Legal Commentary

SEC Statement on the Supreme Court's Decision in FEF v. PCAOB (Press Release No. 2010-111; June 28, 2010

Posted on July 16, 2010
SEC Statement on the Supreme Court's Decision in FEF v. PCAOB (Press Release No. 2010-111; June 28, 2010: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Delays Vote on Kagan because of Senatorial Delay Tactics out of a Different Era

Posted on July 16, 2010
JURIST - Paper Chase: Kagan committee vote delayed a week by Republican SenatorOur comment: it is a scandal that such poorly qualified people as the Senator responsbile for this delay are elected to the U.S. Congress.

The Password Problem: How Safe is Safe?

Posted on July 16, 2010
Passwords, passwords, passwords....Elinor Mills at the InSecurity Complex at CNET News asks:What to do with passwords once you create them?Some good suggestions are foundin Elinor's article.

Intel, Nvidia, the FTC and Nehalem in Epic Patent Licensing Showdown: Brooke Crothers at CNET News "Nanotech - The Circuits Blog" Discusses the Graphics Chip Battle

Posted on July 16, 2010
This is a "big time" patent licensing technology showdown involving Intel, Nvidia, and the FTC with a settlement deadline of July 22, 2010 or else the FTC complaint against Intel Corporation for violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and Section 2 of the Sherman Act goes to administrative trial (bypassing here for now the Intel suit against Nvidia and its countersuit)...

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Twitter Settlement of FTC Privacy and Security Complaint reported at Lexology by William B. Baker of Wiley Rein LLP

Posted on July 15, 2010
William B. Baker of Wiley Rein LLP reports on the Twitter settlement of a privacy and security complaint by the FTC. See Lexology - Lessons from Twitter's settlement of the FTC's complaint over privacy and security problems

Legal Globalization: East Approaching West in Law, e.g. English Legal Standards and a Firm in the Ukraine

Posted on July 15, 2010
The globalization of practices and standards in legal services is an ongoing development. See e.g. Andrew Liakhov of Integrites in the Ukraine writing that English Legal Standards Are Coming to Ukraine

The Battle of the Bucks in Legal Fight Over L'Oreal Fortune

Posted on July 15, 2010
Another case showing that great wealth does not necessarily bring happiness....seeAFP: French L'Oreal heiress denounces daughter's legal battle

The Formtek Blog Discusses Legal Issues Related to Cloud Computing

Posted on July 15, 2010
See the Formtek Blog for Legal Issues related to Cloud Computing

Court Blogging Project in Massachusetts Quncy District Court Financed by Knight Foundation

Posted on July 15, 2010
Debra Cassens Weiss at the ABA Journal Law News Now in Mass. Court Will Be Testing Ground for Best Blogging Practices discusses Knight Foundation financed court blogging project at the Quincy District Court of Massachusetts.

Lawrence Lessig: ASCAP's attack on Creative Commons

Posted on July 15, 2010
Lawrence Lessig: ASCAP's attack on Creative Commons: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Organizing for America Reports on Senate Passage of Wall Street Reform Bill

Posted on July 15, 2010
I just got this email from Organizing for America: Andis -- The Senate just passed Wall Street reform. The bill will become law the moment President Obama signs it. This reform represents the boldest financial regulations since the aftermath of the Great Depression -- and the strongest consumer protections in history...

Obama Wins Again: Senate Passes Historic Wall Street Reform Bill which Now Goes to the President for Signature

Posted on July 15, 2010
See the details at MyStateLine.com at Senate Passes Historic Wall Street Reform Bill See more at: CNN Washington Post

NY Times: Congressional Overhaul of the Nation's Financial Regulatory System

Posted on July 15, 2010
David M. Herszenhorn at the New York Times discusses the "overhaul of the nation's financial regulatory system"- see Congress Sends Financial Overhaul Bill to Obama - NYTimes.com

Queen places wreath at World Trade Center site | SILive.com

Posted on July 15, 2010
This is a few days late, but of interest nevertheless: Queen places wreath at World Trade Center site

Growing pains afflict HTML5 standardization | Deep Tech - CNET News

Posted on July 15, 2010
Growing pains afflict HTML5 standardization | Deep Tech - CNET News: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

HTML5 is Coming : Get Ready for the New Specification -- the 5th Generation -- of the Core Language of the World Web Web

Posted on July 15, 2010
HTML5 according to dev.w3.org:"This specification defines the 5th major revision of the core language of the World Wide Web: the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). In this version, new features are introduced to help Web application authors, new elements are introduced based on research into prevailing authoring practices, and special attention has been given to defining clear conformance criteria for user agents in an effort to improve interoperability...

Summer Fashion and the Law : How Hot is Hot? Shedding Clothing at Law or Corporate Offices in Hot Weather : Giving Advice to Interns

Posted on July 14, 2010
True story. During internship training at a German company some years ago, the most avantgarde, attractive and buxom of the female trainees during extremely hot summer weather went out onto the large and extensive front lawn of the headquarters of the company and bathed topless during her lunch hour -- at which time the many-storied office building seemed to tilt in her direction because of all the ogling office-working eyes that had shifted to that side of the building...

Patents and the Origins of Silicon Valley - Brian Galvin's Third Act

Posted on July 14, 2010
Patents and the Origins of Silicon Valley - Brian Galvin's Third Act: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stevens Retires at 90 : How Old is Old? Still Going Strong in the 60s? 70s? or even the 80s? Ageing in the Modern World

Posted on July 14, 2010
How old is old? U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens just retired at the end of this term at AGE 90. Remarkable! So how old is old? Kate Zernike at the New York Times discusses ageing in her article Turn 70. Act Your Grandchild?s Age. writing to start out: "Ringo Starr celebrated his 70th birthday last week by playing at Radio City Music Hall and saying his new hero is B...

Flat Income Tax Rates : Do They Work? Principles and Evidence

Posted on July 12, 2010
See Michael Keen, Yitae Kim, and Ricardo Varsano at The "Flat Tax(es)": Principles and Evidence

Transatlantic Financial Information Sharing between the USA and the EU Resumed

Posted on July 09, 2010
The sharing of financial and other personal data information across the Atlantic is a major issue in the European Union for criminal intelligence agencies as well as for privacy advocates, each with a strong point of view. See Europe Resumes Financial Data Sharing with U...

SCOTUS, Don't Mess with Chicago or the Daleys: The City of Chicago Approves Tough New Handgun Restrictions in Wake of Supreme Court Right to Bear Arms Ruling

Posted on July 09, 2010
Chicago Mayor Daley strikes again. The Daleys are legendary in the city, for good reason, as the press release below suggests: "July 02, 2010  Mayor Daley Says City's New Ordinance Addresses Supreme Court Ruling, Protects 2nd Amendment Rights And Maintains Commitment To Fight Gun ViolenceMayor's Press Office    312...

Online Social Networks : Minimizing the Legal Risks of Use by Asking the Right Questions about Possible Legal Violations via Social Networking

Posted on July 09, 2010
Lawrence Savell of Chadbourne & Parke LLP in a special to Law.com discusses Minimizing the Legal Risks of Using Online Social Networks. The questions that Savell asks and discusses are: "Are you violating anyone's copyright? Are you violating anyone's trademark rights? Are you invading anyone's personal privacy? Are you breaching any confidentiality agreements or professional obligations? Are you defaming anyone? Are you running afoul of advertising restrictions? Are you violating applicable regulatory requirements? Have you made promises to others on your page? Have you read and do you understand the social networking site's terms/conditions of use? Have you incorporated qualified language and appropriate disclaimers? Are you regularly monitoring your page/profile? Have you checked your insurance policies? "For discussion, read Minimizing the Legal Risks of Using Online Social Networks.

"Teutonic Coziness" : New EU Patent Translation Risks for Attorneys? EU Commission Proposes Machine viz. Computer Automatic Translation for Pan-European Patents

Posted on July 09, 2010
Greater Patent Translation Risks in the future in the European Union? As reported by Out-law.com in Commission proposes auto-translation for pan-EU patents | Pinsent Masons LLP, the EU Commission wants to reduce costs by computer translation of patents (we present the full text of the respective EU Press Release further below)...

Sesta Judze ("The Sixth Mile", Sest? J?dze) : The Best Popular Country Music Group from Latvia

Posted on July 09, 2010
 Agris Gedrovics, my second cousin, is the founder and lead singer of the very popular Latvian country group Sest? J?dze, which has received many country music awards. My current favorite is their album Emigrants - which you can hear at Platforma...

The Netherlands vs. Spain in the World Cup Final : Who Will Win?

Posted on July 08, 2010
Although the Daily Mail headlines that Germany coach Low backs 'wonderful' Spain to win the World Cup, we disagree.At the beginning of the World Cup we predicted as the coming World Cup Champion the team from the Netherlands, which enjoys a form of "home" advantage in South Africa via the history of the Boers...

Kagan confirmation hearing: Why bother covering tired theater? - Dan Gillmor - Salon.com

Posted on July 07, 2010
Kagan confirmation hearing: Why bother covering tired theater? - Dan Gillmor - Salon.com

Epstein Lambasts Hastings Law School All Comers Policy : McClatchy blog: Suits & Sentences

Posted on July 07, 2010
As reported at McClatchy blog: Suits & Sentences, Chicago law prof Richard Epstein lambasted the Hastings Law School mandated all comers organization member policy in a discussion at The Heritage Foundation on the bizarre Supreme Court CLS Case decision:"I have never heard of a stupider, less coherent and indefensible property than a take-all-comers policy with respect to an organization that maintains any form of intellectual coherence...

USA.gov, New Look at U.S. Government's Official Web Portal

Posted on July 07, 2010
USA.gov, the U.S. government's official web portal, has been redone. See A New Look for USA.gov

German officials latest to challenge Facebook | The Social - CNET News

Posted on July 07, 2010
In German officials latest to challenge Facebook | The Social - CNET News. Caroline McCarthy at the social writes at CNET News (on a story originally run by the AP):"Data protection officials in Germany announced Wednesday the launch of a formal investigation into Facebook, saying they believe some of its much-maligned privacy policies are illegal...

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