Legal
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Legal news and insights for Australia’s small and medium business owners and entrepreneurs. Read the latest legal news, trends and features and entrepreneur interviews about the legal industry. Or search for legal on SmartCompany. |
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News
Companies face crackdown on unfair contract terms as consumer laws pass James Thomson Companies will face tough penalties for the use of unfair terms in standard contracts, described as the biggest change to consumer laws in 35 years. | Thursday, 18 March 2010 |
Refund Home Loans boss slammed for making false statements to franchisees James Thomson Federal Court finds Refund Home Loans’ Wayne Ormond has breached the Trade Practices Act after telling franchisees the ACCC had approved the way Refund was dealing with franchisees. | Sunday, 14 March 2010 |
Apple loses trademark case against Sydney SME Patrick Stafford Sydney-based Wholesale Central wins right to apply for a trademark containing the letter “i” as part of its product line despite protests from tech manufacturing giant Apple. | Friday, 12 March 2010 |
Billabong sued by Indonesian distributor for $168 million Patrick Stafford Surfwear retail giant Billabong has been sued by its former Bali-based distributor seeking $168 million in damages regarding the cancellation of its licence in 2005. | Tuesday, 9 March 2010 |
Investors consider class action against waste millionaire Terry Peabody’s Transpacific Industries James Thomson Transpacific Industries could face a multi-million dollar class action amid claims it misled the market by failing to meet its continuous disclosure obligations prior to a huge profit slump. | Monday, 8 March 2010 |
Apple sues HTC over 20 patent infringements Patrick Stafford Apple sues handset manufacturer HTC for allegedly infringing on several of the company’s patents relating to its user interface designs and technology. | Tuesday, 2 March 2010 |
Experts applaud Fair Work Australia after settling crucial test case on enterprise agreements James Thomson Employer groups applaud Fair Work’s decision to overturn an agreement that could have made compulsory arbitration a feature of every enterprise agreement around the country. | Monday, 1 March 2010 |
AFACT to appeal copyright case against iiNet Patrick Stafford A group of entertainment companies have lodged an appeal against a Federal Court judgement earlier this month which decided ISP iiNet was not liable for the copyright infringements of its users. | Thursday, 25 February 2010 |
Landmark case shows SMEs can take legal action against online defamation Patrick Stafford Legal expert says a landmark case has confirmed that companies may have grounds to pursue and prosecute people who make anonymous defamatory comments online. | Thursday, 25 February 2010 |
Commonwealth Bank makes $200 million settlement with Storm customers James Thomson Lawyers for clients of collapsed financial services firm Storm Financial have negotiated a $200 million settlement with Commonwealth Bank, which provided loans to many Storm clients. | Tuesday, 23 February 2010 |
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Trends
Parents not protecting children online Patrick Stafford New research from Microsoft Australia shows 65% of Australian parents are not doing enough to protect children online. | Wednesday, 17 March 2010 |
Google Buzz hit with lawsuit Patrick Stafford Internet giant Google has been hit with a law suit in the American state of Rhode Island for allegedly violating privacy laws through its new Buzz social networking service. | Tuesday, 9 March 2010 |
TiVo wins patent dispute Patrick Stafford The US Federal Court has ruled in favour of TiVo, saying satellite-provider EchoStar and subsidiary Dish Network infringed on several of the company's patents. | Monday, 8 March 2010 |
HTC denies stealing Apple patents Patrick Stafford Taiwanese manufacturer HTC has denied allegations it has infringed on several of Apple's patents in the production of its Android-based smartphones. | Thursday, 4 March 2010 |
AFACT says torrent-monitoring allegations incorrect Patrick Stafford The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft has denied allegations it is monitoring the torrent activity of illegal downloaders. | Wednesday, 3 March 2010 |
Creators of major botnet arrested Patrick Stafford The Spanish Civil Guard has arrested three men behind one of the biggest botnets in recent history, which infected 13 million computers with software designed to steal private data such as credit card numbers. | Wednesday, 3 March 2010 |
Apple admits to using child labour Patrick Stafford Tech giant Apple has admitted some children aged under the legal requirement for working have been employed at some of its factories in China. | Monday, 1 March 2010 |
Intel targetted in cyber attack Patrick Stafford Chip manufacturer Intel has announced it was hit by a cyber attack around the same time internet giant Google said it was being targetted by hackers from China. | Tuesday, 23 February 2010 |
Democrats propose internet overhaul Patrick Stafford The Australian Democrats are attempting to push through plans for a new legislative framework for the internet and technology industries. | Monday, 8 February 2010 |
Wikileaks shuts down due to lack of funds Patrick Stafford Whistleblower site Wikileaks, which has released prominent secret documents from governments and organisations for the past few years, has been shut down due to lack of funds. | Tuesday, 2 February 2010 |
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Features
Fair Work redundancy minefield Peter Vitale Employers need to be wary about terminating employees for reasons of redundancy under the new Fair Work arrangements | Tuesday, 2 February 2010 |
How divorce can destroy your business Emily Ross Divorce is a very expensive business. Ask John Cleese. The 70-year-old actor is facing a hefty divorce settlement after 17 years of marriage (no kids) to Alyce Faye Eichelberger. Cleese must pay his ex $US19.7 million, around $US13 million in cash and assets, as well as $US987,000 per year for the next seven years. | Monday, 30 November 2009 |
Porn, booze and termination Peter Vitale A recent case involving a dismissed Department of Defence employee for breaching the Public Service code of conduct highlights how important it is for employers to have clear policies in place. | Monday, 9 November 2009 |
The art of prospecting Nina Hendy With the economic recovery nigh, it's time for smart companies to get on the front foot to win new customers. Here are 10 ways to help generate leads. | Wednesday, 14 October 2009 |
Oh no, you’re back again Peter Vitale Employers coming to grips with the new IR laws need to get ready for more litigation and to reinstate the “unfairly dismissed.” | Tuesday, 18 August 2009 |
Watertight contracts Andrew Douglas Ensuring your contracts of employment are watertight will help you avoid litigation and a myriad of legal pitfalls. | Monday, 10 August 2009 |
Why cutting your employees’ hours won’t save your business Andrew Douglas Cutting staff working hours across the board is not the silver bullet some commentators have suggested. It simply hurts everyone in your business. | Monday, 29 June 2009 |
Warning signs for franchisees from the Kleenmaid disaster Jason Gehrke The traffic accident that is Kleenmaid continues to unfold, with administrators Deloittes releasing a final report to creditors which states that the Kleenmaid group debt has swelled from an initial amount of $73 million to more than $100 million, and that the company may have traded while insolvent since June 2007. | Wednesday, 20 May 2009 |
The liability trap Andrew Douglas The laws around serious work-related illness or injury have grown to protect the vulnerable, but the risks have shifted to the employer. | Monday, 4 May 2009 |
Tips to guard your online reputation Brad Howarth The internet has handed a megaphone to disaffected customers and business partners, and you need to ramp-up your reputation management to match. | Monday, 27 April 2009 |
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Entrepreneur Zone
Recruiter rides the outsourcing wave Amanda Gome Andrew Banks heads the winning HR firm Talent2, and has built a highly successful and lucrative career from making canny calls on recruitment trends. He tells AMANDA GOME about his strategies and predictions. | Tuesday, 14 October 2008 |
Digital directions Amanda Gome John O’Neill, the chair of online strategy and digital agency Komosion, talks to AMANDA GOME about shaking the status quo in the face of the changing online space. | Thursday, 18 September 2008 |
A start-up with style Amanda Gome The brainchild behind Swap My Style is 29-year-old Shaughla Ahmad, who has brought like-minded fashionistas a new concept that combines clothes, champagne and canapes with a night out. She tells AMANDA GOME how it all came about. | Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
Digital directions Amanda Gome John O’Neill, the chair of online strategy and digital agency Komosion, talks to AMANDA GOME about shaking the status quo in the face of the changing online space. | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 |
Internet pioneer on new web trends Amanda Gome Lloyd Ernst had an early start on the web, and has learnt how to achieve growth the hard way. He talks to AMANDA GOME about future web directions and what’s in the pipeline. | Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
Global IP protection online Amanda Gome Safeguarding intellectual property used to be a labourious, expensive task. PCT Filer founder Justin Simpson tells AMANDA GOME how he has simplified the whole process. | Tuesday, 11 December 2007 |
Google: Search and revenue Amanda Gome Google Australia has a new general manager. Karim Temsamani talks to AMANDA GOME about the direction the company is taking and the trends he sees as central to Google’s future. | Wednesday, 5 December 2007 |
The king of follow-through Amanda Gome Plenty of young entrepreneurs talk of bundling companies together and heading off to a float “by the end of the year”, but William Scott is one who went and did it. He tells AMANDA GOME of his amazing journey. | Wednesday, 28 November 2007 |
Google: Search and revenue Amanda Gome Google Australia has a new general manager. Karim Temsamani talks to AMANDA GOME about the direction the company is taking and the trends he sees as central to Google’s future. | Tuesday, 27 November 2007 |
The king of follow-through Amanda Gome Plenty of young entrepreneurs talk of bundling companies together and heading off to a float “by the end of the year”, but William Scott is one who went and did it. He tells AMANDA GOME the story. | Thursday, 22 November 2007 |
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