Features
Marketplace Fairness Act May Help Clear Muddy Tax Waters
With my mom probably one of only a handful of people who haven't made an Internet purchase, I think it is fair to say that we have all seen certain online retailers almost bragging that there is no sales tax on merchandise ordered from their e-store. The first question this raises is whether the "qualifying order" language refers to the shipping, the sales tax or both.
Features
Law by the Numbers
Every law firm is a business and every business should know where it's going. Lawyers who understand statistical analysis of their firm's operation can explore operating efficiencies, gauge the firm's performance relative to its financial goals, and better assess and reflect value to clients in their bills.
Features
Proposed Law Aims to Give More Privacy to e-Mail
Several of the largest technology and Internet companies have joined forces with conservative and liberal organizations in a show of solidarity for a proposed amendment to The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA).
Features
Earn-Out Payments In <i>Rock Band</i> Video Game at Issue in Delaware Case
Attorneys for Viacom International Inc. told the Delaware Supreme Court in oral arguments in July that their client did not breach the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing when it failed to renegotiate an agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) to distribute the video game <i>Rock Band</i>, thereby reducing the earn-out payments to shareholders of the game's developer, Harmonix Music Systems Inc., which merged with the Viacom entertainment conglomerate in 2006.
Columns & Departments
Cameo Clips
Elton John Song "Nikita" Not Substantially Similar to Plaintiff's Composition "Natasha" <br>Use of Faulkner Quote in Woody Allen Film Isn't Copyright Infringement
Features
Rader's Olive Branch: <i>Ultramercial II</i> Resolves the Judicial Deadlock of <i>CLS Bank</i>
The Federal Circuit's <i>en banc</i> decision in <i>CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp.</i> was roundly criticized as a "nightmare," further cementing the impression that the court was confused and in conflict over the requirements of patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C '101.
Features
Federal Healthcare Employer Mandate Delayed: Now What?
With a one-year reprieve from the implementation of the employer mandate under the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA), announced by the Obama Administration in early July, franchisees and small franchisors can breathe a sigh of relief.
Features
Second Circuit Won't Rehear <i>Aereo</i> Case
Aereo, the online service that captures over-the-air broadcasts of copyrighted TV programming and sells them to subscribers for a monthly fee, notched another victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Features
Partly Cloudy with a Chance of Sanctions
The legal industry always seems to be late in keeping up with ever-evolving business technology. The lag has little to do with the business of law, and everything to do with the restrictive ethics rules that govern all aspects of the practice. Like those of us practicing in the '90s, today's practitioners are grappling with the ethical uses of yet another technological advance which is being adopted across the business world: The Cloud.
Features
Technology-Assisted Review
Technology-Assisted Review (TAR) is clearly a hot topic in eDiscovery circles right now. A quick Google search certainly confirms that premise, and reinforces that organizations are looking for new answers to the most expensive aspect of eDiscovery.
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- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
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