States Reach Out to Collect Internet Taxes
Realizing the sizable impact of revenues from Internet sales, key states such as New York and California now require taxpayers to declare any tax they owe on out-of-state purchases.
Record Industry Still Pursuing File-Sharers
The U.S. music industry recently sued 531 more individuals for online copyright infringement through anonymous "John Doe" styled suits. The RIAA, continuing to cite digital piracy as a major cause of slumping CD sales for the third year in a row, announced that it filed five separate lawsuits against 531 users of undisclosed Internet Service Providers.
Web-Tracking Data: An Under-Utilized Legal Resource
Several years ago, businesses like WebSideStory began offering dedicated Web-tracking services. These services can capture and analyze many aspects of Web traffic and create a multitude of customized reports. Such digital market research has become indispensable to many online businesses. (Its use has also raised many concerns about privacy, which are beyond the scope of this article.) On the other hand, it offers significant, yet largely unrecognized, benefits to trademark attorneys in their efforts to assist clients. This article briefly outlines some of the ways that trademark attorneys can utilize this data.
Canada's Music Industry Joins Piracy Crackdown
Following the lead of their American counterparts, Canada's biggest music producers recently asked the courts to order Internet service providers to identify customers who illegally swap songs on the Internet.
Coping With COPPA
While the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) was designed to rein in commercial Web sites that target children as buyers of goods, it has caused legal difficulties for those who provide services such as camps, schools, after-school activities and sports clubs. COPPA, the only law specifically to target online information privacy, applies only to Web sites that collect information from children. The providers of such services must regularly wrestle with the ways they collect prospects from their sites. COPPA requires commercial Internet sites to refrain from collecting personal data from children under the age of 13 without parental consent.
e-Commerce Sales Rise ' Again
U.S. retail e-commerce spending continued rising ' in total volume of e-sales and as a percentage of all retail transactions ' in the fourth quarter last year.
IM: Plenty of Benefits, But Risks Too
Like many other businesses, the financial sector has embraced e-commerce as a way of expanding. Today, online banking is fairly common. Many financial institutions offer a variety of products and services for commercial and retail customers. And the finance market is mirroring wider use of all things "e" by taking e-business a step farther with the use of instant messaging (IM) to provide faster customer-inquiry responses. But although IM use often allows them to provide better customer service, it also exposes institutions to a variety of potential risks.
Recognizing and Managing Serial Litigation
Among the challenges facing product manufacturers in the 21st century are recognizing and managing the legal threat posed by multiple, individual product liability lawsuits in multiple jurisdictions.
