Free Upgrade Makes Y2K Claim Moot. Physician’s class action suit for non-Y2K Compliant patient records and billing software was correctly dismissed, the 1st District Appellate Court has ruled. Failure to allege actual injury made the claims nothing more than "conjecture and speculation." In large part, Plaintiff’s claim was defeated because he had received and installed a free upgrade which solved the Y2K problem, and which made his claims moot even prior to his filing suit. Yu vs. IBM Corp., 1st Dist., 5th Div. 6-30-00, 1-99-2268 http://www.state.il.us/court/2000/1992268.htm.
Pending Federal Legislation I: Higher Contributions Limits for IRAs and New 401(k) Plan Would Benefit Employees of Small Businesses & Late Savers. The Comprehensive Retirement Security and Pension Reform Act, HR 4843, passed overwhelmingly by the House, would raise contribution limits for IRA’s from $2,000 to $5,000, and would streamline pension rules for small businesses. See http://thomas.loc.gov/ and search for HR 4843, reported in the House. In addition, late savers would be able to take advantage of a new 401(k) plan. Look for the Senate to vote on it in the fall.
Pending Federal Legislation II: House Passes Anti-Spam Bill. By a vote of 427-1, the House passed the HR3113, the Unsolicited Electronic Mail Act of 2000. See http://thomas.loc.gov/, and search for HR 3113. Under the bill, unsolicited email must contain a valid return email address, be labeled as unsolicited commercial advertisement, and must contain opt-out measures. Whether the bill will pass constitutional muster, however, may be in doubt. The States of Californiahttp://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-2047482.html, and Washingtonhttp://news.cnet.com/news/0-1007-200-1572322.html, have declared similar laws to be an unconstitutional infringement on commercial speech.
ICANN Approves New Domain Names — Sort of. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), meeting in Yokahama, Japan last month, approved the creation of new top level domain names (tld’s)— but left undecided how many there will be, or what they will be. Applications for new tld’s may be submitted http://www.icann.org/tlds/tld-application-process.htm before October 1, and each application requires a filing fee of $50,000. ICANN is expected to announce its selections in November.
Patent: European Union Proposes Unitary Patent Throughout EU. The European Commission has issued a proposal to create a unitary patent throughout Europe. The draft regulation proposes that patents would be issued through the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich, Germany, and that challenges would be heard by a patent tribunal based in Luxembourg, operating under the authority of the European Court of Justice. See news item at http://ipcenter.bna.com/pic/document/1,1103,1_565,00.html.
No Time or Geographic Restrictions Makes Covenant Not to Compete Unreasonable and Unenforceable. A Covenant Not to Compete which purported to restrict Plaintiff from opening a sandwich shop outside the Madison, Wisconsin area was void as against public policy and unenforceable, where it contained neither restrictions as to time or geographic area. In addition, since the basic contract was held void as against public policy, Plaintiff could not recover on the basis of unjust enrichment. Liautaud v. Liautaud, No. 99-1700 (7/20/00). Appeal, C.D. Ill. Aff'd. When posted, the case will be found at http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/scripts/foxweb.exe/ca7/Op3?submit1=showop&caseno=99-1700.
E-commerce Taxation: Virginia Rules That Web Site Hosting by Server Within State is Not Sufficient to Establish Nexus for Taxation Purposes. Virginia, the home of America on Line and Network Solutions, Inc., and reportedly a web-friendly state, has issued a Private Letter Ruling holding that a web-site, hosted on a server located in the State of Virginia, does not, by itself, establish a sales tax nexus. The taxpayer at issue was an out of state auto parts dealer with no physical presence in the state other than its server, which was co-hosted by a Virginia hosting company. The decision was based, in part, on that state’s Interpretation of the Internet Tax Freedom Act, establishing a 3 year moratorium on internet taxation in the state. See news item at http://ecommercetax.com/doc/073000.htm.
Net Jurisdiction I: Domain Name Registration Alone Not Grounds for Personal Jurisdiction. Ruling that the registration of a domain name, by itself, does not constitute the transaction of business under that state’s long-arm jurisdiction law, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, declined to exercise personal jurisdiction over the defendant eAsia, Inc. Noting that the registration was similar to a magazine subscription, Judge T. S. Ellis III determined that the registrations were not substantially connected to Virginia, and could not serve as the basis for in-personam jurisdiction. America Online Inc. v. Huang, E.D. Va., Civ. Action No. 00-290-A, 7/13/00. While the case is not available online, see news story at http://ipcenter.bna.com/pic/document/1,1103,1_568,00.html.
Net Jurisdiction II: University’s Interactive Website Sufficient to Establish Jurisdiction in Louisiana. Applying the Zippo active-passive test, the Court established jurisdiction over Johns Hopkins University, because its web site offered a means of transferring information, recruiting students, receiving donations from alumni, and soliciting and conducting business. Although there was no media coverage of this case, it can be found in LEXIS as Peyman v. Johns Hopkins University, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9987.
Cybersquatter Grabs Law Firm Domain Names. A Colorado man who has repeatedly registered domain names similar to those of top law firms was finally taken to task by Ropes & Gray, Inc., a prominent Boston law firm. http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/153217.html.