JD Supra Weekend Reader: First to File, Human Trafficking, Love Contracts, Federal Crimes

To our friends and colleagues on the East Coast: this one’s for you. An extra-long JD Supra Weekend Reader to keep you company as you wait out the blizzard. Enjoy!

What the impending “first-to-file” change means to the U.S. patent system… (JD Supra) 

Take your picture? And we do mean “take”… (Greenberg Glusker) 

Manufacturers and retailers in California: take heed. The state’s law to prevent slavery and human trafficking in supply chains is in effect, and that means public disclosure of your efforts (Duane Morris) 

Make sure you do your anti-corruption homework when evaluating an acquisition… (Skadden) 

Is immigration reform finally going to change from a dream to reality? (Is That Legal?) 

Harassment claims, fraternization policies, love contracts. Oh, isn’t Valentine’s Day the most romantic time of year at the office? (Ogletree Deakins) 

What do YOU see when you look at Lance Armstrong? (Morvillo Abramowitz) 

What to do if you’re accused of a federal crime? (The Kaiser Law Firm) 

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service approved Rosneft’s $5 billion acquisition of TNK-BP (King & Spalding) 

Canada is cracking down on foreign corruption and bribery. Hard (Bennett Jones) 

Sex Pistols + IP law? You bet (Loeb & Loeb) 

Let the sun shine in … on the healthcare industry (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

Do you record customer calls for training and quality control? Listen up… (Perkins Coie) 

“LOL, this ‘expert witness’ is putting me to sleep” – what are courts doing about social media use by sitting jurors? (Holland & Knight) 

After Canning, what’s next for the National Labor Relations Board? (Small Business Support) 

A new Siemens whistleblower complaint accuses “senior executives, compliance officers, and legal officers” of ignoring anti-corruption controls (Sheppard Mullin) 

The Department of Justice doesn’t want New Jersey to implement its sports betting law (Ifrah Law) 

“Do not contact the media” and other workplace policy language that violates the National Labor Relations Act (FordHarrison) 

It’s estimated that 63% of the workforce will telecommute by 2016. That’s a lot of potential legal pitfalls for employers… (Fisher & Phillips) 

Kim Dotcom’s new “sharing” website Mega? It’s already received a host of copyright infringement warnings… (Baldwins) 

The Federal Trade Commission has issued a “first-of-its-kind” study of debt buyers (Ballard Spahr) 

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JD Supra Morning Brief: Siemens Whistleblower, Jersey Sports Betting, Goldman “Pay-to-Play” Scheme, Super Bowl Trademark II

Have you signed up for email delivery of the JD Supra Morning Brief? It’s like breakfast in bed. Only better:

After Canning, what’s next for the National Labor Relations Board? (Small Business Support) 

A new Siemens whistleblower complaint accuses “senior executives, compliance officers, and legal officers” of ignoring anti-corruption controls (Sheppard Mullin) 

We hear they’re hiring at the CFPB – but you might want to wait before you say yes… (Ballard Spahr) 

Goldman Sachs will pay the SEC $12 million to settle charges that an employee engaged in a “pay to play” scheme, providing assistance to a former Massachusetts state treasurer while the company sought work from the state’s Treasurer’s office (King & Spalding) 

The Department of Justice doesn’t want New Jersey to implement its sports betting law (Ifrah Law) 

“Do not contact the media” and other workplace policy language that violates the National Labor Relations Act (FordHarrison) 

Can you say “Super Bowl” on the Internet? Probably. Here’s a great post that explains why (Greenberg Glusker) 

The Obama Administration plans to negotiate a new international services trade agreement with 20 other countries. And that’s good news for everyone (Skadden) 

Think your mobile app follows federal privacy rules? So did Path - $800,000 ago… (BakerHostetler) 

It’s estimated that 63% of the workforce will telecommute by 2016. That’s a lot of potential legal pitfalls for employers… (Fisher & Phillips) 

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@JDSupraBuzz

Cookies, Gambling, Yoga, and Biopharmaceuticals? It Can Only Be…

… Tuesday’s JD Supra Buzz. Here’s what we learned today in law news:

European countries are stepping up enforcement of the EU Cookie Directive. And that concerns a lot of US businesses (Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn) 

The DOJ’s new position on internet gambling hasn’t cleared anything up at all (Snell & Wilmer) 

Why it’s too late to copyright “A Compilation of Yoga Poses” and why it matters (MoFo Tech) 

Looking for a timeline of key health care reform events? It’s here (Bryan Cave) 

It’s easier than ever to be a whistleblower (Michael Volkov) 

America’s global leadership in biopharmaceutical research is not a given (McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff) 

The Ninth Circuit blew it when it ruled that the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act only applies to “hacking” (Downs Rachlin Martin) 

The election is just one month away. But it will be a long month if employers can’t find a way to prevent politically based conflict in the workplace (Morrison & Foerster) 

Does your social media policy pass muster with the NLRB? Take the test… (Social Media Today) 

Registration for the Department of State’s green card lottery opened today (Davis Wright Tremaine) 

The Federal Trade Commission released the Green Guides to guide environmental claims about products (Lane Powell) 

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Get Rich Quick Schemes, Medical Pot at Work, Start-up Legal Woes, Fake Online Personas. Sounds Like…

… Tuesday’s JD Supra Buzz. What we learned this week in law, for your reading pleasure:

Is your startup prepared for a lawsuit seeking damages in the trillions of dollars? (Fenwick & West) 

At least these three get-rich-quick schemes are helping the FTC get $478 million richer… (Ifrah Law) 

The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that everyone should know moving trains are extremely dangerous (Sedgwick) 

Michigan medical marijuana users who work for private employers are not protected against workplace policies that forbid the drug’s use (Miller Canfield) 

France has rewritten its law on sexual harassment (Bryan Cave) (en francais) 

On the Internet, no one knows if you’re a dog. Or a man (Howard Ankin) 

A new law in Ohio will make it easier for applicants with criminal records to get a job (XpertHR) 

There’s more to the Affordable Care Act than the individual mandate (Saul Ewing) 

The casino operated by the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel is ineligible for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (Cadwalader) 

Passage of the Innovative Design Protection Act is far from sewn up (Mintz Levin) 

Next on the EEOC’s list? Eliminating systemic barriers in recruitment and hiring (Sheppard Mullin) 

Court rules that contractual terms and conditions sent as an email link after the transaction was completed are not binding (Proskauer) 

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Most-Favored Nation Clauses, Florida Judges’ Facebook Friends, Bruce Willis’ iTunes Account, More. Why, I Believe It’s…

… This week’s JD Supra Buzz. What we learned this week in law, for your reading pleasure:

Everybody wins under the deal bringing the DOJ’s investigation of Full Tilt Poker to an end (Ifrah Law) 

Are most-favored nation clauses in the business world anticompetitive? Not according to businesses (Skadden Arps) (Mintz Levin) 

Florida judges: just say “no” to Facebook friend requests (Social Media Today) 

Bruce Willis isn’t really planning to sue Apple over the non-transferability of his iTunes account, but it’s still a valid concern for users (Lawyers.com) 

Just in time for the fall hiring season, the NLRB finds Costco’s social media policies unlawfully overbroad (Miller Canfield) 

The U.S. just became the first non-Asia Pacific country to join the APEC’s Cross-Border Privacy Rules System (White & Case) 

Employer learns the hard way that making employees justify their medications a violation of the ADA (Constangy, Brooks & Smith) 

Is climate change responsible for this summer’s outbreak of hantavirus at Yellowstone? Looks that way (McCarter & English) 

Is GM leading the way to a new era of “insourcing”? (Pillsbury) 

Do home-schooled kids have to right to play on public school teams? (Dinsmore & Shohl) 

The music industry is preparing for a big IP rights shakeup beginning January 1, 2013 (Sedgwick) 

Mexico has begun to take workplace sexual harassment seriously (Littler) 

California voter consider a genetically engineered food labeling initiative (Morrison & Foerster) 

UBS employee blows the whistle on tax fraud, gets $104 million (and a 40-month jail sentence, too) (Corporate Compliance Report) 

Religious expression in the California workplace gets a boost (Proskauer) 

You may never want to eat Ben & Jerry’s ice cream again (Greenberg Glusker) 

Everybody knows that computer hacking is illegal. But what are the laws, exactly? (Looper Reed & McGraw) 

When does the U.S. government get involved in the acquisition by a Chinese state-owned company of a Canadian business? When there’s oil involved… (King & Spalding) 

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Celebrity Divorces, Taxable Scholarships, Background Checks, NFL Betting, More. Yes, It’s…

… Monday’s JD Supra Buzz. For your reading enjoyment, here’s what we learned today: 

The #1 factor driving quick celebrity divorce settlements? Money (Bloomberg Law) 

Telemarketers doing business in New York will have to register with the state as of November 12, 2012 (Proskauer) 

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is determined to allow NFL betting in his state, whatever the cost (Dinsmore & Shohl) 

Every employer should read the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s newly released guidance on criminal background checks (McCarter & English) 

Required reading for the incoming class: the IRS rules on taxation of scholarships and fellowships (Davis Brown) 

Tennessee’s unemployment law gets a facelift (Miller & Martin) 

Wyndham is fighting back against FTC’s allegations that the company committed unfair and deceptive acts related to three data security breaches (Mintz Levin) 

The Supreme Court has ruled on the Fox / CBS indecency case. So why don’t we have a better idea of what indecency is, exactly? (Womble Carlyle) 

The beginning of the school year means the end of summer child labor rules (Pullman & Comley) 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is exploring a proposal to charge higher interest rates to borrowers who live in states with complex foreclosure processes. Really. (Leonard, Street and Deinard) 

The IRS has announced its “Streamlined Filing Procedure” that will allow delinquent tax payers living outside of the U.S. to catch up on their taxes without significant penalties (Moodys LLP Tax Advisors) 

The Treasury Department wants government contractors to make good faith efforts at diversity (Orrick) 

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Walks like a duck, downloads like a pirate, lashes like a storm? Must be…

… Wednesday’s JD Supra Buzz - what we learned today, FYI:

It ain’t over until you download the illegal copy of the fat lady singing (Is That Legal?) 

Want to keep employees off company property when they’re not working? No dice, says the NLRB (Miller & Martin) 

The time to start preparing for a hurricane is, well, long before the waves are lapping up on your doorstep (McCarter & English) 

If it walks like a duck, and talk like a duck, it’s actually probably a direct claim (White & Case) 

If poker isn’t “illegal gambling,” what happens to the charges against the former owner of Full Tilt Poker? (Ian Imrich) 

Newt Gingrich has settled his lawsuit with Survivor’s Frankie Sullivan (Mintz Levin) 

Is the student loan crisis akin to the mortgage crisis? The CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman seems to think so (Ballard Spahr) 

A new California bill wants to give courts the ability to determine which children in the state should have more than two legal parents (Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard) 

The reach of New York’s antitrust laws doesn’t extend outside the country (Cadwalader) 

Russia has officially joined the WTO. But US companies won’t be able to benefit from Russia’s lower trade barriers and import tariffs unless the US changes its laws (Armstrong Teasdale) 

Do business online? You need to read this Top 10 list (Wahab & Medenica) 

Do students need law school rankings to make informed choices? Not if the ranking system causes schools to lie (Bloomberg Law) 

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Today’s Buzz: Conflict Minerals, Million-dollar Salaries, Data Held Hostage, DNA Patents, More

What we learned today:

One law professor thinks lawyers should be satisfied earning $1 million per year. (Bloomberg Law) 

Will “your money or your privacy” become the new standard holdup line? (Mintz Levin) 

A conflict minerals rule was finally adopted by the SEC, 16 months after it was due (Foley Hoag) (Ropes & Gray) (Sheppard Mullin) 

The future of personalized medicine has been called into question by a recent court ruling on the patentability of DNA and DNA analyses (Bradley Arant Boult Cummings) 

You can copyright a building (Cole Schotz) 

Note to gossip magazines: stealing celebrity photos and publishing them? Not “fair use” (Loeb & Loeb) 

Venture capital fundraising for the first half of 2012 is up 31% over the same period last year (Fenwick & West) 

Only one county in the nation’s most populous state regulates in-home caregivers (Hopkins & Carley) 

TSA employees called up for active military duty are now entitled to get their jobs back when they come home (Xpert HR) 

The Asia-Pacific region is a hotbed of geothermal energy development (Baker & McKenzie Australia) 

Not declaring foreign bank accounts can cost non-citizens their U.S. residency (Moskowitz) 

A New York judge has ruled that poker is a game of skill, not of chance. Really. (Pillsbury) 

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Follow the Buzz on Twitter: @JDSupraBuzz

Today’s Buzz: Romney’s Taxes, The Butt Face, Gambling, More

What we learned in law today, from JD Supra:

There are three things employers need to focus on right now to comply with healthcare reform laws (McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC) 

Putting unpaid interns to work in the kitchen might earn you a lawsuit (Mintz Levin) 

The “religious exemption” to the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act is actually quite limited in scope (Bryan Cave) 

Sometimes lawyers violate copyright laws just like the rest of us (Duane Morris LLP) 

Mitt Romney probably isn’t trying to hide anything illegal by not disclosing his tax returns (Morvillo, Abramowitz, Grand, Iason, Anello & Bohrer, P.C.) 

You knew them as The South Butt. Now they’re The Butt Face. But for The North Face, they still deserve to get tossed out by the seat of their pants (Foley Hoag LLP) 

School kids + social media + free speech = lawsuits (Lawyers.com) 

For Hong Kong-listed companies, finding investors in today’s economy is no longer just a pipe dream (Skadden Arps) 

Student loan debt in the U.S. stands at $1,000,000,000,000 (John Skiba) 

Amateur and professional sports leagues are betting against New Jersey’s Sports Gambling Law (Pillsbury) 

Surfing can be a bad idea if you’re an employer, and the “ocean” is really the social media accounts of your employees (K&L Gates LLP) 

Q: When can you claim a $40 million tax bill on something that has no value? A: When you’re the IRS (Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP) 

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Follow the Buzz on Twitter: @JDSupraBuzz

Focus on: Native American Legal Issues

For your reference, a roundup of recent updates on issues related to Native American law in the United States:

Real Estate Transactions With Native American Tribes (Miller Starr Regalia)

“Tribal rights to Indian lands are the exclusive province of federal law. Exclusive federal authority over Indian affairs is based on three provisions of the United States Constitution: the Indian commerce clause, which gives Congress the exclusive power to control Indian commerce; the treaty clause; and the supremacy clause, which, together with extensive congressional legislation on Indian affairs, has broadly preempted state law… Indian tribes are domestic dependent nations that exercise inherent sovereign authority over their members and territories. Indian tribes are not subject to suit in state or federal courts unless an enforceable sovereign immunity waiver or a federal law authorizes suit in another forum.” Read on»

Glossary of Indian Tribal Finance Terminology (Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP)

“This glossary is intended as a handy reference guide for tribal leaders and finance officers and for those who work closely with them. We have tried to cover a variety of borrowing situations from bank loans, to taxable or tax-exempt bonds, to high-yield note offerings and more. In each case, we have tailored the explanations to the unique circumstances that affect Indian tribal governments and business enterprises when they borrow money for tribal projects.” Read on»

Internet Gaming and Indian Country: The Trends and the Strategies (Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP)

“For most of the twentieth century, gambling in the United States was confined to the State of Nevada. Much has changed in the last twenty-five years since adoption of federal law expressly authorizing Indian gaming. Today, hundreds of casinos are operated by tribes, on Indian lands throughout the country. Indian gaming accounts for nearly half of the industry. Now, a change in position by the federal government—combined with the rapid growth and popularization of the Internet—has the potential to open a new frontier: Online gaming.” Read on»

Federal Agencies Move to Regulate Aspects of Hydraulic Fracturing (Morgan Lewis)

“The proposed rules from the Interior Department’s [Bureau of Land Management (BLM)] govern future hydraulic fracturing of oil and natural gas wells on 700 million acres of federal mineral estate and 56 million acres of Indian mineral estate. Currently, such lands account for approximately 3,400 new wells per year, 90% of which BLM estimates are developed using hydraulic fracturing. The proposed rules revise current BLM regulations, imposing various new requirements on hydraulic fracturing operations (both future and already operational). Public comments on the proposed rules are due within 60 days of formal publication in the Federal Register (expected shortly), with BLM expected to adopt final rules by the end of 2012.” Read on»

FTC Files Case Against Tribe-Affiliated Payday Lenders (BuckleySandler LLP)

“On April 2, the FTC announced that it filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada against a payday lending operation that allegedly charged undisclosed and inflated fees, and collected on loans illegally by threatening borrowers with arrest and lawsuits… According to the FTC, the defendants have claimed in state court that they are immune from legal action because of their affiliation with Native American tribes.” Read on»

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