Internal Information Controls: Corporate Accountability
August 31, 2004
The swift enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) in the wake of numerous corporate scandals brought at least as many questions as solutions for executives charged with ensuring corporate compliance with SOX's many provisions. As the various compliance deadlines for SOX draw near or expire and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) continues to release rules and guidelines, even more questions emerge, requiring executives to quickly gain familiarity with otherwise unfamiliar topics in order to avoid the potential liability associated with violations of the law. One such topic is the security and control of financial information.
From Cradle to Grave
August 31, 2004
Bankruptcy lawyers may not get involved in their clients' transactions until it is too late. They may be called in only upon the occurrence of a default, litigation, or the commencement of a bankruptcy case. At that point, they are faced with deals that have been "set in stone" -- drafted and structured by lawyers specializing in the front-end, who may have looked at the transaction from an overly optimistic viewpoint, especially in the case of a long-term deal with another party that presently is in good financial health.
Google Up Over 18% After First Day
August 11, 2004
The Internet search company's troubled IPO has finally started -- Google started trading on Thursday morning, Aug. 19 under the symbol GOOG on the NASDAQ exchange. Shares opened for trading at $85, as expected, lower than the projected price set when Google announced it was going public. Thursday's trading ended with the price per share of just over $100 -- more than an 18% increase.
Preserving the Crown Jewels: Practical Strategies for Protecting Source Code in Patent Litigation Discovery
August 09, 2004
In today's Internet age, the most valuable asset belonging to many of the world's most successful organizations is "source code" — the programming underlying all software operating systems, databases, and applications. As a result, keeping source code from leaking to the public is of paramount concern, especially in light of the fact that source code published over the Internet can proliferate at an exponential pace with little more than a series of mouse clicks. If confidential code is released into the public domain, even inadvertently, it risks losing any trade secret protection it once enjoyed. <i>See, e.g., Linkco, Inc. v. Fujitsu Ltd.,</i> 230 F. Supp. 2d 492, 498-99 (S.D.N.Y. 2002). In short, once the "genie" is out of the bottle, it cannot be put back in.
Spyware: Courts and Legislatures Respond
August 09, 2004
Most find it to be a nuisance. Advertisers consider it to be cutting edge. Either way, spyware (or adware) is receiving a lot of attention recently in the press, in the courts and in legislatures around the country.
Net News
August 09, 2004
Canada Rejects Music Royalty Plan for Internet Canada's Supreme Court recently struck a blow to the music industry in ruling that Internet Service Providers…
eBay Ruling Punctures Web Liability Shield
August 09, 2004
eBay Inc.'s savvy user agreement protects it from liability for defamatory postings on its Web site, an appeals court has ruled. But the court's decision left vulnerable other online content providers.
COPA Remanded: High Court Touts Filters And Warns Of Speech Chillers
August 09, 2004
For the second time in 2 years, the Supreme Court suspended the enforcement of the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) ' in <i>Ashcroft v. ACLU (II)</i> ' sending the case back to the federal district court in Philadelphia for further scrutiny of "plausible, less restrictive alternatives" to restrict minors' access to adult material on the Internet. <br>In a 5-4 decision, the Court, while sidestepping the ultimate question of whether COPA is unconstitutional, strongly hinted that the statute's speech-restricting effects appeared overbroad in light of less restrictive, technology-based filters available today.
Online Contracts
August 09, 2004
Nearly 2 years have passed since the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in <i>Specht v. Netscape Comm. Corp.</i> threw what some thought was a large monkey wrench into online contract formation. The practical effect of the decision, however, has not been as significant as had been feared, and businesses operating in cyberspace continue to successfully reach online agreements with end users and customers. <br>As a close reading of the Specht ruling and other decisions make clear, "clickwrap" and other online agreements that meet certain basic requirements for contract formation are, indeed, enforceable.
Pfizer Targets Online Sellers of Fake Lipitor and Viagra
August 09, 2004
Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, recently announced that it is suing dozens of online pharmacies allegedly selling counterfeit versions of the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra, and its cholesterol-lowering flagship drug Lipitor.
