Apparently, the fate of the Department of Labor's ("DOL") overtime regulations remains a somewhat fluid and unsettled situation. On May 4, 2004, the Senate approved two amendments to an unrelated tax bill ostensibly designed to preserve overtime protection of certain groups of previously non-exempt employees.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit issued an opinion today upholding the national Do-Not-Call Registry. The Court held that the First Amendment does not prevent the government from establishing a registry.

Earlier this week, in a unanimous decision that could provide a significant defense in class actions alleging securities fraud, the United States Supreme Court held that plaintiffs in those actions must allege and prove that the defendants’ allegedly false and misleading statements were the proximate cause of the plaintiffs’ economic losses.

The City of Chicago has mandated that residential real estate developers obtain a City of Chicago Residential Real Estate Developer license by September 30, 2004 and time is running out for developers to comply. Even a real estate developer whose business is based outside the City will be required to secure a Chicago real estate developer’s license if it operates within the City. Please note that single-family home owners making improvements to their own homes are exempted.

The federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CAFA), the "anti-hacker" law, prohibits the unauthorized transmission of a program, information, code, or command intended to impair the integrity or availability of data on a computer.

On November 30, 2004, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an exemptive order granting certain accelerated filers an additional 45 days to comply with the requirement under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to provide a management report on internal control over financial reporting and the related independent auditor’s attestation report.

On November 16, 2005, the United States Department of Commerce’s (DOC) Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) relaxed the export regulations governing certain exports to Libya.

In conjunction with recent corporate governance regulations, Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange, and the American Stock Exchange have introduced new certification forms. Listed companies should have received these forms from their exchange; additional copies are available on the Internet. Please note that companies also have an ongoing obligation to promptly notify their exchange after an executive officer becomes aware of any material noncompliance with its corporate governance rules.

Contractors who sell products and services, directly or indirectly, to the Department of Defense (DoD) have a unique opportunity in the coming weeks to provide input to the Defense Acquisition Performance Assessment (DAPA) panel, which is responsible for developing recommendations to improve the DoD’s acquisition of major weapons systems.

On June 14, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision, held that a claim of constructive discharge is not necessarily a tangible employment action preventing an employer from raising the Ellerth/ Faragher affirmative defense. The Court resolved the disagreement among the circuits regarding this issue and found that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals had erred in declaring the Ellerth/Faragher affirmative defense never available in constructive discharge cases.

On January 29, 2004, the FTC franchise rule staff issued a new advisory opinion (FTC Staff Advisory Opinion No. 04-2) thoughtfully addressing the subject of earnings claims and internet advertising. The staff's advisory opinion makes for interesting reading.

SEC commissioners voted on September 21 to postpone for an additional year the compliance date regarding Section 404 internal control reporting requirements for companies that are not accelerated filers. It also proposed certain changes to periodic report filing deadlines and to the definition of accelerated filer.

Throughout the world, dedicated teams of scientists and engineers at companies large and small are making remarkable progress as they work to realize the potential of nanotechnology. As companies invest resources in the development of this promising technology, they should not ignore the need to navigate around the legal and policy potholes that will become larger and more significant with each new success in the laboratory.

The new California law highlights the need for franchise systems to take the bull by the horns and develop and implement system-wide privacy and data policies. Franchise systems already face a number of other challenges that suggest the need for these policies.

The IRS has issued final regulations defining the term "statutory merger" or "consolidation" as it is used in Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 368(a)(1)(A) (an "A Reorganization). The new regulations also affect statutory mergers or consolidations in forward triangular and reverse triangular reorganizations under Code Sections 368(a)(2)(D) and (E).

Asian investors in America, beware: The U.S. Congress is mulling tighter controls on foreign direct investment. This time, it’s serious.

Last week Italy became the latest nation to adopt a law regulating the sale of franchises and the conduct of franchisors and franchisees. Two other European countries, France and Spain, already have such laws.