Features
Marketplace Fairness Act May Help Clear Muddy Tax Waters
With my mom probably one of only a handful of people who haven't made an Internet purchase, I think it is fair to say that we have all seen certain online retailers almost bragging that there is no sales tax on merchandise ordered from their e-store. The first question this raises is whether the "qualifying order" language refers to the shipping, the sales tax or both.
Features
Proposed Law Aims to Give More Privacy to e-Mail
Several of the largest technology and Internet companies have joined forces with conservative and liberal organizations in a show of solidarity for a proposed amendment to The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA).
Features
Earn-Out Payments In <i>Rock Band</i> Video Game at Issue in Delaware Case
Attorneys for Viacom International Inc. told the Delaware Supreme Court in oral arguments in July that their client did not breach the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing when it failed to renegotiate an agreement with Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) to distribute the video game <i>Rock Band</i>, thereby reducing the earn-out payments to shareholders of the game's developer, Harmonix Music Systems Inc., which merged with the Viacom entertainment conglomerate in 2006.
Features
<i>Lenz</i> Lawsuit Dances to a Fair Use Tune and Heads For Trial
A California district court has denied cross summary judgment motions in a case that has implications for fair use analysis under copyright law and DMCA litigation.
Features
<i><b>Online Extra</b></i> Congress Hears Pleas for Stronger Copyright Protections
Donning special glasses, members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet viewed a 3-D video clip as part of a hearing that featured music, photo, and movie industry representatives, all touting the economic benefits of strong copyrights. Leaders from the Copyright Alliance, Getty Images Inc., the American Society of Media Photographers, Yep Roc Records and Redeye Distribution Inc., and 3-D moviemaker Stereo D LLC said robust copyright protections are vital'
Features
Interoperability Exemptions Under The DMCA
The DMCA prohibits the circumvention of digital rights management technologies and other similar content access or copy restrictions on copyrighted works. As such, it has long been understood that the circumvention of computer programs to enable interoperability of non-approved software applications ' a practice commonly referred to as "jailbreaking" ' was forbidden under the DMCA.
Features
Taming the Beast
Corporate law departments acknowledge the need to manage and control the unabated and explosive growth of digital information, yet understand that the traditional approach will not work. Compounding the problem are regulatory and privacy issues.
Features
Can Judges 'Friend' Lawyers?
It should be no surprise that the continuing growth of social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn has led to questions about its use by members of the legal community, including members of the judiciary.
Features
In <i>CLS Bank,</i> the Federal Circuit Agrees to Disagree
The intellectual property community hoped and expected that the Federal Circuit's <i>en banc</i> decision in <i>CLS Bank Int'l v. Alice Corp.</i> would provide guidance regarding the scope of patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. ' 101. Instead, the Federal Circuit's decision created confusion, identifying three competing tests for assessing patentable subject matter under ' 101.
Features
The Great Internet Land Rush
This articlelooks at the implications of the new gTLD program for attorneys and the Internet as a whole.
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- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- Meet the Lawyer Working on Inclusion Rider LanguageAt the Oscars in March, Best Actress winner Frances McDormand made “inclusion rider” go viral. But Kalpana Kotagal, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll had already worked for months to write the language for such provisions. Kotagal was developing legal language for contract provisions that Hollywood's elite could use to require studios and other partners to employ diverse workers on set.Read More ›
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›