Anti-Spyware Consortium Crumbles
February 24, 2005
The Consortium of Anti-Spyware Technology vendors (COAST) has lost its founding members, putting the group's future into question.
Publius, RIP?
February 24, 2005
In a classic New Yorker cartoon, the caption reads: "On the Internet, no one knows you're a dog." Not so. Whether you're spouting off your views about the latest episode of "Desperate Housewives" on a fan Web site, complaining about your sinking stock portfolio on a Yahoo message board or, in the case of a Texas man recently, castigating your local politicians for misspending taxpayer dollars, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) knows you're not a dog. And it knows your name, address and telephone number.
Defining Political Spam
February 24, 2005
The Internet has radically altered the nature of communication in the United States. Its effects on the American political campaigns are dramatic, as demonstrated during the most recent political campaign season where it played a decisive factor in several election victories. The Internet offers candidates the opportunity to contact a million votes for about $100 when using unsolicited bulk e-mails, often called spam. Under the First Amendment, political spam is generally lawful; however its use as a fundraising and other specific types of communication may cause legal difficulties. <br>By sending out unsolicited bulk e-mails, candidates sent information to millions of voters with the click of a button. Some see political spam as another nuisance, no different than commercial spam or junk mail. Others find political spam to be a form of speech. In particular, they find political spam to be protected speech.
High Court Ethereality
February 24, 2005
I first started covering the U.S. Supreme Court just over 5 years ago. As measured in High Court years, that's barely a nanosecond-everything there moves…
Franchise Litigation: 10 Cases That Changed the Landscape in the Past Decade
February 24, 2005
<i>Armstrong Business Services, Inc., et al., Appellants v. H & R Block, et al.,</i> Bus. Franchise Guide (CCH) '12,485, 96 S.W.3d 867 (Mo. App. 2002). The Armstrong case involved H&R Block franchisees who sued their franchisor for, among other things, encroaching upon the franchisees' territories through the franchisor's Internet business. H&R Block then filed a counterclaim, alleging that all of the franchisees' franchise agreements were terminable at will by Block.
Protecting Internet Communications
February 24, 2005
Law firms use Internet technology to communicate in ways that were not possible 10 years ago. <br>This boon in client-to-counsel and internal firm communications has allowed lawyers to share information as never before. But, more important, the technology associated with the Internet allows law firms direct control over Net communications because they own the individual networks that allow information to be shared, a situation that brings increased liability for copyright infringement, unless firms comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The good news for practitioners is that compliance requires little investment of time or money. Similarly, e-mail protection is readily available at little or no additional cost.
Markmatching: A Legal Primer On Using Trademarks For Contextual Advertising
February 24, 2005
Consider this tempting business scenario: Your e-commerce marketing manager has a new, and effective, method to drive traffic to the company Web site ' purchase your competitors' trademarks as keywords to match Internet users' searches to a "sponsor" listing for your company. The sweet spot of the proposal is that as a sponsor, your listing will appear before all other relevant search results. That will give your company an advantage over competitors. <br>So, do you tell your manager to purchase third-party trademarks as keywords? And how have the courts dealt with this situation in this country and abroad? Most important in advising e-commerce clients, though, is this consideration: How can you reduce risks associated with buying third-party trademarks as keywords?
The Tax Collector e-Cometh?
February 24, 2005
Collecting taxes from remote sellers has long plagued tax collectors ' in fact, since well before e-commerce of any kind came onto the scene. On the seller side, everyone ' catalog and mail-order merchants, as well as e-commerce sites ' would all welcome relief from managing the rules of more than 7,500 taxing jurisdictions. <br>Many years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked states from requiring sellers to collect and turn over sales tax, unless the seller has sufficient in-state presence. But e-commerce has called new and very visible attention to the problem.
In the Spotlight: Internet Technologies Meet HVAC Components
February 24, 2005
Internet technologies are poised to revolutionize the heating, ventilation and air conditioning industry by enabling HVAC components to communicate not only with each other but with other building systems controls as well, and even with the enterprise business systems that have become essential to running large corporations, nonprofits and agencies.
