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Legal Woes on Greek exit of the European Union

Posted on May 17, 2012 by bizandlegis

greek flag A major economic decision in a country usually involves devaluation of a currency; it might also mean withdraw from a broad monetary unit. However Greece is contemplating this happening all at the same time. Such a turn of events if it does happen would be quite unheard of for an economy. Especially an economy that is so entrenched into the global financial markets. Greece would have to rebuild its economy that is presently in shambles. This would happen after a sharp devaluation that would have delivered a severe confidence shock to the entire population. And there is a chance of undermining the banks and it may trigger likely defaults on debts to foreigners. The consequences of an exit from the EURO have spelt doom among policy makers that they refuse to talk about it. They reckon that it may be very tumultuous not just for Greece but for all of Europe. And even though the taboo of mentioning a euro exit has fallen away in recent months, going back to the drachma would likely be messy, with many steps having to be improvised overnight. Policy makers have clearly stated that a loan exit from the currency would not be possible. An exit would mean a complete one from the whole union.

Greek exit from Euro zone

According to Maria Fekter, Finance Minister of Australia, Leaving the European Union would also mean an end to billions of Euros left in areas like farm and development subsidies. There is also easy access to a large internal market.

“It’s impossible to leave the Euro zone, one can only leave the European Union,” she told reporters at a meeting with her counterparts in Brussels.

“After that, Greece would have to apply for re-accession and we would hold accession talks and look very closely whether Greece actually fulfils the accession requirements.”

These statements reflect the opinions of many other Europeans who are frustrated with Greece.

Legal Woes on Greek exit of the European Union

Activision and Electronic Arts settle law suit

Posted on May 17, 2012 by bizandlegis

Patent Law Straight from Los Angeles, the two major gaming giants Activision Blizzard Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. have settled their lawsuit. The lawsuit against Electronic Arts by other companies was over claims of executives having been employed improperly who oversaw the creation of the smash video game “Call of Duty – Modern Warfare 2”. No details about the settlement have been made public. The companies jointly released a statement saying that they had mutually decided to put this behind them.

Despite this settlement, dozens of developers of “Call of Duty” have claimed that they have cheated out of millions in bonuses. Activision had sought $400 million from Electronic Arts claiming that they had met secretly with two leading executives while they were still under contract and working for Activision. Activision fired both the executives who formed a new company Respawn Entertainment LLC. The duo later sued Activision for almost 36 million in bonuses but the Santa Monica based gaming company said the duo were fired for insubordination and for handing over company secrets to Electronic Arts.

This settlement does not affect the upcoming trials against Activision by the two executives and almost 40 other developers over claims of bonuses towards the “Call of Duty” series. Activision has indicated that the bonuses can run upto $1 billion. They had requested a delay in the commencement of the trial scheduled for My 29 to prepare for the trial but it has been denied by Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle. The attorney appearing for Activision is Beth Wilkinson.

Activision and Electronic Arts settle law suit.

Also Read : Patent lawsuit by Worlds Inc vs Activision Blizzard

Apple in trouble over E-book lawsuit vs Amazon

Posted on May 16, 2012 by bizandlegis

Apple and five major publishers are facing lawsuits after there were claims that they colluded to fix the prices of e books. It has been alleged that Apple wants to loosen the monopoly of Amazon’s kindle in the E book market and give a boost to its own Ipad.

Apple E-book lawsuit Amazon

The US Department of Justice and the European Union have all joined forces against Apple and the publishers with a couple of consumers and about 30 US states and have launched lawsuits to recover what they call unfair charges from Apple and the publishers. All the cases center on the agency model of e book pricing. Here the publishers are allowed to fix the prices of the books as long as they transfer 30 % of the profits to the retailer.

The “multi-state” filing includes a note to publishers, purportedly from late Apple chief executive Steve Jobs who explains why it would be better to “throw in” with Apple and “hold back your books from Amazon”.

It is to be seen whether such a charge would hold in a higher court.

Also Read: Apple legal war against Samsung

Mom’s legal battle to keep children

Posted on May 16, 2012 by bizandlegis

Earlier today, in Queensland, Australia a mom requested a family court to urgently intervene to prevent her daughters from being sent to Italy to live with their abusive father. The same court had on a previous occasion ruled that the four girls aged between 9 and 14 be sent to Italy to live with their father. Their mother had brought them to Australia in 2010 without their fathers consent. To prevent the proceedings the mother had filed a last minute stay application, while the four girl’s great aunt brought in a separate application. Now the whereabouts of the girls are currently unknown. They are said to be in hiding with her great grandmother and their mother claims she does not know where they are. It is clear that the girls cannot go into hiding without adult help and that it is being done to prevent them from being taken to Italy. The Department of Communities said that it could also not grant any assurance that on production of the children at court they could hold off ‘putting the children on the plane’ given the outstanding court order. The children’s father who also did not want to be named arrived in Australia today from Italy. Judge Forrester said he would pronounce a judgement at 2:15pm. But, he added, in the meanwhile as the girl’s father was in town the family should find a way to negotiate forward.

Legal battle by mom to keep children

Apple legal war against Samsung reaches new heights

Posted on May 15, 2012 by bizandlegis

The ongoing battle of the titans has reached new heights. The US appeals court ruled that Apple Inc could press its bid for acquiring an immediate injunction. Apple wanted an injunction against the sale of the tablet made by Samsung stating that the tablet infringed patent. The present decision is regarding one patent. The court of appeals stated that the judge in the district court has erred in deciding that that Apple failed to show that it was likely to succeed on the merits and sent the case back to the district count for further review.

Apple legal war against Samsung on Patents

The two giants have been involved in a legal battle regarding 20 patent related cases. Both of them are racing to reach the top as far as smart phones and tablets are concerned. The Patent ruling on Monday concerned the design of the Samsung tablet 10.1. The US District Court for the Northern District of California had found that the design patent could have been challenged as “obvious,” which means it should never have been granted. The appeals court disagree. The Appeals court stated that the lower court was right in refusing the right to grant injunction based on the first three patents. Those patents had nothing to do with the design and the third was about scrolling. The ruling in Washington is however part of a larger legal proceeding in California. Apple sued Samsung last year stating that the South Korean company’s galaxy line of products copied the iphone and the ipad.

One of the three judges hearing the case dissent from part of the majority decision, saying that the finding for Apple in the tablet design patent should not result in a ruling returning the issue to the lower court but that Apple should have been granted its injunction.

Apple legal war against Samsung reaches new heights

John Edwards legal defense team take off

Posted on May 15, 2012 by bizandlegis

The legal team appearing for the Presidential bidder of 2008, John Edwards, opened defence on Monday. After weeks of digging through scandalous confessions of extramarital affairs and love children the court has finally turned to a more serious issue: campaign finance law. The ex presidential candidate has been indicted on 6 felony counts. These included making false statements, conspiracy and on violating campaign contribution laws to which he had already pleaded not guilty.

John Edwards trial begins

John Edwards daughter will also be expected to testify this week although it has not been decided when exactly. Lara Hoggard who supervised the campaigns reporting to the Federal Election Commission said that the FEC had told Edwards that there was no need to report the sums of money. This was confirmed by the FEC former chairman Scott Thomas. Scott Thomas testified in court without the Jury as the prosecution claimed that his testimony was not material to the criminal case at hand. John Edwards further clarified that both the sums of money were not recorded as campaign contributions as they were received for his private use and not to convince a US citizen to vote for him. Both sums of money were intended to protect his wife and children and conceal his mistress and their affair. Edwards accepted that what he did was wrong but not illegal.

Elizabeth Edwards on John Edwards Trial

A former pollster Harrison Hickman testified that Elizabeth Edwards temper could be unmanageable at times. When the news about the affair got onto the papers Mrs Edwards kept insisting that she didn’t want to be humiliated by the incident. It was to keep from her the secret of the affair that the huge sums of money were accepted. That is why they were never recorded as election campaign sums.

John Edwards trial – Andrew Young said donations are legal

Child Health Care Center threatens legal action

Posted on May 14, 2012 by bizandlegis

A Whangarei childcare centre has threatened legal action against the New Zealand Aids Foundation for slander. The centre had allegedly turned away a four year old boy when his mother told them that her son was HIV positive. When asked about the same the centre claimed that they only sent the boy home for a period while it developed a child care plan. The RNZAF consequently has championed the boy’s rights. They said that the Mokopuna Early C E and Care Centre, run by He Puna Marama Trust should have ideally already had a care plan in place for children that are HIV positive. Moreover the HIV content in the boy’s blood was found to be so negligible as to not be spreadable to other children. The RNZAF said that the centre really needed to acknowledge the really poor quality of its decision. HIV is a non notifiable disease which means that parents of children with HIV are not required to declare that at schools or early childcare centres.

Also it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because of the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing illnesses.

The Childcare centre said that these allegations were slanderous and part of the centre’s attempt to gain media attention and increased funding.

Child Health Care Center threatens legal action

Is law a product like any in the market

Posted on May 14, 2012 by bizandlegis

Legal The legal profession has always been known to be a noble profession. Now a debate has arisen as to whether law has just become another product that we find in the market. The answer is yes and no. The debate surrounding the Legal Services Regulations Bill in Ireland is precisely on this topic. Legal services unlike other professions have not subjected itself to any regulatory authority. They are not scrutinized for the way they function or have not been told the do’s and don’ts of the trade. But the legal profession unlike other professions cannot be subjected to the scrutiny of a higher authority because lawyers using the law are often involved in tussles with the state and authorities. Therefore subjecting them to scrutiny of such an authority would be antithetical to their functioning.

Legal Services Regulations Bill

But is law just another product? Is it possible to argue that a person who is a victim of a medical mishap and requires compensation to go ahead with his treatment a ‘consumer’ of legal services. A young man who is wrong accused of murder and whose liberty is at stake can also not be called a consumer. So is the family who is threatened with foreclosure by a bank when they are not able to repay their mortgage payment. All these people are not voluntary consumers of the legal services. However to the corporate world legal services is just another product that it buys to run its affairs. They need legal services all the time to draw up contracts, to assist in employment disputes, to negotiate mergers, to acquire or rent property, to secure payment for services, to deal with banking and taxation matters . . . the list goes on. The corporate legal world is all but too competitive. This bill will hugely help their cause and bring some regulation into this highly messy affair.

However it is less obvious how this bill is to help the vast majority of Irish citizens for whom law is not something that helps them make their lives smother but something that helps them out of a crisis.

New York appeals court: viewing child pornography legal in state

Posted on May 11, 2012 by bizandlegis

The New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday rendered a judgment that has left many in the society aghast. As per the decision of the Court, in a case against James D Kent, a college professor at Marist College, New York, viewing child pornography is not a crime in New York. In the case before the Court, Kent was charged on several grounds of promoting sexual performance by a minor and possessing a sexual performance by a minor. The Court dismissed two counts of possession against Kent who was convicted in 2009.

Viewing child pornography legal in New York

According to the Court, during the investigations it was found that the certain images found on Kent’s hard drive was not downloaded onto his system but was already present in the system cache. According to the Court, viewing of pornographic cached images not accompanied by any affirmative action such as printing and downloading, do not constitute “ possession and procurement” under the Penal law. The Court held that in respect of cached images, the Prosecution must in the least prove that the system owner was aware of the existence of such images. It is necessary to show that the perpetrated had control over the images. The Court held that it could not prove possession when the image was automatically downloaded onto user’s system without his consent.

Though the Court condemned child pornography, it insisted that it is the not the duty of the Court but that of the Legislation to criminalize and envisage maximum punishment in cases such as this. It seems in this case the Court has conveniently resorted, as a justification for its action, to the age old definition of its duties that merely requires within its ambit, the Court to interpret the law. As long as the law criminalizes only possession and procurement within its ambit, the Court explanation seems to suggest that its hands are tied.

Protection of children is a customary norm in all societies and the international community has for years condemned child pornography. The increase in instances of internet child pornography has made it an issue that requires immediate international attention. Internationally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child provides the basis for development of national laws regarding protection of children. Article 34 of the Convention envisages the protection of children against pornography and requires parties to make appropriate laws to achieve the same. However United States has only signed the same but has not ratified it. In the United States, the federal laws governing child pornography are the Children’s Internet Protection Act, 2000, Protection Act, 2003. Furthermore the Code of the United States in Title 18, Section 225, 2251A and 2260 criminalizes offences involving children including sexual exploitation of children, production and importing into United States material that sexually depicts minors etc. despite such federal laws, each State is empowered to enact its own laws.

The judgment by the New York Appeals Court has been severely criticized in all circles. The citizenry in New York is outraged by the decision of the Court and felt that the Court did not give proper importance to legislative intent and has called on the legislature to take immediate action.

New York appeals court: viewing child pornography legal in state

Probation or jail for Dharun Ravi

Posted on May 11, 2012 by bizandlegis

Was it a teenage prank or something more hateful? Dharun Ravi the student of Indian origin who was found guilty of bias intimidation for spying on his roommates sexual encounter has requested the court to give him probation rather than a jail sentence.

Dharun Ravi is set to be sentenced on the 21^st of May and faces up to 10 years imprisonment followed by deportation to his native India. This case has garnered a lot of attention and interest from the world in general and the United States in particular. The victim of this prank or hate crime committed suicide creating a furore among gay rights activists who find this kind of bullying clearly intended because of the victim’s sexuality. However it is important to note that there have been opinions pointing out the contrary to. Many feel that it was a prank that went horribly wrong. It was more to show his friends of what a computer genius he was. Many feel that he has been unfairly demonized.

Indian student Dharun Ravi demand probation

As his sentencing date nears, Ravi’s lawyers Steven Altman and Philip Nettl have increased their efforts to get his conviction either overturned or instead try to get his sentence to a probation whereby he wouldn’t be sent to jail or deported back to India. They stated that a sentencing of that magnitude meant serious injustice to Ravi.

Following a long trial in March, Ravi was found guilty on bias intimidation and invasion of privacy charges for using a webcam and spying on his Rutgers University roommate Tyler Clementi. Tyler committed suicide in September 2010. Many described his actions careless and not malicious with intent to cause extreme harm. His parents and his friends have stated that the way the media has portrayed has been extremely unfair.

Probation or jail for Dharun Ravi