GLG News in Legal, Economic & Regulatory Affairs

This excellant article captures virtually all of the problems currently faced in Afghanistan: 1. Karzai's problem in holding together a government that was carved up among the victorious participants (even if Karzai were a strong leader); 2. The failure of enough countries to contribute significant military resources to this effort; 3. The literal wasting of 5 years by the donor community that sent...

Alitalia bondholders face a positive scenario, although the regulatory risk is still high. The new rules issued by the government for the new special administration procedure are brand new, and they are probably going to change in the next 60 days.

Did Exxon simply put money into defense costs, which beat down plaintiffs?Is there really any victory in this type of timeless litigation?What will happen to the interest issue?

Will ARS settlements minimize potential lawsuits & regulatory review?

This week, the Federal Trade Commission was denied a chance to have its case against Rambus reheard by the fuller panel of judges.  That clears the way for Rambus to go back on offense, pushing its patent claims in several cases already significantly underway.

The copyright community lost a significant court case this month when, on appeal, Cablevision was able to defend its new RS-DVR service.   The legal issues matter tremendously, in my view; but the puzzle for me is whether the RS-DVR service itself is really all that important.

Courts around the world are now begining to ask exactly what, if anything, sites like eBay should be required to do to discourage the sale of counterfeit goods.  The main options being considered are either to require eBay and its peers to freeze sales upon receiving a complaint from some legitimate seller, and/or to require eBay and its peers to pay cash damages for the illegal sales they facilitate. ...

Two weeks ago, IGT and BYI were offered the chance to delay their litigaiton over IGT's wheel-based bonus gaming patents and instead embark on a court-facilitated mediation.  This week, the parties passed on that opportunity, thereby moving that much closer to a jury trial this coming October.

What will be the ripple affect to financial institutions if Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac are bailed out or taken over?  

Is the beginning of the end for smaller insurers &/or reinsurers? Which insurance broker or reinsurer is the next likely candidate for takeover?