LJN Newsletters

For the first time, a federal appellate court has held that online travel companies cannot be compelled to collect and pay local "bed" taxes on the rooms they sell to consumers. Similar disputes nationwide have been percolating through federal and state courts challenging the application of occupancy tax laws, written before online travel booking took off. The various suits sought payments from online firms.

An identifiable Internet speaker who sends an unlawful e-mail or posts an unlawful Internet message is subject to traditional litigation tactics. However, countless Internet speakers are not effortlessly identifiable. Hence, novel technical, administrative law and litigation tactics are advantageous for successfully curbing Internet defamation.

Generic, top-level domain names (gTLDs), such as .com or .net, are the sorters of the Internet. They serve the single purpose of identifying the database in which a domain name is registered. Last June, ICANN reversed its long-held position and announced that it would allow an unlimited number of generic top-level domains.

A federal law intended to restrict children's access to Internet pornography died quietly last month at the U.S. Supreme Court, more than 10 years after Congress overwhelmingly approved it. The Supreme Court rejected U.S. government prosecutors' last-ditch defense of COPA without comment, meaning that the law will not be enforced.

In December, the RIAA announced that it would no longer look to file suit against individual file sharers and instead form relationships with ISPs that maintain the online accounts of the consumers.

There is no shortage of e-discovery case-management tools on the market. Each has its unique strengths and shortcomings. Most applications provide a plethora of features for managing document workflows, searching the database, reviewing and coding documents and so on. But having the most features doesn't necessarily translate into the strongest solution. User-friendliness, customization and reviewer throughput speed are much more important than having the most "bells and whistles" or a zillion different functions.

The necessity for IT professionals to haul audio recordings into their general e-discovery process is gaining awareness because of situations that may ' at first glance ' appear harmless.

The Web browser has evolved into a platform for our digital lives, offering more interactivity while moving further beyond its passive browsing roots (i.e., checking e-mail, paying bills and balancing checkbooks, watching videos, social networking, playing games, networking and even managing a law practice). That is precisely the core of Google's new Web browser called Chrome.