<i>Tiffany v. eBay</i>
July 30, 2008
The recent decision in <i>Tiffany v. eBay</i> represents a thorough and well-considered exploration of the basis for finding secondary liability in the electronic marketplace for those who facilitate the sale of infringing goods without even selling a product and, conversely, the way for the maker of the marketplace to avoid liability for infringements by those who sell on its site.
Third Circuit Strikes Down COPA ' Again
July 30, 2008
The Child Online Protection Act ('COPA') suffers from a slew of fatal flaws that render the law unconstitutional under the First Amendment, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The decision, handed down on July 22, comes after nearly a decade of litigation '' including two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court '' and marks the sixth time that a court has blocked the law from going into effect.
Internet Auctions
July 30, 2008
Business is always a battlefield, but few e-commerce proponents have fought campaigns as fierce as those to keep Internet auctioning license-free. So intense have been skirmishes between online sellers and state legislators that only one state has a law specifically requiring online auctioneer licensing.
Virtualization and Law Office Computer Systems
July 30, 2008
Virtualization has been getting a significant amount of coverage in the IT press. Open almost any IT trade publication in the last six months and there are numerous articles about virtualization. It brings to mind the movie 'Multiplicity,' or the scientists that are currently involved in 'cloning.' So what is the entire buzz about? And what does it mean to us, the legal community?
<b><i>Software Review:</b></i> The Buzz on Buzzword
July 30, 2008
The livelihood of a lawyer involves a lot of words, which is why practically every lawyer uses a word processor. Traditionally, this means installing and using a software copy of Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect. Over the last few years, however, we've seen the emergence of a new delivery method for software.
Web 2.0 Comes to the Legal Profession
July 30, 2008
We now have what many technology experts call 'Web 2.0' and, once again, technology offers new opportunities for members of the legal profession to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their workflow. We believe it is in the interest of technology leads within law firms and corporate counsel groups to consider how they can better incorporate these innovations into their practices, given the benefits they can deliver.
The Role of Tape
July 30, 2008
Information stored on various kinds of electronic media is becoming central to virtually all corporate investigations, whether they are litigation-, regulatory- or audit-driven. The adoption of e-mail as the standard communication and document distribution mechanism, coupled with its exponential growth, has focused attention on electronically stored information.
Novel Internet Statute Strategies
July 30, 2008
The Internet presents special regulatory challenges. Any effective statute, for instance, must be prepared by an entity with the authority to draft, implement and, to some extent enforce, the statute. Efficacy, of course, hinges on jurisdiction, but the Internet knows no geography and, so, users leap boundaries with a finger poke or thumb flick. These challenges require novel statutory strategies to meet the Internet's current and future status as a channel and communications domain that requires regulation at various levels of operation and use, including e-commerce.
DIY-ing to e-Plan
July 30, 2008
Professional services requiring insight and judgment ' and application of sophisticated expertise on a case-by-case basis ' seemed immune to the e-commerce onslaught. After all, no one wants to trust the future welfare of one's family and affairs to a device that makes the phrase 'computer problem' a redundancy. And why would people who need to spend thousands of dollars on estate planning even think about trusting an online service just to save a few dollars ' even if only to pass on post-mortem thoughts from the grave?
