Net News
July 28, 2005
Recent developments of note in the Internet industry. This month:<p>Google Sued Over 'Click Fraud' in Web Ads <br>Tech Firms Call for Approval of Cybercrime Treaty <br>Commission Proposes Single Online Rights System
States Move Forward on Internet Sales Tax
July 28, 2005
Tax officials, state lawmakers and industry representatives agreed last month to establish an 18-state network for collecting taxes on Internet sales, a compact they hope will encourage online retailers and Congress to endorse a mandatory national program.
Better Safe Than Sorry
July 28, 2005
Information technology has become an invaluable business tool around the world. With it, business ' the traditional kind and those that operate over wires (and wirelessly) ' including law firms are able to increase efficiency and lower costs. After all, information technology is the gateway to one of the e-commerce sector's most important assets: Information. <br>But what happens when information cannot be trusted? When it is vulnerable and exposed to Internet threats? When information is secure, it is trustworthy; anything less than that, and it simply loses its value.
Remedying <i>Grokster</i>
July 28, 2005
Don't you hate it when you ask someone a question and, rather than answering it, they choose to answer a different one? Then you understand the frustration…
Should We All Move to Canada?
July 28, 2005
The high cost of prescription medications in the United States has been troubling health care providers and their patients for years. Physicians worry that it will do no good to prescribe a medication to someone who won't be able to afford to buy it, and patients who try to save money by taking less than the prescribed dose worry that that they're putting their health in danger. Any failed medical treatment that harms a patient is fertile ground for a lawsuit against the physician, even if he or she is not the one to blame. Should medical practitioners suggest imported drugs to their patients who might otherwise not be able to afford their prescribed medications?
Company E-mail and Employee Privacy: An Ongoing Oxymoron
July 28, 2005
Many observers have noted that e-mail use often replaces personal phone calls and for employers is a more efficient and less disruptive way for employees to maintain the personal and home contacts they need. The military and other agencies recognize that e-mail is a convenient way for troops to stay in touch with their families and have set up "cyber tents" where troops line up to log on. It is also clear, however, that damaging material carried by phone doesn't carry the risk that the same information poses when put in writing and sent electronically.
Hotline
July 28, 2005
This month: <p>Second Circuit defines standard for loss causation pleadings<br>SEC liberalizes the Quiet-Period rule<br>Employer recovers legal fees for frivolous portion of discrimination claim<br>D.C. Circuit directs SEC to reconsider mutual fund governance rule<br>
Assignee's Preference Avoidance Power
July 27, 2005
In <i>Sherwood Partners, Inc., Assignee for the Benefit of Creditors of International Thinklink Corporation v. Lycos, Inc.</i>, 394 F.3d 1198 (9th Cir. 2005), the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, by a divided court, recently held that a state statute authorizing an assignee for the benefit of creditors to void a preferential transfer is preempted by the federal Bankruptcy Code.
Cross-Border Disputes and the Potential for Resolution via Mediation
June 29, 2005
The world is rapidly becoming a smaller place in which to do business. And as international borders and boundaries become less of a barrier to business, participants in equipment leasing and finance find their world getting smaller, as well. "Globalization" is now an accepted and well-understood concept in most industries and markets, and it is no longer limited to large multinational corporations or institutions. With suppliers, vendors, and customers in many countries on several continents, all linked through the omnipresent Web and Internet, even small, independent businesses may successfully operate across borders.
Trademark Law Shapes Internet Pop-up Ads
June 28, 2005
Despite their negative public images, Internet pop-up ads and unsolicited commercial e-mail (spam) have transfigured marketing. Like spam, Internet pop-ups can be lawful if they are not deceptive.
