Month: November 2008

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Zoning and Regulation of Detroit’s Adult Entertainment Businesses: Has it gone too far?

I.  Background

Detroit has been working hard to revive the city and bring residential growth to the downtown area. [1] Millions of dollars have gone into renovating historic buildings, creating new public transportation, reviving the riverfront and building residential lofts in the Central Business District area. [2] Detroit wants to prove that, “the growing population can support and sustain retail and grocery development,” for its current and future residents. [3] New casinos and stadiums have also enhanced the city’s cultural atmosphere while attracting a wave of young professionals. [4] Issues will arise, however, when the city tries to achieve this vision of a “better Detroit” by imposing ordinances and regulations on businesses that it deems problematic to their ideal. In particular, the city of Detroit has targeted the adult entertainment business as an industry they would like to see zoned out.

 

II. Legal Issues for Detroit’s Adult Entertainment

… Read the rest
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Get On The City Bus: The Future of The American Suburb and Her Automobiles

I.  Introduction

Jane Jacobs’ 1961 book, the Life and Death of Great American Cities revolutionized the way Americans viewed the streets that stretched beyond their front door.  In critiquing the programs of her era’s urban planners, Jacobs held up the sentimental and somewhat physically cramped city neighborhood as the pinnacle of communal living. [1]  Regardless of Jacobs’ warnings, urbanism rolled on, and in so doing, the suburb was born. Despite Americans’ preference towards the suburb in the later half of the twentieth century, our nation is currently poised to regret the very expansionist zest that drew them away from the urban core.  With the fluctuating price of gas and the limited public transportation alternatives, suburban Americans are forced to devote an ever-growing portion of their income and time to surviving their daily commutes. [2] Reducing the price of gas may be a legitimate means of combating the immediate crisis, but

… Read the rest
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Preventing Price-Gouging of Gasoline after Natural Disasters

I. Introduction

In 2007, in response to the public’s anger about the high cost of gasoline after the hurricane disasters, the House of Representatives drafted and passed the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act (“FPGPA”), which reads in part:

“It shall be unlawful for any person to sell…during a period of an energy emergency, gasoline…at a price that 
(A) is unconscionably excessive; and 
(B) indicates the seller is taking unfair advantage of the circumstances related to an energy emergency to increase prices unreasonably.” [1]

To date, the Senate has not voted on the bill.  While the victims of recent hurricanes were understandably angered with rising gasoline prices in the days following the disasters, the FPGPA would ultimately do these consumers more harm than good in terms of economic recovery because the language of the bill sets an unclear standard for law enforcement, merchants and consumers, and anti price-gouging legislation has been

… Read the rest
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And the Walls Came Tumbling Down: Deregulation & the Current Financial Crisis

I. Introduction

While intellectuals, economists, bankers, and pundits try to explain the ins and outs of the economic downturn we are currently facing, many on "main street" are asking "what happened to make my 401k retirement savings account diminish so much in value since I looked at it in August?" The fact is that many hard working individuals have no idea what happened to cause the global economic downturn we are currently facing, and the explanations being put forth by most media outlets simply do not make sense to many people.

In trying to understand the situation, there are without question many factors that played a role. Trying to identify one overwhelming factor would be futile, however, this article will look specifically at the role deregulation played in the financial crisis.

II. Deregulation

Deregulation has received a lot of the blame for the current crisis. [1] Deregulation can be defined

… Read the rest
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International Personal Data Protection and Its Redress

I. Introduction

Personal data protection may be of concern anywhere, anytime in this information society.  It is common to submit personal information to create digital identification or authorization to perform certain kinds of online activities, such as an electronic transaction. [1] In addition, all Internet traffic may be automatically tracked and restored by the visited website controller using Cookies technology or equivalent softwares. [2]  There is a strong incentive to collect and store the data because it is valuable for business purposes in offering customized service and it is easy and cheap to do so. [3]  However, it has not been guaranteed that data collectors manage the personal data in an appropriate manner.  Thus, it has drawn the interests of the international society to establish personal data protection principles and have an effective redress or resolution method in case of breach.

II. Background on Data Protection Disputes

The goal of … Read the rest

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Non-Compete Agreements: Friend or Foe?

I. Introduction

In today's economic climate, the excitement of finding a new job
can be overwhelming. Additionally, In the rush of starting work, it is
easy to skim the fine print of a contract without fully understanding
its terms. Non-compete agreements in employment contracts can cause
much unnecessary hardship on an individual once that individual
chooses to switch jobs. Additionally, while it may seem unintuitive
that an individual cannot use skills learned at one job to advance his
career at another job, many companies rely on non-compete clauses to
limit just that. This article will discuss non-compete agreements
generally, the history of non-compete agreements and the legal
standards state courts use in examining non-compete agreements. It will
then discuss how to enforce and contest non-compete agreements.
Finally, it will conclude by giving advice for the employer or employee
who is unsure about how to approach a non-compete agreement.

II. Non-Compete … Read the rest

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Chipping Away at the RIAA’s “Making Available” Theory of Copyright Infringement

I.    Introduction

On September 8, 2003, the Recording Industry Association of America
(RIAA) filed copyright infringement lawsuits against 261 individuals
for sharing songs on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.[1]  In the five years
since, the RIAA has sued, settled, or threatened litigation against
over 30,000 Americans for alleged violations of the Digital Millennium
Copyright Act.[2]  These actions have attracted a great deal of public
attention, largely due to the fact that the suits have hit very close
to home for many Americans.  Unlike prior lawsuits, which targeted
software programs such as Napster and Grokster, this new chapter in the
file-sharing saga has focused on ordinary people.[3]  The targets of
the RIAA’s legal claims run the spectrum of everyday people who are not
typically the subjects of copyright actions, including children,
parents, grandparents, single mothers, professors, and college
students.[4]

The RIAA’s strategic offensive against music consumers has spurred a
firestorm of debate

… Read the rest
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Tamed Tigers: Sovereign Wealth Funds as Passive Investors

I. Introduction

The purpose of this article is to analyze the current role of sovereign
wealth funds in a corporate governance scheme. Sovereign wealth funds, which have become increasingly important
institutional investors in the United States, have found their activities in
equities markets in the United States increasingly constrained due to stringent
regulations.  While these sovereign wealth funds raise important policy
considerations for lawmakers, these regulations hinder sovereign wealth funds
in their role as investors.  Despite the power the sovereign wealth funds
could hold in American companies, these funds have effectively become “tamed
tigers.” Despite their enormous power,
they simply cannot exercise it. Thus, this
article will examine whether having sovereign wealth funds in a “tamed tiger”
capacity should continue or whether regulations should encourage more activity
from sovereign wealth funds.

II. Sovereign Wealth Funds

The best definition of what sovereign wealth funds are and what they do
comes from … Read the rest

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Merger Talks in Detroit Auto Business

I. Introduction

Since September, General Motors ("GM") and Chrysler's majority owner, Cerberus Capital Management have been in talks over the possibility of acquiring Chrysler. [1] Both companies are facing a financial crisis as both have suffered huge losses during this economic recession. [2] Moody's Investor Service stressed that GM would run out of operating cash next year without new sources of capital. [3] GM sees its merger with Chrysler as its bailout providing the company with revenue, cash flow, and cash reserves to make it through the coming year. [4] Merger talks have dealt with GM acquisition of Chrysler's auto business and Cerberus merger with lender Chrysler Financial Services and GM's ownership of GMAC Financial Services. [5] However, the question remains: how beneficial will the GM-Chrysler merger be to these companies. In this article, the advantages and disadvantages of the merger will be discussed.

II. Merger, Lifeline for GM and … Read the rest