Over the past few years, regulators, issuers, investors, and other market participants have expressed increasing concerns regarding the real or perceived effects of short selling. For example, thinly capitalized issuers whose shares trade on the over-the-counter market often blame short sellers for declines in the prices of their stocks.

Traditional insurance policies are well designed to cover slips, falls, and fires. But are these the greatest risks businesses face? Dependence on technology, networked computers and the Internet has redefined risk for many businesses. Networked computers hold financial data, sensitive customer information, trade secrets, and proprietary software systems and databases.

Last year, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) introduced the American business world to a new gateway to determine which entities were to be included in consolidated financial statements – FIN 46. Officially known as FASB Interpretation No. 46 (which, in turn, interprets Accounting Research Bulletin No. 51, Consolidated Financial Statements (ARB 51)), FIN 46 represents a significant change in accounting standards.

What if terrorists could bring down your business with a cyber attack? Cyber security risks are increasing at an alarming, exponential rate. The frequency, sophistication, and severity of today’s cyber attacks can be attributed not only to a thriving domestic hacker community but also to overseas hackers

On August 25, 2004, the FTC released its long-awaited Staff Report on the proposed amendments to the FTC Franchise Rule. This staff report, which consists of 400-plus pages, contains the staff’s recommendations on the pending amendments to the Franchise Rule. The Staff Report is based on the rulemaking record created during the FTC’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in 1997 and the Notice of Rulemaking Proceeding issued in 1999.

The Federal Communications Commission recently opened a new round of public comment on the management, administration, and oversight of the Universal Service Fund (USF or the Fund), the multi-billion dollar federal subsidy program that has been the subject of substantial controversy and numerous investigations into waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.

The IRS recently issued proposed regulations under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code, which governs the tax treatment of various forms of non-qualified deferred compensation.

More than three months have passed since the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (the BAPCPA) became effective. Now that several significant Chapter 11 cases have been filed which are subject to its provisions, it is perhaps the time to take a close look at the ways the new law may impact certain types of creditors and also the changes for international insolvencies.

On March 15, 2006, the Federal Trade Commission (Commission or FTC) published its decision to retain its Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (Rule) in its current form. This decision followed a review of the Rule in which the public was invited to comment

This article marks the launch of DLA Piper Rudnick's arbitration practice with the publication of their new International Arbitration Newsletter.

What are Research Tools? .... Research tools are a lot like the Supreme Court’s treatment of obscenity – it’s difficult to define, but you know it when you see it. Typically, a research tool is an invention, generally a method, device or composition, which identifies a potential target for further development, such as a potential candidate for drug testing, but plays no role in the actual pharmaceutical or other end product.

The first non-sector-specific information security law in the country imposing a duty on businesses and non-profits to implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect sensitive personal information will take effect on January 1, 2005.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement the innovative SAFETY (Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies) Act provisions of the Homeland Security Act (Title VIII, Subtitle G). Piper Rudnick was closely involved in the development of the SAFETY Act, which offer significant liability protections for providers of homeland security products and services.

A nondisclosure agreement, often referred to as an NDA or a confidentiality agreement, is typically the first agreement to be entered into in a mergers and acquisitions transaction. The agreement is designed to protect the confidentiality of information exchanged in connection with the consideration and negotiation of the transaction and information exchanged in the course of a party’s due diligence review of the other.

Should plaintiffs pay taxes on attorney fees recovered in employment actions through settlement or judgment? This has been a recurrent issue in employment litigation, and one that on occasion impacts the resolution of the case. This eAlert discusses two important recent developments in the area: first, a United States Supreme Court decision that resolves a conflict among the circuits and holds that attorney fees are not excludable from plaintiff’s gross income; and, second, federal legislation,

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission), on August 13, 2004, published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding how to determine the "primary purpose" of commercial electronic mail messages under the CANSPAM Act (Pub. L. No. 108-187). This issue is of great importance because it determines the range of e-mail messages that are subject to the Act’s requirements to honor an opt out and include a physical address and an indication that the e-mail is a solicitation, as well as the A

With Congress set to adjourn for the year, deals on two major pieces of legislation have been reached. These two pieces of legislation are significant developments in the areas of electronic commerce and privacy.