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A $10,000 "side bet" wasn't enough to persuade a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals en banc panel to answer whether federal courts have jurisdiction over out-of-state Internet retailers.

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.

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…

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.

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As franchise lawyers, we see hundreds of cases a year that impact our practice. Many are very important "bread and butter" cases, such as state court opinions dealing with parol evidence and integration clauses and federal cases involving trademark infringement. These are important cases that every franchise lawyer should know because they help in the day-to-day battles. Far more interesting to us, and we would imagine to most franchise attorneys, are the big cases that have happened maybe once or twice a year over the past 10 years that have made everyone wonder, "What in the world is going on?" We have selected 10 such cases that were decided in the past 10 years, made a substantial impact on franchise law, and have made most of the franchisor and franchisee legal community take a good, hard look at how to do business in the future. These are 10 cases that, at least at the time they were decided, changed the landscape for franchise attorneys and their clients.

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Highlights of the latest franchising cases from around the country.

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<i>Armstrong Business Services, Inc., et al., Appellants v. H &amp; R Block, et al.,</i> Bus. Franchise Guide (CCH) '12,485, 96 S.W.3d 867 (Mo. App. 2002). The Armstrong case involved H&amp;R Block franchisees who sued their franchisor for, among other things, encroaching upon the franchisees' territories through the franchisor's Internet business. H&amp;R Block then filed a counterclaim, alleging that all of the franchisees' franchise agreements were terminable at will by Block.

Highlights of the latest franchising news from around the country.