Cases of Note
April 01, 2004
CA Court of Appeals Decision on DeCSS A Setback to Movie Industry Striking a blow to the movie industry, a California Court of Appeals has reversed a preliminary…
CAN SPAM Act Not Up To Snuff
April 01, 2004
I'm sure by now you've noticed the difference. Your in-boxes are no longer cluttered with e-mails telling them about inexpensive sources for Viagra, Vicodin or Valium. Since the beginning of the year, you haven't seen an e-mail about online gambling, pornography or fabulous real estate deals. In short, in-boxes are now spam-free. If this seems like a pipe dream, that's because it is. Unfortunately, the reality of living with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (the CAN SPAM Act) is quite different. While the Act only went into effect at the beginning of 2004, many are already suggesting that it may be time to can it.
Net News
April 01, 2004
British Music Industry Takes Aim at Net Song Swappers The British music industry recently announced plans to issue legal warnings to the nation's most…
Personal Jurisdiction, the Internet and the Marx Brothers: Is There Life After <i>Zippo</i>?
April 01, 2004
Despite some suggestions to the contrary, the rise of the Internet as a business tool does not portend the end of limits on personal jurisdiction. The cyber-sky is not falling. Rather, the courts are finding that the Internet merely provides another vehicle (albeit an electronic one) through which a party may purposely avail itself of the privilege of conducting business in a foreign state and thus subject itself to jurisdiction in that state. In some recent cases, the federal courts have analyzed the characteristics of this relatively new and expanding technology under the Supreme Court's existing personal jurisdiction precedent. Instead of changing the personal jurisdiction standard, which is grounded in the Constitution, the courts have applied the existing personal jurisdiction standards to Internet activities.
Can Screen Shot Use Create Libel?
April 01, 2004
A Philadelphia company is suing the <i>New York Times</i> for libel by claiming that the newspaper harmed its reputation by using an image from the company's Internet site.
Prosecuting Energy Trading Fraud under the CEA
April 01, 2004
In the aftermath of Enron's collapse, attention turned to the accounting and other practices of energy companies. Numerous investigations and suits have been brought against traders and energy companies involved with supplying power to California and elsewhere during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. The government has focused on such practices as "round-trip trades," in which energy companies entered into pre-arranged transactions, lacking market risk, to inflate reported trading volumes. Federal prosecutors in California and Texas have charged individuals with causing inaccurate or fictitious trades to be reported to trade journals.
In The Courts
April 01, 2004
The latest on what's happening in the courts.
Internal Controls: Cure-all or Snake Oil?
April 01, 2004
Internal controls" have been touted for years as the cure-all for corporate ills. Why, then, are we bombarded with daily revelations of abuses crippling corporations around the globe?
Can You? Should You? Must You?
April 01, 2004
As general counsel of a small public company, you discover that, for 2 years, a department head approved sending false invoices to customers, resulting in profits of at least $2 million. Although it stopped a year ago and is well concealed, the practice was intentional, and a half-dozen current employees were involved. You fear that the false invoices constitute at least mail and wire fraud. Moreover, if the victims find out, they might sue. What do you do?
