Taxing Online Sales ' The 2012 Update
May 31, 2012
As an update to our article in the June 2011 issue, this article highlights important case developments and new legal trends that have emerged with respect to the collection of state sales taxes by online retailers, as well as a general overview of online sales taxes and the constitutionality of click-through affiliate relationships.
Damages Soar from False Advertising About Skydiving
May 30, 2012
In March 2012, the Ninth Circuit in <i>Skydive Arizona, Inc. v. Quattrocchi, et al.</i> upheld a $6.6 million judgment for trademark infringement, false advertising, and cybersquatting, while overturning the district court's doubling of actual damages. The opinion succinctly outlines appellate review standards while offering insights into how to prove a Lanham Act and cybersquatting case.
Applying Technology To the Business of Health Care
May 29, 2012
Advocates for online health services have long argued that the health care-services and health care-products industries could significantly enhance its ability to deliver quality products and services to consumers by using e-commerce to improve access to, and the timeliness and accuracy of, information, delivery and purchasing pertaining to the health care-sector supply chain.
Asking Prospective Employees for Social Media Login Data
May 29, 2012
A recent trend in the human resources community is to ask prospective employees for usernames and passwords to social media sites to allow the hiring employer access to otherwise private information about an employment candidate's "online identity." e-Commerce companies, even though they are based on and operate through online activities, sometimes through social media, should carefully consider what principals and hiring parties in the firms may view as a natural inclination to examine an applicant's or an employee's social media postings and persona by demanding access to the sites.
Copy<i>wrongs</i> for Start-up Firms
May 29, 2012
Much virtual ink has been spilled about the complexities of applying traditional copyright law to e-commerce (and the Internet, generally). The intersection of law developed for the written word on paper, and tangible objects, and digital distribution of their modern equivalents, remains a work in progress, to say the least.
My 'Friend,' the Judge
May 29, 2012
Is it permissible for a judge to become friends on a social media site with lawyers who appear before the judge? The comments to the rule do not address the issue, and there is disagreement among ethics committees in the various states with respect to this specific question.
Digital Copiers Don't Forget
May 29, 2012
Risk mitigation requires a good understanding of where the vulnerabilities are, and one that many companies have missed is the sensitive data that likely reside in the hard drive memories of printers, copiers, and fax machines.
Law Firms and Cyber Security
May 29, 2012
Many law firms today steam along with a false sense of security that the cybercrime lurking in today's electronic channels of commerce does not pose a potentially critical threat. They are wrong.
