In the social media fueled economy, forward-thinking businesses are obligated to be concerned about their reputation on the web – drawing negative heat on a popular site can impact the bottom line.Until recently, a defamation suit against the user was the primary legal prophylactic for bad online buzz.But that was an unappetizing fix, not only because the Communications Decency Act (CDA) places the deep third-party pockets out of reach, but also because such suits carry the risk of running afoul of state anti-Slapp statutes.Now, businesses may have a new tactic – contractually acquiring prospective intellectual property rights in their customers’ online commentary.
Copyright Slappdown: Could Businesses Use IP Law to Nuke Bad Online Reviews?
President Obama Proposes Easing Restrictions on Crowdfunding
By Joseph Santiesteban
Part of President Obama’s recently released American Jobs Act proposes altering the Securities Act of 1933’s rules on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) to include a crowdfunding exemption and to raise “the cap on ‘mini-offerings’ from $5 million to $50 million.” The goal is to reduce burdensome regulations on small businesses that currently have limited options in seeking financing by taking advantage of social networks’ ability to “crowdfund,” in which a large number of investors contribute small sums of money to projects.
Currently, the Securities Act prohibits firms from publicly selling or advertising stocks or other interests in its firm’s profits without first going through the onerous process of registering an IPO with the SEC (Form S-1). This process often prices out many small firms that can’t afford the time and expense of filing. The primary exception to the standard IPO process is a “mini-offering” made pursuant to Regulation A. These offerings require a less thorough inspection by the SEC, but are currently limited to offers of less than $5 million.
Online Retailers and Taxes in California
Earlier this summer, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a budget bill that required online retailers like Amazon to start collecting state sales tax as of July 1, 2011.The passage of ABX1 28 (Blumenfield) prompted Amazon to initiate a campaign to place a referendum on the ballot that would overturn the new online sales tax.The online retailer had already spent over $5 million on the referendum campaign and was prepared to collect the necessary 504,000 signatures required within 90 days of filing with the office of the California Attorney General to place the referendum on the ballot. To show its virulent opposition to the bill, Amazon has already cut ties with some 25,000 affiliate businesses in California.
The California Amazon Tax
In a recent tentative deal with California lawmakers, Amazon will continue doing business as usual and will delay collecting taxes from online sales until September 2012.
The online retailer was the main target of Assembly Bill 28x that mandated Amazon to gather taxes from California sales starting July 2011. In response to the mandate, Amazon initiated a referendum campaign to challenge the law. (more…)
The Unveiling of a Jobs-Tax Proposal
In a roomful of business leaders, Governor Jerry Brown recently released a jobs-tax package that, as described by the Governor’s office, expands a jobs-credit and reduces taxes for businesses investing in manufacturing. The jobs-tax package — a three-point jobs plan — would:
1. Expand the current jobs credit by increasing the credit from $3,000 to $4,000, increasing eligibility to employers with fewer than 50 employees, placing a sunset on the credit at the end of 2013, and preventing double-dipping with the Enterprise Zone credit;
2. Provide a sales-and-use-tax exemption (SUT) for purchases of manufacturing equipment. Specifically, the proposal would include an exemption for firms in the manufacturing; biopharmaceuticals; alternative energy production such as solar, wind and tidal; and software publishing industries; and
3. Implement a mandatory Single Sales Factor (SSF) Apportionment for all multistate businesses. (more…)
Revamping Patent Law: What it Means for Business Method Patents
The Senate and House of Representatives recently passed legislation that revamps patent law by updating the process for challenging patents and awarding a patent to the first inventor to file a specific claim.Of particular interest to our readers, the “American Invents Act” (S. 23 and H.R. 1249) creates a new post-grant review procedure that applies to all patents and a special one (section 18) that applies only to business method patents relating to financial services. (more…)