Features
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
Web Arbitration Clause Before Purchase Does Not Cancel Unconscionability<br>Web Host Gets CDA Immunity for Alleged Defamatory Site Content <br>Game 'Cheat' Software Circumventing Security Does Not Violate DMCA<br>Late Option Exercise Under License Not Excused on Equitable Grounds <br>Print-on-Demand Publisher Not Liable for Alleged Defamatory Book
Third Quarter e-Commerce Report
The federal government's estimated third-quarter bricks-and-mortar retail and e-commerce retail spending are in. And there's good news and there's bad news.
New Settlements Suggest Online Retailers Should Focus on Web Site Accessibility
In the last few months, two major retailers ' Target and Apple ' have entered into settlements with the National Federation of the Blind ("NFB") over allegations that the retailers' Web sites violated the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") because they were not accessible to the blind.
Features
e-Curing the Holiday Humbug
Anyone trying to keep an e-commerce site afloat didn't ' and still doesn't ' need to read the newspaper to realize the business downturn: the grim news appears every day in the cash till, in the aging-of-receivables report, and in overdue payables. While the down times are as inevitable a part of a business cycle as the booming times, that realization doesn't satisfy the bank, the critical vendor at the door or the payroll processor that must be paid.
Features
Appellate Court Says Waiver Enforceable, Notwithstanding Statute
Many state franchise or distributor statutes contain provisions that purport to limit the enforceability of waivers or releases signed by dealers or franchisees. The restrictions on waivers are often justified on claimed "inequality of power" between the manufacturer or distributor and franchisee. One court recently struck a blow in favor of manufacturers and distributors in upholding a waiver even though part of the statute expressly referenced restrictions on certain waivers.
Features
Franchisors Must Prepare for Pending Introduction of New Top-Level Domains
In only a few short months, franchisors must choose whether to register a top-level domain (TLD) that corresponds with the franchisor's trademark or company name. Similar to current TLDs .com, .net, and .org, new TLDs like .hilton, .coke, or .merrilllynch will be available. A franchisor's choice must balance potentially significant commercial, advertising, and security opportunities with substantial financial and technological investment.
Peer-to-Peer May Share Some Nightmares
Unknown to corporate America, the popular peer-to-peer file-sharing networks that allow music and movies to be shared could be sharing something else with the public: company secrets and personal data.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.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 ›
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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 ›