing director at BOB, has taken his time rolling out the platform, which is now expected to be imminent. The great concern for BOB has been testing the platform to ensure Bahamian businesses going online are protected and understand the risks.

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