Hoping to Write a Happy Ending On Google Books
In April, when the federal judge overseeing the settlement involving Google's online book search service gave authors four more months to opt in to, or out of, the deal, many copyright insiders were surprised. Not Allan Adler. For Adler, vice president for legal affairs at the Association of American Publishers ("AAP"), U.S. District Court judge Denny Chin's decision to delay what was a May deadline until September marked just another twist on a long, bumpy road.
Internet Child Porn Search Is 'Knowing Possession' in PA
Searching for child pornography on the Internet and following links to make such images appear on a computer screen constitutes knowing possession or control of that material, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled.
Features
Ninth Circuit Finds No First Amendment Violation in Teacher's Demotion over Blog Comments
Delivering a blow to bloggers' rights, a federal appeals court has ruled that a Washington state teacher's blog attacking co-workers, the union and the school district was not protected speech, and therefore she was not unlawfully demoted over it.
Virtual Contacts and Personal Jurisdiction
This article analyzes how courts are handling jurisdictional questions attendant to the next generation of technology, such as forms of "cloud computing," including virtual data rooms and social networks. As these technologies continue to develop and opportunities arise to increase revenue, companies risk having to defend themselves in far-off jurisdictions never before contemplated.
Features
Rocket Matter: Case Management for the Small Firm
What attorneys are missing is a brand new class of case management programs which, while they seek to replace older programs, also seek to solve many of the concerns law firms face when dealing with digital client data: security, mobile access and backup. As one of the newcomers to this market, Rocket Matter has embraced the new Software as a Service ("SaaS") model of delivering software from the Internet Cloud.
Features
KM Implementation At Reed Smith
Despite the fact that our total data creation had increased exponentially, Reed Smith hadn't invested nearly enough in our information infrastructure, and simple processes such as document retrieval were taking far too long. We knew we needed to take control of our data before it took hold of us. Following is an account of the firm's recent implementation of Recommind's MindServer Search platform as the foundation for its Knowledge Management infrastructure.
Features
New Document Metadata Changes In Microsoft Office 2007
The document metadata contained in a Word document other than the intended text doesn't necessarily create risk of adverse disclosure, because some document metadata is necessary for formatting or macro automation of the document. However, some document metadata, such as Tracked Changes, may be used to share among cooperators, but should not be shared with adversaries or in some instances clients, because it contains author and date metadata.
Features
Addressing Generational 'Tech Gaps' for More Efficient, Effective Legal Practice
One way legal practices are trying to handle cutbacks is through increased use of technology ' essentially harnessing software and online technology to make employees and operations more efficient while maintaining quality work. Working with IT colleagues, this has proven to be a successful strategy for many lawyers. However, it turns out there are some rather sharp differences in how technology is perceived and used by legal professionals among different generations. These differences, or "generational gaps," can lead to issues in the workplace between colleagues, as well as less efficient use of time and resources by law firm or company employees. Naturally, each of these concerns is amplified given difficult economic circumstances.
e-Commerce Notes
FTC Issues over $12 Million In Redress Checks to Victims of '90 Credit Fraud<br>FTC Tells the House About ID-Theft Efforts<br>FTC Mission Statutes Involving Online Commerce<br>Firm Web Site Receives ABA Branding Accolade<br>Discovery Organization Launches Job Project
CAN-SPAM Pre-empts California Spam Law
A Los Angeles judge, ruling on a case of first impression, recently found that the federal CAN-SPAM Act pre-empts a California law designed to curb false and misleading commercial e-mails.
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- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- 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 ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›