2009 Prediction: Further penetration of Software as a Service (SaaS) Australia will see a proliferation of businesses adopting SaaS in 2009. With no hardware, maintenance or upfront capital costs, SaaS will be seen as ideal for companies looking to control their costs in an uncertain economic environment. Some analysts predict that the global SaaS industry may be worth as much as A$10.7 billion during 2009 ...
Referring to Newsletter Issue No. 12 in relation to the Health Bill, the new Health Law No. 36 of 2009 was finally issued on 13 October 2009. Under the Health Law, mothers must breastfeed their babies exclusively from birth until 6 months old. It is expected that family members, the Government, Regional Governments and communities will support lactating mothers by providing time and space for them to breastfeed their babies in work places and public areas ...
FACTS Mr. Gibbens, the insured, became a paraplegic following an inflammation of his spinal cord. This inflammation was caused by the herpes HSV-2 virus, contracted during unprotected sexual intercourse with three different women in January and February 2003. A diagnosis of viral infection was confirmed on February 17, 2003. Mr. Gibbens’s condition deteriorated rapidly and, on February 23, 2003, he became paraplegic ...
At the end of January, the 468-page judgement of BSkyB v EDS was published, nearly eighteen months after the court hearing closed. Many, varied and worrying predictions as to the potential impact of this judgement had been made, but ultimately the judgement is unlikely to lead to radical changes in the relationship between IT and other suppliers and their customers ...
The government has released a discussion paper outlining proposals for the reform of Australia's insolvent trading laws designed to ensure that the insolvency laws complement and assist the conduct of workouts. The paper seeks submissions on issues that arise for directors from operation of the insolvent trading laws, particularly in the context of attempts at business rescue outside formal insolvency administrations ...
With regard to the professional obligations of a lawyer, is it possible outside the physical confines of the tribunal to let a judge know exactly what he thinks of him? Should the response be negative, does it not unduly restrain his right to freedom of expression otherwise guaranteed to all by virtue of the charters of rights and freedoms? This is the question to which the Court of Appeal had to respond recently by rendering judgment in the case of Doré v ...
The verdict has finally arrived in the long-running IT dispute between EDS and BSkyB, for which the trial ended over a year ago. With legal fees of around £70m and an anticipated damages award of £200m (against a contract reportedly worth only £48m), the case will change the landscape of supplying IT products and services forever. EDS supplied a customer relationship management system to BSkyB ...
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is modifying the computer program it uses to calculate Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) in light of the recent decision in Wyeth v. Kappos, No. 2009-1120 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 7, 2010). In Wyeth, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that the USPTO has been improperly calculating patent term adjustment under 35 U.S.C. § 154(b). The Federal Circuit’s decision will result in additional patent term for many U.S ...
In what may be a new opportunity for cybersquatters, the Colombian .CO registry will soon allow for registration of domain names ending in simply .CO. Such domain names may be a prime platform for social networking sites and brand owners. As the registry explains, the acronym .CO can be associated with terms that include company, corporation, commerce, communities, content, connect, communication, collaborate, and consumers ...
Yesterday, January 26, 2010, Judge David Hittner of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an important opinion in the Stanford Financial case that paves the way for targets of criminal and civil enforcement proceedings to obtain insurance coverage for costs of defending themselves ...
A costly mistake by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has highlighted the importance of careful drafting to ensure access to a software program’s source code. The source code is the line of code in which the software is written, in language intelligible to a suitably trained software developer. Through the use of a compiler, the source code is converted to object code which forms the software program ...
Under the Tobacco acT (r.s.Q., c. t-0.01), employers mUst prohibit their employees from smoKing inside their establishments. howeVer, the act is mute on no smoKing oUtside, on the company’s land ...
Lenders who take legal charges over real property usually require their interest to be 'noted' on the insurance policy covering the property. However, this may not give them the protection they require, especially in the current economic climate. It is quite appropriate that lenders want to be certain that insurance arrangements covering a property used as security are satisfactory ...
by Bryan G. Scott and Elizabeth K. Strickland Few areas of law have proven more dynamic over the last few years than the interplay between state tort laws and the federal regulation of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices ...
ON MAY 14, 2009, MADAM JUSTICE MARIE-FRANCE BICH OF THE COURT OF APPEAL, PUT AN END TO A CONTROVERSY IN THE CASE LAW ON THE INTERPRETATION BY ARTICLE 216 C.C.P. CONCERNING THE PROCEDURAL MEANS AVAILABLE TO THE INSURER TO PROTECT ITS SUBROGATION RIGHTS ...
We are increasingly being asked: “Is it more likely that individuals rather than companies will be prosecuted under the new Health and Safety Offences Act 2008?”. The new Act, which came into force in January 2009, did not introduce any further duties on either organisations or individuals, but it did dramatically increase the penalties that can be imposed for breaches of existing health and safety legislation ...
One of the most talked about eHealth initiatives is the introduction of a national electronic health record for all Australians. Having a centralised database of electronic health records will greatly improve access to accurate and up-to-date data by health care workers, including doctors, hospital staff and emergency service providers ...
In early 2008, 'green computing' and the idea that companies were going to need to implement new measures to improve their green credentials was one of the hot topics in IT. You might have been forgiven for thinking that environmental concern would be among the first casualties of the credit crunch and the resulting recession ...
On April 20, 2009, the Court of Appeal issued its judgment in three related cases(1) concerning a defect in a fireplace that caused a fire resulting in the partial loss of the building owned by Alpha’s insureds. Alpha sued the immediate seller to its insureds, Basque, as well as the prior owners, Caron and Pellerin, under the rules governing the warranty against latent defects ...
Virtually every business has some sort of website or presence on the internet, and it is often an integral part of the business. At the same time, many organisations use bespoke or customised software internally on a day-to-day basis, and undoubtedly attribute significant value to these assets, not least because the development of them probably required a significant investment via a third party developer providing the software ...
A campaign that ran throughout March has been extended into April, and will focus on refurbishment, repair and maintenance works. Statistics show that more than half of workers who died on construction sites in recent years were working on refurbishment projects ...
Insurers have lodged a Judicial Review against The Damages (Asbestos-related conditions) Scotland Act. The Act, which was passed on 17 April 2009, made compensation available for the victims of pleural plaques in Scotland. The insurers are bringing the action in an attempt to avoid having to pay compensation for this condition ...
Last year, the European Commission initiated an inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry, claiming that there were indications that competition in the industry was not working as well as it should. Although responses to the preliminary report have been rather critical, from both the legal community and the industry itself, there are a few conclusions worth noting ...
Software is part of the day-to-day fabric for most companies. And almost everyone who uses it does so with little or no thought about what happens should it fail, or if it is no longer available. However, the prudent software buyer will consider how to protect against failure of critical or bespoke software, which is where escrow may come in. Be warned, though ...
