FTC Staff Proposal Raises the Bar for Behavioral Advertising
February 29, 2008
On Dec. 20, FTC staff released for public comment proposed online behavioral-advertising privacy principles in an effort to guide self-regulation of this nascent industry. The release of these Principles followed a two-day Town Hall meeting the FTC held late last year on behavioral advertising, which itself followed the FTC's Tech-Ade Workshop in 2006.
Public Adjusters and the Unauthorized Practice of Law
February 29, 2008
Justifiably concerned about the inundation of public adjusters in Louisiana following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the Louisiana legislature enacted 'The Louisiana Public Adjuster Act' ('Public Adjuster Act'), codified at Louisiana Revised Statutes '22:1210.91, et seq., by Acts 2006, No. 806, '1. The Public Adjuster Act was enacted to establish a regulatory framework for the field of public adjusting by setting standards for qualifications and licensing of public adjusters and establishing standards of conduct.
Net News
February 28, 2008
Congress Considers New Net Neutrality Bill<br>Judge Cuts Court Award in Internet Defamation Case
Skadden Blog's 'Hot Associate' Contest Is Put on Ice
February 28, 2008
Who's the hottest young woman lawyer at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom? Last month, that question sent the New York firm into a bit of a tizzy. On Feb. 4, Skadden Insider, a blog written by two anonymous firm employees and dedicated, unofficially, to all things Skadden, announced the winner of its weeklong poll to decide the firm's 'Hottest Female Associate.' But the firm was not amused. On Feb. 7, Skadden Of Counsel Henry 'Hank' Baer, the firm's employment adviser, sent an e-mail to all Skadden lawyers in the United States, chastising the blog.
Disrupting the Lawyer Ratings Paradigm
February 28, 2008
For nearly 150 years, clients' opinions about their lawyers have been relegated to word of mouth. Information passed on in this manner is not recorded in any organized way and is therefore not available to the general public. In that time, the only organized source of information about lawyers came from lawyers themselves. All of that is now changing in a rapid, dramatic and explosive fashion, opening new channels and communities of information for legal services consumers, and creating exciting marketing and business development opportunities for lawyers and law firms.
When 'Web Presence' Creates Jurisdiction
February 28, 2008
The Web may not be truly worldwide, but it is getting fairly close, and while this has created enormous opportunities, it is not without its challenges. Among the thorniest of these have been issues of jurisdiction, which have been a staple of Web jurisprudence since the earliest days of e-commerce (and even before that). This has only gotten more complex as Web business models have diversified: A modern Web site for a company based in Chicago might be designed in New York, coded in California, supported in India, connected via a Virginia Internet service provider and hosted on servers in the Bahamas (offshore hosting being more and more common for both cost and privacy reasons). More importantly, the company might reasonably expect that site to be viewed by users from Brooklyn to Beijing, and perhaps to be subject to the laws of every jurisdiction in the world.
Bit Parts
February 28, 2008
Copyright Infringement/Rule 12(b)(6) Motion<br>Record Labels and Their Lawyers/Malicious Prosecution<br>Songwriter Royalties/State Levy Statute<br>Video Games/ Celebrity Trademarks<br>UPCOMING EVENT: SXSW Music Conference 2008 CLE Program
Cameo Clips
February 28, 2008
TALENT AGENCIES ACT/SEVERABILITY DOCTRINE<br>VIDEO GAMES/ARTISTS' INDICIA
U.S. Supreme Court Favors Arbitration Over CA Agent's Law
February 28, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court decided that the Federal Arbitration Act the California Talent Agencies Act for purposes of sending a dispute between a TV personality and his personal manager to an arbitrator per an arbitration clause in the management contract.
