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ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

House Panel Clears Anti-Internet Gambling Bill Last month, a U.S. House committee approved a bill aimed at stifling the $12 billion Internet gambling industry by prohibiting businesses from accepting credit cards and other forms of payment. The bill, endorsed by voice vote in the House Financial Services Committee, would enjoin a gambling business from accepting credit cards, checks, wire transfers and electronic funds transfers in illegal gambling transactions. …

Features

U.S. Supreme Court Settles Whether Illegality Claims Go to Arbitrator Image

U.S. Supreme Court Settles Whether Illegality Claims Go to Arbitrator

Charles G. Miller

Until the recent decision in <i>Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna</i>, 126 S.Ct. 1204 (Feb. 21, 2006), there was some uncertainty as to how claims of illegality would fare against attempts to enforce arbitration agreements. The decision did not turn on whether the contract was void or voidable, as did earlier lower court decisions, but simply on whether the illegality claim was directed to the underlying contract or the arbitration clause itself. Relying on <i>Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood &amp; Conklin Mfg. Co.</i>, 388 U.S. 395 (1967), the Court treated the illegality claim in the same manner as a claim of fraud in the inducement and held that 'unless the challenge is to the arbitration clause itself, the issue of the contract's validity is considered by the arbitrator in the first instance.' 126 S.Ct. at 1206.

Features

Mixed Reviews For Blogging Law Professors Image

Mixed Reviews For Blogging Law Professors

Leigh Jones

As more law professors are tapping away at their computers on blogs that cover everything from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to the death penalty, they also may be chipping away at the ivory tower.<br>An increasing number of law professors are using blogs ' online journals or newsletters ' to break free from traditional modes of legal scholarship. With an immediacy and ability to reach millions of readers, blogs are proving an attractive vehicle among legal scholars for spouting and sharing ideas.<br>But they are also raising concerns that they may lead to a 'dumbing down' of the profession.

Downloading Copyrighted Songs Is Not 'Fair Use' Image

Downloading Copyrighted Songs Is Not 'Fair Use'

Leslie Gordon Fagen, Andrew G. Gordon & Darren W. Johnson

In an important decision interpreting the fair use provision of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. '107), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently held that downloading full copies of copyrighted material without compensation to authors cannot be deemed 'fair use.' In <i>BMG Music v. Gonzalez</i>, Judge Frank H. Easter-brook, writing for a unanimous three-judge panel, rejected the defendant's argument that she was immune from liability because she was merely sampling songs that she had downloaded from the KaZaA file-sharing network on a 'try-before-you-buy basis.'

Features

The Use Of Trademarks To Trigger Internet Advertising Image

The Use Of Trademarks To Trigger Internet Advertising

Jason D. Sanders

On Feb. 7, 2006, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment of trademark infringement in favor of manufacturers of tanning lotions against several unauthorized distributors. The defendants had paid for preferential search engine listings when computer users searched for plaintiffs' trademarks and has also placed plaintiffs' trademarks in the metatags of their Web sites (metatags are internal Web site coding often used by search engines to identify the content of Web sites).

Features

<b>BREAKING NEWS:</b> High Court Hears eBay Patent Case Image

<b>BREAKING NEWS:</b> High Court Hears eBay Patent Case

Tony Mauro

Two veterans of the Supreme Court bar argued forcefully ' and inconclusively ' on March 29 in a high-stakes dispute over how easy it should be for a patent holder to win an injunction against an infringer.

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Real Property Law

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Rulings of importance to you and your practice.

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Landlord & Tenant

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In-depth analysis of recent rulings.

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Development

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

Analysis of key rulings.

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Cooperatives & Condominiums

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

A recent case of interest to you and your practice.

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MOST POPULAR STORIES

  • Private Equity Valuation: A Significant Decision
    Insiders (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.
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