Information Technology & Communications

Experience and Understanding Rapid change and innovation are at the heart of the IT and communications industry sector. Product cycles are growing shorter. Competition is fierce. You deal with these by sourcing supplies — and even production capacity — in new locales. Integrating technologies and systems, sometimes unproven, always evolving. You are constantly restructuring, resizing and adapting. At SLSP, we have lawyers who are truly focused on the legal and commercial business needs of IT and communications businesses. We are equipped to help you set up businesses in this sector, and to assist you, with in-depth, on-the-ground local knowledge to support your ongoing legal needs.

How We Can Help • Mergers and acquisitions • Corporate finance, including securities, private equity and corporate venturing • Systems procurement • Complex technology licensing • Outsourcing transactional and advisory services. • Legal compliance, including privacy/data protection, information security and record retention as well as industry-specific and public company requirements. • Employment • Tax planning, including transfer pricing and both direct and indirect taxation • E-business advice and contracts • Intellectual property and content clearance, registration and enforcement • Litigation, arbitration and mediation, including Technology disputes • Real estate and site issues • Regulatory advice • Broadcasting/Satellite and digital terrestrial agreements

Information Technology From Every Perspective When things go wrong with IT, they often go wrong spectacularly. Business-critical functions fail. Products are delivered late — or not at all. Customers complain. Costs mount. Competitors move in. That's when you learn that agreements can be flawed. Documentation is inadequate. Critical issues are not covered. You discover that you have managed the contract poorly, compromising rights you never knew you had. Find yourself in this position, and our IT disputes expertise can help you. But wouldn't it be better to get things right the first time? At SLSP, we know intimately the different sides of the local IT equation. Our Information Technology lawyers can help you see what you are getting into and what the other side is getting out of. That's just the start. We also can advise you on laws and regulations relating to IT use, including privacy, security, e-commerce and more.

How We Can Help • Procurement — Systems, hardware and software procurement, integration and maintenance agreements. • Data processing — Agreements dealing with data processing, Internet connectivity and data networking. • Outsourcing — Outsourcing of IT and other services including business processes such as accounts receivable or payroll. • IT joint ventures — IT joint ventures and IT aspects of mergers and acquisitions. • Agreement negotiations — Agreements dealing with IT/Communications packages such as the delivery of content to mobile devices. • Intellectual property issues — Intellectual property rights in software, hardware, databases and other technologies. • E-commerce and online communications — Cross-border data transfers, e-tax issues and on-line advertising. • Security — System and network security, data protection, authentication, integrity and confidentiality. • Privacy issues — Development of privacy policies and audits, compliance and risk management. • Disputes — Management of disputes related to everything we've mentioned, from systems agreements to complex e-commerce transactions.

Information Technology Privacy Practice SLSP helps companies create practical and strategic solutions to the challenges posed by the increasingly complex range of privacy and data protection laws. Our privacy practitioners’ help clients operate seamlessly by developing policies and practices that meet global data protection compliance regulations. Our privacy attorneys counsel clients on a wide variety of privacy compliance programs, including: • Privacy audits • Development of company privacy policies • Compliance and risk management programs • Privacy training resources • Localizing contractual terms to help protect personal information.