When may a federal court hear a case?
> What is the objective theory of contracts?
> What entities might pay hackers to commit some of the crimes described in this chapter?
> The media has exposed Web sites that purported to sell tickets to certain concerts and would accept credit and banking information from would-be buyers but did not deliver the tickets. What can consumers do to avoid being duped by such fraud?
> Suppose that a suspect has multiple e-mail accounts, regularly uses the Internet, is sophisticated with computers, and knows how to protect access to passwords and accounts but denies having computer expertise or owning the devices that he or she clearly
> What is the purpose of a business license?
> Should evidence obtained through an illegal search be excluded from a criminal trial even if the evidence clearly shows the guilt of the person charged?
> Is the global reach of the Internet a reason in support of a court’s assertion of authority over activities that occur in another jurisdiction?
> What are some important constitutional protections of individuals’ rights in the area of criminal law?
> Describe the prosecutorial process from arrest to conviction.
> What are the elements of a crime?
> Considering the cyber crime discussed in this chapter, what are the greatest risks to an information technology system or computer network in a business environment?
> What are some of the significant differences between criminal law and civil law?
> What's the difference between a patent and a trade secret?
> What is a trade secret and how is it protected?
> 1. Are there creative works that can be shared or otherwise used by anyone without permission and without the payment of royalties? 2. What is “the public domain”? 3. Why is this significant to musicians, conductors, publishers, and others?
> How do statutes affect the terms of contracts?
> Why is it important to protect trademarks from trademark dilution and cybersquatting?
> Why is copyright law important in cyberspace?
> How might a file-sharing system, or a similar service, be put to commercially significant but nonfringing uses?
> Why are Internet service providers (ISPs) exempt from liability, under some statutes, for the actions of their customers?
> Do Internet service providers have an ethical duty to advise their users if the information that the users provide for distribution through the ISPs might violate the law? Explain.
> What are some of the pros and cons of having an international standard for trademark protection?
> What is the fair use doctrine? What factors are considered in determining whether a use is fair?
> Large damages awards in tort litigation have to be paid by someone. If the defendant is insured, then insurance companies foot the bill. Ultimately, though, high insurance rates are passed on to consumers of goods and services in the United States. Co
> Under the circumstances described in the previous question, Eldon, another spectator, also sits in the stands behind the plate where the backstop should be. Unlike Nikita, Eldon is fully aware of the risk. During the game, Eldon is struck and injured by
> Suppose that George, the owner of a softball park, has a duty to provide a backstop to protect spectators who want the protection against the risk of being hit by a ball. Nikita, a visitor from Eastern Europe, sits in the stands behind the plate where t
> How does ratification affect the right of mentally incompetent persons to avoid their contracts?
> 1. Should the application of the concept of proximate cause be expanded to allow recovery in more cases, or should it be limited to reduce the frequency and amounts of recovery? Why? 2. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of a universal princi
> Which torts protect against the intentional interference with property?
> What are defenses to charges of wrongful interference with the business rights of others?
> What is the basis for the tort of defamation?
> What are defenses to charges of assault and battery?
> Considering that punitive damages are intended in part to punish, should a defendant’s financial situation be taken into account in setting the amount?
> Which torts protect against the intentional interference with persons?
> Should religious displays on public property be held to violate the establishment clause?
> Should the First Amendment protect all speech?
> What is the distinction between the degrees of regulation that may be imposed on commercial and noncommercial speech?
> In what circumstance can an intoxicated person avoid a contract even if the intoxication was purely voluntary?
> In reviewing tax laws, what do the courts focus on?
> What is preemption?
> What is the conflict between the states’ police power and the commerce clause?
> What is the doctrine of separation of powers and what is its purpose?
> What is the national government’s relation to the states?
> Would a state law imposing a fifteen-year term of imprisonment without allowing a trial on all businesspersons who appear in their own television commercials be a violation of substantive due process? Would it violate procedural due process?
> What is the basic structure of the American national government
> What is the principal difference between negotiation and mediation?
> Who can appeal from a trial court’s decision?
> What are the advantages of discovery?
> How does ratification affect the right of minors to avoid their contracts?
> What are the defendant’s possible responses?
> What are the first steps in bringing a legal action?
> When may a court exercise jurisdiction over a party whose only connection to the jurisdiction is via the Internet?
> What is the primary consideration in deciding whether to settle a dispute or take the dispute to court?
> What is arbitration?
> If a corporation is incorporated in Delaware, has its main office in New York, and does business in California, but its president lives in Connecticut, in which state(s) can it be sued?
> Do businesses have an ethical duty to use enhanced security measures to protect confidential customer information? Why or why not? For example, if an employer allowed its employee to store customers’ unencrypted personal information on a laptop outside o
> Because business controls so much wealth and power, what duty does it arguably have to society?
> 1. To whom might a corporation owe a duty? 2. What must a corporation do if it finds itself subject to conflicting duties?
> When a contract has been executed, what must a minor do to disaffirm it?
> How does a corporation’s investment in a political or social agenda affect its duty to its shareholders?
> Does a company have a duty to act in socially or politically beneficial ways?
> Why would a corporation prefer to be seen as ethical?
> In negotiating a business deal, is “strategic misrepresentation” permissible?
> What are reasons for unethical business behavior?
> If justice is defined as the fair, impartial consideration of opposing interests, are law and justice the same thing?
> How does a law come to be an expression of an ethical principle?
> Identify and describe remedies available in equity.
> Discuss the differences within the classification of law as civil law and criminal law.
> What is the Uniform Commercial Code?
> Are minors legally bound to every contract that they enter into?
> 1. What is the supreme law of the land? 2. What are statutes? 3. What are ordinances? 4. What are administrative rules?
> What is stare decisis? Why is it important?
> What is the common law?
> What is the primary function of law?
> What are some of the significant variations in the practical application and effect of contract laws among nations?
> What are some of the differences among nations’ judicial systems?
> Do U.S. discrimination laws apply in foreign countries?
> How does the Sherman Act affect international business?
> What are some of the differences among common law and civil law systems?
> Are common law and civil law systems wholly distinct?
> Can a minor enter into any contract that an adult can?
> What is the difference between expropriation and confiscation?
> Discuss the act of state doctrine.
> 1. How is the principle of comity applied? 2. What other considerations can take precedence over comity?
> What is the principle of comity, and why do courts deciding disputes involving a foreign law or judicial decree apply this principle?
> 1. OptiAmp Corp. promises you that its electrical equipment will meet the needs of any venue from a stadium to a café. You buy the equipment for Playtime, your urban rap club, but it is not sufficient to power the lighting, heating, and refrigeration sys
> 1. For the Summer Solstice Symphonic Symposia—a series of workshops for composers and musicians—you order fifty Tundra-brand cellos from The String Instrument Source, Inc. The Source confirms your order in writing. On the last day to ship the order, the
> 1. Sassy Brass Instrument Co. owns a warehouse where it stores its inventory of band and orchestral instruments. In your capacity of band director for a school district, you order seventy-six trombones from Sassy. The seller identifies the goods to be sh
> 1. As a beginning songwriter and performer, you are convinced that a certain model of electric guitar is what you need to turn the musical world on its ear. Chick’s Music Store advertises the item but because the store is sold out of the guitars when you
> 1. With the profits from Sportz!, a successful pop-rock album, you make a down payment on an isolated ranch on which you arrange for the construction of a sports park. The park includes grassy fields and paved courts, indoor and outdoor pools, and skate
> 1. You and your country group Haze perform before an enthusiastic crowd at the Idyll County Fair. Jack, the owner of a local club, sees you perform and likes what he sees. Without a written contract, Jack begins to support your group, arranging gigs, col
> When is a contract so ambiguous that a court may have to interpret its terms?
> 1. You begin your career in music as a keyboardist, writing songs for Lifelong, a faith-based rock group. With success comes the opportunity to record for Masterworx Studios, where you pick up the skills of a recording engineer. Now, as a sought-after pr
> 1. You own Chords, a music store. You have a basic knowledge of bookkeeping—you can balance a checkbook—but you are not an accountant. Dana, a local bass guitarist and entrepreneur, offers to buy Chords and asks about its finances. Using bills and receip
> 1. As the keyboardist for Mirror Image, you move with the band to New York as part of a six-album recording and performing agreement with Omni Music, Inc. Perla, an accountant licensed in California, misrepresents to you that she is licensed in New York.
> 1. On May 1. Franco sells you, a minor, an electric guitar and amplifier. On June 1, you attain the age of majority. On June 5, Franco is offered a considerably larger sum of money by Garth for the instrument that he sold to you. Franco offers to return
> 1. Gerard, an events promoter and coordinator, promises to stage a concert for the benefit of Kids Care, a charitable organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth. In reliance on the anticipated receipts, Kids Care contracts for the construction
> 1. In your capacity as talent coordinator for Ideal Concert Promotions, Inc., you offer the James Brothers, a new, suddenly popular pop group, a certain price to play the Luminous Center Stadium on a certain date. The offer states that it will expire thi
> 1. You own a small club—Sammy D’s—that features local musicians. On Tuesday night, you post a notice promising to pay $100 to any musician who takes to the stage for one hour. Tyler steps up to the microphone and opens a sixty-minute set with a cover of
> 1. You are an extraordinarily successful performing artist with three platinum albums, including “I M GR8,” which spawned “Top o’ Da Heap” and four other hit singles. You visit your local Car Sales Showroom and choose a couple of rides. To pay for the ve
