Assignment:
1. Following the corporate scandals that rocked the business world in the past fifteen years, many companies have adopted corporate ethics policies in an effort to change the culture of their corporation or to set standards for their suppliers, in an attempt to ensure compliance with the fiduciary duties and legal responsibilities the employees have to the shareholders of the company. Keep in mind that this assignment is worth 5 extra credit points. Your answer requires a minimum of one full page. Your response to each question requires a minimum of one full paragraph.
Review the ethics code or policy of ONE of the companies listed below and answer all of the following questions:
1) What are the key attributes of the policy? What ideals or key values is the company trying to accomplish?
2) Does the policy go far enough in attempting to foster a culture of ethics in that workplace? Explain your answer.
3) Does the policy state how the company plans to enforce their Code of Ethics? If not, what assumptions do you make as an employee, about the consequences of your behavior if you do not comply?
4) If you were part of the management team what two new topics or issues would you recommend as additions to the ethics policy?
2. Compare online business "user agreements", then answer the 10 questions below. It is not sufficient to merely list the name of the user agreement. You must explain and support your answers. Keep in mind that this assignment is worth 5 extra credit points. Your answer will require more than one full page.
Pandora
Target
Twitter
a) Which one best describes the users obligation to avoid trademark and copyright violations?
b) Which one includes an indemnity clause that would require the user to pay for the website's legal fees if they are sued for the user's content?
c) Which one(s) has an arbitration provision, and where will the arbitration be conducted?
d) For each agreement that has a "choice of law" provision, identify what state law will apply to any dispute?
e) Which one has the best privacy agreement, that will protect your personal contact information and not provide it to other marketers?
f) Find one different clause that is not contained in the other two, describe it purpose and explain why it might cause you to do business with this site or not.
g) What provisions discuss their policy regarding the sale of items that have been banned or recalled by a government agency? What other types of items are identified as illegal to sell?
h) Which one will actually help resolve a dispute between buyers and sellers and which one will not?
i) Which ones disclaim any and all warranties of their service? Is the disclaimer of warranties clear and conspicuous?
j) Which one(s) has an exculpatory clause which attempts to eliminate any claim for damages against them, or limits damages to a set amount (a liquidated damages clause)?
3. Topics relating to business law pop up every day in newspapers and magazines around the country. For up to 5 extra credit points find a newspaper or magazine article on a business law related subject and answer the following questions:
1) What is/are the company/companies involved in the legal issue presented in the article? What product or service do these companies provide?
2) Summarize the legal issue described in the article you chose. Is this a civil or criminal issue? How do you know?
3) What is the likely outcome or result? Why? Or, if the matter has been resolved, explain why you agree or disagree with the result?
4) What actions could the company or companies have taken to prevent the legal issue from occurring?
5) What are the ethical implications of the article's subject matter? How might a business change how it is run based on the issues raised in the article?
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS: You are required to write a minimum of one page for this assignment. You cannot use an article that you have previously used in this course.You may only complete this particular extra credit assignment once during the course of the semester. The article you choose must be from a credible publication and must have been published this year. You are to submit your answers as well as a copy of (or link to) the article you're analyzing. Proper attribution to the source of the article is a mandatory requirement of the Academic Honesty Policy.
You will receive up to 5 extra credit points depending on the thoroughness of your responses and appropriateness of your article.
4. Many law firms have taken to the Internet as a means to promote their work. Blogs are one of the most common ways for a law firm to talk about the services they provide and the issues they face in their particular field. Posts on these blogs tend to contain more specialized knowledge on the legal issue being discussed. The firms walk a delicate line between providing information (which is good) and providing legal advice (which is bad). Take a look at one of the following blogs and find a post that addresses a business law related issue. You may only reference one of the following blogs:
Porter Wright: https://www.porterwright.com/blogs/
Coolidge Wall: https://www.coollaw.com/blog/
Burton Law: https://www.burton-law.com/this-is-burton/blog/
Find one blog post on a business law related subject and answer the following questions. Your answer requires a minimum of one full page.
1) Summarize the issue discussed in the blog post you've chosen.
2) What ethical considerations are raised by the issue?
3) Should a business make any changes to how it operates in order to protect itself from the issues raised in the post?
4) How would the issue discussed in the post affect a sole proprietorship? A partnership? A corporation?
5) Why do you think a law firm may keep a blog on business related issues?
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS: The article you choose must have been published this year. You are to submit your answers as well as a link to the article you're analyzing. You will receive up to 5 extra credit points depending on the thoroughness of your responses and appropriateness of your article. Your response requires a minimum of one full page.