Taxation Committee Report JCS-02-05: A Closer Look
The Congressional tax change proposal for owners of LLPs, LLCs and S-corporations would fill only a small part ' about 1.5% ' of the projected Social Security funding gap; but the proposal looms much larger when compared with other elements of the Joint Committee's overall tax-revision package
Defining Political Spam
The effects of e-mail on American political campaigns are dramatic, as demonstrated last November, when e-communication played a decisive factor in several election victories. The Internet as cyber forum offers candidates the opportunity to contact a million voters for about $100 using unsolicited bulk e-mails, often called spam. Under the First Amendment, political spam is generally lawful, but political spam used for fundraising and other specific types of communication may cause legal difficulties for candidates and their agencies ' from canvassers to other entities sending the spam, however well-intentioned.
Virtual Cost Cutting
Predictions were that e-mail would revolutionize business communication ' and slash its cost. In fact, the doyens and novices alike of e-mail promised that this admittedly useful, and now ubiquitous, tool would eliminate postage and paper expenses, as well as the hidden-delay costs of waiting for even an overnight package to arrive. <br>But in an era when deals are negotiated and closed entirely online, has e-mail's reality lived up to its promise? While business is certainly being done more quickly than in the dark ages before e-mail ' remember, say, the early 1990s? ' is it being done more efficiently?
Hyperlinking As Infringement
Can hyperlinks on one Web site that link to another site where copyrighted materials are displayed constitute copyright infringement? <br>Although courts in at least two decisions have declined to recognize the potential of copyright infringement from the mere use of such hyperlinks, the recent Indiana federal district court case, <i>Batesville Services, Inc v. Funeral Depot, Inc.</i>, concluded that a defendant's use of hyperlinks on a Web site that link to copyrighted material on another Web site could constitute unlawful copyright infringement.
An Extra e-Safety Net
As technology advancements and competition combine to drive information technology (IT) costs down, law firms of all sizes are poised to take advantage…
States Adding Same-Sex Marriage Bans Often Include Civil Unions
State legislators' support for constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage continues unabated after the November 2004 elections. Twenty-two states have taken at least one step toward enacting constitutional amendments since the election cycle, according to data compiled by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).
Recent Decisions Back Same-Sex Marriage Bans
Three recent decisions by state courts indicate the likely staying power of same-sex marriage bans enacted at the state level. Two of the decisions reviewed in this article confirm that bans do not violate state constitutions, and one decision suggests that opponents of state constitutional amendments will find it difficult to challenge the process.
<i>Hernandez v. Robles</i>
The recent decision of the New York County Supreme Court in <i>Hernandez v. Robles</i> is a significant step forward in the effort to establish marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York. Of the five same-sex marriage cases currently pending in the State, <i>Hernandez</i> is, thus far, the only decision favorable to the plaintiffs.
The Out-of-State Dissolution of Civil Unions
Vermont's civil union law went into effect on July 1, 2000. Since that time, more than 6000 civil unions have been performed there according to Vermont's Department of Health. According to the Vermont Guide to Civil Unions -- published on the official Web site of Vermont's Secretary of State -- family courts in Vermont have jurisdiction over all proceedings relating to the dissolution of civil unions. Indeed, the dissolution of civil unions follows the same procedures -- and is subject to the same substantive rights and obligations -- that are involved in the dissolution of marriage, including any residency requirements. For instance, a complaint to dissolve a civil union in Vermont may be brought if either party to the civil union has resided within the state for a period of 6 months or more, but dissolution cannot be granted unless one of the parties has resided in the state at least one year preceding the date of the final hearing.
