Blog post of funny traffic stops

The linked blog post shows some funny traffic stops. They're not all funny. #1 is pretty hilarious. Other good ones are #20, 17, 15, 14, and 11. The rest are so-so.

Consequences of Aggressive DUI Enforcement

So, you think aggressive DUI enforcement is a great thing, huh? I got this message from a friend the other day. I edited it a bit.I was driving on I-80 in New Jersey. I missed my exit and had pulled onto the shoulder to read the map when a State Trooper parked behind me. I was arrested for DUI because I looked red-eyed and my legs were wobbly from exercise and sleep deprivation thus resulting in

Can't Afford a Lawyer?

It's a common phrase heard in the legal community. I can't afford a lawyer. The statement is usually followed by a request for free advice or pro bono representation. I did a quick search on Google for "can't afford a lawyer" - there are 63,900 results. By contrast, "can't afford a doctor" has 6720 results, and "can't afford a gardener" has 672. I have to admit I'm surprised there were so many

DWI: To Blow or Not to Blow

One thing comes up a lot in DWI seminars. A client calls you late at night. They've been arrested and the cop wants them to blow into the "Breathalyzer". In most of NY the device is actually a Datamaster, but question is the same. And to be clear, I'm talking about the breath test in the station. The one in the field is commonly known as an alcosensor or field breath screen.The answer varies from

Idaho Laws Protect Intellectual Property

We were recently asked what Idaho laws protect intellectual property rights. Here's a summary of some Idaho statutes and common law protecting your valuable intellectual assets.

Note that IP protection is often a matter of federal law. You may find links to resources about some of the relevant federal IP laws at this Tech-Lawyer blog post. Domain names, an important adjunct to trademarks as indicia of brand, are protected under the federal anti-cybersquatting statute, under World Trade Organization regimes, and otherwise.

For reference in using the summary below, you may find a table of contents for and links to Idaho statutes may be found here.

Some of the Idaho statutes protecting IP include the Communications Security Act (I.C. § 18-6701 et seq.), the Computer Crime Act (I.C. §§ 2201-02) (new statute providing felony prosecution), and many of the statutes found in Title 48 dealing with Monopolies and Trade Practices.

As to Title 48, some of the applicable statutes include Idaho’s Trademark Act (I.C. § 48-501, et seq.), portions of Idaho’s Consumer Protection Act (see particularly I.C. § 48-603), and Idaho’s Trade Secrets Act (I.C. § 48-801, et seq.).

In 2008, Idaho increased IP and related competitive protections regarding former employees and key independent contractors and enacted I.C. § 44-2701, et seq. covering Agreements and Covenants Protecting Legitimate Business Interests.

Further, if parties cooperate in the theft or misappropriation of IP rights or related information, then claims under racketeering and conspiracy statutes may also be available. See, e.g., I.C. § 18-7805.

In addition to statutory protections, common law protects against breaches of the duty of loyalty by directors and offices and against infringement of unregistered trademarks, for example.

For more information, please contact me at:

Emile Loza, JD, MBA, CLP
Managing Partner & Founder
E. eloza@TechnologyLawGroup.com
P. 208.939.4472
LinkedIn. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/emile/loza

Pringle Hearing and the DWI Prompt Suspension

In handling our DWI cases, the "prompt suspension law" has been bothering me, along with a number of other issues. I first wrote about this a couple years ago as part of a post about judges who have policies. So now I'm going to rant about what's wrong with the prompt suspension and how Pringle v. Wolfe (88 N.Y.2d 426 (1996)) is being applied (or misapplied).For those who don't know, here's what

Speed Cameras in New York State: Coming Soon?

New Update (January 2010): Speed cameras are back in the Governor's proposed 2010 budget.--------------Update: It appears that the speed cameras were left out of the final budget. Maybe next year.--------------New York State is hungry for money. Speed cameras are coming. The full text of the proposed new law is at the bottom. Here are some details:a. A new statute would be created, § 1181-a of

Plaxico Burress - Are Hunting and Target Shooting Illegal in New York State?

Update: Thanks to George P. Conway for the comment. Penal Law §265.20 sets forth a list of exceptions. I'm not sure these exceptions clearly apply to loaded firearms. That would seem to be the natural conclusion, but it's not completely clear.----------At the bottom of this post is an image of the first page of the felony complaint in the Plaxico Burress gun case. He's accused of violating Penal

Profile: The Master

Here's another Albany lawyer profile. Keep in mind these are generally semi-fictional.The Master is one of the top criminal defense attorneys in the Albany area. All the judges, cops and criminal lawyers know his name, but not everyone recognizes him on sight. He flies just below the public radar. His name does get in the paper every once in a while, but he doesn't knock people over in order to

Florida Speeding Tickets

Just added a page to the Redlich Law Firm website about Florida speeding tickets There seems to be a lot of tickets written there, so much so that I saw a TV show (or internet version of a TV show) about one of the traffic courts there.Interesting thing for us concerns how we handle NY tickets for Florida drivers. A common reduction on speeding tickets in NY is the infamous 1110a. This appears to

DWI Defense Perspectives

I had the honor of speaking at a DWI seminar this past week. There were some excellent speakers, and a few of us presented a sharp contrast on how to handle DWI cases.My topic was low BAC cases. I talked about some things lawyers can do when the defendant's blood-alcohol content is low. Mainly I was focused on BACs below 0.10, but some of the ideas apply when the BAC is up to maybe 0.12. My

More Verizon and Debt Collection

I've written in the past about Verizon and their debt collection practices. They're back again.I got a call this morning about an old disputed cell phone bill. The caller said she was from NES. I'm thinking this is Nintendo calling trying to sell me a Wii, but no. NES stood for something else, National something Systems?So she tells me this is about my "debt" of $473. She tries to intimidate me

Keith Olbermann on Gay Marriage

I've always wondered why discrimination against gays isn't inherently gender discrimination. It's okay for Jim to marry Mary, but not to marry John. Isn't that discrimination against John because of his gender?But below is an argument for gay marriage by Keith Olbermann. Powerful stuff.

BBC's Global Business - Entrepreneurship Interviews

The BBC's Peter Day has a terrific program called "Global Business," and I am an avid online listener.

Check out Mr. Day's interview on entrepreneurship with Carl Schram of the Kaufman Foundation and founder of the World Enterpreneurship Award. Here's the link.

This episode of Global Business focuses on innovation, the new economy, and Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Technology Law Group can help power the commercialization of your entrepreneurial venture.

To find out how, please contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@TechnologyLawGroup.com.

Profile: The Glory Hound

The following is another in my occasional Profiles in the Albany NY legal community. Keep in mind these are generally semi-fictional.The Glory Hound is well known to most attorneys in the area. He is a vigorous promoter of both himself and a cause or two. He brims with self-confidence. Listening to him, he has inside knowledge about all the movers and shakers at the local, state and federal level

Dewey Cheatham & Howe

Just came across this cool website - a play on the most famous fictional law firm, Dewey Cheatham & Howe. This is clearly the product of a demented mind. :-)

Global Entrepreneurship Week Activities at Boise State University

Boise State will participate in Global Entrepreneurship Week with a series of seminars for students and the business community Nov. 18-20.

The College of Business and Economics, the Idaho Small Business Development Center and the Entrepreneurship Center have developed the seminars that will be held from 3:15-4:30 p.m. each day in Room 404 of the Interactive Learning Center on the Boise State campus.

All sessions are free, but seating is limited to the first 40 people to register at www.IdahoSBDC.org. Parking is available in the Brady Parking Garage. For a map of both locations, see the Idaho SBDC link above.

The seminar schedule is as follows:

Nov. 18 - Young Entrepreneurs will provide background on their businesses and the challenges they face. Young entrepreneurs are the driving force behind much of the innovative products and services we see today.

Ryan Woodings - MetaGeek

Becky Louge - The Dental R.A.T.

J. Glerum - Valitics / Check A Biz

Nov. 19 - Hispanic entrepreneurs are a growing part of Idaho's entrepreneurial community. Three successful entrepreneurs will share their experiences.

Enrique Camarillo, Molly Maid

Emile Loza, Technology Law Group PLLC

Nov. 20 - Angel investors will provide a picture of equity investing, taking into account the banking crisis and its impact on equity investing.

Kevin Learned, Boise Angel Alliance

Dave Light - PakSense

Dozens of countries are participating in Global Entrepreneurship Week activities Nov. 17-21.

The initiative aims to inspire young people to embrace innovation, imagination and creativity and to turn their ideas into reality. See http://www.unleashingideas.org for more information.

For questions about Boise State's entrepreneurship week activities, contact Katie Sewell at 426-3838 or ksewell@boisestate.edu, or Kent Neupert at ext. 426-2397 or kneupert@boisestate.edu.

Craig Watkins: A Great Prosecutor

Solid article in the Wall Street Journal today about a prosecutor in Dallas. Craig Watkins was elected DA there in 2006. He's made a name for himself by thoroughly reviewing dubious convictions and using DNA evidence for that purpose.He actually created a unit within his office, the "Conviction Integrity Unit," to review cases. They've cleared six innocent men so far. Some of the article includes

Costa Rica: Some Thoughts

Over the past few days I posted the details (and some photos) of our trip to Costa Rica. Now's the time for some reflection.First, for those who want to read the posts in chronological order:Day 0Day 1Day 2Day 3My first thought is that Costa Rica lived up to its billing. Great climate and lush greenery everywhere. The people really are friendly. The cost of living is very low, and I can see why

Costa Rica Day 3: Better Driving and More Xandari

On the morning of Day 3 we enjoyed one final breakfast at Gaia. Another nice meal, including fresh local fruit. I thought the croissant french toast was better the day before, but it was still good.Before breakfast we checked out Gaia's nature trail. We only got a little way in and decided it was too challenging. It did look quite beautiful though.After breakfast we set out for the drive back to

Costa Rica Day 2: Manuel Antonio and the Americana Fea

After a good night of sleep, we had a nice breakfast at Gaia's restaurant. This resort really pampers the guests. Lots of staff available at all times to help with whatever you need or want. The restaurant has a fantastic view of the ocean and many miles of coastline. My skills at photography were not up to the task, but here's the best shot I took:After breakfast we went on a tour of Manuel

Costa Rica Day 1: Poas Volcano, Uglier Driving and Gorgeous Gaia

On our first full day in Costa Rica (for Day Zero, see Costa Rica: Ugly Driving) we woke up a little late. The previous day was a long one, and we both had trouble sleeping.When we did get up, we had a pleasant breakfast at our resort, Xandari Alajuela. There is a complimentary breakfast. It's like a Continental breakfast, but with a few more items than you get at most places, and it was all

Costa Rica: Ugly Driving and Beautiful Xandari

I've been thinking about Costa Rica for years. Driving my wife crazy. Well, I was goofing around with my Northwest Airlines frequent flyer miles on their website and (with spousal approval) booked a short trip to Costa Rica. And now we're here.We arrived after a fairly long flight - a bit longer because the plane had to fly around Hurricane Paloma. Then we had a minor adventure getting our rental

TruPhone for iPhone

I read about an "app" for the iPhone called TruPhone. It allows you to make calls over the internet when you have a WiFi connection. We have a weak cell signal at our house. I downloaded TruPhone to my iPhone and tried it out using our home WiFi. The call was crystal-clear - far better than what I'm used to at home on the cell. Another plus is that we're going on a trip soon and may not be able

Partner Dossiers - Strategic Intelligence is Key to the Best Deals!

When a client looks to execute a manufacturing, distribution, or licensing agreement, we recommend that the client equip itself with as much useful information about its partner as reasonably possible in advance of the negotiations and certainly before any deal is inked.

PARTNER DOSSIERS are key to this valuable strategic intelligence.

The price of this strategic intelligence varies depending upon the client's budget, whether the prospective partner is a domestic or foreign company, how complex the partner's organization is, and the number and type of special reports that need to be purchased as inputs for the strategic analysis of the partner.

The benefits to being armed with strategic intelligence prior to negotiations, however, make the spend well worth it.

For example, a prolifically-innovative business was approached with a license agreement for a particular automotive invention. The pay-off for the business was $100,000 in an upfront royalty fee. The prospective licensee was a successful mom-and-pop towing business operating in several locations in the Midwest.

The business came to us to review the deal, already agreed in principle. To advise our client properly, we conducted in-depth research and compiled a Partner Dossier on the prospective licensee.

What we learned was a shock to the client! The licensee turned out to be a small subsidiary of a New York Stock Exchange-traded company worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Furthermore, the company had an exclusive contract for the Australian military and a similar contract in Germany to which our client's invention was perfectly positioned to contribute in a big way. Properly compensated, that deal should have easily run into the several hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not $1 million or more.

The proposed licensing agreement presented by the mom-and-pop business also attempted to exploit the kind of "aw shucks" ruse by which it had approached our client. The rights to be licensed by our client would, under than agreement, flow through the mom-and-pop straight to the NYSE parent company.

Fortunately, our strategic intelligence, along with the intellectual property rights flow analysis it enabled, helped the client have the information it needed to avoid a bad deal and put it on a more equal footing with its partner.

For more on how Partner Dossiers can assist you in getting the best possible deals for your business, please contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@TechnologyLawGroup.com.

If you want to opt out for future emails about TLG blog posts, please email info@TechnologyLawGroup.com.

Licensing Software in a Global Market

Last week, I presented at ACI's 14th annual software licensing conference on this topic of international licensing.

My very knowledgeable co-presenters on the panel talked about licensing in India and in China. Both jurisdictions have licensing limitations and software royalties and other treatments and rules that are important to know before you enter an agreement.

For more on licensing in India and China, please contact me at 208.939.4472 or eloza@TechnologyLawGroup.com.

My presentation focused on three key cross-jurisdictional points:

1. The tactical advantages and uses of STRATEGIC INTELLIGENCE in the negotiation and ongoing compliance and enforcement work for licensing agreements;

2. The GLOBAL HARMONIZATION OF LICENSING TERMS for greater efficiencies in terms of legal fees and contract management; and

3. The maximization of "home-bound" income using TAX TREATY-OPTIMIZED TERMS.

I'll spend the next several blog posts drilling down on these topics and telling some interesting "war stories" to illustrate them.

If you'd like to have a copy of my presentation or to discuss any topic in detail, please contact me using the information provided above.

Van Nuys Traffic Court and Britney Spears

Apparently Britney Spears had her day in Court recently. 10 of 12 jurors felt she was not guilty of driving with a suspended license, so she's neither guilty nor "not guilty." As best we can tell, the case was heard in Van Nuys Traffic Court.

Loza Presents on International Software Licensing

I will be speaking on Tuesday, October 21, 2008, at the American Conference Institute's 14th Software Licensing Agreements event in San Francisco.

My presentation will focus on licensing software in a global market. I will emphasize the analysis of divergent laws and best practices for achieving legally-sound software agreements across multiple foreign jurisdictions.

I will draw on my experience in licensing software distributed online to such diverse jurisdictions as Malta, China, and the European Union. In addition, I will address best practices for due diligence and enforcement in Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.

Attorneys from Baker McKenzie and from Mumbai's Thacker & Thacker will join me on the podium to discuss licensing in China and India, respectively.

For more information and copy of the conference program, click the title of this post. For more on how we here at Technology Law Group can support your software licensing business, please contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Federal PRO-IP Bill Enacted

President Bush signed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2007, or PRO-IP Act, into law on Monday, October 13th.

The U.S. Chamber reports on the signing at its Global IP Summit. For more, click here.

TLG can help protect your intellectual property assets. For more, call us at 208.939.4472 or email us at info@technologylawgroup.com.

Why hire a traffic lawyer?

If you want a good reason to hire a traffic lawyer, watch this show of people going to traffic court by themselves. It's called Speeders Fight Back and it's on TruTV.The site also has a list of future episodes.The show is set in what looks like Plantation Traffic Court, part of the Broward County Court system.

U.S. Chamber Backs PRO-IP Act

United States Chamber of Commerce president, Thomas Donahue, writes about the importance of innovation in our nation's economic development.

He also rightly includes the protection and enforceability of intellectual property rights as a foundational requirement for that innovation-driven development.

Click here for the full article posted on the U.S. Chamber's Web site.

The article contains a brief note about Congress' recent passage of the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (PRO-IP Act).

The House of Representatives passed its version of the PRO-IP Act in May 2008. (Click here for H.R. 4279)

The Senate passed its version of the bill on September 26, 2008. (Click here for a news report.)The Chamber sees this bill as a positive way to protect American-owned intellectual property rights and to elevate this protection in the Administration. Although the Senate bill is narrower than the House version, some regard PRO-IP Act as controversial, including for provisions that may require the Department of Justice to enforce privately-held copyright registrations.

The online Chamber article offers a comment function. Add your voice there.

Criminal Defense Lawyer Thoughts

It's a sad reality that hard economic times are not bad for criminal defense lawyers. Desperate people are more likely to commit crimes. Cash-strapped governments at all levels increase traffic enforcement and fines. All of this leads to a greater demand for our services.

Lawyer Thoughts

Having one of those pensive moments.- Sometimes being a lawyer feels like walking through a minefield. We have a map of all the mines, but the map is in the form of 10,000 large books. You can't carry them all with you, and it's kinda hard to remember everything.- When you step on one of the mines, your fate (or your client's) is in the hands of someone like a judge. Fortunately, most of the

Criminal Defense: Some of our clients are criminals

A few years ago I did a post about representing innocent clients in criminal defense cases.The other day I spoke to the Pre-Law Association at U Albany. One of the stories I told them (which I'll go into another day) involved the most criminal client I've ever represented. This guy was the opposite of innocent.Sometimes we represent innocent clients. They really didn't do anything wrong. It

Are police tougher on out-of-state drivers?

Just read an interesting statistical analysis about speeding tickets by Professors Michael Makowsky and Thomas Stratmann. They both appear to be economics professors at George Mason University.They analyzed a database of Massachusetts speeding tickets. Police there can choose to issue a fine or just a warning on the ticket. They found that police are more likely to fine out-of-town drivers and

The Secret to Writing a Lawyer Blog

Someone on a social networking site asked a question about writing a lawyer blog, and about writing posts that will generate traffic versus posts that will appeal to a niche. I think I have the secret, and it's not really a secret.To paraphrase Crash Davis from Bull Durham: Don't think meat. Just write.I've written blog posts about all kinds of things. Some are highly focused on what my law firm

Legislative Agenda for Idaho's Tech Community

Log on to our discussion under the Eagle-Star Technology Corridor (ESTECH) group on LinkedIn.

Representatives Mike Moyle and Raul Labrador and Senate candidate Chuck Winder recently met with technology business leaders and enthusiasts at the invitation of the Eagle Chamber of Commerce.

The group discussed the Chamber's legislative agenda in detail. (ESTECH Group Members - See my Sept. 11 email.)

Representative Moyle issued a call for the technology community to come forth with legislative agenda of its own.


I would expand that call to include actions that Governor Otter and the Department of Commerce and other executive branch agencies could undertake to support our success.

Norris Krueger has also begun a white paper on Google Docs: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dd39r2qq_70dsfnxjfx&hl=en.


For more on our legislative and policy development efforts, please contact us at info@technologylawgroup.com or 208.939.4472.

Traffic Court - New Heights!

Our traffic court site continues to grow. The latest news is that we broke 200,000 page views in the last 31 days. Monday was the biggest day in the site's history, with over 4600 visits and over 4300 "unique" visitors. Tuesday was over 4200 visits, making it the strongest regular Tuesday ever (excluding Tuesdays after a 3-day weekend), and the 4th biggest day in site history, just a nick behind

Albany DWI Seminar

You know the world's in trouble when I'm speaking at a seminar. There will be a Lorman CLE on DWI in Albany on December 4th. I will talk about handling low BAC cases. Should be interesting.

Vote for Steven Vasquez

The congressional primary is Tuesday - voting is from 12 noon to 9 pm. Please make sure you get out and vote.And Republicans -- vote for Steven Vasquez. There are three big reasons why you should:1. Steven supports small government, and he really means it. His opponent talks the talk, but he is part of the GOP establishment that has ballooned government in NY, and the US, for over a decade. You

10 Great Things About Albany

People supposedly like top 10 lists, so here goes, in no particular order ...10. Albany is a fairly short drive to several cool places. New York City is a bit more than 2 hours. Boston is 3 hours. Four hours to Montreal, and a bit more than that to Niagara Falls. These days you can skip right by Buffalo. Closer to home, we have the Adirondacks, the Catskills, the Berkshires, and the Green

Insanity in the Computer Age

There's a semi-famous quote about the definition of insanity: "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." It's most often attributed to Albert Einstein, but I haven't found a reliable source for that. I've certainly heard the quote before.Recent events in our office prompted me to ponder this quote. Within the same day two people working for me had problems that

Online Piracy and Payment Providers

In our recent client projects and in discussions on LinkedIn, we have examined the comparative strengths and weaknesses of online payment providers. Our particular emphasis has been on the detection and prevention of software piracy and fraud.


PayPal, Google Checkout, and Authorize.net are three commonly used online payment processing systems.


Fraudulent transactions are often a problem with online sale and distribution of software and online content. For example, the fraudulent operators may phish PayPal accounts, placed orders using those phished accounts, obtained license keys to the software, and downloaded the software, likely for illegal resale. In some instances, the purchases were geotracked to eastern Europe, in others to various locations here in the United States.


There are a number of technological and legal approaches to dealing with online piracy, including cross-border piracy. There are services that help detect and combat fraud and phishing, such as those offered by Kount and MarkMonitor.

For more information, please contact us at info@technologylawgroup.com or 208.939.4472.

Albany Lawn Care and Snow Plowing

My buddy Mark Malone started up a business, Malone and Sons, doing lawn care and snow plowing. They've been mowing our lawn in Guilderland and do a consistently solid job. It's been a tough year with all the rain, but they find a way.We normally don't need plowing, as we have a snow blower. But we were away for a week and there were two storms. Mark plowed for us and that was a big help when we

Website Economics

The web has certainly changed my world. Our websites, including our law firm site and our traffic court site, are the main drivers for our business.There are a bunch of websites out there that seem more successful, yet apparently struggle. I just got an e-mail from one where I'm a "member." The site gets over a million page views a month, and is in the ballpark of 500K unique visitors a month.

Frustrated Lawyers

I've been a little grumpy lately. Usually I'm happy, dopey, and a bit sneezy. Never bashful. But lately, grumpy. I think I'm frustrated with being a lawyer and with running an office.I shouldn't feel that way. Life is good and so is business. Things are a lot tougher for a lot of other lawyers, and for a lot of other people. We're doing quite well. I had part of this conversation with a cop in a

El Dorado Superior Court

As our traffic court website continues to grow, we're nearly done with California. We just finished adding El Dorado Superior Court. The county includes a few courts, including South Lake Tahoe Superior Court. I've been to South Lake Tahoe. There's some gambling resorts on the Nevada side of the border, but the thing I remember most is the Heavenly Valley ski resort. Huge, straddling the state

Albany Websites

As someone who is seen by Albany media as a prospective advertiser, I sometimes get interesting information.Back in May I attended an event in Colonie where one local media outlet (you can guess who) was bragging about its website. The sheet they handed out on this provided some numbers for April traffic; I'm adding current Alexa rank:Media Company  Unique Visitors  Alexa RankTimes

Women & Entrepreneurship: Have We Unlocked the Secret to Success?

I am an accidental entrepreneur. That happy accident came in the form of contract work as intellectual property attorney for a global technology company. I was well-prepared in education and experience and downright lucky to be at the right place at the right time in front of the right people.


I started Technology Law Group in a spare bedroom with that single, excellent opportunity. Now in our sixth year, I reflect upon what a rewarding, challenging, and inspiring journey entrepreneurship is.

Entrepreneurship in the legal profession is unusual. The profession has time-honored ways of doing things. Over centuries, men have created these ways of approaching client projects and organizing and running law firms. Men similarly predominate in science, in technology, in banking. The list goes on.


Women are recent entrants into the external workforce. America’s need for productive capacity during World War II brought women out of the home and reshaped them and their self-perceptions as economically and otherwise powerful. Who can forget Rosy the Riveter, that symbol of vibrant, feminine strength?

Women entrepreneurs are an even more recent phenomenon, and I often reflect on what it means to effectively lead and compete as a woman in two male-predominant professions, technology and the law.


Without question, some men are extraordinarily supportive of my endeavors as a woman entrepreneur. Likewise, I deeply value my mentors who are women. Still, entrepreneurship is a tough business.

When I received an invitation to write an article for the University of Pepperdine Law School’s Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship, and the Law, I jumped at the chance.


It is an opportunity to critically examine how women entrepreneurs operate, what special challenges we face, and how we effectively compete. Would the answers be different than for men? Do women run businesses differently than men? Do women have unique strengths that enable them to succeed when men would not to the same degree? And, why are there so few women like me out there, leading businesses, convincing political leaders and funding sources to support the innovation community, competing and winning?

To answer these questions, I harnessed the power of online social networking and posted them on LinkedIn. LinkedIn, a social networking site used by more than 24 million professionals worldwide, is a powerful business tool.

Answers to my LinkedIn questions came from across the United States, from India, South Africa, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Denmark. Commentators include single entrepreneurial moms like me, professors, investors, media professionals, change management experts, and others.

Most say that women entrepreneurs operate at a disadvantage as compared to men. They say women have to work harder, smarter, and more creatively to succeed.


The principle reason, they say, is because women’s entrepreneurial success is directly tied to power, a woman’s willingness to embrace and leverage her power as a business innovator. Women are more than willing to take the calculated risks that all entrepreneurs take. They make the tough and necessary choices to integrate the hard work of entrepreneurship with the hard work of parenting and running a household. Women have the smarts, guts, and ambition to succeed as entrepreneurs.

Yet, women are a small minority of entrepreneurs. Why?


Some say that our social history with its rigidly-defined gender roles and lack of acceptance of women in the work force is the reason. They say investors, prospective customers, and other people critical to business success hold tightly to these historical perspectives without ever considering the resulting biases in their decisions to do (or not to do) business with women entrepreneurs.

Women flexing their power as business leaders are often viewed disparagingly, as masculine, and therefore unacceptable as women. Men using power are viewed as . . . well . . . powerful, and we respect and admire them for it. When will we likewise respect and admire powerful entrepreneurial women?


Some say that women themselves harbor a flawed notion that it is somehow wrong to have and exercise power, that women haven’t given themselves permission to be powerful. Because women are often ambivalent about their power, they are ineffective at using it. The failure to use power fully and effectively means the failure to achieve entrepreneurial success. This is true for all entrepreneurs and particularly for women.

As I continue work on the Pepperdine article, I gain insight into how I and other entrepreneurs work, how we leverage our power to introduce an innovative pricing model or otherwise add value to our services, how we best help our clients achieve their goals. It is a personal and community inquiry of critical importance to all entrepreneurs, to all who serve and do business with them, and to all who aspire to become them.

I am completing the article now. If you would like to receive a copy of the final piece, please drop me a note at eloza@technologylawgroup.com.

2008 Honda Accord

I've been shopping cars for a while now, and finally made a decision. I've been looking at $50K cars like the Audi A6 and the Infiniti M35x. And I've been all over the map, thinking about an Acura MDX and even the upcoming 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera 4. At $80K, the Porsche was getting a little silly. But I've wanted one since I was about 14 years old. Maybe the next car.Well, I went and drove the

Local and Unique

There's something unique in the works at SpinJ Corporation. We're working on a new website. It's top secret. So secret that if I told you what it was, I'd have to ... well ... not kill you ... maybe tickle you until you promise not to say anything. That's all I can really do.Okay, I'll drop a small hint. The site's name means something. It stands for Local and Unique.Coming soon ...A New Spin

Milestones on the web

Our websites hit some new milestones. First, The Redlich Law Firm site had over 10,000 visits in July. We came close to that in both January and March, but this is the first time we went over. It wasn't that long ago we had only 6000 visits a month, so this is good for business.Next, our Traffic Court site has a few highlights. We had over 80,000 visits in July, with over 70,000 unique users. And

Tax Benefits of Leasing a Car - IRS Depreciation Limits

I've been thinking about leasing a car (see my previous post about leasing certified pre-owned cars). My accountant told me to lease. But I like buying. I know there's a tax benefit to leasing, but I don't really understand it.If I was smart I would have asked my accountant to explain it to me. But I figured it should be simple to find out why by looking on the internet. It was more of a struggle

Albany Criminal Lawyer

We've had a burst of clients needing a criminal lawyer in Albany. The unusual part of the spike is cases in the federal court here, related to border problems. So far it's a great example of how foolish our government policies are.We spend billions of dollars of taxpayer money trying to keep drugs, foreigners, and - believe it or not - money from entering our country. Through this policy we are

Speeding tickets and GPS

Just saw a great story on using GPS (global positioning system) to fight a speeding ticket. Check it out on the Press Democrat.

Tuolumne County Superior Court - Interesting Grand Jury Report

Apparently the Tuolumne County Grand Jury (in Sonora, California) covers a lot more ground than the grand jury here in Albany or in most other places. I was adding an entry for the courts in Tuolumne County when I came across this.They investigate public agencies and seem to find a high degree of professionalism everywhere. I get the feeling their investigations may be somewhat limited in scope,

A different take on traffic court

Check out this story about traffic court in England. So different from what we see here.

Albany Lawyer in the News

Nice story today about one of our cases: Capital News Nine.

Women & Entrepreneurship: Your Thoughts?

I have been invited to write an article for the Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business & the Law. JBEL is a publication of the University of Pepperdine Law School.

I am writing on the topic of women and entrepreneurship, a crucial subject in economic development and a rising area of legal scholarship.

As part of my research this month, I am inviting views and stories from both women and men.

To participate through LinkedIn, please click here. You may also participate by posting comments on this blog. To stimulate your thinking, I have posted two questions below. Please respond to any or all.

I plan to attribute comments that I use in the article to their contributors. If you prefer to remain anonymous, please so indicate in your response.

I earlier published in the Idaho State Bar's The Advocate regarding my own adventures in entrepreneurship. Here's a link to that article. For more information, please contact me at 208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Thank you in advance for your answers and input.

1. What special issues do women entrepreneurs face?

2. How may women entrepreneurs maximize their opportunities for success?

Real Estate in Albany

We are now handling real estate closings in Albany and the surrounding area. David Cooper, our senior associate, has done a lot of work to prepare for handling these transactions, and we've handled a couple so far. First victim was my mother, so David made sure to get it right. :-)In addition to closings, we also handle real estate litigation in Albany. I have a lot of experience in that area.

Lawyers Marketing on the Web: Controversy

I've posted in the past about some dubious lawyer marketing. Most recently I posted about an upstate lawyer with a DWI business model for sale.Another aspect of this kind of marketing is a variety of lawyer websites, along the lines of superfreakingawesomelawyers.com. Not a real website as far as I know, but you get the idea. Usually it's really a name like topiclawyers.com, or topic.com, where

Los Angeles Traffic Court story

Just a quick one - the following is a great story about handling a speeding ticket in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles traffic court does not come off well. Great photos, good story, etc.

Certified Pre-Owned and Leasing

I'm getting ready to replace my car. I've had it for 6 years and nearly 110K miles. The backseat is getting too small - something about how the special car seats for kids force their legs forward at an angle - yet another reason why Americans want larger cars.I've been told leasing is a lot better because of the tax benefits. I don't completely understand, but I want to work with that. It hasn't

Google Analytics, Dublin and Digiweb

I've noticed through Google Analytics, for some time now, that my sites get unusually heavy traffic from what appears to be one user in Dublin, Ireland. Nearly all visitors from Dublin are using Linux with the Mozilla browser with Digiweb as the network location. I see the same thing on each of my websites that I look at.So either there's a massive hive of people using one set of identical

Technology Start-Ups Rejoice! Value-Based Pricing is Here!

We interact with innovators of all types and across many different industries from agribusiness to high tech. It's engaging and inspiring work! We especially enjoy partnering with technology start-ups and mentoring them on their paths to success. After all, we're entrepreneurs, too.

The road less traveled can be rocky for technology start-ups, however. Major hurdles arise often because they avoid engaging attorneys up-front for fear of high and unpredictable legal fees.

This means that start-ups often come to us with thorny legal problems to solve. These problems often could have been avoided had they engaged us as Partners early on. Under the traditional billable-hour approach to legal fees, attempts to resolve those thorny problems can become significant financial burdens to start-ups. Not a pretty picture!

To make partnership with Technology Law Group more accessible for start-ups and to help our clients prevent problems from arising in the first place, we will begin offering fixed-fee Value-Based Pricing for key intellectual property and Internet legal services that are especially important for start-ups.

Please check out our Idaho Business Review announcement tomorrow, June 23rd, and contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com. Let us know what you think!

New speeding ticket pages

We added some new speeding ticket information pages to the Redlich Law Firm website for other states today.First we added a page about Pennsylvania speeding tickets. My associate has been pushing me to add such content.We also added a page for Connecticut speeding tickets. We've heard that out-of-state tickets don't affect them - but I read the law and there's a clear statute that says they are

Obama Asks How Innovation Can Make America More Competitive

Presidential candidate Barack Obama has posted this question on LinkedIn:

"What ideas do you have to keep America competitive in the years ahead?"

He mentions innovation frequently in his Renewing American Competitiveness address at Kettering. See the video and text here.

Innovation and fostering innovation are huge topics. Whatever your politics, add your voice and detailed ideas to the discussion. Click here.

To discuss how we can support your success as an innovation leader, please contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Idaho's Tech Economy Stats

Idaho is an energizing place to live and work. If you love beautiful country like the Sawtooth Mountains shown here, an active lifestyle, great people, and fascinating technology, this is the place for you!

A number of recent publications and reports have highlighted our innovation economy. Below is a start at compiling statistics contained in these reports. As the numbers show, Idaho presents opportunities for innovators and for those who work to promote innovation-focused economic development in the state.

These figures are useful for gauging the economic opportunities for innovation companies here; for business planning; and for advocating for government initiatives to facilitate and support our technology community. Please comment on this blog post with additional statistics (please include sources and dates). The compilation of these numbers will be helpful to many.

From the Office of Science & Technology, Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho ranks:

#1 in Patents Per Capita
#1 in Manufacturing Investment
#3 in Energy Costs
#5 in Long-Term Employment Growth
#5 in Net Migration of Residents
#5 in Renewable Energy Potential
#6 in “Entrepreneurial Energy” (2007 Corporation For Enterprise Development; for more details of the CFED report, please click here.)
#6 in New Company Creation
#8 in Resident Home Ownership
#10 in Households With Computers

From the American Electronics Association's 2008 Cyberstates Report, Idaho ranks:

#6 in semiconductor manufacturing employment (12,100 jobs)
#9 in computer & peripheral equipment manufacturing employment (3700 jobs)
#10 in concentration of technology workers (68 people per 1000 work in the technology industry, compared with Virginia, the state with the highest concentration, at 91 per 1000)
#28 in average high technology wages ($67,200/year, and 107% of average private sector wages)
#32 in high technology payroll ($2.4 billion)
#35 in high technology employment (36,400 people out of 5.9 million nationwide)
#35 in venture capital investment ($16.2 million out of $16.9 billion nationwide)
#35 in spending on research & development ($1 billion)
#39 in number of high technology companies (1800)*

Static numbers, however, don't tell the whole story. Note the changes in the AEA statistics from 2006 to 2007:

Big boost in venture capital investment - Up 977% from a mere $1.5 million**
Flat high technology employment overall - 200 new jobs added.
Semiconductor manufacturing employment - 900 new jobs added.

[NOTES : The American Electronics Association is the nation's largest high technology trade association. *A recent study by the Idaho Department of Commerce, Idaho TechConnect, and Virginia Tech's Dr. Heike Mayer puts the number of innovation companies in Idaho at 3849 with the greatest concentration (1335) in the Boise area. **Mark Solon, a managing partner with Highway 12 Ventures in Boise, told the Idaho Statesman that the bulk of the 2007 venture investments were limited to only a few companies and that this initial growth in investment should not yet be considered a trend.]

For more on how we support innovators in all industries from agribusiness to software, please contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

The Testiliar and Barney Fife

As our firm progresses I've been spending less time in court. Our associates have been doing most of the traffic court appearances, while I spend more time managing the firm. But once in a while I still get out there. I'm still the main lawyer for hearings and trials.The other day I had two hearings (yes, in one day). Thus I was presented with a stark contrast between two kinds of police officer.

Traffic Court Hits 75K

Our traffic court website reached a new level the other day, with over 75,000 visits and over 65,000 unique visitors in 31 days. There were nearly 170,000 pageviews as well.We've been adding courts in a few states. Our California traffic courts page now covers 23 counties, and the Los Angeles traffic courts page has become one of the busiest pages on the site. I'm not sure why, but the Alhambra

Judicial salaries

I saw this comment on the Times Union Capitol Confidential blog: "Students graduating from law school this year (who have not even passed the bar exam) are making more then these judges who have worked hard through out their career to be voted or appointed to these positions."Yes, a few law graduates get jobs at $160K/year. It's also true that once or twice a year a high school kid goes to the

Loza Earns Certified Licensing Professional Designation

I am pleased to announce that I have been awarded the designation of Certified Licensing Professional.

The United States & Canada Society of Licensing Executives Society International, the world’s largest association of intellectual property licensing professionals, awards this important credential. To my understanding, the CLP designation is the world's only professional credential for intellectual property licensing professionals.

The standards for achieving the Certified Licensing Professional credential are educational and experiential, requiring demonstrated leadership, proficiency, and skill in these eight domains:

1. Intellectual property (IP) strategy;
2. IP protection;
3. IP valuation;
4. Assessment and development of opportunities to commercialize and monetize intellectual property;
5. Marketing IP;
6. Licensing negotiations;
7. Development and drafting of licensing agreements; and
8. Post-execution management and enforcement of licensing agreements, including agreements impacting licensing, e.g., manufacturing and design contracts.

It is an honor to receive this important recognition. My work over the years for Hewlett-Packard Company, Nikon, a Jet Propulsion Laboratory spin-off, a genetic research and testing firm, and other companies has enabled me to attain this leading-edge professional achievement.

Technology Law Group, PLLC is an intellectual property, international, and Internet law and technology legislative practice based in Boise, Idaho. TLG’s practice has a global and strategic business-driven focus. TLG serves a wide range of representative clients from the world’s largest technology company and other Fortune 1000 companies to leading academic institutions to innovation entrepreneurs, and general business and litigation law firms.

For more information about how we can assist with intellectual property licensing and other transactions, please contact us at info@technologylawgroup.com or 208.939.4472.

Prosecutors: Some Things Never Change

I've blogged a lot in the past about prosecutors in the Albany area. I had a new experience about a half-hour ago that I feel compelled to relate.In one local county the District Attorney's office has undergone a lot of changes in the past year or so. I had substantial problems with that office in the past. With the recent changes I had hoped that things would be better. Today tells me I might be

China's New Anti-monopoly Law Goes Into Effect August 1, 2008

The American Bar Association's international law conference in New York this spring highlighted the new Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China. See Order of the Chairman No. 68.

Promulgated on August 30 of last year, the new law is set to go into effect on August 1, 2008. The law governs monopolistic activity occurring within China and that occuring outside of China, but affecting the Chinese domestic market.

In addition to addressing monopolistic activity, the law addresses concerns by the Chinese authorities about increasing foreign control and influence of and upon companies there.

We can make available an English translation of the new law and and other related ABA Conference materials. In particular, you may want to examine an excellent slide deck presentation by Zhu Zhongliang, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's Deputy Division Chief of the Anti-monopoly Investigation Office. The Ministry's English language Web site is at http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/.

For more information, please contact us at info@technologylawgroup.com or 208.939.4472.

Social Networking, User-Generated Content & Risk Management

Web 2.0 and social networking are powerful and exciting advances in marketing strategy and implementation. Facebook, MySpace, and others demonstrate just how effective and lucrative new media marketing can be.

In part, new media marketing success depends upon effective community-building and that, in turn, depends upon content generated by members of the target community.

GoSleepGo.com is a new, fun, and edgy example. It's a user-built online travel guide in which far-flung 20-somethings (generally) go around the world and log on to post their travel photos and comments. Here's a user adventured posted about North Korea's Propaganda Village. BACKGROUND: GoSleepGo won first prize in the 2007 University of Idaho VIEW Business Plan competition put on by the College of Business & Economics.

Online contracts governing users' conduct and interaction with the marketer's Web site (consumer agreement titled "terms of use," "acceptable use policy," etc.) are fundamental instruments in limiting legal risk. Along with other online contracts that govern user conduct on their sites, Facebook and MySpace's general terms of use provide good examples of these risk management instruments.

That said, a online marketer may be well-advised to operate under an affirmative duty to monitor user content posted by members of its target community or to respond promptly to complaints sent to customer service email addresses.

In a recent example of the former, a Web marketer designated an individual as a discussion moderator. In the course of one of these discussions, the moderator then allegedly libeled one of the parties to the discussion. Under an agency theory, the marketer (principal) could be held responsible for the libelous conduct of its moderator (agent).

One recent example of the duty to respond to emailed complaints, a MySpace participant posted an invitation on his profile to view sexual content featuring minors and also posted links directing viewers to those postings on XTube, a pornographic site. In that instance, MySpace responded and terminated the poster's participation in its community. XTube, however, was non-responsive to complaints until the federal criminal authorities were involved.

Online marketers may face other legal risks as a result of user-generated content, including, among others:

1. Infringement of trademarks or copyrights;
2. Privacy violations;
3. Invasion of publicity rights; and
4. Consumer protection violations, including posting of false or misleading advertisements.

In addition to excellent consumer agreements, a number of other best practices can go far to limit risk associated with user-generated content. For more information, please contact us at info@technologylawgroup.com or 208.939.4472.

Film Festival for Albany Indie Team

My buddies the Masuccis have a short film that is playing in some festivals. I'm one of two Executive Producers of the film. You can see it at the box[ur]shorts Film Festival website.Short description: In the twilight of his life, Ned reflects on his past, his remaining years, and discovers how his role in life has changed. Against the Wind is a sentimental film that shows the old truly are young

Albany Ron Paul Meetup

As one sees with any movement, there can be different factions. In the Albany Ron Paul movement, there are two different "Meetup" groups. One is run by a guy who seems a bit off. Well, okay, to a lot of people outside the movement, we all look crazy. But this guy looks crazy to most of us inside.For those who want to find the "sane" side of the movement, check out the sensible Albany Ron Paul

Smelly Returns

Almost a year ago I wrote a blog post about a DWI lawyer I referred to as Smelly. This was not a reference to any odor, but rather a play on his name. I've never even met the guy, and have only talked - briefly - with one lawyer who has worked with him.I mentioned in that post a perception among DWI lawyers about him. Well, now I found some gold. See the website and video below:http://

China's New Law on Resolving Employment Disputes May Enhance Intellectual Property Protections

Late last December, China's National People's Congress adopted and China's President promulgated the Law on Mediation and Arbitration of Labor Disputes of the People’s Republic of China. See Order No. 80, Dec. 29, 2007.

That law went into effect on May 1, 2008 and is touted as a significant improvement over the prior law, improving fairness in the treatment of employees and employers and improving efficiencies. Among the advantages of the new law include that it expands the scope of cases that courts will accept and the statutory limitation period. It also increases opportunities for mediation and arbitration and significantly improves both of these alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Of particular interest regarding disputes involving intellectual property that may arise under employment contracts containing non-disclosure or related provisions, this new law applies pursuant to Article 2(2).

Under Article 23, a third-party with a material interest in the outcome of a dispute may apply to receive notice or otherwise participate in arbitration proceedings. This may provide a significant opportunity for U.S. and other companies with Chinese design or manufacturing partners to better protect their intellectual property interests.

The protection of these interests are generally required by U.S.-to-China design or OEM agreements, for example, where the Chinese company is required to put employment contracts in place by which its employees are bound by the same or substantially similar non-disclosure obligations to those that bind the employing entity. Such provisions extending to employees are included in these outsourcing and supplies contracts as a matter of best practices.

Prior to the new law, however, these provisions were largely regarded as unenforceable in China where piracy and industrial espionage are notorious and where the exclusivity of intellectual property rights is still a developing concept. From intellectual property and international transactions perspectives, China's new labor dispute law may be a welcome change indeed.

For the full text of the new law in English or for more information about Technology Law Group's international practice, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com or visit our Web site at http://www.technologylawgroup.com/.

Update - Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

The important Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements is now open for signature, ratification, and accession. For a discussion of the Convention and the process by which it advances toward its entry into force, click here.

Recently, the ABA's International Litigation Committee was in communication with the U.S. State Department's David Stewart, Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law in the Office of Legal Affairs, about the Convention and progress toward its ratification.

Mr. Stewart advised that the current focus is on issues regarding the Convention's implementation. The State Department, after its evaluation, forwards a memorandum to the President requesting authority to sign the desired convention. Before State forwards its signature memorandum as to this Convention, it requires a clear understanding as to how the Convention might be implemented. Mr. Stewart and his staff are working on the drafting of a tentative federal statute, but he states that considerable concern exists as to whether solely federalizing the issues addressed by the Convention is the optimum approach.

The National Conference on Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) is actively evaluating how a uniform state law might be structured. A NCCUSL Drafting Committee, chaired by Idaho Uniform Law Commissioner, Rex Blackburn, is at work in that regard.

State will consider how NCCUSL's draft uniform state law and the draft federal statute might be integrated. That said, State expects to issue its signing memorandum shortly.

For more information about our international legal services, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com or visit our Web site at http://www.technologylawgroup.com.

Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements - Backgrounder

The Hague Convention on Private International Law concluded the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements in June 2005 after thirteen (13) years of negotiation. The goal of the Convention is to improve the ability to efficiently resolve disputes and enforce judgments in cross-border transactions. For a comprehensive text on the Convention and its commentary, please click here.

In terms familiar to those drafting contracts in common law countries like the United States, the Convention establishes conditions under which the parties may contractually agree to consent to exclusive personal jurisdiction in a particular state or federal court.

Late last fall, Mexico became the first state to accede to the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements. The American Bar Association has urged that the United States adopt, ratify, and implement the Convention. See Background Note, infra.

The Convention sets forth the rules by which parties in different countries prospectively agree to resolve civil or commercial disputes in an agreed forum. Further, judgments in those agreed fora must be enforced by the courts in other countries adopting the Convention, provided exceptions do not apply.

The Convention sets forth a number of public policy exceptions to its applicability. Of importance to our intellectual property clients and constituencies, the Convention is not applicable to certain intellectual property matters. Specifically, the Convention does not govern in matters regarding the invalidity of intellectual property rights (excluding copyright and related rights) and regarding infringement of intellectual property rights that occur or could be brought under contract law (again, excluding copyright and related rights). See Articles 2 (2)(n)-(o) & 10(3).

For more information about the assistance we can provide in international transactional matters, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

BACKGROUND NOTE: As the development of the positive international law (treaty law) goes, conventions, once concluded, are then opened for accession by states (countries), both members of the Hague Convention and non-members. Once agreed by the specified number of states, the Convention then enters into force. This process of adoption and implementation, that is, the incorporation of the treaty's principles into the domestic law, takes several years. Note, however, that treaties may become evidence of binding customary international law even without their entry into force. Generally and in addition, parties may opt in to the applicability of a treaty even if that treaty has not yet entered into force.

Supreme Court Rules Emails Offering/Seeking Online Child Porn Not Protected Speech

The U.S. Supreme Court released its 7-2 ruling on Monday that people who send online messages seeking or offering sexual images of children are not engaging in speech protected under the First Amendment and so can be sent to prison. The Court's ruling applies even if there is no such underlying pornography.

Law enforcement officials praise the decision as enabling them to more efficiently combat criminal acts surrounding and depicting the sexual abuse of children. The decision is one of an ongoing judicial rulings on legislative attempts to balance free speech rights against the need to protect children from the rampant and insidious criminal activity.

For more information, see this report by David Savage in The Los Angeles Times. The Court's decision in United States v. Williams is available here.

For more information about Internet law-related matters, please contact us at info@technologylawgroup.com or +1.208.939.4472.

New York Traffic Courts: The Surcharge Tax Increase

Note: For help, please check out our New York Traffic Lawyer page.Change is brewing in the surcharges for various offenses in the NY traffic courts and criminal courts. I've posted a portion of the schedule below that's most relevant to what we do, in the usual traffic ticket and DWI cases, will discuss these massive tax increases further below. I should also note that this schedule is for town

Albany DWI and DA Soares' New Policy

Kudos to the Times Union for breaking an important legal news story. The Albany District Attorney's office has adopted a new policy regarding plea bargains in drunk driving cases.For starters, a big chunk of the policy depends on the accused person's blood alcohol content, or BAC. Also, the accused must also complete an "alcohol evaluation" before there will be any plea bargain offer.If the BAC

David Soares and Citizen Action

I just got an e-mail for a David Soares fundraiser, and I just have to debunk the propaganda. Here are some of the claims, and my comments:In his first term in office, David has fulfilled his campaign promises by:Shutting down crack houses through our Safe Homes, Safe Streets Program to improve the quality of life in our neighborhoodsI don't remember a campaign promise to shut down crack houses.

Rensselaer Train Station

Several years ago a new train station was built for Amtrak in Rensselaer. I don't remember all the details, but it cost a huge amount of money. $55 million sticks in my head, but maybe that was before the cost overruns.I'm sitting now in the station waiting for a train. On the drive up I noticed that the old station buildings are still there, and they don't look so good. Seems like there was no

What do lawyers do? Diversifying the revenue stream

An interesting issue has come up in our office recently. How much should a small law firm like ours do to diversify our revenue stream? Other businesses have this kind of issue, but in some ways this is special to lawyers.Our law firm in Albany has a strong main practice handling traffic cases in upstate New York. We get roughly ten new traffic cases a week. One nice thing about this is that it's

Vermont Traffic Courts

I got motivated and entered all the traffic courts in Vermont in the past week or so. Not too many of them. Vermont has fourteen counties. Each county has two courts -- District Court and Superior Court. As one might think, District Court handles lesser offenses while Superior Court handles the more serious ones. But in an interesting twist, Vermont Superior Court does the small claims.There is

More Traffic Court News

Our Traffic Court website has shot up in the world a bit. According to Alexa, the site is now among the top 350,000 websites in the world. That's a big jump, but not really because of an increase in the importance of our site.Alexa changed the way it measures websites. They had been criticized for some time for relying too much on their own "toolbar". It's unclear exactly how they've changed

More Disputes Going Before China's Courts

China News recently reported on new systems put in place by the Chinese courts to increase public awareness of complicated court proceedings and to expedite the resolution of disputes through the courts.

The article also reports some encouraging statistics that reflect on the rule of law in China. It cites a March 2008 State Supreme Court work report that China's courts handled almost 32 million cases from 2003 through 2007. That's up 1.6% over the previous four-year period (1998-2002).

The Shanghai courts saw a much larger increase in their case loads, however, which were up 10% during the same time period. This finding about the Shanghai courts is consistent with observations by my colleagues in the Licensing Executives Society and the American Bar Association's China Committee that courts in certain Chinese cities, Shanghai among them, are becoming more educated as to intellectual property rights and more reliable as fora for the resolution of intellectual property disputes.

To read the China News article, click here. For an excellent list of China resources compiled by the ABA's China Committee, click here.

For more information about doing business in China and with Chinese companies, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Doing Business in China? Check Out This Recommended Reading!

Recently, the American Bar Association's China Committee discussed books on China that have been useful to our members and to our respective clients doing business in that country or planning to do so.

With more than 500 attorney members around the world, the China Committee is a joint body of the ABA's International Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Science and Technology practice sections.

The China Committee's recommended reading includes books covering topics ranging from China's place in the global economy to the consumer products market there to histories that elucidate Chinese cultural and business philosophies.

I have gathered these titles together for you here in the new Resources link. You'll find the link on the right side of this page above the blog archive listing. Click here and you'll go to our Amazon store to see all the China titles.

You will also see a collection of the TLG team's favorite resources on entrepreneurship, intellectual property strategy, women in science and technology, and more. Because we support Science Olympiad and other programs to foster children's creativity and natural interest in science and technology, we've even put together a set of excellent chemistry sets, books, and other great products to help Kids Create!

To discuss more about your business activities and plans in China, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

San Diego Criminal Court - The Marine Widow Case

We finished the San Diego Superior Courts, and I came across a great story in the process. It's apparently called the Marine Widow case, and that link is to a story about it. Heard in San Diego Criminal Court.Short version: Marine dies. Wife responds by getting a boob job with the life insurance money, joining wet t-shirt contests, and shagging other soldiers. Also buys herself out of substantial

Chinese Intellectual Property Cases Online

To improve the rule of law in China and the transparency and availability of court decisions there, the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Division of the Supreme People's Court offers an online resource for obtaining published decisions in intellectual property cases in China.

The Web site is principally in Chinese language. The search engine operates in English and Chinese. One may search by litigant name, court, filing date, case number, and cause of action.

Just enter search terms in English, and the site returns a list of search results in Chinese, but with some English labeling. The decisions are in Chinese, but no worries! We have Chinese linguistics on our team.

The Web site's navigation bar to the left also has English labels for types of actions: trademarks, copyright and related rights, patents, unfair competition, plant varieties, technology contracts, and others.

Among the Others category are cases involving integrated circuit ("IC") design and cases involving discovery and innovation. (RESOURCE NOTE: For a detailed, albeit 2003, analysis of China's IC design protection law, click here.)

Under Article 134 of China's Civil Procedural Law, "The people's court shall publicly pronounce its judgment in all cases, whether publicly tried or not." (RESOURCE NOTE: For the text of this law, click here.) Further, Article 8 of the 1993 Supreme Court's Rules in Court of the People's Court states that "citizens may audit the court session of cases which are publicly tried according to law."

That said, the courts appear to have some discretion regarding publication, having, for example, no time frame within which they must publish their decisions and no requirements as to the methods of such required publication.

For more information, please reach us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Los Angeles Traffic Courts

We made some progress on our directory project, adding all the superior courts in Los Angeles County. Superior Court in California seems to handle just about everything, from simple traffic tickets up to murder cases and civil cases too.A couple of the more "happening" traffic courts there include Beverly Hills Superior Court and Malibu Superior Court, which have had quite a few celebrity cases.

Lawyer websites and font size

I just visited a website for another law firm in the Albany area. The font size was extremely small. Below is an image showing it next to our website, and you can see that our fonts are significantly larger. If you go to the effort to create a website, you should go further and make sure it is user friendly and readable. It is an attractive website and the firm has a good reputation (I took the

Is Tibet A Country?

Those of us serving on the ABA's China Committee are now discussing the question of Tibet's legal status, particularly whether Tibet is independent or part of China.

For those of you who have been following the compelling stories of political unrest in Tibet and China's intervention there, this post will be particularly interesting.

The term "suzertainty" refers to a principle first seen in feudal law and later used in more modern (late 1800s) positive law in which one country is a vassal state to other. Parts of the Ottoman Empire, e.g., Egypt, Bulgaria, Romania, and others, were organized this way.

The vassal is described as an independent state that gives up some, but not all, of its autonomy to the suzerain state in exchange for certain obligations flowing back to the vassal state.

(RESOURCE NOTE: For an excellent summary of the history of the term "suzertainty" with references, click here.)

Unraveling the legal status of Tibet takes one through the period of British colonialism in the region and later through one or more treaties between Britain and imperial Russian, later cancelled by the Communist government, and through the 1950 invasion by China of Tibet to the present day. A partial timeline of the historical development of Tibet's legal status follows.

One discussion, attributed to Sir Algemon Rumbold, President of the Tibet Society of the United Kingdom from 1977-1988, says that Britain treated Tibet as an independent state from 1910, but stated in 1912 and again 1943 that it acknowledged the suzertainty of China in Tibet, but on the condition that Tibet's autonomy was respected. The latter is cited Memorandum from Sir Anthony Eden to the Chinese Foreign Minister, T.V. Soong, FO371/93001 (May 8, 1943).

Some say that Tibet initially declared independence in 1912, a position apparently agreed by the British government, which treated Tibet as independent from 1910 or from 1912, depending on the commentator. Others say that that 1912 and two subsequent declarations, at least through 1965 or so, did not amount to declarations. See Alfred P. Rubin, Tibet's Declarations of Independence, 60 AM. J. INT'L L. 812-14 (1966).

The 1914 Simla Convention between Great Britain and Tibet established or purported to establish internationally-recognized boundaries, the McMahon Line, for an independent Tibet. China refused that Convention, and Sir Rumbold writes that it was a that point that Tibet repudiated China's suzertainty.

On September 19, 2006, the Declaration of Independence of the Nations of High Asia: Tibet, East Turkistan and Inner Mongolia was made in Washington, D.C. at the Capitol Building.

Although not a thorough analysis of the question of Tibet's legal status, the foregoing indicates that Tibet is indeed a separate country.

For more information on international law, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Albany Public Relations

My buddy Mark Grimm is also my fellow town board member. Mark really led the campaign and I think his skills in public relations really helped. He has a website for his business: Albany Public Relations. A couple years ago when we sued the Rensselaer DA, Mark set up our press conference and it went very well.I've learned a lot from Mark, and from my own experiences with the media. One big thing

Schenectady DWI

We handle DWI in the Schenectady area. It seems like most of the cases we see occur in the towns, like Rotterdam, Duanesburg and Glenville. Of course there are some in the City of Schenectady as well. We certainly see more DWI and DWAI cases in Albany County. And we see more Saratoga DWI cases too. For Albany it seems obvious why -- bigger area, and maybe we have a closer connection to Albany.

Gmail April Fools Joke Got Me

So there I am peacefully using my Gmail when I notice a link at the top for a new feature -- Gmail custom time. Check out Google's Gmail April Fools Joke.I actually fell for it for a couple minutes. Started composing a message to see how it worked, but the feature was missing. Went back to read the instructions again. Google got me!

Facebook gay ads

I've read about how social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace help direct advertising to the right audiences. So I'm a little worried that Facebook keeps showing me this ad.Am I gay and I just didn't know it? Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course. I'm not as good looking as these guys either. Uh oh. Does saying that make me gay? This just keeps getting more troubling. :-)

Intellectual Property Registration Still Nascent in China, but Growing

China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) issued a report on March 17, 2008 on the rates of patent and trademark registration there. The report studied a range of companies, including the 300,000 large industrial companies in China that produced some 90% of that country's industrial output in 2006.

Only a minority of these large companies have formalized intellectual property rights, however. Fewer than nine percent (8.7%), or 26,000, applied for patents from 2004 through 2006. Fewer than one-quarter (24.3%), or 73,000, registered their trademarks, although more than one-third (38.4%) registered their own brands. Finally, only about one-fifth (20.7%) had company policies to protect their trade secrets.

This last statistic is interesting. The limited enforceability and enforcement of formalized intellectual property rights in China contribute to the perception of their value as investments for companies. Trade secret policies, however, have relatively little cost associated with their implementation, but high value in terms of preventing proprietary information and know-how from leaking out to competitors.

Enforceability may be one reason that trade secret policies are so scarce. There is no trade secret law as such in China. Rather, enforcement occurs under contract, employment, and other civil laws, which may or not be recognized by the courts there. A lack of professional training about intellectual property rights and communal cultural perspectives may provide other reasons.

The NBS report also examined patenting practices in a broader range of Chinese companies, including small to medium enterprises, and non-industrial companies. Among this broader range of companies, some twenty-seven percent (27.5%) of domestically-owned companies filed patent applications in 2006. This compares with about twenty-one percent of foreign-invested joint ventures (20.6%) and Hong Kong-, Macau-, and Taiwan-invested companies (20.8%).

Despite the currently low adoption rate for patenting in China, the trend is toward increased patenting. The State Intellectual Property Office earlier reported an impressive seventeen percent (16.9%) increase in the number of registered patents in 2007 over the previous year. In 2007, those registered patents totaled 850,043. For more statistics on patenting in China, please click here.

Intellectual assets are sure to play a increasing role in China's economic might and integration within the World Trade Organization and the global economy. Speaking before the 11th National People's Congress on March 5, 2008, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, pictured above, stated that China will adopt the National IP Strategy and will systematically promote individual innovation.

For more information about international protection for intellectual property rights, please contact us at +1.208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.

Traffic Court continues to grow

This past week our traffic court website hit a new high. Monday had over 3200 visits and Tuesday was just short of that. Both days had more than 3000 unique visitors (different people using the site - some people visit twice in one day). The site is now seeing consistently more than 60,000 visits a month, with roughly 55,000 unique visitors.We are close to finishing the Ohio Municipal Courts,

Saratoga vs. Albany on Google

I just created a new page on the firm website about DWI in Saratoga. This got me interested in how often the term "Saratoga" is searched on Google. Below is an image from Google Trends, showing the relative search volume, as compared to Albany. Albany gets consistently more searches.The reason I'm posting this is that I noticed a seasonal pattern that should not be surprising. Searches for

AdWords and AdSense Customer Support: Are Dark Clouds Moving in Over Google

I've written in the past about problems with AdWords customer support, and now I'm having problems with AdSense combined with AdWords.For those who don't know, AdWords is a service Google offers where users can put ads up on the internet. The most prominent way you see these ads is when you do a search on Google. On the right side and sometimes on the top, you see ads called "Sponsored Links."

Trial Lawyers and the Feeling of Victory

The life of a trial lawyer has its peaks and valleys. I just heard the blessed words "Not Guilty" from a jury, and that is one of the peaks. Sort of.I wrote some time ago about representing the innocent client. Since that time I have found myself with more and more of my criminal defense clients who I believe are innocent. When I started I figured I'd mostly be defending guilty people and that

Issue-Spotting for Web Sites

Web sites are ubiquitous and an essential part of virtually every business or organization’s operational and marketing activities. Although numerical precision is a challenge, a respected resource found 142,805,398 sites on the World Wide Web in October 2007, up more than 36 million from the beginning of that year.[1]

Up-front attention to these issues when Web sites are first being developed and hosted can save time, money, and legal wrangling later. Here, Benjamin Franklin was right! "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Read on for some of the important legal issues to consider regarding Web sites. Also, check out the Resource Notes at the bottom.

Ownership and Control

One may view Internet domain names as a form of intellectual property, that is, an intangible property right belonging exclusively to the owner of that right. One establishes the property right by registration with a domain name registrar, such as NSI (formerly Network Solutions, Inc.), or by purchasing the domain name from an intermediary or auction sites, such as SnapNames.com. As strange as it may seem in dealing with a property right, the ownership and control of Web sites are common problems faced by many businesses.

For example, individuals may purchase an existing business, believing that the domain name by which that business is promoted online was part of the acquired business. They may later discover that title to the domain name, i.e., the registration, did not rest with the seller, but rather with the business’s former Web site developer, who decides to try to usurp the value of the business for his own aims or to leverage his control of the essential domain name to extract exorbitant Web hosting or other fees from the new owners.

Other businesses may hire a marketing or Web development company to acquire one or more domains and to build a Web site for it. Conflicts arise over payment, quality, or other issues, and the business now finds itself having invested thousands of dollars into an e-commerce site tied to a crucial domain name that its vendor owns and controls.

Just as issues arise as to domain name ownership, there can be issues as to the ownership of the source code that makes up the Web site. Many smaller businesses may contract out for the development of their Web sites and may rely upon oral contracts or contracts comprised of oral and electronic mail exchanges. These informal agreements leave much to be desired and are rife with ambiguity.

Businesses may assume that they own the Web site’s source code when indeed that title remains with the Web developer. This ownership issue can create problems where the ongoing maintenance of the Web site remains tied to the Web developer, perhaps at an inappropriate price for the business. Even where formal Web development contracts are executed between the parties, these may be drafted to the Web developer’s advantage, and ownership rights may not transfer under those agreements.

Many Web site developers now use Open Source tools for their development activities. There are many dozens of Open Source license agreements that govern what can be done with the Web sites and other products that result from the use of various Open Source components. These agreements may permit some ownership rights to be transferred to the business purchasing the Web site development services.

More frequently, however, these agreements prohibit or severely restrict the transfer of ownership rights. (Indeed, version 3.0 of the GNU General Public License is far more restrictive in this regard than version 2.0.) This means that a business may pay a Web developer to create a certain look-and-feel or special navigational aids for the Web site, but may not have absolute or any ownership rights therein. In such an instance, the business may have no ability to legally prohibit the Web developer’s use of that customization for subsequent clients.

Intellectual Property Liability

Business owners may select corporate names and purchase domain names for their businesses without considering whether the effect that selection may have on their risk profiles. For example, the selection of a corporate or domain name may infringe upon existing trademark rights. If it does not infringe an existing mark outright, the company may still face liability from allegations that the domain name dilutes the value of famous trademarks.

Copyright infringement is another concern principally regarding the content of the Web site. Here, there are issues as to whether the textual content of the site was copied from another source. Images and other graphical or visual content on the Web pages may be purchased through Web sites like BigStockImages.com. Because the license agreements that govern those purchases are generally very one-sided to favor the purveyor of that content, one must exercise care to understand and retain a record of the agreement and to ensure that the content is being used in accordance with the terms of the agreement. For example, the inbound license agreement may permit the use of the purchased images online, but not in printed collateral marketing materials.

Terms of Use

Many businesses fail to set forth on their Web sites the terms of use that govern the Web visitors use of the sites. Others may incorporate some terms of use in the text of some Web pages, but may not set forth a single contract encompassing all use of the site. Still others may have terms of use that deal with more traditional aspects of a brick-and-mortar business, such as return policies, but may not consider the intellectual property aspects of the business’ online presence. As an example, the Web site may set forth an invitation to call a contact person for licensing the business’ trademarks. Such vague language engenders the position that a mere phone call to the named individual suffices for the caller to obtain a royalty-free, inbound license to the logos contained in, and often easily copied from, the Web site.

Linking policies are another contractual control that businesses often fail to include. These policies set for the terms under which other Web sites can link to the business’ Web site. Absent these policies, linking may occur freely, and the business may find itself associated with Web sites offering questionable health remedies and other products or services not to the business’ liking.

Privacy Matters

Web sites may collect information about visitors, whether through an online registration or order form or secretly through the capture of the visitor’s Internet protocol, or IP, address. Businesses often fail to put consumers on notice that these data are being gathered and as to the uses to which the data will be put. This opens the door for disclosures of consumer information that can lead to unsolicited email complaints and identity theft. Further, where the Web site may attract youthful populations, federal law requires parental consent and other important measures to protect children and their privacy.[2]

Advertising Claims

Just as in the real world, consumer protection laws govern claims made in advertising, testimonials, statements comparing competitive products, and more. Because the Internet puts these claims in the global arena, international, federal, foreign domestic, and a variety of state laws may apply. Businesses must carefully weigh the costs and the benefits in the form of risk avoidance presented by the potentially applicable patchwork of laws. Fortunately, federal and state consumer protection laws in the United States are harmonized to a significant degree. The harmonization is not complete, however.

Conclusion

Web sites present an abundance of legal issues for consideration. Some, such as the issues presented by linking policies, are wholly unique to the Internet. Other issues are more traditional in nature, but emerge in new and thought-provoking ways in application to Web sites. We hope this article serves as a useful issue-spotting guide to entrepreneurs and businesses.

[1] Netcraft, October 2007 Web Server Survey, http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2007/10/index.html (visited Mar. 23, 2008); Netcraft, New York Internet and ThePlanet Most Reliable Hosting Companies in December 2006, (visited Nov. 7, 2007).

[2] See generally Federal Trade Commission, Implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act: A Report to Congress (Feb. 2007).

RESOURCE NOTES:

BigStockImages.com offers some terrific resources, including links to free images and tutorials. Check it out here.

Netcraft, cited in the first paragraph, is a great resource for Web-based statistics to include in business plans and pro forma analyses. This English company offers useful statistics worldwide. For an overview and to a newsletter sign-up, click here.

We hope the information here will be helpful to you. Please note, however, that, as always, information posted on this blog does not constitute legal advice, and your visits to this blog or contacts to us regarding the information posted here do not establish an attorney-client relationship. For more information, please contact us at 208.939.4472 or info@technologylawgroup.com.