Coordinating Complex Employment Litigation
June 29, 2004
In the past several years, employment class and collective action lawsuits have caught the attention of employees across the country. Many of these cases have resulted in multi-million dollar settlements or verdicts. Equally troubling, once an industry or corporation is viewed as potentially vulnerable on an issue, copycat cases may be brought in multiple jurisdictions against the same defendant or against others in the same industry.
Spyware Remains Elusive
June 29, 2004
Even 007 wasn't shadowed this much. These days, spyware operations are the most popular cybermarketing tool around ' and the most unpopular. Software designers and advertisers have joined forces to run a clandestine operation on millions of consumers across the country. The tracking, data mining, and browser hijacking files that these companies surreptitiously plant on a person's computer extract personal information for advertising purposes, often without the user's knowledge or consent, and they have become a growing concern to companies, individual consumers, and the government. Most importantly, as frustration and fear of spyware grow and cause more people to turn away from the Internet, e-commerce is threatened. How did we get to this point, and what are the chances of successful regulation?
9th Circuit Snaps At Gator's Argument
June 29, 2004
An Internet company asked a skeptical 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in late June for the right to sue an East Coast business rival in Northern California, even though the rival has no physical presence in the California.
Net News
June 29, 2004
Cases and news of interest in the Internet industry. This month: House Committee Passes SPY ACT, Judge Blocks Utah Spyware Law, the RIAA Is At It Again, and more!
All Together Now: ISP Group Releases Spam-Fighting Measures
June 29, 2004
Leading Internet service providers (ISPs) say that the industry needs to work together and take proactive steps to stop the conflagration of unwanted e-mails. <br>The companies ' including leading e-mail providers and ISPs Yahoo!, EarthLink, Microsoft, Comcast and America Online (AOL) ' through the Anti-Spam Technical Alliance (ASTA), are calling on other ISPs to adopt a series of actions and policies that they have developed after a year of collaboration to fight spam.
Limiting Computer Crime Losses With Cyberinsurance
June 29, 2004
Estimates of the amount of damage to U.S. businesses caused by computer crime vary greatly, but there is no doubt that corporate America's increased reliance on information technology has led in recent years to a dramatic increase in such losses. <br>A 2003 study by the Computer Security Institute and the FBI found that 90% of respondents had suffered breaches of their computer system within the past year. Reports of specific instances of computer crime also suggest that the risk of damage to computer systems is real and growing.<br>Despite these real and substantial risks, many companies are not doing enough to protect themselves.
Spam Costs Double in Last Year
June 29, 2004
According to a new report from Nucleus Research, "Spam: The ROI Killer," the cost of spam per employee has skyrocketed to $1934 per year.
Practice Tip: Try Technology in Trying Cases
June 28, 2004
Today, television has become the dominant medium for the dissemination of information and entertainment, and the trial lawyer who ignores this basic reality of American life does so at significant peril to his or her case. The effective trial lawyer will continue to rely on the timeless tactics of credibility, emotional appeals, and logic. Nevertheless, in order to persuade a jury effectively, the trial lawyer must deliver the case themes and facts in a way that is consistent with how jurors process information in our high-technology age.
Drug Importation Task Force Completes Its Listening Sessions
June 01, 2004
Over the past few months, the Task Force on Drug Importation has held its so-called "listening sessions" with groups and individuals that would be impacted by drug importation, should it be legalized. At the meetings, U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona served as the chairman over a panel of representatives from the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as from other departments of the federal government with an interest in drug importation issues (see sidebar on page 5). The task force's members are being asked to offer recommendations to Health and Human Services' Secretary Tommy Thompson by December 2004 concerning how best to address key questions posed by Congress as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug Act, such as how drugs can safely be imported, what the impact of such imports would be on incentives to drug research and development, and how much the policing of imports would cost the government.
