United States
Copyright Law: Display of thumbnail images on the web by Google ruled permissible:
On 16th of May 2007, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco reversed the District Court on appeal on its fair use finding. Judge Ikuta stated for the Court: "We conclude that Perfect 10 is unlikely to be able to overcome Google's fair use defense and, accordingly, we vacate the preliminary injunction regarding Google's use of thumbnail images." Google's display of thumbnail images was deemed fair use.

However, this is not the end of the case. Although the judge rejected most of plaintiff's arguments against Google, the court found that the question of liability under Napster precedent, as Google's search results linked to the infringers' websites, has not be properly examined. For that reason the court sent the case back to the district court on a question whether Google should have taken additional measures by removing links to infringing pages.

United States
Discrimination Law:
The Supreme Court has recently held in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., that employers are protected from lawsuits over discrimination in pay on the basis of gender or race that has been committed years ago without being charged. To date, many federal courts, in their interpretation of the discrimination laws have followed the “paycheck accrual rule”, meaning that each pay period that does not correct past discrimination should be viewed as a stand alone incident of discrimination.

Supreme Court narrowly construed the statutory imposed 180-day limit granted to the employees to bring pay discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It stated that "[a] discriminatory act which is not made the basis for a timely charge . . . is merely an unfortunate event in history which has no present legal consequences." The Court averred that the plaintiff should have filed a charge with the appropriate federal authority within 180 days after each discriminatory pay decision was made. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who did not agree with the majority's opinion stated that the Court's decision "immunize[s] forever discriminatory pay differentials unchallenged within 180 days of their adoption."

United States
Delaware Corporate Law: Creditors of an Insolvent Corporation Have No Direct Claims Against Directors for Breach of Fiduciary Duty:
Delaware Supreme Court recently issued a ruling that as a matter of law, creditors of a Delaware corporation that is either insolvent or nearly insolvent may not claim against the directors of the corporation direct breach of fiduciary duty claims.

However, the decision does not disallow any claims by creditors to assert derivative breach of fiduciary duty claims on behalf of the corporation, or other claims such as claims arising under a contract, commercial law, or other applicable state or federal law against the corporation or its directors. Notwithstanding the above, the recent ruling imposes significant obstacles in holding the directors of a corporation that is insolvent or borderline insolvent, personally liable for various breachs of fiduciary duty.

United States
New York Commercial Real Estate:
Office vacancy in Manhattan has fallen below seven percent first time since 2001 and industry experts expect it to drop even further this year. The drop appears to respond to a strong growth of the job market in Manhattan. The strength of Manhattan's commercial property market coupled with the less stable conditions in the residential sector are making some developers forego conversions of old office buildings into residential condominiums. Instead, many developers are selling the buildings to developers that tend to specialize in commercial projects. One of such projects is the notable International Toy Center on Madison Square Park at 200 Fifth Avenue that has been sold to office investors.

Israel:
Bio technology and libel litigation:
An Israeli company BioCord Ltd., a developer of various software applications for cord blood stem cell storage management, has filed a libel action for half a million NIS with the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court against the popular "Ha'aretz" newspaper. BioCord stores newborn's unique stem cells collected from the umbilical cord at the time of baby's birth. The collected stem cells are intended to be used for treatment of various potential illnesses of the babies. The lawsuit has been filed after a publication by Ha'aretz, in which the newspaper alleges BioCord was improperly handling blood donations it had received. The article stated that BioCord was storing its blood donations in an office building, and not at a hospital. BioCord claims the stem cells have been stored with the Assuta medical center utilizing the most advanced technology in the world.

Israel:
Israel is going green by taking another jab at the auto industry:
The last time Israel has manufactured a car was in 1980. The legendary relics of Sussita produced by Autocars Co. Ltd. can still be seen on the streets of Israel once in a while. Recently, Israel Corp. has announced that it plans to make $US100mil investment in an electric car project. The idea has been on the table for quiet some time, as such influential individuals in Israel, as Shimon Peres gave their strong support and expressed hope that battery-operated cars would be manufactured in Israel. However, the idea is not without critics, as some have stated that Israel would not be able to manufacture actual cars, but should rather focus on inventing technology that would make the batteries for electric cars long lasting, unlike the ones presently available on the market.

Israel:
The holiday shopping spree:
A sharp rise of almost 30% in the number of business fraud incidents has been reported by Business Data Israel. Almost two thirds of such incidents have occurred immediately prior to the Passover and the New Year holidays. BDI reports that the number of incidences of fraud in the weeks immediately before the Jewish New Year holiday, rose to almost 20 a week, whereas during the remainder of the year the incidents of fraud were measured at an approximate three or four incidences a week.

The report stated that the increase in fraud is triggered by both higher spending by consumers in the periods immediately preceding the holidays and lack of adequate supervision by the suppliers. The report notes that the classic scheme involves purchase of merchandise in bulk on credit, often making an initial payment in cash to win the confidence of suppliers, and then disappearing after carrying out a number of deals on credit, leaving heavy debts behind them.

Israel:
Patent Litigation's David:
Israeli start-up company Genoa Color Technologies Ltd. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against industry goliaths Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. The plaintiffs are seeking to protect the proprietary technology named ColorPeak that enhanced the color displays for forward and back projectors for televisions, computer screens, and mobile devices.

On July 5, Genoa Color filed the lawsuit with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, in which it alleges that the two companies and their US subsidiaries have been infringing on Genoa's patent. Genoa Color, was able to raise almost $15 million in capital since it was founded seven years ago. However, the company has only 11 employees. The company, with its intellectual property being its only asset, is planning to vigorously protect its rights.

Israel
Foreign Investment:
A major player in the world economy, China, is now seeking to attract investments from and explore business opportunities with the Israeli business community. Areas of innovation and science are of particular interest to China, as has been demonstrated in the recent Migdal Capital Market Investors Conference in Tel Aviv. Since 1992, Israeli-Chinese economic ties have grown rapidly, and have reached a trade volume of upwards of $3.0 billion in 2006. Accordingly to official figures almost a thousand Israeli companies are doing business with China. The main areas of their activity are manufacturing and real estate and the Chinese business officials are now showing growing interest in Israeli information technology, biotech and greener technologies for energy production.

Israel
Foreign Trade:
An Israeli company Siano Mobile Silicon with offices in United States, Korea, China and Taiwan is preparing for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, as it foresees an increasing demand for Mobile Digital Television. Siano Mobile Silicon is teaming up with a two strategic partners in Asia to create a TV service named CMMB, or S-TIMI. The new partnership seeks to create a momentum of interest in Mobile Digital Television during the 2008 Olympic Games.

Israel
Economy and Consumer Purchasing Power:
Resulting from rapid economic growth and the shekel's appreciation against the dollar due to the recent mortgage crisis, Israelis' per capita GDP rose to $24,500. It is further expected that by the end of next year Israel's per capita purchasing power will to up to $27,000. However, Israel's GDP is still 18% below the OECD average. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics study, Luxembourg is ranked in first place, with per capita GDP of $71,300 and Norway is ranked in second place, with $48,600, followed by the US and Ireland.

Israel
Environment:
The municipality of Rishon LeZion has taken a step towards the greener world as it has recently approved a plan to develop an environmentally friendly high-tech park on a large site in the western part of the city. The developers will use recycled and environmentally friendly materials in the buildings' construction, and will make use of natural light and rainwater for irrigating the gardens. All parking garages will be built underground, beneath the buildings. Large areas will be allocated for green spaces. To reduce the emissions the high-tech park will be located near public transport routes, and will integrate bicycle paths. The municipality is seeking approval from the Ministry of Finance to have the local property taxes cut to encourage the progress of the project.

Israel:
Finance and Credit Crisis:
Israel's banking regulator has recently stated that Israel does not appear to be facing a credit or liquidity crisis. He further stated that it was too early to assume that the global problems will bypass Israel and more time is needed to analyze the impact of the global events on Israeli economy. Ron Hizkiyahu, Israel's supervisor of banks, said that there is no liquidity problem and no credit problem.
However Hizkiyahu stated that "We are still in the midst of the crisis and cannot at this stage assess its effects on those markets. We will follow it very closely."

United States
Banking and Finance
Major central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have unveiled plans to provide liquidity to the banking system to make it easier for banks under financial duress to access cash. This step comes as an effort to act in concert towards unfreezing a global credit crisis and reducing the possibility of a recession in the United States. The measure is not without critics as there are fears that the steps take will affect the setting of prices, the same being a primary function of capital markets. 

United States
Currency and Finance in Oil Trade
Russian oil company Lukoil recently stated that Lukoil would consider selling oil and gas in roubles instead of dollars if the US dollar continues to weaken. The statement was made in the wake of Lukoil's realization that while the revenue has been priced in dollars, the expenses were priced in roubles and due to the weakening dollar Lukoil's revenue line has sinking. While the company has stated that crude oil is a dollar product and Lukoil has to work with market realities. The rouble has been viewed with suspicion after the devaluations of the 1990s. However, since 2003 the rouble has been steadily appreciating due to record foreign currency inflows from oil and gas exports. The move to roubles is being considered by a few other Russian oil companies.

United States, European Union Anti Trust
In a recent victory for Google, the Federal Trade Commission that it would not prevent Google's proposed acquisition of an online ad-serving and tracking firm DoubleClick. The decision in Google's favor marked a major win for Google, as it is pressing forward to expand its online advertising market beyond text ads related to Internet searches. However the saga is not over for Google just yet, as the European Union's antitrust commission still needs to sign off on the merger before Google can begin incorporating DoubleClick into its business. Prior to the merger, Google may have to agree to certain terms, as the EU authorities have indicated concerns about the impact of the merger on consumer privacy.

United States
New York Real Estate
New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has recently announced that the enforcement organ of the Attorney General's Real Estate Bureau is being re-hauled. The Attorney General's office has proposed a bill that would raise the maximum fee for reviewing offering plans to $30,000, a 50% increase. If the bill, which would affect only larger developers, passes next year, the new revenue will be used to add staff to the Real Estate Finance Bureau. Many real estate attorneys who have filed complaints on behalf of their clients with the Real Estate Finance Bureau have not been able to get a response from the Bureau since 2005.  The Attorney General's office of Real Estate Finance Bureau has the authority to litigate and mediate disputes between the purchasers and developers, who are alleged to have committed fraud under the Martin Act, the law that empowers the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute securities fraud in New York State.

United States
Economy and Finance
The recent slump in the US dollar has caused a flood of retail tourism from across pond, as Manhattan merchants and hotels reap the benefits of euros and pounds having more buying power in dollar terms. Accordingly to statistics, foreigners made up 17 percent of the city's upwards of forty million visitors last year and generated half of the $24.7 billion that tourists spent, according to NYC & Co. The largest number of visitors was from the United Kingdom, with Ireland coming in second place. The large number of visiting tourists fueled by strong Euro and Pound has also contributed to the city's tax coffers.