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Microsoft Outsources Legal Work to India With CPA Global Deal

February 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft Corp. has entered into an agreement with legal outsourcing provider CPA Global to offshore legal work to lawyers in India.

The technology giant began a pilot scheme with CPA in October and formally rolled it out at the end of 2009. A team of between three and five qualified lawyers at CPA are handling multi-jurisdictional legal support work, including legal research, for Microsoft. The lawyers are based in CPA’s offices in Gurgaon, near New Delhi.

Microsoft has been outsourcing basic intellectual property and patent renewal work to CPA for five years, using a team of around 70 CPA staff. However, the new arrangement for general legal work operates separately.

Microsoft’s associate general counsel and director of worldwide IP operations, Marty Shively, who is based in New Delhi, has played a key role in putting the outsourcing project together.

CPA chief financial officer for India, Anand Sharma, told Legal Week: “The arrangement principally involves legal research work with a flexible shared service team varying according to transactions handling matters for the company.”

via Microsoft Outsources Legal Work to India With CPA Global Deal.

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Amazon releases Kindle for BlackBerry Beta | AppScout

February 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Amazon has unveiled Kindle for BlackBerry Beta, a free e-book app that lets users read over 420,000 books, including over 100 New York Times Bestsellers, on various BlackBerry devices.

The app uses Amazon’s Whispersync technology to save and synchronize bookmarks across all Kindle-capable devices, including the Kindle, Kindle DX, iPhone, PC, and BlackBerry, plus upcoming Mac and iPad apps.

The app also lets users read the beginnings of books for free before purchase, access their entire existing libraries, adjust the text size, and read compatible books in full color. It’s available now for free download from www.amazon.com/kindlebb.

Amazon has been under fire from various publishers recently, all of whom are looking for more flexible (read: higher) pricing structures than Amazon’s standard $9.99 charge–a development that mirrors record label frustration a few years ago over Apple’s fixed 99-cent song pricing.

via AppScout – The Best and Worst New Software, Sites and Web Applications – Reviews, News and Opinions.

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H-P snagged in IRS foreign tax crackdown – MarketWatch

February 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Hewlett-Packard Co. has become an unlikely member of a group of companies targeted by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in a coordinated legal assault on suspect international tax credits.

H-P  is one of roughly a half-dozen firms, nearly all in the banking and insurance industries, now ensnared in the IRS&’s “three-and-out” litigation strategy targeting so-called foreign tax credit generators, experts say. The IRS has pegged a handful of such cases as promising enough to pursue, in hopes of winning at least three decisions in a row — and thereby gaining a more solid legal footing on the issue.

“Usually the government does a good job of starting with cases that are very weak for the taxpayer, and developing law,” said University of Southern California Law Professor Edward Kleinbard.

Foreign tax credit generators are investments by U.S. companies that earn income and result in taxes overseas. Companies can then claim foreign tax credits, to offset their tax payments in the U.S. However, the IRS alleges that many are designed to unnecessarily load up on foreign tax credits, and create an artificial financial benefit.

via H-P snagged in IRS foreign tax crackdown – MarketWatch.

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US judge doubts single conspiracy in bribery case | Reuters

February 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A federal judge cast doubt on the U.S. government’s assertion that 22 people were part of a single conspiracy when they allegedly tried to bribe someone they believed to be an African defense minister.

The 22, including a former Secret Service agent and a Smith & Wesson Holding Co (SWHC.O) sales executive, were arrested after a two-and-a-half year FBI investigation that was part of a bribery probe.

The defendants were accused in 16 separate indictments of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering tied to the sale of guns, body armor and other equipment.

Prosecutors said they collectively conspired together, but did not charge them together.

“I read all 16 indictments and I didn't see it,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said during a hearing on Wednesday. “I have zero sense that there was an omnibus grand conspiracy.”

via US judge doubts single conspiracy in bribery case | Reuters.

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US judge doubts single conspiracy in bribery case | Reuters

February 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

A federal judge cast doubt on the U.S. government's assertion that 22 people were part of a single conspiracy when they allegedly tried to bribe someone they believed to be an African defense minister.

The 22, including a former Secret Service agent and a Smith & Wesson Holding Co (SWHC.O) sales executive, were arrested after a two-and-a-half year FBI investigation that was part of a bribery probe.

The defendants were accused in 16 separate indictments of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, conspiracy to violate the FCPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering tied to the sale of guns, body armor and other equipment.

Prosecutors said they collectively conspired together, but did not charge them together.

“I read all 16 indictments and I didn't see it,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon said during a hearing on Wednesday. “I have zero sense that there was an omnibus grand conspiracy.”

via US judge doubts single conspiracy in bribery case | Reuters.

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Can’t Understand That Menu? Integrating Google Translation and Google Goggles

February 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment


Video: Integrating Google Translation and Google Goggles

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French Court Issues Arrest Warrant Accusing Cyclist Floyd Landis of Hacking :: Cyber Crime Lawyer Blog

February 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In 2006, the cycling world endured a small scandal when that year’s Tour de France winner, American Floyd Landis, was stripped of his title for doping. This week, that case is getting resurrected in a way that interests me as a West Palm Beach cyber crime criminal defense attorney. The Los Angeles Times reported Feb. 16 that French authorities now believe Landis or someone connected to him hacked into the computer system of the laboratory handling his doping test. A French judge has issued an arrest warrant for Landis, which would call him in for questioning about the September 2006 incident. The same judge also issued a warrant for Arnie Baker, a coach and advisor to Landis whose computer French authorities believe was used in the alleged hacking.

French authorities accuse Landis or his associate of breaking into computers for the Agence Francais de Lutte contre le Dopage, or AFLD. That laboratory was retained by the Tour de France to test participants and found synthetic testosterone in Landis during the 2006 race, leading authorities to take away his title and ban him from cycling for two years. Landis unsuccessfully appealed that decision, arguing that the lab made mistakes and was biased. The September 2006 hacking incident took place at the same time Landis was defending himself from the initial charges. Specifically, the newspaper said, French authorities have found evidence tying the hacking to an email address belonging to Baker. Neither Landis nor Baker can actually be arrested unless they travel to France.

via French Court Issues Arrest Warrant Accusing Cyclist Floyd Landis of Hacking :: Cyber Crime Lawyer Blog.

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OpenOffice.org: v3.2 is Fast, Secure and MS Office-Friendly

February 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

OpenOffice.org  – an open source alternative to Microsoft Office – is now out with version 3.2, boasting faster startup times and Office 2007 compatibility.

For Windows/Mac/Linux

The OpenOffice suite is pretty basic, offering components like word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, and formula and database capabilities.

Version 3.2 attempts to improve those components via Calc spreadsheet alterations and a usability makeover. Meanwhile, startup times have reportedly increased by over 40 percent, and improvements around importing and support for password-protected and 2007 Office files have been made as well.

via OpenOffice.org: v3.2 is Fast, Secure and MS Office-Friendly.

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Two Decades and Counting for Iran Case

February 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Lawsuits — particularly the big-dollar, complex corporate variety — often get compared to marathons. In the case of McKesson Corp.’s legal struggle with the government of Iran, however, that comparison doesn’t quite cut it.

On Jan. 22, the dispute, a fight over shares in an Iranian dairy, reached its 28th anniversary. It has wended its way through one international arbitration, two federal trials and five trips to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Now, it could soon be heading for its sixth.

A decade ago, a federal judge awarded McKesson $20 million for claims that Iran expropriated the company’s interest in the dairy and withheld its dividends. But during the past seven years, the case has hit a series of unexpected bumps, from changes in government policy to new rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court. The longer it’s gone on, the trickier its path has seemingly become.

San Francisco-based McKesson, a medical products distributor that ranked 15th on last year’;s Fortune 500, is represented in the case by a team from Morgan, Lewis & Bockius headed by partner Mark Bravin. The company and Bravin declined to comment. Iran’s lawyers from Washington, D.C.’s Berliner, Corcoran & Rowe, including partner Thomas Corcoran Jr. and associate Laina Lopez, also declined to comment.

via Law.com – Two Decades and Counting for Iran Case.

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Proposed UK Bribery Bill: It’s Implications and Contrasts to the FCPA | Thomas Fox – JDSupra

February 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

In March 2009, the United Kingdom introduced into Parliament a Bribery Bill drafted to consolidate and bring into the 21st Century the various UK anti-corruption and bribery laws. As stated by Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II, in her speech of November 18, 2009, the purpose of the Bribery Bill is to “Provide a modern and comprehensive scheme of bribery offences to equip prosecutors and courts to deal effectively with bribery at home and abroad.” As of February 9, 2010, the Bribery Bill had its third and final reading in the House of Lords, where no changes were proposed, and the bill has now been presented to the House of Commons for the first reading.

With wide cross-party support it is anticipated that the Bribery Bill will pass the House of Commons and become law by May, 2010. The Bribery Bill amends and repeals existing anti-bribery offences under the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889, the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and the Prevention of Corruption Act 1916 and abolishes the UK common law offenses of bribery and embracery (bribery of jurors). This proposed legislation represents a long awaited simplification of the law on corruption and makes the UK compliant with its international obligations under the OECD. It will have a major impact on the way businesses connected to the UK manage their international business.

via Proposed UK Bribery Bill: It’s Implications and Contrasts to the FCPA | Thomas Fox – JDSupra.

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