On Cloud Computing, Search and Seizures of E-Data, Unbundling and Other Matters: Dr. Ramiscal with the DENR Lawyers (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

Last July 14, 2015, Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal was given the opportunity to grace the Nobel Peace Conference Hall of the ICON Hotel in West Avenue, Quezon City, to share his views and research on some legal and ethical matters that confront lawyers who are trying to establish their practice on the Internet, with the lawyers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau, organized by the UP Institute of Administration of Justice.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL at Nobel Peace Hall, DENR MCLE LECTURE JULY142015 Icon Hotel

In his Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) lecture entitled “The Legal and Ethical Quandaries of Cyber Lawyers”, Dr. Ramiscal apprised the lawyers present of the current trends in software and mobile applications that have an impact in a practitioner’s choice of conducting online legal business. Since the DENR is a huge government agency with vast data (hard and electronic) resources, a pressing need for this agency would be the appropriate storage and retrieval of its electronic data.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL DENRMCLE JULY142015 Introduction

Dr. Ramiscal confirmed that some of the lawyers know and already use some form of cloud computing services. He advised them that if this is going to be done on an agency basis, there must be an appropriate review and investigation of the Service Level Agreements (SLAs) proffered by cloud computing providers to the agency. He emphasized several areas that deserve scrutiny. The service provider’s “data retention and return policy” must be examined thoroughly and must meet the satisfaction of the agency, that in case of any security breach, or any legal issue that crops in connection with the e-data of the agency, the service provider must be able to return the custody and possession of the e-data to the agency. In line with this, the DENR should be able to know where the servers of the cloud computing provider are located. This is for the purpose of determining if there are possible conflicts of law in the states where those servers are located and with the Philippine laws.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL DENRMCLEJULY142015 WITH SOME LAWYERS

DR. ATTY.NOEL G. RAMISCAL DENRMCLEJULY142015 WITH SEVERAL LAWYERS

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL DENRMCLEJULY142015 WITH OTHER LAWYERS

A pressing matter in this regard, are the possible different laws and regulations on searches and seizures of electronic data, as well as the preservation and destruction of such e-data in the servers located in the different countries. Compounding the legal difficulty is the need to scrutinize the agreements between the cloud computing provider and third parties (e.g., the owners of the servers) that are pertinent to the safekeeping, custody and preservation of the agency’s e-data. Dr. Ramiscal emphasized that signing SLAs with cloud computing providers is not a simple legal and ethical matter, where the agency’s e-data is concerned. Lawyers must strive to competently give their agency the necessary legal advice when faced with the technical and legal realities of cloud computing.

Dr. Ramiscal also dealt with issues that are relevant to the individual practice of lawyers, outside of their responsibilities to their agency. Government lawyers are given limited right to practice their profession. In some cases, the only way to serve some clients is to “unbundle” the legal services. “Unbundling” is the mode of performing certain specific legal services for a client, on a matter that does not require the full representation of a lawyer. It could be the preparation of documents or certain applications that need legal assistance, but beyond that, the client is empowered (with advice from the attorney) to do the necessary succeeding acts. Of course, this is laden with ethical obligations that lawyers must comply to safeguard the interests of their clients.

Other concerns raised by the utilization of computer technology, internet innovations and social media for the work place and personal use were discussed by Dr. Ramiscal for the benefit of the DENR lawyers.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL DENRMCLEJULY142015 WITH IBM’S WATSON

He also apprised them of the latest trends in computer analytics that are now impacting the discovery of electronic evidence. These were made possible by the great strides made in the development of artificial intelligence, including IBM’s Watson, which pointed the way to the future of computer assisted reviews.

Dr. Ramiscal would like to thank the lawyers present who truly and graciously gave him their time of day and to the UP IAJ of course.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL MODELLING HIS OWN DESIGNED LEATHER BAG WITH DENR LAWYERS MCLEJULY142015

Delivering this lecture at the Nobel Peace Hall, at an “Icon”ic hotel, with a room of attentive and gorgeous lawyers, made Dr. Ramiscal feel as if he had won something!

“The Legal and Technological Developments in Cryptology” with the CDAS-ASEA (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

In the afternoon of July 9, 2015, Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal was escorted from Xavier University to the beautiful, wonderful and classy Chali Resort and Conference Center to lecture before a group of educators and administrators comprising the Council of Deans of Arts and Sciences, Arts and Sciences Educators’ Association Region 10 (CDAS-ASEA 10).

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDAS JULY92015 PRESENTATION

Since this is a body of academics from mostly the sciences, physics, mathematics, engineering and economics, Dr. Ramiscal’s talk on the “Legal and Technological Developments in Cryptology” aptly fitted into their program, arranged with unerring brilliance by Ms. Nathalie Igot, the CDAS-ASEA 10 Regional Coordinator and Dr. Rolito Ebaile, the CDAS-ASEA 10 Inc. President.

Dr. Ramiscal began his lecture with an exposition of different means and modes of hiding information from prying eyes and nefarious minds, concocted by humans in ancient times. He traced the development of codes from linguistic ones to the mechanical “bombes” developed during the Second World War and how the multidisciplinary field of cryptology arose with contributions from mathematics, quantum physics, quantum mechanics, biomolecular sciences and nanotechnology. While the D-Wave system is around, he apprised the educators of the most recent advances in the building of a true quantum computer that could be the real Achilles heel for any cryptography system that relies on the problem of factoring as the kernel of the system’s security. These included the study made in Yale University of tracking in real time quantum computing errors by the use of an ancilla atom, and the development by IBM of a four superconducting quantum bit circuit device built on a chip that can be used to address quantum decoherence.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDAS JULY92015 MEMBERS

Technological advancements like these when applied to practical devices can definitely have societal and legal impact on the security and privacy of information and the lives and freedoms of people who rely on these devices. Dr. Ramiscal explained the mechanisms under the Wassenaar Arrangement that are implemented by the States parties to the Arrangement to control and regulate the dissemination of, not only the technology but the knowledge surrounding the technology, to elements and entities within and outside these States that can potentially use them for criminal purposes. These have resulted in grave clashes between the State’s interest versus the human rights and academic freedoms of educators, students and those engaged in cryptological research. In the U.S.A. the unlicensed dissemination of cryptographic materials that exceed the minimum standards under the export controls is legally prohibited. In the U.K., the teaching of Physics by a teacher without any export license to a student from a country that is identified as a hotbed of terrorism can make the teacher liable under the U.K. Terrorism Law. In Australia, anyone who disseminates cryptologic knowledge in an online environment without any export license can be construed a supplier, exporter or provider of a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) if there are reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that the recipient of such knowledge will use it to build or assist in the building of a WMD.

While the Philippines is not (yet) a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement, Dr. Ramiscal delineated the relationship between this Arrangement with the Arms Trade Treaty that the Philippines signed in 2013. He discussed how cryptology is crucially connected with conventional weapons that this Treaty regulates and how that can impact the balance of power between States.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDAS JULY92015 SOME MEMBERS

Dr. Ramiscal talked at length about the importance of source code reviews for any ICT or security products that employ cryptologic features. He elucidated on what transpired during the 2010 and 2013 automated elections and the case rulings, highlighting certain matters that should be understood by the lay public, with respect to the procurement of the machines used in these elections and the nature of source code reviews. He also brought to the attention of the attendees certain issues that need to be threshed out in the Bitcoin online exchange sites in the Philippines, and the current e-Titling system being implemented by the Land Registration Authority, which relies on cryptography for its security.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDAS JULY92015 WITH MS. IGOT DR. EBAILE AND MEMBERS

Dr. Ramiscal is most grateful to the spirited and opinionated bunch of educators who raised a lot of pertinent questions during his lecture. Thank you again to Ms. Igot and Dr. Ebaile for giving Dr. Ramiscal this wonderful opportunity to share the fruits of his research! This was memorable for Dr. Ramiscal because this was the first time that he gave this lecture to a group of educators in the sciences, and the principles and findings he discussed apparently resonated with them.

Social Media Discovery in Cagayan De Oro (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal’s second MCLE lecture for the IBP Misamis Oriental Chapter, Cagayan de Oro (CDO) last July 8, 2015 revolved on the discovery of social media evidence. There is a growing trend in different jurisdictions around the world that puts social media data as an important source of proof for or against a party in almost all types of litigation. It was the perfect accompaniment for his first lecture which tackled the basic and some complex principles of electronic discovery on other pieces of electronic evidence.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY82015

Dr. Ramiscal began by giving a definition of social media and some statistics that put no doubt on the crucial importance of the usage of social media networks in the everyday lives of netizens. He gave several examples of online social networks (OSNs) and focused on the primary issues that affect their users legally.

OSNs like Facebook delineate content that is public and private, but these delineations are not markedly observed when it comes to criminal prosecutions or civil proceedings where the relevant content in a user’s private profile can be the subject of discovery. “Privacy” as a battle cry of embattled producing parties has been consistently shouted down by courts in the U.S., U.K., Europe and recently, even in the Philippines. The general jurisprudential trend is to deny any unqualified reasonable expectation of privacy even in private postings where the privacy of these postings has been compromised by the actuations of the user, or their Facebook “friends”. Dr. Ramiscal showed to the CDO lawyers certain techniques of e-discovery that they can employ to get the possibly incriminating content that could actually help them win their case.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE LECTURE JULY82015 SOCIAL MEDIA

Dr. Ramiscal then delved into evidentiary issues in the admissibility of social media evidence in court. He expostulated on the various objections that could be raised including authentication and hearsay issues and how to meet them.

Since social media data like all electronic data can be subjected to spoliation or destruction by the user, Dr. Ramiscal apprised the CDO lawyers of tactics they can use to prevent the spoliation of this type of evidence. He also explained the measures they can seek against parties who have actually destroyed these e-data and their counsels who may have actually advised them or contributed to the e-data’s destruction.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY82015 CDO SMILING LAWYERS

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY82015 LAWYERS

To round off his discussion, Dr. Ramiscal relayed to the CDO lawyers some legal tips in avoiding being placed in legal and ethical hot waters when it comes to approaching or “friending” any party related to any case they are involved in. Prudence, propriety and common sense are basically the rules of the day.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE LECTURE JULY 8 2015 WITH GORGEOUS CDO LAWYERS

To the attentive and most appreciative CDO lawyers who stayed through the duration of his second lecture, Dr. Ramiscal gives them his highest and warmest regards!

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE LECTURE JULY 8 2015 WITH ATTY. REY RAAGAS, IBP CHAP. PRES.

Thank you to the IBP Misamis Oriental Chapter, the IBP National, and Ms. Arguson, for inviting him to their truly grand and “bonggacious” event! Special thanks to Attys. Raagas, Nuñez, Cuaresma, and Muchisimas Gracias to Atty. Charmine Caminao for her kind support and beautiful and brilliant presence!

The State of E-Discovery of E-Evidence in the Philippines (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

When Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal was invited by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) National to deliver a couple of lectures for the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) seminar of the IBP Misamis Oriental Chapter in Cagayan De Oro City, he lost no time in saying yes. He was there in 2012 and delivered a MCLE lecture on Online Human Trafficking, and he remembered how friendly their reception was.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE LECTURE JULY82015 LECTURERS TABLE

As soon as he made his way to the Laguindingan Airport terminal, he was met by two very charming and generous lawyers, Attys. Ed Cuaresma and Janeth Nuñez, who were the welcoming party. He was billeted at the Mallberry Hotel which was quite contemporary and served good food. But the breadth and scope of the MCLE seminar held at the Grand Caprice Restaurant Hall took him by surprise. About two hundred seventy lawyers participated in the four day event, and this was one of the biggest gatherings of lawyers that Dr. Ramiscal was privileged to be part of.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY 8 2015 CDO LAWYERS

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY82015 LAWYERS WITH BABY

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY82015 MANY LAWYERS

To start his engagement, Dr. Ramiscal talked about the international developments pertaining to the development of standards concerning electronic discovery of electronic evidence.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE JULY82015 EDATA

Representatives from countries like the U.S., South Africa, Thailand, Europe, Canada are engaged in a continuing endeavour to formulate and fine tune these standards under the auspices of the International Standard Organization and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Unfortunately, the Philippines has not joined any of the deliberations of the body created by these two entities, and Dr. Ramiscal opined that because of this, important insights into the e-discovery processes are missed or not shared by Philippine stakeholders.

Dr. Ramiscal explained the state of e-discovery processes in the Philippines by going over the very small body of pertinent laws, cases and administrative issuances (including the Philippine Rules on Electronic Evidence which has not been revised since 2002) and remarked on their inadequacy in meeting the onslaught of litigation driven by discovery requests for electronic data. The understanding of the nature of e-data, the authentication of e-data, the processes required for discovering e-data and the judicial mechanisms for dealing with e-data in the Philippines are still in their nascent stages.

Dr. Ramiscal apprised the CDO lawyers of several technological and judicial trends in the U.S., which has the most sophisticated system of e-discovery that can be sources of guidance and illumination. He outlined the processes and remedies that parties seeking to discover e-data, and those that are required to produce e-data, may avail of, from the time a litigation hold is put in place, to the preservation of the e-data, up to the time the costs for e-discovery are figured out.

What is more, Dr. Ramiscal discussed specific types of e-data (e.g., text messages, digital photographs, websites and webshots, back-up tapes, metadata, etc.), the issues concerning their preservation, and later on, their presentation as evidence. Objections and concerns surrounding their admissibility, relevance, and security were addressed. Spoliation issues concerning the alteration, modification and destruction of e-data in the e-devices where they are located, that are required to be preserved, as well as the sanctions that could be sought against the responsible party were also dealt with. Dr. Ramiscal offered criticisms as well as suggestions and recommendations to the current rules of e-evidence some of which he viewed were based on an erroneous understanding of the technologies involved, and erroneously applied by the courts.

From the positive response of the lawyers present (the audience clapped six times at different points in the lecture), it was clear that they recognized the timeliness of revisiting and revising the Philippine Rules of Electronic Evidence to be accurate and responsive to e-discovery.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL CDO MCLE LECTUREJULY82015 WITH ATTY. RAAGAS

Heartfelt gratitude to the IBP Misamis Oriental Chapter, and its prosperous, enthusiastic members! Congratulations to Atty. Rey Raagas for being inducted as the President of this chapter, and all of its current officers! Thank you again to Attys. Nuñez and Cuaresma for their delightful company and to IBP National and Ms. Arguson for making this visit possible!

Addressing and Preventing the Quagmires of Virtual Law Practice by Law Firms: Dr. Ramiscal at the Villaraza & Angangco Law Office (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

One of the firms in the Philippines that certainly practice “Big Law” in a grand manner is the Villaraza and Angangco law firm with their own building at Global Fort City in Taguig. When Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal was invited to give a Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) lecture for the lawyers of this firm through the UP Institute of Administration of Justice last June 27, 2015, he lost no time in revamping his cyberethics presentation to cover the concerns of virtual practice by law firms. This is the second time he gave a lecture for this firm, the first being in 2013, and as always, it was a pleasant experience. The Rainmaker’s Lounge

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL MCLEJUNE272015 Lecture for the Villaraza & Angangco Law Firm

where the lecture series were held was certainly tasteful and elegant. He felt at home with all the native jewelry pieces that were on display and the grand piano with the plush leather seat that he occasionally sat on during his lecture. A bronzed sculpted figure of Justice witnessed the proceedings.

Dr. Ramiscal focused his lecture on the legal and possible ethical quagmires law firms may face in the possibility of expanding their practice online. He gave examples of models of multi-jurisdictional virtual law firms (MJVLFs), some of which do not maintain any physical site or office and how they have managed to compete with the so-called “Big Law” firms. These MJVLFs are transforming the scape of legal practice with their innovative solutions to lowering the costs of access to law, without sacrificing the quality of service. Some of these firms do not hire associates, or as one put it “inexperienced lawyers” to handle client matters. These firms turn to technology solutions to answer the general needs of their clients, particularly in the creation, revision and storage of legal documents for different types of cases (See Vlotech, Directlaw, Rapidoc). Some of these firms have devoted client extranets with distinct features custom made for the needs of their clients, and some outsource messaging services (Ruby Secretary). Several firms use the portals of virtual worlds to render service or to attract clients. One such virtual world is “Second Life” where some lawyers and law firms from all over the physical world have converged to create and explore ways of practising law beyond what was thought possible several years ago.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL MCLEJUNE172015 Lecture with other Villaraza & Angangco lawyers

Another major development that has arisen to answer the need for accountability in the legal industry for professional fees billed by law firms is the development of several software solutions (e.g. Rocket Matter and ViewaBill) that make the process of billing transparent to clients. Some of these are also used by in-house counsel to determine the reasonability of fees charged by outside counsel or consultant (e.g. SkyAnalytics).

All MJVLFs rely on some form of service offered by cloud computing providers, be it in the form of Infrastructure as a Service, or Platform as a Service, or Software as a Service. While cloud computing brings a lot of benefits, the possible breach of confidentiality in the privileged communications between lawyers and their clients in the documents stored in the cloud is a primary issue that no Philippine lawyer can afford to ignore. Dr. Ramiscal delineated the issues that lawyers should investigate before they sign any service license agreement with any cloud computing provider, for their benefit and the benefit of their clients.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL MCLEJUNE272015 Lecture with the Villaraza & Angangco lawyers

The ease by which services can be accessed by clients from all over world via legal websites have made it also easier to facilitate and commit unauthorized practice of law (UPL). With the current move of standardizing credentials of professionals across different parts of the world, thereby making it possible to practice in different countries, the impact of this to the legal profession has not truly been studied in any comprehensive manner by any Philippine entity. While the still ineffective Cybercrime Prevention Act makes it seemingly simple to file cases against foreign lawyers whose acts of UPL amount to crimes in (the yet to be established) Philippine cybercrime courts, it is by no means settled if any judgment or order could be enforced against these lawyers in different jurisdictions. The difficulty becomes exacerbated with the rise of MJVLFs and the various ethical rules in countries that are affected by the acts of these errant lawyers.

These, and many other issues of significance to MJVLFs were discussed by Dr. Ramiscal to an appreciative and classy bunch of lawyers. Many thanks to the gracious V & A partners with whom Dr. Ramiscal had lunch with: Attys. Augusto San Pedro, Franchette Acosta, Juanito Sañosa, Thea Daep and Sylvette Tankiang, and the vivacious associates.

Navigating the Virtual Ethical Issues of Legal Practice for Cyberlawyers: On Online Advertising of Legal Services, etc. (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

Since Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal came back to the Philippines the second time in 2007, he has been advocating for the review and revision of several rules contained in the Rules of Court and the Code of Professional Responsibility for Lawyers concerning the practice of law as it pertains to cyberspace. In his June 23, 2015 Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) lecture for the University of the Philippines Institute of Administration of Justice in Jorge Bocobo Hall, UP Law Center, Dr. Ramiscal apprised the lawyers of recent developments in other jurisdictions that involve the utilization of internet tools and innovations of lawyers as they impact on their online practice.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL MCLEJUNE232015 Lecture at UP Law Center

The thrust of the lecture were concerns that solo practitioners have to be aware of so that they can have some form of guideline as they navigate the uncertain virtual world, especially because the Philippine Supreme Court had not issued rules concerning the various aspects of virtual law practice.

Dr. Ramiscal discussed several models of practising law on a virtual scale that Philippine lawyers can consider as well as technological solutions they can employ for the benefit of their clients and themselves. He will blog about these solutions in his upcoming blogs.

One important issue that virtual practitioners must consider, especially in the Philippines are the current restrictions on legal advertising and the rule on malpractice.

In Ulep v. The Legal Clinic, Inc., Bar Matter No. 553 June 17, 1993, the Supreme Court held that news/paper advertisements of “The Legal Clinic” that included these:

SECRET MARRIAGE?
P560.00 for a valid marriage.
Info on DIVORCE. ABSENCE.
ANNULMENT. VISA.

and

GUAM DIVORCE.

DON PARKINSON
an Attorney in Guam, is giving FREE BOOKS on Guam Divorce through The Legal Clinic beginning Monday to Friday during office hours.
Guam divorce. Annulment of Marriage. Immigration Problems, Visa Ext. Quota/Non-quota Res. & Special Retiree’s Visa. Declaration of Absence. Remarriage to Filipina Fiancees. Adoption. Investment in the Phil. US/Foreign Visa for Filipina Spouse/Children.

were held to be violative of the Code of Professional Responsibility which provides that “a lawyer in making known his legal services shall use only true, honest, fair, dignified and objective information or statement of facts….A lawyer shall not pay or give something of value to representatives of the mass media in anticipation of, or in return for, publicity to attract legal business.”

In the case of Director of Religious Affairs. vs. Estanislao R. Bayot, the Supreme Court held that “It is highly unethical for an attorney to advertise his talents or skill as a merchant advertises his wares. Law is a profession and not a trade. The lawyer degrades himself and his profession who stoops to and adopts the practices of mercantilism by advertising his services or offering them to the public.”

Much of the rules on legal advertising that had been in place in the Philippines were adopted from several earlier Anglo-American rules on advertising and they had not been revised by the Philippine Supreme Court since the Code of Professional Responsibility had been promulgated in June 21, 1988.

The Philippine Supreme Court stance on legal advertising does not give Philippine lawyers much room to express themselves. In the Bates v. State Bar of Arizona [433 U.S. 350 (1977)], the U.S. Supreme Court observed that “the ban on advertising originated as a rule of etiquette and not as a rule of ethics. Early lawyers in Great Britain viewed the law as a form of public service, rather than as a means of earning a living, and they looked down on “trade” as unseemly. Eventually, the attitude toward advertising fostered by this view evolved into an aspect of the ethics of the profession”. The irony is, as this became an ethical rule, members of the general public, (not the well-heeled gentry and elite who know and have contacts with lawyers), whom lawyers sought to serve generally had no access to information about lawyers and their services. The Bates case brought to the attention of the U.S. Supreme Court the unnecessary restrictions placed on lawyer advertisements and the consequent ignorance of the general populace about lawyer’s services and its deleterious effects on the access to, and knowledge of, legal rights and dispensation of justice. Mindful of these, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional a blanket ban on price advertising of legal services as an invalid restriction on the lawyers’ freedom of expression, and reasoning that such advertisement does not constitute an erosion of the dignity and quality of the profession but contributes to the general elucidation of the public, and ease whatever fear the members may have of the legal process and the costs of the services. Almost three decades after such decision, the ruling has essentially been observed.

With the advent of the Internet and social media, the limitations on the right to advertise one’s legal services continue to be explored, tried and tested, particularly in the U.S., where most of the social media companies are headquartered.
Dr. Ramiscal presented several issues concerning the mechanisms for the approval of legal ads in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even in “deals of the day” services like Group-on.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL June232015 UP IAJ Lecture with some of the lawyers who attended

He delved on the ethical placement of lawyer profiles in Martindale-Hubbell, the oldest lawyer-listing service in the U.S. which has existed for over a hundred years, and which has expanded to the Internet. Dr. Ramiscal discussed the case involving the legality of an online referral service which sells blocks of zip codes to lawyers, and in return they are given all the queries and potential legal business submitted to such service, which correspond to the zip codes they purchased. He also discussed the different treatments of several states concerning online rating services like the “Super Lawyers” and the “Best Lawyers” of America. Only one U.S. jurisdiction, New Jersey, outrightly bans the purported “self-aggrandizing” import of these titles. But other jurisdictions allow the advertisement of lawyers with the designation “Super Lawyer” or “Best Lawyer” if done with disclaimers. And in some states, such designations are allowed when they were not arbitrarily given or bought by the lawyer, and instead are backed up by legitimate peer review processes that are transparent and made known to the public by the evaluators. There is no question that online rating services like “Super Lawyers” and “Best Lawyers” have peer review processes that would qualify under these standards, giving their ratings credibility.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL MCLEJUNE232015 UP IAJ lecture with some of the lawyers present

These, as well as other ethical and legal issues involving the practice of law in cyberspace were tackled by Dr. Ramiscal, which unfortunately, the Philippine Supreme Court has yet to address. Dr. Ramiscal trusts that his lecture provided some useful guidelines and principles lawyers can incorporate in their professional practice. Thank you to the animated, gorgeous and warm group lawyers that attended, and in particular to Attys. Percival Cortez, Isabel Florin, Fe Arche Mandez, Omar Papandayan, and Pete Maniego. Thanks and congratulations to Atty. Tess Granados for passing the bar examinations in California, for her daughter passing the Philippine 2014 bar examinations, and for her partner husband being honoured (and deservedly so) as a “Super Lawyer” in California!

The Importance of Cryptology in Digital Society: Dr. Noel G. Ramiscal at the Xavier University (Copyright by Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal)

Dr. Atty. Noel G. Ramiscal’s odyssey in Cagayan De Oro City continued in July 9, 2015 at the Xavier University, Ateneo De Cagayan, where he was invited to speak before the students and some faculty members of the Philippine History and Political Science Department. Dr. Ramiscal’s lecture on “Cryptology” is part of a lecture series organized by Asst. Lecturer Mr. Luke Igot, who handles the course on “Philippine Politics and Diplomacy”.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL JULY92015 XAVIER UNIVERSITY PRESENTATION

Dr. Ramiscal gave the students an overview of the historical and scientific developments of cryptology as they evolved on two fronts: cryptography (the discipline concerned with encrypting data) and cryptanalysis (the discipline of decrypting encrypted data). Cryptology has one of the most controversial lineage and paths amongst the scientific and academic disciplines. Its development has been marred and marked by the destruction of cryptological knowledge acquired during World War II at Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom by the order of its government and the discrimination against one of the most brilliant mathematicians/cryptologists that ever lived, Alan Turing, whose homosexuality led to his persecution, criminal prosecution and to his suicide. Turing invented the “Turing machine” which was the forerunner of the modern day computer, and he is now posthumously recognized as the founder of Computer Science.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL JULY92015 XAVIER UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Dr. Ramiscal showed the students the foundational principles of cryptology in the age of quantum computing and nanomolecular cryptology. He explained the importance of the 2002 breakthrough quantum computer developed by the IBM which determined the factors of 15 as 3 and 5, as well as the nanomolecular computer developed by the Tecnion Insitute in Israel.

Since the students’ course has an international law component, Dr. Ramiscal discussed the developments of the Wassenaar Arrangement which is an informal agreement between 41 states to regulate the dissemination of cryptologic knowledge and technologies to forces and elements that might use such knowledge to commit acts of terrorism.

On the other side of the equation, Dr. Ramiscal also discussed how cryptology has evolved to protect the privacy of information, as well as the rights and interests of individuals and entities over the information that could secure their lives and liberties. He gave some examples of how the technology of cryptology had been used to expose the oppression and tyranny committed by States against their own citizens.

In concluding his lecture, Dr. Ramiscal delved on the legal issues concerning the source codes of the automated election system (AES) machines that were utilized in the past two electronic elections in the Philippines and explained certain matters that all concerned members of the electorate (including these voting students) must know in the midst of so many prevarications of facts and truth, particularly the review of the AES machines’ source codes.

DR. ATTY. NOEL G. RAMISCAL JULY92015 XAVIER UNIVERSITY ATENEO DE CAGAYAN WITH MR. LUKE IGOT

Dr. Ramiscal would like to thank Mr. Igot, for his creative and far-seeing approach to the course, which allows different experts in various fields to share their knowledge and research with the students on areas that have far-reaching impact on Philippine politics and economy. Dr. Ramiscal trusts that the students picked up certain useful insights or facts from his disquisition. It was truly a pleasure and a privilege to do this lecture for the Xavier University students.