Panel Revives Case Over Domain Name Registry
May 01, 2003
A recent decision by a Manhattan appeals court could clear the way for a class action lawsuit against the Internet's second-largest domain-name registration company for its past advertising practices.
Why Grokster Stands Where Napster Fell
May 01, 2003
In a landmark decision issued on April 25, 2003, a federal district judge in Los Angeles rejected claims that two leading decentralized, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks were liable for copyright infringement. The court quashed the request of motion picture and recording industry associations, professional songwriters and music publishers to shut down the Grokster and StreamCast Networks, two companies that distribute free, P2P software allegedly used for the exchange of copyrighted music, movies and other digital media over the Internet.
Cybergriping: Ripping a Firm Online
May 01, 2003
Few things can be more annoying for a corporate client than "cybergriping," the practice of using an Internet "complaint name" ' typically the client's trademark followed by the phrase "sucks.com" ' that is devoted to criticism of the company. <I>The Taubman Co. v. Webfeats</I>, decided in February, is the first Court of Appeals decision to address cybergriping. It continues the trend of several district court opinions that have taken a tolerant approach to the practice, at least where it is not engaged in by competitors or for commercial purposes.
Embracing Extranets Private Web Sites Serve as Useful Collaborative Tools
May 01, 2003
Circa 1999, many law firms became accustomed to conducting much of their day-to-day work via e-mail. E-mail, however, has more than its share of shortcomings. For starters, it does not afford the security and confidentiality most clients want in their communications with attorneys and in the exchange of potentially sensitive files. Likewise, e-mail is ill-suited for document collaboration. Trying to track comments from different participants on a given document through a long string of e-mail dialogue while maintaining some notion of version control poses a significant challenge.
Tax Foreclosure Sales: What Notice Is Due?
April 01, 2003
To what extent does the increasing availability of information change statutory or constitutional obligations to provide notice of tax foreclosure proceedings?
Protecting Trade Secrets: The Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine
April 01, 2003
When a former executive accepts a position with a competitor, how does the original company protect its trade secrets? One method is to invoke the doctrine of inevitable disclosure, which prohibits a former executive from competing when he or she cannot help but disclose or use the former employer's trade secrets to do so. Divulging these secrets, of course, would be in violation of the executive's continuing fiduciary duty to his or her former employer.
MedBytes
April 01, 2003
Analysis of Web sites of importance to you and your practice.
Evaluating LASIK Malpractice Cases
April 01, 2003
The vision-improving eye surgery known as LASIK (Laser Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) is marketed as a painless 15-minute outpatient procedure that produces stunning visual improvement in the vast majority of patients. LASIK surgery is estimated to garner revenues in the billions in the United States alone, with 1 million or more people undergoing the surgery each year. To help you to evaluate potential LASIK malpractice cases, this article discusses the eye's basic anatomy and function, the practice of LASIK, including patient selection factors and common complications, and provides resources for further information.
Not Just the Next Abbreviation: With CRM, They Got it Right
April 01, 2003
Over the course of the past 20 years, professional services firms have jumped on the abbreviation bandwagon with a succession of emerging management trends, only to disembark once they discover that the latest three-letter trend doesn't deliver the results they were hoping for. What most firms don't realize is that these trendy MBA or "management by abbreviation" tools ' including total quality management (TQM), management by objectives (MBO), and now, client relationship management (CRM) ' are best viewed simply as ways to operationalize common sense.
