Monday, March 1, 2010

E-Commerce

E-Commerce
Doing business on the Internet via your web site or other means can be a very efficient and profitable venture. However, there are certain dangers involved in operating online, including cyber-piracy, data protection and potential breaches, copyright infringers, trademark thieves, rogue affiliates/marketers and more. With so many possibilities for problems, knowing that you've done the legal groundwork for your business and web site is a smart investment. CyberLaw PC is experienced in the law of the Internet and can help you protect yourself from the many dangers of online commerce.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing can be an effective way to get your name out, but affiliate programs are also high risk for advertisers if the affiliate markets by spamming, commits fraud or employs a range of other techniques that are not consistent with good marketing practices. Affiliate marketers themselves may need legal advice when advertisers do not pay the promised commissions or an innocent affiliate is accused of spamming or creating other electronic nuisances. No matter what the affiliate marketing concern, CyberLaw can assist online marketers or affiliates with their legal concerns.

Website Legal Audits

Did you know that you cannot collect information from children under 13 via your website? There are many laws that govern how a website can and cannot operate. In addition to law, there are "best practices" regarding your privacy policies, terms of service and other site documentation. This is all in addition to concerns about your copyright and trademark rights. CyberLaw can assist you in drafting your privacy policy and terms of service. The firm can also advise on the best practices for protecting the privacy of your visitors. Having well-written legal policies on your site can save you from a world of trouble in the future.

Online Auctions

Selling via online auctions on eBay or other sites has its share of worries. Illegitimate bidders may outbid your legitimate customers, articles may not be as described, and competitors may work to disparage your good name. Disputes often arise between the auction sites and sellers as to fees, rights, or responsibilities. CyberLaw's experience in such matters can help you come to a resolution as efficiently as possible. Contact the firm today for a free consultation about your e-commerce legal questions.

http://www.cyberlaw.pro/general/practices/e-commerce.html

Take what you can get

'Take what you can get', investors warned
By Ed Attwood


Property investors should accept revised offers from developers rather than hang on for original real estate projects to make progress, a leading local lawyer has said.“

My advice to them would be that if a developer is offering them revised payment terms or an alternative property in another development that’s in a more advanced stage of completion – take it,” Richard Bell, an associate with Clyde & Co, told Arabian Business.

Because you’ll either get a property, or if you don’t, you are in no worse a position than you are now.”
If investors rush straight to court, there is no guarantee of success and investors will incur heavy legal fees, Bell added. He also expressed his belief that if work on the development is still proceeding, the odds of winning a court case are against the investor.
“The purchaser also needs to bear in mind that if they are given what on its face is a reasonable settlement proposal and they reject it, that could count against them in any proceeding that they bring in court,” the Clyde & Co lawyer stated.
“The other thing they can do is contact the Land Department…it can be tough and frustrating to deal with the Land Department, but if you keep at it, something may be able to be done.”
But Bell also pointed out that the current market situation was difficult for both developers and investors equally. “I make no bones about it; it’s tough for purchasers, and it’s tough for both sides of the development project,” he said.
“But at the end of the day, there’s no easy solution; you have to make the best of a difficult situation. If you can possibly negotiate with developers, do so.”

A bug's life

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/473521?ln=en

A bug's life
by Kate Concannon

This creepy quartet of bugs are out to give the approach to artificial intelligence embraced in rival robo darlings such as AIBO a run for its money. And with a retail price equivalent to only one thirty-seventh of those pricier electro-pets, it’s a run to be reckoned with.

While the traditional approach to AI relies on processors and complex programming to function as a brain and thus respond to the environment, B.I.O Bugs, on the other hand, rely on much simpler — and cheaper — computing technology.

Whilst they do contain several basic chips, they are modelled upon the breed of robots that use relatively uncomplicated elctronics circuitry to create “nervous networks”.

It is then left to these networks to develop and produce emergent, life-like behaviours. Rather like an ultra-simplified version of Steve Grand’s orang-utan baby, Lucy.

Mark Tilden, bug designer and roboticist/physicist at federal labs in New Mexico, explained his ‘brainless’ approach: “Ninety-nine percent of creatures on this planet do very well without any brain at all. I’ve tapped into how they do that.”

For robots that come cheap as chips, the bugs get up to some impressive mischief. “They’re wired to learn,” explained toy expert Chris Byrne. “You can put them in a box, and it can be stymied, then learn to climb out and it will remember the next time.”

Each of the four bug species, Predator, Acceleraider, Destroyer and Stomper, has its own special talent, and they have a penchant for fighting.

A hand controller is included so the master can impose his or her authority, but the bugs will just as happily crawl about on their own, exploring and learning. But be warned! If you ignore the bug it will give out a death scream, and if you play too rough, it plays back rougher.