Publications
Business Briefing Series
During the 2003-2004 academic year, the Shidler Center launched a pilot Law, Commerce & Technology Business Briefing series. The series was designed to provide members of the Puget Sound business community with timely, practical, non technical overviews of emerging business law and technology issues. The series was offered as a public service to businesses.
The first event on Current Legal Issues in Electronic Marketing was held at the Washington Trade and Convention Center in November 2003. Approximately fifty persons attended to learn about current federal and state laws regulating electronic marketing, including the new federal CAN SPAM Act. With the help of an advisory committee, the Shidler Center was able to recruit leading experts to provide up to date coverage on this topic. Speakers included Dan Waggoner from Davis, Wright Tremaine, Steve Larsen from the Washington State Attorney General's Office, and William Ashworth from Microsoft. The audience gathered over breakfast for a lively discussion of how to market effectively over the Internet without running afoul of anti-spam laws.
In the spring, the Business Briefing moved to the east side, with a second session on IT Outsourcing: Clarifying the Legal Issues convened in May 2004 at the Meyenbauder Convention Center in Bellevue. The spring event was also sold out. Speakers included Michael Heintze from Microsoft, Jeffrey Shelby from Heller Ehrman, Charles Harwood from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Sanjay Kumar, the founder of Vcustomer.com, an outsourcing firm based in Washington State. The speakers provided attendees with an overview of how to effectively negotiate outsourcing contracts and best practices for safeguarding data and customer information that is transferred offshore.
Based on positive feedback, the Shidler Center hosted three more briefings for 2004-2005. The WSA, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Small Business Development Center of Washington State University co-sponsored the pilot series and partnered with the Shidler Center again for the 2004-2005 series. The program for 2004-2005 included the following topics, discussion leaders and locations:
- Employee Use of the Internet: Rights, Responsibilities & Risk Management by Patricia Carson, Robert C. Cumbow, Steven R. Lee, Amanda Paya, and Holly K. Towle, held at the U.S. Small Business Administration
- Insurance Coverage for Information Technology Risks, by David Brenner, Steven R. Lee, Karen S. Weaver, and Jamie Madonna, held at the U.S. Small Business Administration
- Different Rules in Different States? Advertising and Marketing Across Borders, by Theodore J. Angelis, Charles A. Harwood, and Professor Karrin Klotz, held at the U.S. Small Business Administration