Briefings
Latest updates on IT law, outsourcing and e-commerce legal issues
Please click on the links below for a selection of briefing papers about technology contracts, outsourcing agreements and e-commerce issues. Most of the content is open to anyone to view, some of the more detailed content requires registration.
View a list of all Briefings available in the following categories:
Displaying the most recent published Briefings:
Snippets from Silicon Valley 20.12.2011
Season’s Greetings from Silicon Valley! There has been at least a little festive cheer over here in the USA. The unemployment rate in the USA dropped back to 8.6% from its level of 9.1% over the last few months. The so-called Black Friday shopping spree showed renewed buying activity by consumers and that seems to be continuing as we approach the Christmas season. There is some optimism that the Democrats and the Republicans are starting to work out some compromises, although they are still going backwards and forwards on negotiations to continue with an extension to the payroll tax cut and it’s anyone’s guess how that will pan out.
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Liquidated Damages
IT projects usually have a degree of urgency, but certain projects have activities which are vitally important, or at least on the critical path to achieve ‘go live’ in a timely manner. The question therefore arises from a customer’s perspective, as to how to try to ensure the supplier’s compliance with such timelines. One possible solution, is to introduce liquidated damages (ie payment of a pre-agreed amount by the supplier to the customer, if a milestone is not achieved), as an incentive to focus attention on the achievement of such timelines. The introduction of such a concept into a contract is not without its challenges, as it is necessary to address the competing considerations of the customer and the supplier in relation to this.
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Snippets from Silicon Valley
The big issue sweeping across America right now is the USA debt crisis. The American public is fed up with the shenanigans in Congress. Everyone here wants to see a plan to reduce the significant US deficit. The Democrats and Republicans are divided about how best to go about that. The Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, steadfastly refuse to agree tax hikes and want to see another round of deliberations about more deficit reductions prior to the USA Presidential elections next year.
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Whose Contract Is It Anyway?
We have discussed various legal issues in these Technology Columns, however, an issue which arises at the outset of all of these transactions, is that of whose document is to be used as the basis for the contractual arrangements. There tends to all too often, be a knee jerk reaction from a customer’s legal team, for the customer’s contract to be used. Usually, this is the wrong way to approach things, as we will consider in this edition of the Technology Column.
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Third Party Troubles: Group Companies & Affiliates
It has, and continues to be, quite common to include third party rights for group companies into a technology contract. However, one needs to be alive to some of the associated considerations from both a customer and a supplier perspective, to ensure that obligations are only applicable to the extent intended by the respective parties.
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In-Depth Guides
We have produced more detailed guides on key subjects of interest to our clients and contacts, namely The Supplier's Guide to IT Contracts and also The Buyer's Guide to IT Contracts.
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