Most California employers with 11 or more employees are required to post between February 1 and April 30 a summary of job-related injuries and illnesses that occurred during 2004 from the "Log and Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses" (OSHA Form 300A). Employers with no injuries or illnesses for 2004 should post the 300A with zeros on the total line.

Following a contentious and often gridlocked session, three pieces of key telecommunications legislation were sent to the President only moments before the Senate adjourned the 108<SUP>th</SUP> Congress <I>sine di</I> on December 8.

By passing Proposition 64, voters brought some sanity to California’s Unfair Competition Law (Business & Professions Code §§17200 <I>et seq.</I>) which had allowed individuals – including those not impacted by an alleged unfair business practice – to sue on behalf of the general public as "private attorney generals." Predictably, the unrestricted statute led to a proliferation of lawsuits alleging that unfair policies and practices in the workplace should lead to various remedies.

Operators of multiline telephone systems (MLTS), such as businesses, hospitals and universities, likely will be affected by a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order released on December 1, 2003, that encourages states to adopt new 911 regulations.

Virginia has enacted the nation’s first law that expressly targets "phishing" and makes it a criminal offense. Phishing is the use of fraudulent emails and Web pages to trick Internet users into revealing personal, financial or other confidential information.

On January 22, 2004, the Illinois Pollution Control Board adopted regulations establishing standards and procedures for administering Illinois’ Brownfield Site Restoration Program (BSRP).

Freedom from some state and local communications excise taxation soon may no longer be one of the advantages of Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) services. The New York State Public Service Commission (NY-PSC) has just issued a decision classifying Vonage Holdings Corporation, a provider of VOIP services that utilize the public Internet, as a "telephone corporation." While not a tax decision per se, this decision has tax implications for both service providers and end-users.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently granted initial regulatory approval for a new generation of high-tech transportation technologies that could fundamentally alter America’s transportation landscape. The FCC rulemaking, which gives the transportation industry preliminary approval to begin using cutting-edge communications systems, furthers a national initiative to incorporate technology and advanced electronics into the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure.

In its March 2004 statement titled "Share-Based Payment: an amendment of FASB Statements No. 123 and 95," FASB proposed that companies expense the fair value of stock options and other equity awards to employees. To estimate the fair value of such awards, FASB recommended (but did not explicitly require) that companies utilize a "lattice model" instead of closed-form option pricing models such as the Black-Scholes formula.