Internet Assets of A Decedent
June 28, 2006
The Internet has brought many innovations, fads and new considerations with it to public life in general, and to the realms of commerce in particular, including to the practice of law. Among these, it has allowed new assets to spring into existence for consideration by competent tax and estate planners.<br>All Internet assets are intangible personal property ' they cannot be seen, felt or perceived in the usual way by the ordinary senses. For tax- and estate-planning purposes, each Internet asset is subject to one of three different legal classes. Below, we look at these assets, the classes they fall into and some considerations that bear on them.
Some Old Lessons For New Enterprises
June 28, 2006
e-Commerce firms have aggressively marketed themselves as the new kids on the block. They eagerly discard old ways of doing business, confident that their way of doing business ' online ' is better. It's an e-commerce article of faith that everyone can work more efficiently if he or she would only eliminate outdated practices that don't take advantage of the conveniences available online.<br>But maybe some supposedly 'old' laws and ways of doing business have survived ' for decades and centuries ' for reasons other than that the Internet had not yet been invented. Sometimes, the tried and true is sufficient for what's needed. The old way may work more reliably, and perhaps even better than, the new path offered by e-commerce.
Internet Privacy: Do You Know Who's Collecting Information About You?
June 15, 2006
While savvy users of the Internet may be aware of the multitude of ways that personal information can be monitored and collected on the Web, most users are likely oblivious to the information trail they leave behind. How many readers of this publication, a population plainly concerned with privacy issues, have read the privacy policies of their favorite Web sites? If you have not, you may be surprised to learn about the amount of information collected by even the most popular and mainstream sites. For example, when a user requests and views a Web page from Yahoo!, that request is logged on Yahoo!'s servers with information including the IP address of the computer that requested the page. Even if information is not purposely collected, just about everything a person does on the Web is stored somewhere for at least some period of time.
What Every U.S. Employer Should Know About Workplace Privacy
June 15, 2006
Last month's article discussed background screening and Social Security number laws. This month's installment covers the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; information security; and monitoring employee telephone, e-mail, and Internet use.
China's Great Leap In-House
June 12, 2006
These days China is full of Silicon Valley wannabes, but Alibaba.com, headquartered in Hangzhou, is way ahead of the pack. In a headline-grabbing deal last August, the company acquired Yahoo Inc.'s China business (it now operates the Yahoo brand in China), plus a $1 billion investment from the venerable Internet company. Now a $4 billion privately held concern, Alibaba.com is best known for its business auction site (www.alibaba.com, which the company claims is the leading Web site for business-to-business trade in the world) and Taobao.com (www.taobao.com), a consumer auction site that's giving eBay.com a run for its money in China. (Alibaba.com is in English, Taobao.com is in Chinese.)
<b>Case Study:</b>Building a Collaborative Network
May 31, 2006
To increase the effectiveness of our network of attorneys, efficiency and collective strength, and eliminate duplicative legal costs we needed to leverage the resources and intellectual capital of this national team of attorneys. Our solution was ultimately a two-pronged approach: First to provide counsel with technology to enable collaboration and sharing of resources in real time; and second, to gather the data to analyze the effectiveness and efficiencies of counsel and identify, encourage, and enforce best practice collaboration.
<b>Practice Tip:</b> Preparing for the Malware Epidemic: Working in the 21st Century
May 31, 2006
Malware (Wikipedia): Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system, without the owner's consent. <br>Nothing can be more disruptive, costly and frustrating than being a victim of malware. Being the victim of an attack can be particularly devastating in terms of lost productivity for attorneys and staff, missed filing deadlines, reduction in billable time and loss of client confidence.
Net News
May 31, 2006
New Internet Phone Wiretap Rules Challenged<br>Congress May Consider Mandatory ISP Snooping <br>Movie Piracy Losses Bigger Than Expected, Says a Recent Study<br>House Panel Approves Bill to Ban Cyber-gambling <br>Group Sues NY to Overturn Law Banning Internet Tobacco Sales
