SEC Guidance On Company Web Site Use
October 29, 2008
Over the last several years, rapid developments in technology and the Internet have significantly enhanced the quantity and quality of e-commerce, products and information available to the public. One area of online business interaction, though, that particularly benefited recently is the information that corporate investor can find on a company's Web site. In August, the SEC, acknowledging the significant technological advances since the SEC last provided guidance on Internet issues relating to the Securities Act of 1933, issued an interpretive release providing updated guidance on the disclosure of investor information on company Web sites.
Web Site Terms and Conditions
October 29, 2008
It was Henry Ford, not Marlon Brando or Don Corleone, who once famously said: "The customer can have any color he wants so long as it's black." Unfortunately for e-commerce buyers, however, the rules imposed on them by the fine print and deep links usually known as "Terms and Conditions" often leave as little room to negotiate as early Ford buyers once had.
FCPA Due Diligence and Data Privacy Laws
October 29, 2008
As Russia, China, India and a host of other countries open their doors to U.S. investors, the number of companies and individuals who need to think about the risk of prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1997 (FCPA) has increased tremendously. This article explains.
D&O Liability Policies: A Potential Asset for Troubled Companies
October 28, 2008
The present economic climate is predictive of increased bankruptcy filings, liquidations, and other insolvencies. Under the appropriate circumstances, a company's directors' and officers' liability policies are potential corporate assets that should not be forgotten or ignored.
e-Mail Exchanges As Binding Contracts
October 28, 2008
As a number of recent decisions in New York and elsewhere make absolutely clear, for good or for ill, parties now can conclude a contract, or amend an existing contract, via e-mail.
The Impact of the Internet on Strict Product Liability Law
September 29, 2008
Strict product liability emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a potent force shaping the way product manufacturers do business in America. Although the relevant common law of each state has been modified from time to time since its inception, the basic parameters of the theory have been settled for some time. Now, however, market conditions are changing dramatically, and the law is likely to change with it.
e-Commerce Docket Sheet
September 29, 2008
Arbitration Clause in User Agreement Does Not Apply to Phone-Sales Agent <br>Arbitration Clause Is Not Unconscionable for Savvy Corporate Parties <br>Alleged Copyrighted Work Distribution Can Establish An Infringement Claim<br>Songwriters' Claim of Alleged Misappropriation Cognizable under Copyright<br>Exhaustion Doctrine Bars Rights Assertion in Sales to Third-Party Manufacturers
Keeping Up with Online Brand and Other Related Scams and Frauds
September 29, 2008
The Internet has also provided an almost unguarded playground to allow thieves and other criminals to develop and unleash sophisticated scams and frauds on unsuspecting users. This conduct shows up in the almost unlimited amount of Internet scams and frauds active at any point, yet because of the nature of the Internet, it is almost impossible for a small business, consumer or e-commerce attorney to stay up-to-date.
Safeguarding Brands
September 29, 2008
Because the Internet provides opportunistic criminals with a powerful platform for marketing their tainted goods on a mass scale, and with limited funding and personnel, law-enforcement agencies are unable to make a noticeable dent in the fight against counterfeits, leaving companies with the costly burden of protecting their customers. In the face of ubiquitous and pervasive budget cuts, today's innovative in-house counsel deploys non-traditional responses via technology, to show senior executives some visible, cost-effective results.
What Your Terms and Conditions Tell Your Customers
September 29, 2008
What businessperson hasn't complained about how lawyers ruin deals? The simple handshake and bar-napkin agreement too often turns into hundreds of pages of fine print, with hourly billing to match. Yet neither party really knows whether it all actually states the deal as each understood it over handshakes. Sometimes the fallout begins because the contracts are unintelligible to the layman ' not good. Other times, the lawyer may have taken far longer than the deal allowed to write a contract, or simply blew the budget ' also not good. Whatever the cause, these problems lead many businesspeople to wonder whether their lawyers are for them, or against them.
