The Supreme Court Speaks in Marrama
August 29, 2007
With its Feb. 21, 2007 holding in <i>Marrama v. Citizens Bank of Massachusetts</i>, 127 S. Ct. 1105 (2007), the Supreme Court stepped in to resolve a Circuit Court split concerning a debtor's right to convert a Chapter 7 case to a Chapter 13 case under the Bankruptcy Code, pursuant to ' 706(a) of the Code. On its face, ' 706(a) seems clear ' a debtor has an absolute, one-time right to conversion. Such clarity is, in the Supreme Court's view, hazy at best.
Bankruptcy Rule 2019
August 29, 2007
Bankruptcy court procedural rulings typically go unnoticed. However, this year two bankruptcy court rulings regarding procedural disclosure requirements potentially applicable to investors participating in the bankruptcy process have caused quite a stir. Both rulings related to the scope of disclosure mandated by Bankruptcy Rule 2019, which applies to 'committees' and 'entities' that represent more than one creditor in a bankruptcy case.
Bidders Beware
August 29, 2007
The aggregate value of private equity acquisitions worldwide in 2006 exceeded $660 billion. If this number seems mind-boggling, consider that this record-breaking volume of transactions appears well on the way to being eclipsed in 2007. Even with corporate financing for leveraged buyouts harder to come by as a consequence of the sub-prime mortgage fallout, there is, by some estimates, $300 billion sitting globally in private-equity funds.
Cases of Note
August 28, 2007
Ninth Circuit Vitiates Online Contract Arbitration Clause
Californian Can Be Sued in NJ for Alleged Libel on Internet
August 28, 2007
New Jersey's long-arm jurisdiction over Internet disputes just got a little longer. A New Jersey state appeals court ruled in July that a California resident accused of making libelous statements in a Web-based forum can be sued in New Jersey because the material was 'targeted' toward a New Jersey audience.
Taxes and the Internet
August 28, 2007
Taxes and the Internet have generated a continuous stream of discussion ' but not much more. For all that has been written over the years, remarkably little has happened, other than the passage (and periodic temporary renewals) of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, and pressure on national firms' online operations to collect tax (as described below). The 'problems' ' untaxed economic activity ' that have created so much uncertainty for e-commerce firms and their customers alike remain just as much of an unknown risk, without a solution in sight. Perhaps the continued growth of e-commerce will simply be the unintended result of this inaction, the tax accountant's equivalent of the physician's motto, 'do no harm' ' that is: our tax system has done nothing to get in the way of e-commerce.
<b><i>Commentary: </b></i>Keep the Core Neutral: ICANN Policy Proposes to Restrict New Domain Names
August 28, 2007
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ('ICANN'), the private California corporation set up by the United States Commerce Department in 1998 to manage and control the Internet's root server, is developing a policy to introduce new generic Top-Level Domains. Unfortunately, the draft policy ignores freedom of expression guarantees, expands the rights of trademark owners on the Internet and sets up an arbitrary and subjective process in which ICANN will decide what ideas may be expressed in Internet domain names ' and by whom.
Bit Parts
August 28, 2007
Book Publishing/Personal Jurisdiction; Copyright Infringement/Preliminary Injuctions; Right-of-Publicity Claims/Insurance; Theatrical Productions/Personal Jurisdiction; Video-Game Statutes/Constitutionality.
Clause & Effect
August 28, 2007
Recording Agreements/Forum-Selection Clause; Royalty Claims/Letter of Inducement; TV Music Scores/Synchhornization Royalties.
