Compliance Lessons from the Chiquita Case
July 30, 2007
In March of this year, Chiquita Brands agreed to pay a $25 million criminal fine for payments it made to a paramilitary group in Colombia. The payments were made by the Colombian subsidiary of Chiquita in order to protect the company's employees from threatened violence. Unfavorable press coverage emphasized payments by Chiquita to a 'terrorist group' and downplayed the threats made to Chiquita, which prompted it to make the payments in the first place.
Internet Service Provider Liability
July 30, 2007
The liability of an Internet service provider is one of the topics that has been vigorously disputed and discussed in Germany. And given the lack of borders in cyberspace, the outcome could impact e-commerce vendors in the United States and elsewhere.
Net News
July 30, 2007
Mover Fails to Prove Jurisdiction in Suit over Internet Site<br>Filesharing Ruling Against ISP Hailed As Precedent
NJ Federal Court Rules Fantasy Sports Is Not Gambling
July 30, 2007
Peyton Manning or LaDanian Tomlison? Fantasy sports league enthusiasts can argue over who the top pick will be in this year's draft ' without worrying whether they are participating in illegal gambling after a ruling by a federal judge in New Jersey.
New Standards for Brady and Giglio Disclosures
July 30, 2007
For the past five years, the white-collar criminal-defense bar has been working to enhance the obligations of federal prosecutors to disclose exculpatory and impeaching information under <i>Brady v. Maryland</i>, 373 U.S. 83 (1963), <i>Giglio v. United States</i>, 405 U.S. 150 (1972), and their progeny. In the past few months, those efforts have begun to bear significant fruit.
Federal Judge Gives Clues in YouTube Infringement Case
July 30, 2007
A cross-coastal ruling in the little-known predecessor of the epic suit filed in March by Viacom International, Inc. against YouTube, Inc. and its new parent, Google, Inc., elucidates key issues arising under the Digital Milleneum Copyright Act that the a New York federal district judge will likely focus on in the much anticipated and ballyhooed litigation.
Whole Foods' CEO Mackey: Poster Child for Sock Puppeting's Pitfalls
July 30, 2007
Creativity is king, and on the Internet you can be anything imaginable: a man posing as a woman, an undercover agent impersonating a curious boy, or the chief executive of a Fortune 500 company pretending to be an adoring fan of ' himself? So goes the strange tale of John Mackey, the chief executive officer of Whole Foods Market, who used a pseudonymous identity on the Yahoo! message boards for nearly eight years to lambaste competition and promote his supermarket chain's stock, according to documents released by the Federal Trade Commission last month.
Courts Move to Protect Informants From Web Site
July 30, 2007
In response to a controversial Web site that exposes the identities of criminal defendants who have agreed to cooperate with authorities, the federal judges on the Eastern District of Pennsylvania bench have adopted a plan designed to make it impossible for any visitor to the court's Web site to discern whether a defendant is cooperating. The new protocol, adopted last month, is a direct response to the Who's a Rat Web site (www.whosarat.com), and will result in a modification of the docketing of all sentencing and plea documents in all criminal cases.
New IRS Whistleblower Program
July 30, 2007
Caution ' an employee of your company may go to work for the IRS. Well, not in the traditional way. In the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 ('the Act'), effective Oct. 20, 2006, Congress amended ' 7623 of the Internal Revenue Code, substantially enhancing the IRS's informant or whistleblower program.
