The Business Law Brief sm (May, 2000)

  1. U.S. Supreme Court I: USSC Launches its Own Website
    The U.S. Supreme Court has launched its own website, which contains court decisions, the court schedule and calendar, rules, bar admission forms, weekly orders granting and denying new appeals, and news releases. Much of the information is in PDF format, which requires the use of Adobe's Acrobat Reader. Go to http://www.supremecourtus.gov .

    U.S. Supreme Court II: Ouster of Former CEO Not Actionable Under RICO
    Former CEO, President, Shareholder and Director alleged conspiracy to remove him from office after he reported Respondents' unlawful conduct, and contended such conspiracy was actionable under RICO. But the USSC ruled that the act in furtherance of the alleged civil conspiracy must itself be unlawful under RICO. Beck vs. Prupis, #98-1480 (April 26, 2000)

    U.S. Supreme Court III: NY Ruling Stands: ISP's Not Liable for Defamation.
    The U.S. Supreme Court has left intact a ruling of the New York Court of Appeals holding that Prodigy, as internet service provider, was not liable for the defamatory content of email transmitted through its services. "The public would not be well served by compelling an [ISP] to examine and screen millions of email communications, on pain of liability for defamation." Lunney vs. Prodigy Services Co., 99-1430. Go to http://www.courts.net and click on New York, CofA opinions, and December, 1999.

  2. New Illinois Legislation I: Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act (RULPA).
    House bills 477 and 478 (Cross, R-Yorkville; Radogno, R-LaGrange) track recent amendments to the Delaware version of RULPA. HB 477 removes the right of a limited partner to withdraw, regardless of the term of the partnership, and beefs up the claim for discounts for federal estate and gift tax purposes. HB 478 limits the effect of the death of a general partner in order to avoid a technical dissolution of the partnership according to IRS. These bills went to the Governor on April 28, 2000.

  3. New Illinois Legislation II: UCC Article 9 Rewrite.
    An effort by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws resulted in this rewrite of the Secured Transactions Article of the Uniform Commercial Code. Illinois' version was Senate Bill 1231 (Dillard, R-Downers Grove; Durkin, R-Westchester) , which has now passed both chambers of the General Assembly as of April 14, 2000. The GA has 30 days to send the bill to the Governor, who will then have 60 days to act.

  4. Moratorium on Net Taxes Moves Forward.
    The House Judiciary Committee has approved and sent to the House a bill which would extend for another five years the moratorium on Internet Taxes. It would also eliminate the grandfathered-in exceptions now existing for certain states a to continue to charge internet taxes. The full house is expected to vote on the bill next week http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,36143,00.html

  5. FTC/DOJ Issue Joint Antitrust Guidelines Affecting B2Bs.
    The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice have released their "Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors." The Guidelines do not specifically mention internet commerce, but analysts agree that the guidelines will affect internet companies, especially Business to Business ventures.

  6. Insured's Notice to Claims-Made Insurer Day Before Expiration Sufficient.
    Accountant's notice to current insurer, one day before expiration of policy regarding potential claim for client's financial statements and second public offering sufficient to make all claims arising from that transaction the responsibility of that insurer, and not subsequent insurer. Since only interpretation of notice is contested, and not its content, notice was sufficient, and summary judgment proper. Continental Casualty Co. vs. Coregis Insurance Co., No. 1-98-077 (1st Dist., March 31, 2000).

  7. Customer Profile Form a "Solicitation" of Offer to Purchase Securities, so that Agent's Lack of Registration Is a Violation of Illinois Securities Law.
    Customer profile form, completed by agent, which showed client's interest in purchasing investment fund shares, constituted a "solicitation of an offer to purchase" under Illinois Securities Law, and therefore, agent was required to be registered as a salesperson under the Illinois Securities Law. Aste vs. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., No. 1-99-2574, (1st Dist., March 28, 2000).

  8. From the European Union: EU Approves E-Commerce Legislation, Adopts "Single Market" Standard for E-Commerce.
    Addressing the bedrock issues of its rules to deal with e-commerce, the EU has adopted the "single market" standard for e-commerce, and made clear that it's single market rules apply to e-commerce among its 15 member-nations, as well as to other transactions. http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,14788,00.html

  9. SEC Issues "Internet Release" Governing Website Content Concerning Securities.
    Inviting comments regarding its proposed interpretation, the Securities and Exchange Commission has issued its "Internet Release," which seeks to update its guidance on the use of electronic media in the securities industry, to discuss an issuer's liability for website content, and to outline basic principles that issuers should use in making online offerings. http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/34-42728.htm

  10. Manage, Protect Domain Names, Trademarks on Web - Yours and Clients.
    Check out this new service. Nameprotect.com is launching "Name Guard" a free service designed to check for usage of your clients' domain names (or yours), trademarks, trade names, etc. on the web. http://www.nameprotect.com/tmmonitoring.htm

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