The Case for Internet Piracy

So what’s the big deal about Internet piracy you ask? According to Chellappa et al., the rate of software piracy in the Asia-Pacific region has been estimated at 53% for 2004, and over 90% in Southeast Asian countries. [1] Piracy costs US firms nearly $60B a year and has shaved 373,000 jobs out of the United States economy. [2] However, losses that businesses realize regarding piracy have one fatal flaw – they assume that every product that is pirated would otherwise have been purchased at full market price. [3] This assumption is wrong because it ignores the basic rules of market theory.

    Market equilibrium is the state of equality between the amount of a product supplied and demanded. [4] Where there is a glut of supply (surplus) or demand (shortage), the market is said to be in disequilibrium; this is currently the case in many industries where intellectual

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Securing IP Interests Means Securing a Future for Your Business

 
        Starting a new business can be a scary venture, especially for an inexperienced entrepreneur. [1] However, adhering to one little known business fundamental can help make the process run as smoothly as possible. [2] Specifically, securing one's intellectual property ("IP") interests from the start can secure a solid future for a new business by ensuring more funding from venture capitalists and investors. [3] IP traditionally includes patent, trademark, copyright and trade secrets, all of which can be protected with the right legal knowledge or competent attorney. [4] This article explains the four types of IP interests, their advantages and disadvantages and the benefits of securing them during the start-up stage of new businesses. 
 
          When venture capitalists consider funding a business, the deciding
factor in whether to invest often rests with the availability of IP
interests like trade secrets.[5] A trade secret is defined as, “a
process,
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The Effect of Regulatory Schemes on the Rate of New Venture Creation

It is well understood that regulatory schemes have an influence on the rate of new innovations in an industry. [1] What is unknown is to what extent regulatory schemes influence the rate of new venture creation by industry actors. In order to study this question, it is necessary to define the nature of the diffusion of new innovations and to consider the reaction of market participants in their acceptance of new innovations in the face of regulatory schemes and extrapolate from this reaction how they will react to the same regulatory schemes with regard to forming new ventures.

Diffusion of Innovation defined:

    Diffusion of new innovations can be tracked by plotting a graph of an innovation’s rate of adoption by the marketplace; this graph produces an S-shaped curve whereby a more gradual slope suggests a slower rate of adoption and a more inclined slope suggests a faster rate

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Not so Funny Funny Business

Open your local paper and you will see advertisements, turn on your car radio and you will hear advertisements.  Small business owners typically use newspapers and radio ads to sell their products and services, but the process of selecting the proper advertisement is often difficult.  [1]  Selection of the proper media is not the only decision the business owner faces.  The advertisement’s content is also important.   Off the wall advertisements can be beneficial to a business because they can make a business stand out.  [2] Recently a local Champaign-Urbana radio station has spread two wacky ads through the airwaves.  Both radio advertisements imitate famous movie characters in an attempt to entice listeners to go tanning.   What characters you ask, why “Bormat” and “Neapolitan” of course.  Surely, these simple name changes will shield the business that ran the ads from legal liability, right?  This article will briefly analyze these radio ads

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Automated Document Review: Cost Saver for the Startup Firm?

     Paper cuts, tired eyes, and boredom are all terms associated with the task of document review.  Lawyers may spend countless hours poring over documents for a single word, phrase or name.   Those hours quickly add up, especially when there are hundreds or thousands of documents.  Document review might be an income generator for a large firm that can afford to let a new associate sit in a room and sift through stacks of paper, but the same task might cripple the operations of a small firm or solo practitioner. [1]  “With discovery requests growing exponentially, the legal department’s challenge is to get smarter and faster or to spend more money and time in reviewing documents.” [2] The American Bar Association reports that 48 percent of attorneys are solo practitioners. [3] Furthermore, only 14 percent of attorneys work in firms with more than 100 attorneys. [4] Is there anything that … Read the rest

When Coach Blows the Whistle are you out of Bounds?

     Everyone likes to make a quick buck.  In the summer, garage sales are common in neighborhoods.  Some towns hold flea markets.  Small carts with various items for sale adorn the aisles of most shopping malls.  People sell items on Ebay.  At any one of these places you might find a knockoff designer good for sale.  As a kid, I had my fake Oakley sunglasses.  Just recently, my sister returned from New York having purchased a knockoff Prada bag from a street vendor.  Knockoff or fake designer goods exist, but what happens if you sell such goods here in Illinois and hold them out to be real? [1]  How about selling such goods here in Illinois and holding them out to be fake?  This article will seek to generally answer these questions for non-internet based sales in Illinois.

     The Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act deems fraudulent

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State-Sponsored Investment Tax Incentives: Classic Competition, or Constitutionally Constrained?

I. Introduction

The
Supreme Court heard arguments on March 1st concerning the
constitutionality of an Ohio investment tax credit offered to the
DaimlerChrysler Corporation.  The credit, entitling DaimlerChrysler to
a "ten-year 100 percent property tax exemption, as well as an
investment tax credit of 13.5% against state corporate franchise tax
for certain qualifying investments," is meant to encourage a $1.2
billion Jeep plant project in Toledo.[1]  The investment tax credit is
being attacked on the grounds that, as a state action, it
unconstitutionally burdens interstate commerce in violation of the
Commerce Clause.[2]  This sort of tax incentive is hardly anomalous;
indeed, 49 states offer similar tax incentives for the purpose of
encouraging in-state economic activity, thereby benefiting the citizens
of the state.[3]  Given that attracting valuable in-state commercial
growth is a fixture of policy in most states, a ruling consistent with
the claim of unconstitutionality from the nation's highest Court

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