UCITA Revealed
August 20, 2003
UCITA was drafted as a revision to the UCC ' a body of law adopted in almost every U.S. state that aims to ensure consistency in rules governing contract laws. After losing the support of the American Law Institute, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws adopted the proposed new article as a freestanding uniform act (UCITA), rather than as a new article to the UCC, and proposed the uniform law be passed in all 50 states.
Maturing Internet Leads to Fewer Domain-Name Squabbles
August 19, 2003
The wild wild Web is getting tamed. Cybersquatters no longer freely roam its highways looking for easy marks and trademark owners who once went after anyone who crossed their path are now choosing their battles much more carefully.
e-Commerce DOCKET SHEET
August 19, 2003
A notice accompanying packaged and downloadable software purporting to restrict purchasers from publishing product reviews or disclosing benchmark test results without seller's permission is unenforceable and may be sanctionable under New York law prohibiting deceptive business acts and practices (People v. Network Associates Inc., No. 400590/02, N.Y. Sup. Ct. N.Y. Cty. Jan. 14, 2003).
Managing Sarbanes-Oxley Requirements
August 19, 2003
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act creates a number of new requirements for publicly traded companies that are intended to improve corporate governance and avoid another WorldCom or Enron. While many organizations have focused on the immediate requirements, more needs to be done to help create a corporate culture that both promotes legal and ethical business practices and provides employees with an effective tool to report fraud or accounting irregularities.
Hotline
August 19, 2003
Recent developments of interest to corporate counsel.
Electronic Discovery Puts General Counsel On Front Lines
August 19, 2003
This is part three of a three-part series on technology-related issues of importance to General Counsel. The increasing pressure to produce electronic data and documents in native formats puts in-house counsel on the front lines during, and even prior to, the electronic discovery phase of litigation. The basic obligations in-house counsel have prior to potential litigation include developing a corporate strategy for electronic data preservation and retrieval, implementing the plan, documenting policies and procedures in writing, and disseminating the policies and procedures to appropriate internal parties. Missteps in any of these areas can and has led to various sanctions ranging from fines to default judgments.
