Chapter 9

9-3

Business Case Problem: Using special software, South Dakota law enforcement officers found a person who appeared to posses’ child pornography at a specific Internet address. The officers subpoenaed midcontinent communications, the service that assigned the address, for the personal information of its subscriber. With this information, the officer obtained a search warrant for the residence of John Rolfe, where they found a laptop that contained child pornography. Rolfe argued that the subpoenas violated his “expectation of privacy”. Did Rolfe have a privacy interest in the information obtained by the subpoenas issued to Midcontinent? Discuss.

9-7

Social media. Irvin Smith was charged in a Georgia state court with burglary theft. Before the trial, during the section of the jury, the state prosecutor asked the prospective jurors whether they knew Smith. No one responded affirmatively. After the trial, during deliberation the jurors indicated to the court that they were deadlocked. The court charged them to try again. Meanwhile, the prosecutor learned that “Juror 4 appeared as a friend in the defendant’s Facebook page and field a a motion to dismiss her. The court replaced Juror 4 with an alternative. Was this appropriate action, or was it an “abuse of discretion? Should the court have admitted evidence that Facebook friends do not always actually know each other? Discuss.

Chapter 10

10-1

Types of cyber crimes. The following situations are similar, but each represents a various of particular crime. Identify the crime and point out the differences in the variations. (see cyber crimes)

a.     Chen, posing frequently as Diamond Credit Card Co., sends an e-mail to Emily, stating that the company has observed suspiciously activity in her account and has frozen the account. The email asked her to register her credit card number and password to reopen the account.

b.     Claiming falsely to be Big Buy Retail Finance Co., Conner sends an email to Dino, asking him to confirm or update his personal security information to prevent his Big Buy account from being discontinued.

c.     Felicia post her resume on GotWork.com, an online job posting site, seeking a position in business and managerial finance, and accounting. Hayden, who misrepresent himself as an employment officer with International Bank & Commerce Corp., send her an email asking for more personal information

10-5

White-Collar Crime. Matthew Simpson and others created an operated a series of cooperate entities to defraud agencies, and others. Though these entries, Simpson and his confederates used routing codes and spoofing services to make long-distance calls appear to be local. They stole other firms network capacity an diverted payments to themselves. They leased goods and services without paying for them. To hide their association with their corporate entities and with each other, they used false identities, addresses, and credit histories, and issued false bills, invoices, financial statements, and credit references. Did these acts constitute mail and wire fraud? Discuss. (see types of crimes)

Chapter 11

11-1

 Doing Business internationally. Macrotech, Inc. develops an invocative computer chip and obtains a parent on it. The firm makes the chip under the trademarked brand name “Flash”. Macrotech wants to sell the chip to Nitron, Ltd., in Pacifia, a foreign country. Macrotech is concerned, however, that after initial purchase, Nitron will duplicate the chip, pirate it, and sell the pirate version to computer manufacturers in Pacifica. To avoid this possibility, Macrotech could establish its own manufacturing facility in Pacifica, but it does not want to do this. How can Macrotech, without establishing a manufacturing facility in the Pacifica, protect Flash from being pirated by Nitron? (see doing business internationally)

Chapter 12

12-1

Unilateral contract. Rocky Mountain Races, Inc. sponsors the “Pioneer Trail Ultramarathon,” with the asvertised first prize of $10,000. The rules required competitors to run 100 miles from the floor of Backwater Canyon to the top of Pinnacle Mountain. The rules also provided that Rocky reserves the right to change the term of the race at any time. Monica enters the race and is declared the winner. Rocky offers her a prize of $1,000 instead of $10,000. Did Rocky and Monica have a conract? Explain. (see an overview of Contract Law)

12-3

Business Case Problem. Heather Reasonover opted to try Internet service from Clearwire Corp. Clearwire sent her s confirmation e-mail and a modem. When Reasonover plugged in the modem, an “I accepted terms”, box appeared, without clicking on the box, Reasonover quit the page. She had not seen Clearwire’s “Terms of Service”, accessible only through its Web site. Although the email she received and the printed materials included with the model included URLs to the company’s Web site, neither URL gave direct access to the “Terms of Services”. A clause in the “Terms of Services” required subscribers to submit any dispute to arbitration. Is Reasonover bound to this clause? Why or why not? (see e contract)

Chapter 13

13-2

Condition of Preformance. The Caplans contracted with Faithfull Construction Inc., to build a house for them for $360,000. The specification state “all plumbing bowls and fixtures…. to be Crane brand.” The Caplans leave on vacation, and during their absence, Faithful is unable to install or buy Crane pluming fixtures. Instead, Faithfull installed Kholer brand fixtures, an equivalent in the industry. On competition of the building contract, the Caplans inspect the work, discover the substitution, and refuse to accept the house, claiming that Faintful has breached the conditions set forth in the specifications. Discuss fully the Caplans claim.

13-5

Fraudulent Misrepresentation. Vinna Stibal owns and operated the ThetaHealing Institute of Knowledge (THInK) in Idaho. ThetaHealing is Stibal’s “self-discovered” healing method. In her book Go Up and Seek God, Stiba stated that she had been diagnosed with cancer and had cures her self using ThetaHealing. But Stibal’s representation that she cured herself of cancer was false, and she knew it her medical record did not confirm a cancer diagnosis, believing Stibal’s claim, Kara Alexander traveled from New York to Idaho to pay for, and attend classes in ThetaHealing from Stibal. Later, Alexander began to question the validity of her THinK degree. What are the elements of a cause of action for the fraudulent misrepresentation?  Discuss. (see voluntary consent).

Chapter 14

14-2

Anticipatory Repudiation. Moore contracted in writing to sell her 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe to Hammer for $18,500. Moore agreed to deliver the car on Wednesday, and Hammer promised to pay the $18,500 on the following Friday. On Tuesday, Hammer informed Moore that he would not be buying the car after all. By Friday, Hammer had changed his mind again and tendered $18,500 to Moore. Moore, although had not sold the car to another party, refused the tender and refuses to deliver. Hammer claimed that Moore had breached their contract. Moore contended that Hammer’s republication released her from her duty to preform under the contract. Who is correct, and why? (see performance and breach of sales and lease contracts)

14-3

Spotligh on Apple implied warranty. Alan Vitt purchased an iBook G4 laptop computer from Apple, Inc. Shortly after one year warranty expired, the laptop failed to work due to a weakness in the product manufacture. Vit sued Apple, arguing that the laptop should had lasted “at least a couple of years”, which Vitt believed was reasonable consumer expectation for a laptop. Vitt claimed that Apple’s description of the laptop as “durable,” “rugged,” “reliable,” and “high performance” were affirmative statements concerning the quality and performance of the laptop, which Apple did not meet. How should court rule? Why? (see warranties)

Chapter 23

23-4

Business Case. A well-documented rise in in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Many scientist believe that the two trends are related, because when carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, it produces a greenhouse effect, trapping solar heat. Under the clean air act (CAA), the environmental protection agency (EPA) is authorized to regulate “any” air pollutants “emitted into…. The ambient air” that its “judgment cause, or contribute to, air pollution”

A group of private organizations asked the EPA to regulate carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gas” emissions from new motor vehicles. The EPA refused, stating among other things, the Congress last amended the CAA in 1990 without authorizing new, binding auto emissions limits. Nineteen states, including Massachusetts, asked a district court to review the EPA’s denial. Did the EPA have the authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from new motor vehicles? If so was its stated reason for refusing to do so consistent with that authority? Discuss.