The Business Law Brief
sm (January 26, 2003)
Catching up now, after our hiatus for the holidays.
Compiled by Donna J. Cunningham, J.D., Assistant Professor of Management, Valdosta State University.
To contact Dr. Cunningham, send e-mails to dcunning@valdosta.edu or Editor@PerfectlyLegalPubs.com.
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- At Least 30 States Agree
on Plan to Tax Internet Sales.
After years of working together
as part of the Streamlined
Sales Tax Project, 30 states, including the District of Columbia,
have agreed upon a plan to simplify their taxes so that sales
taxes may be collected on internet purchases. The voluntary program
will take effect when at least 10 states, representing 20% of
the US population, have amended their laws to implement the program.
Then, they would ask Congress to impose a similar mandatory,
national program. Whether Congress would oblige remains problematic,
and there are many unanswered questions. See coverage
at washington post.com,
and article
at news.com
- Internet I: Panama Orders Internet Service Providers
to Block Ports Providing Internet Telephone Service, Affecting
Internet Traffic.
In an attempt to eliminate competition
from internet telephony providers resulting in lost revenues
for its telephone companies, Panama has ordered all internet
service providers (ISPs) within Panama to block 24 UDP ports
- those capable of carrying voice communications. But Panama's
geographical location makes it a hub for the Internet, and the
place where many undersea cables are connected, so that the effects
of the
decree will reach far beyond the boundaries of Panama. Coverage
at linuxandmain.com
- Internet II: China's Internet Firewall Grows Stronger;
More Internet Content Censored.
China is improving its technology,
and the strength of its internet firewall, screening out access
to internet content from outside the country that authorities
deem inappropriate. China now employs 30,000 Internet police
to monitor its citizens. The news reportedly has some in Congress
thinking they might seek to encourage hacking of the Chinese
firewall. Ironically, China's improving technology comes from
equipment sold to China by US companies. Coverage
at wired.com
- Age Bias I: Were They Partners or Employees? EEOC
Wants to Know.
In an age discrimination case that
could affect law firms nationwide, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals
has ruled that the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is entitled to additional documents
from a law firm to help determine whether federal anti-discrimination
laws apply to 32 demoted partners. The EEOC is investigating
whether the firm violated the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) when it lowered the
mandatory retirement age for the firm, and demoted the partners
who had reached retirement age as a result of the change. The
law firm argued that those demoted were partners and not employees,
and thus not covered under the ADEA. The EEOC argued that it
could not make the determination regarding whether they were
partners or employees without the additional documents, and the
court agreed. EEOC
v. Sidley Austin Brown & Wood, No. 02-1605 (October 24,
2002).
Coverage
at abanet.org
- Age Bias II: "Stray Remarks" Made by Supervisor
With Power to Fire Actionable.
A man whose supervisor said that
he was "looking for younger, single people" and warned
the man that, because of his age, he "wouldn't be happy
there in the future," was entitled to have a jury decide
whether the supervisor was guilty of age discrimination. In the
ruling, the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals found that age-related
comments made by a supervisor cannot be discounted as mere "stray
remarks" if they were made by the supervisor who made the
decision to fire the employee, and the supervisor made the remarks
in a conversation about the employee's prospects for continued
employment. Fakete
v. Aetna Inc., No. 01-2494, (October 24, 2002)
- Subscriber Privacy I: Virginia Supreme Court Confirms; AOL
Must Reveal Subscriber Identity.
AOL has been ordered to reveal
the identity and information concerning an anonymous subscriber
who allegedly posted defamatory information in a Yahoo chat room,
and engaged in unfair business practices. The anonymous poster
was traced to AOL, but AOL had refused to reveal the poster's
identity. America
Online, Inc. vs. Nam Tai Electronics, Inc., Record No. 012761
(November 1, 2002).
- Subscriber Privacy II: Verizon Ordered to Reveal Identity
of Subscriber Who Downloaded Music.
Angered over the pirating of copyrighted
music, the Recording Industry Association of america (RIAA) sued
Verizon, demanding that the ISP reveal the identity of one of
its subscribers who had used Verizon's service to download and
transfer hundreds of songs from Kazaa. Verizon refused, arguing
that it could not be forced to reveal the subcriber's identity
unless a copyright holder of the music sued, or only in certain
other narrow circumstances. However, the Court ruled that uncer
the Digital
Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) Verizon must comply. Verizon
will appeal. See coverage
at news.com,
- AOL Offers Version of Instant
Messaging Which Employers Can Monitor.
America Online (AOL) plans to offer
(at $35/employee) a new version of its popular instant messaging
(the consumer version will remain free) which will permit employers
to monitor the instant messages sent by their employees,just
as they now monitor email. However, the new version will also
enable employees to send encrypted instant messages that can
only be read by designated, registered recipients - a feature
in which several federal agencies and some private companies
are interested. Coverage
at washingtonpost.com
- Juror's Private Web Research
Not Grounds for New Trial.
Considering whether a juror's private
web research during jury deliberations would be grounds for a
new trial, the Court, reasoning that the information the innovative
juror found (the defendant's financial condition) would have
been admissible at trial anyway, a Philadelphia Federal Judge
has ruled that no new trial is required. The Defendant had sought
a new trial in the case against him for tortious interference
with contract after a verdict against him of nearly $2 million.
CGB
Occupational Therapy Inc. v. RHA/Pennsylvania Nursing Homes Inc.,
#00-4918 (November,2002) Coverage
at law.com.
- Spam Fighter for Business.
Read this informative article
at business2.com, and
find out what's new, and what works in the never-ending battle
against spam.
- Is Your Computer Spying on
You?
It might have been that last "free"
software you downloaded, which might have contained a surprise,
lurking in the background, following your visits to websites,
and reporting back to some unknown entity. Find out how to see
if you have spyware on your computer, and how to get rid of it.
See this report
at law.com
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