When executives of publicly traded companies sign their annual and periodic statements, such as Form-10K or Form-10Q, with the various regulatory agencies, it is a comprehensive summary of the corporation’s performance. In signing these forms, the executive is attesting that all data pertaining to the health and viability of the organization has been fully disclosed to […]
A Federal District Court judge ruled in December that personal e-mails from a government employee that were sent to his attorney from government computers is private, which challenges the popular notion that government employees do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy at work. Whenever I talk about expectations of privacy in the workplace, I am quick to point […]
On March 5, 2009, Computerworld ran an article about how the CEO of Mahalo, a Santa Monica-based search engine company, defended the hiring of an employee, Mr. John Schiefer, who, on Wednesday of this week, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for leading a botnet scheme before he was hired by the company. […]
It has been well-settled that employers have a right to attach whatever conditions they want when it comes to accessing or inspecting workplace computers. So much so, that it does not even have to be reasonable. However, if the terms and conditions involving computer usage, Internet, e-mail, or other corporate communication systems, are not carefully outlined […]
The prospect of expanding a business into strategically aligned international markets can create a multitude of challenges and unexpected problems that need to be managed before market entry is attempted. One of these "challenges" an international business will confront is, how to deal with the various privacy laws established by host foreign countries. Privacy protection […]
For small to mid-size firms to compete against their much larger, more sophisticated enterprise companies, requires that they utilize as many resources available to them in the market, all the while trying to minimize cost. Thus, the "outsourcing" industry has become a staple in the American economy (even through these tough economic times). Outsourcing […]
The New York Times reported today that a Federal District Court, yesterday, in San Jose, CA, dismissed a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the IO Group, an adult entertainment company, against Veoh Networks, saying that Veoh Networks was protected by the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). IO Group, whose videos were uploaded […]
Tax implications are one of the many factors that go into determining what choice of entity a business should become during the corporate formation stage of its development. In deciding whether to become a limited liability company (LLC), entrepreneurs need to weigh the tax advantages and disadvantages, along with other protections afforded to LLC’s, in understanding whether […]
Investigating allegations of workplace misconduct have become a common occurrence in todays corporate world. The type of misconduct can include embezzlement, sexual harassment, discrimination, misuse of corporate computer system, employee theft, workplace violence, drug and alcohol abuse, and many other forms of both criminal and non-criminal behavior. For the corporation, unchecked and unenforced workplace […]
A recent article by Robert W. Wood appeared in Business Law Today entitled "Defining Employees and Independent Contractors: Don’t Try This at Home!". Business Law Today is the monthly newsletter magazine put out to business lawyers who are members of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. The article is of interest […]