Available Articles
Trial Brief & Jury Instructions:
Illinois Trade Secret Case
By Steven Leahy
Trial Brief
Jury Instructions
2B Then Not 2B:
The Uniform Computer Information
Transactions
Act and Consumer Contracts.
By Steven Leahy
Computer technology is less than 50 years old,
and has been available to the general public
for just over 20 years. Yet software and
database products, along with information and
online services, will fuel the economic engine
of the new millennium. Cyber-time, it seems,
moves more quickly than does industrial time.
The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act
("UCITA" or the "Act") purports to be "a statute for
our time." A close examination of the Act, however,
reveals that the provisions dealing with mass-market
transactions of computer information are already
obsolete and harmful to consumers.
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You've Got Mail:
Electronic mail and litigation discovery
By Steven Leahy
Electronic mail (e-mail) is fast becoming the
most common form of business communication in
America. Forrester Research estimates that
commercial email messages will reach 250 billion
in 2002. Statistically, each employee of a
company generates between 4 and 11 e-mail
messages a day. Add to that the number of
e-mail messages each employee receives, and you
can garner the incredible number of e-mail
messages companies must contend with annually.
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Self-Regulation and The EU Privacy Directive:
Do Privacy Seals Offer "Adequate" Protection to EU Citizens Transferring Data to American Internet Companies?
By Steven Leahy
Privacy concerns have grown with each improvement of modern
information technology (MIT). MIT has made it easy for virtually every
organization to set up a database to track their customers’ habits and
purchases. The Internet has increased the uneasiness because of the
ease that Internet sites have been able to profile web surfers and share
that information with others. However, consumers have taken notice,
and they have demanded that web sites protect their personally
identifiable information.
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Campaigning in Cyberspace:
Federal Election Laws and Internet Political Activity
By Steven Leahy
"We're getting into the new frontier here," declared a Federal Election
Commission (FEC) spokesman recently regarding Internet political
activity ("IPA"). IPA is significantly influencing the current federal
election cycle, and that influence will continue to grow. So far, the
Federal Election Commission (FEC) has not defined the scope of the
Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 ("FECA" or the "Act") and other
regulations as they apply to campaign-related speech and political
activities in Cyberspace.
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Patenting the Internet:
State Street Opens the Door to Internet-Based Business Method Patents
By Steven Leahy
There is a long list of Internet businesses that have protected their
business method innovations with a United States patent, and many
more Internet-based business methods (IBBM) are probably being
prosecuted. Until recently, the validity of these patents was
questionable. However, the Federal Circuit decided State Street Bank &
Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc. (State Street) on July 23,
1998. Since State Street, the patentability of an IBBM has been
answered in the affirmative.
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Internet Direct Public Offerings:
The Internet is helping make small companies successful
By Steven Leahy
E-Commerce is beginning to live up to the hype. Companies are selling
books, cars, prescription drugs, toys and just about any other item you
can imagine. Companies have even started selling themselves. Internet
direct public offerings (IDPO) are becoming a common way for smaller
companies to raise much needed capital, while giving small investors an
opportunity to "get in on the ground floor."
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The Obsolescence of the Securities Act of 1933:
Information Technology & Securities Regulation in America
By Steven Leahy
Three Score and six years ago, Congress brought forth on this nation the
Securities Act of 1933 (Securities Act), conceived in fairness, and
dedicated to the proposition that full public disclosure, mandated by the
federal government, is needed to protect investors "on the special
occasion of a public offering."
The Securities Act has been the cornerstone of securities regulation in
the United States. However, unlike Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg
Address, the Securities Act is not carved in stone. It is my position that
the Securities Act has become obsolete and should be repealed.
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