Although there’s been a lot of discussion about the potential for criminal prosecutions arising from online impersonation, New Jersey is one of the first states to see an actual prosecution for identity theft on social media. The lucky winner is Dana Thornton, a somewhat unbalanced-seeming 41-year-old woman from Bellville, NJ, who is accused of creating a fake Facebook page to defame her ex-boyfriend.
And defame she did, if the accusations are true: apparently Thornton used photos and personal information about her ex-boyfriend, a narcotics detective from northern New Jersey, to create a Facebook page where she then posted extremely unflattering statements supposedly made by the man himself. For example, the profile proclaimed that the individual in question liked to spend money on prostitutes, had herpes, was “high all the time,” and summed it all up with this sweeping self-indictment: “I’m a sick piece of scum with a gun.” As there’s no leniency for catchy turns of phrase, Thornton faces up to 18 months for fourth-degree identity theft, “for the purpose of obtaining a benefit for himself or another or to injure or defraud another.”
While this might strike the casual observer as just another colorful slice of New Jersey life, the court case is actually important because of a decision already rendered by the court -- specifically, the ruling that the case can proceed under existing identity theft law, even though the statute doesn’t specifically include electronic media as one of the venues where identity theft may occur.
State Superior Court Judge David Ironson brushed off an argument to that effect from Thornton’s lawyer, who said that the case should be dismissed because the statute didn’t mention electronic media. In his ruling Ironson wrote: “The fact that the means of committing the crime are not set forth in the statute doesn't lead to the conclusion that the defendant didn't commit the crime.” The NJ legislature is currently considering amending the identity theft statute to explicitly include electronic media. Currently only New York and California have laws explicitly banning online identity theft.
by Erik Sass,
A blog for new jersey internet marketers, business owners with new jersey websites, pictures, and videos.
Showing posts with label nj. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nj. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
8 Takeaways from ad:tech San Francisco
TopGetting social in real time
The recent ad:tech San Francisco conference had a good mix of topics (social and mobile everywhere), interesting presenters (although Guy Kawasaki and Arianna Huffington are hard acts to follow), and a great sense of energy. I walked away feeling that if you glanced away from this industry, you’ll be left in the dust as a marketer.
Here were my top eight takeaways from the conference:
1) “This is a more transformational time in marketing than ever before,” said 25-year industry veteran Antonio Lucio, the CMO of Visa. So true! Why? Mobile is anything, and anything is mobile. Power has shifted to the consumer. Everyone is multi-tasking, with one-third of people using three screens. The marketing funnel is now dynamic loops where consumers seek information from many sources and then become a source.
2) Given this, digital engagement and outreach must be integrated throughout organizations. For companies to succeed, digital must be an integral part of marketing, customer service and product development. Lucio also advises setting a directional goal for digital spend (Visa’s was 30%) and then tracking the impact on transactions, revenue and brand equity to find your right media mix. Hint: It’s higher than the 10% allocated on average today.
3) Define your media plan first: Given the power of the consumer, it’s even more crucial to “Think Audience First.” Lucio recommends starting by defining your media plan, essentially an engagement plan, based on consumer behavior with your products and their media consumption. Next, you should develop creative. Feels like opposite-land now, but it won’t soon.
4) The five (instead of four) “Ps” of Marketing: Brian Solis, Principal, Altimeter Group, believes we all need to add people to product, place, price and promotion in our marketing plans. Marketing is now about shaping and steering experiences. It’s about talking to the mind and heart of your customers via trans-media storytelling, not with marketing-speak.
5) KISS now means “Keep it Simple and Sharable,” ideally in 120 characters or less so that it can be easily retweeted, according to Solis.
6) Resist the desire to “market to” your fans. Per Solis, your fans are looking for value. If there isn’t value, then they will leave—it’s assimple as that. From the customer perspective that means regular engagement with special offers, interesting content, fun ways to participate and give back, not marketing messages.
7) My favorite quote came from Lucio’s keynote as he talked about the social web approach: “Marketing will become like sex. Only the losers will pay for it.” OK, that’s a stretch, but you get the point. Yes, companies will still pay to develop high-quality products that consumers buy and recommend, to support their customers, and to raise awareness. The key is to seed, nurture and support it properly (marketing 1:1:many) to get more reach and frequency from your marketing spend.
Some predictions from Dr. Jeffrey Cole, Founder of The World Internet Project: 1. Screen time explodes, 2. Privacy concerns will reach a peak, but because digital content needs digital advertising they will get addressed, and 3. Social networks will fragment over time. Facebook will reach 1B UVs and then decline. We’ll see!
One more thing… Try a Yahootini, which was featured at the Yahoo! “Powering Performance” party. Here’s the recipe:
1 shot of Ketel One Orange Vodka
Splash of Blue Curacao
Splash of Raspberry Liqueur
Splash of Lychee Puree (or more to your liking)
Lemon Wedge
And then while you are being oh-so social, multi-screening and enjoying your Yahootini, share your thoughts about Lucio’s principles of the social web:
Sharing is the new Giving.
Participation is the new Engagement.
Recommendation is the new Advertising.
By Christine Beury
The recent ad:tech San Francisco conference had a good mix of topics (social and mobile everywhere), interesting presenters (although Guy Kawasaki and Arianna Huffington are hard acts to follow), and a great sense of energy. I walked away feeling that if you glanced away from this industry, you’ll be left in the dust as a marketer.
Here were my top eight takeaways from the conference:
1) “This is a more transformational time in marketing than ever before,” said 25-year industry veteran Antonio Lucio, the CMO of Visa. So true! Why? Mobile is anything, and anything is mobile. Power has shifted to the consumer. Everyone is multi-tasking, with one-third of people using three screens. The marketing funnel is now dynamic loops where consumers seek information from many sources and then become a source.
2) Given this, digital engagement and outreach must be integrated throughout organizations. For companies to succeed, digital must be an integral part of marketing, customer service and product development. Lucio also advises setting a directional goal for digital spend (Visa’s was 30%) and then tracking the impact on transactions, revenue and brand equity to find your right media mix. Hint: It’s higher than the 10% allocated on average today.
3) Define your media plan first: Given the power of the consumer, it’s even more crucial to “Think Audience First.” Lucio recommends starting by defining your media plan, essentially an engagement plan, based on consumer behavior with your products and their media consumption. Next, you should develop creative. Feels like opposite-land now, but it won’t soon.
4) The five (instead of four) “Ps” of Marketing: Brian Solis, Principal, Altimeter Group, believes we all need to add people to product, place, price and promotion in our marketing plans. Marketing is now about shaping and steering experiences. It’s about talking to the mind and heart of your customers via trans-media storytelling, not with marketing-speak.
5) KISS now means “Keep it Simple and Sharable,” ideally in 120 characters or less so that it can be easily retweeted, according to Solis.
6) Resist the desire to “market to” your fans. Per Solis, your fans are looking for value. If there isn’t value, then they will leave—it’s assimple as that. From the customer perspective that means regular engagement with special offers, interesting content, fun ways to participate and give back, not marketing messages.
7) My favorite quote came from Lucio’s keynote as he talked about the social web approach: “Marketing will become like sex. Only the losers will pay for it.” OK, that’s a stretch, but you get the point. Yes, companies will still pay to develop high-quality products that consumers buy and recommend, to support their customers, and to raise awareness. The key is to seed, nurture and support it properly (marketing 1:1:many) to get more reach and frequency from your marketing spend.
Some predictions from Dr. Jeffrey Cole, Founder of The World Internet Project: 1. Screen time explodes, 2. Privacy concerns will reach a peak, but because digital content needs digital advertising they will get addressed, and 3. Social networks will fragment over time. Facebook will reach 1B UVs and then decline. We’ll see!
One more thing… Try a Yahootini, which was featured at the Yahoo! “Powering Performance” party. Here’s the recipe:
1 shot of Ketel One Orange Vodka
Splash of Blue Curacao
Splash of Raspberry Liqueur
Splash of Lychee Puree (or more to your liking)
Lemon Wedge
And then while you are being oh-so social, multi-screening and enjoying your Yahootini, share your thoughts about Lucio’s principles of the social web:
Sharing is the new Giving.
Participation is the new Engagement.
Recommendation is the new Advertising.
By Christine Beury
Labels:
advertising,
internet marketing,
lazworld,
marketing,
new jersey,
nj
Friday, September 24, 2010
NJ Supreme Court To Consider Bloggers' Argument That Shield Should Cover Comments
The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by life coach and blogger Shellee Hale, who argues that a state appellate court wrongly determined that she wasn't a "journalist" for purposes of the state's shield law.
Hale, who criticized the software company Too Much Media on a message board, argues that she was acting as an "internet reporter investigating corruption" at the time she posted her comments on the message board, and therefore is entitled to protect the identity of her sources.
New Jersey's reporter shield law broadly allows journalists to keep their sources' identities confidential. But the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled that Hale could not claim the benefit of that law because she wasn't a journalist. "Defendant has produced no credentials or proof of affiliation with any recognized news entity, nor has she demonstrated adherence to any standard of professional responsibility regulating institutional journalism, such as editing, fact-checking or disclosure of conflicts of interest," the court wrote.
The lawsuit grew out of allegedly defamatory posts by Hale on Oprano, which calls itself "the Wall Street Journal for the online adult entertainment industry." In one post, Hale hinted that Too Much Media engaged in "fraudulent, unethical and illegal uses of technology," according to the appellate court's opinion.
Too Much Media sued Hale for defamation and attempted to discover the identities of people who provided her with information. She unsuccessfully argued to the trial judge and appellate court that the state's shield law gave her the right to protect her sources' identities.
After losing in the appellate court, Hale asked New Jersey's highest court to consider her case.
Her lawyer, Jeffrey Pollock, argues that the lower court's decision could put all online journalists at risk of losing the benefits of the shield law. "If the court were to decide that people writing on the Internet, for the public's benefit, who cite confidential sources are not entitled to the shield law, you are going to have a big problem with freedom of the press in the future."
Too Much Media's lawyer, Joel Kreizman, counters that Hale wasn't acting as a reporter in that she didn't publish news on her own blog or on a Web site affiliated with a news organization. "She participated in an online conversation. That's not reporting," Kreizman says. "Even if you're a reporter working for a recognized newspaper, that doesn't mean you can go outside your newspaper, on a chatroom, and just defame people," he adds.
by Wendy Davis
Hale, who criticized the software company Too Much Media on a message board, argues that she was acting as an "internet reporter investigating corruption" at the time she posted her comments on the message board, and therefore is entitled to protect the identity of her sources.
New Jersey's reporter shield law broadly allows journalists to keep their sources' identities confidential. But the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey ruled that Hale could not claim the benefit of that law because she wasn't a journalist. "Defendant has produced no credentials or proof of affiliation with any recognized news entity, nor has she demonstrated adherence to any standard of professional responsibility regulating institutional journalism, such as editing, fact-checking or disclosure of conflicts of interest," the court wrote.
The lawsuit grew out of allegedly defamatory posts by Hale on Oprano, which calls itself "the Wall Street Journal for the online adult entertainment industry." In one post, Hale hinted that Too Much Media engaged in "fraudulent, unethical and illegal uses of technology," according to the appellate court's opinion.
Too Much Media sued Hale for defamation and attempted to discover the identities of people who provided her with information. She unsuccessfully argued to the trial judge and appellate court that the state's shield law gave her the right to protect her sources' identities.
After losing in the appellate court, Hale asked New Jersey's highest court to consider her case.
Her lawyer, Jeffrey Pollock, argues that the lower court's decision could put all online journalists at risk of losing the benefits of the shield law. "If the court were to decide that people writing on the Internet, for the public's benefit, who cite confidential sources are not entitled to the shield law, you are going to have a big problem with freedom of the press in the future."
Too Much Media's lawyer, Joel Kreizman, counters that Hale wasn't acting as a reporter in that she didn't publish news on her own blog or on a Web site affiliated with a news organization. "She participated in an online conversation. That's not reporting," Kreizman says. "Even if you're a reporter working for a recognized newspaper, that doesn't mean you can go outside your newspaper, on a chatroom, and just defame people," he adds.
by Wendy Davis
Labels:
blogs,
laws,
new jersey,
news,
nj
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
NJ Police Create Facebook Perp Walk
Here's another one for the "bound to happen eventually" file: It seems police in the town of Evesham, N.J., have begun posting mug shots on the police department's Facebook profile, in a move that is basically designed to publicly shame miscreants ranging from drunk drivers to car thieves and worse. Equally predictable is the wave of criticism this has elicited. Some of these are good points, but I think there is a way to post photos without hurting anyone unjustly.
First of all, lawbreakers forfeit some (though not all) of their privacy in breaking the law. While the right to privacy still protects important information like their social security numbers and health histories, it does not cover their basic identity -- meaning their name, address, and likeness. Police stations and courts are public places, so the very act of being arrested and hauled in front of a judge reveals their identity to anyone who cares to inquire. Furthermore, public shaming of transgressors is an established practice -- many local newspapers already feature a "Police Blotter." If it happens that online social media is a more effective medium for shaming the transgressor by reaching a larger public audience, well, all the better, right?
The only problem I can see with this approach is the potential for posting a mug shot of someone who was wrongly arrested -- but frankly that is a pretty big problem. It's easy enough to figure out whether someone has been driving under the influence, but what about cases where a person is falsely accused of a serious crime to tarnish their reputation? And of course police also make honest mistakes (e.g., Buffalo police arresting the wrong suspect in the shooting which left four people dead last week).
In light of these facts, it seems inappropriate to indiscriminately post arrest photos -- as the Evesham police appear to be doing -- as it goes against the spirit of the rule that suspects should be considered "innocent until proven guilty." A safer approach might be to post mug shots once the suspect has confessed or been convicted of the crime, or at least waiting until they have been charged.
So what about law enforcement posting "wanted" photos of suspects on social media sites? This strikes me as a qualitatively different from what the Evesham police are doing. A fugitive at large could inflict further harm on the public, and in my view this outweighs any concern over damage to his or her reputation if he/she should happen to be innocent. By contrast, a mug shot depicts someone who is already in custody, meaning there is no immediate utility in posting it for all to see.
First of all, lawbreakers forfeit some (though not all) of their privacy in breaking the law. While the right to privacy still protects important information like their social security numbers and health histories, it does not cover their basic identity -- meaning their name, address, and likeness. Police stations and courts are public places, so the very act of being arrested and hauled in front of a judge reveals their identity to anyone who cares to inquire. Furthermore, public shaming of transgressors is an established practice -- many local newspapers already feature a "Police Blotter." If it happens that online social media is a more effective medium for shaming the transgressor by reaching a larger public audience, well, all the better, right?
The only problem I can see with this approach is the potential for posting a mug shot of someone who was wrongly arrested -- but frankly that is a pretty big problem. It's easy enough to figure out whether someone has been driving under the influence, but what about cases where a person is falsely accused of a serious crime to tarnish their reputation? And of course police also make honest mistakes (e.g., Buffalo police arresting the wrong suspect in the shooting which left four people dead last week).
In light of these facts, it seems inappropriate to indiscriminately post arrest photos -- as the Evesham police appear to be doing -- as it goes against the spirit of the rule that suspects should be considered "innocent until proven guilty." A safer approach might be to post mug shots once the suspect has confessed or been convicted of the crime, or at least waiting until they have been charged.
So what about law enforcement posting "wanted" photos of suspects on social media sites? This strikes me as a qualitatively different from what the Evesham police are doing. A fugitive at large could inflict further harm on the public, and in my view this outweighs any concern over damage to his or her reputation if he/she should happen to be innocent. By contrast, a mug shot depicts someone who is already in custody, meaning there is no immediate utility in posting it for all to see.
Labels:
facebook,
laws,
new jersey,
nj,
social media
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
NJ Attorney General Warns Against Social Media Scams
Stupid is as stupid does, mama always said. I'm not quite sure what that means, but I have a feeling it has something to do with giving money to people you don't know online.
The rise of social media has been accompanied by all sorts of exciting innovation by clever crooks, for example burglars spying on social network users to figure out when they'll be away from home. But social networks are even better-suited for con men and identity thieves, who exploit the inherent sense of trust and affection between friends to scam unsuspecting users. That's according to New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the state's Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni, who say they have seen an increase in the number of social media scams on Facebook or other sites, often using hijacked accounts.
The NJ officials' statement warns against one common approach in which scam artists hack into a user's account and access their address book, then send messages pleading with their friends to wire cash because they are stuck in some foreign country. To make it extra-alarming, they might construct elaborate stories about being robbed, getting sick, or having an accident in some place that is nice to visit, but not somewhere you'd really want to stay. They can even throw in details like the names of spouses or boyfriends/girlfriend and various kinds of biographical information to make it extra-convincing -- all gleaned from the user's profile, of course.
Dow stated: "People lower their guard when someone they know from a social networking site needs their help. Rather than sending an email to random people, these thieves have learned they can improve their chances by hacking into social networking accounts and then directing pleas for money to the account holder's list of friends." Common tricks used by criminals trying to hack into social network accounts include anything which requires you to paste a URL into your browser, quizzes, polls or contests asking for personal information like your social security number, credit card number or bank account information, requests to update Flash or download a new program, and anything that asks you link to another page and invites your friends there.
Okay, I don't want to be too harsh here because I imagine the criminals can go to great lengths to present a convincing come-on, and they're taking advantage of good-natured, trusting individuals. But trust is overrated, and there is a right way and a wrong way to be good-natured.
First of all, if someone sends me a serious message over a social network, my first instinct would be to ask why they didn't send me an email or call. If they are sending the message to my email address (having located it in an online address book) I would be somewhat more inclined to hear them out, but it would be pretty easy to confirm that they are who they say they are, by asking questions like "where/when did we meet," "when's the last time I saw you," or something else -- not on their profile or anywhere else online -- only they would know. I'd also try calling them and sending messages to their other email accounts seeking confirmation of the story.
And after I finally confirmed they were real, then -- and only then -- would I tell my friend in Turkish prison to go hit up someone else cuz I blew it all in Vegas last week. Good luck and godspeed, voyager! P.S. send a postcard.
The rise of social media has been accompanied by all sorts of exciting innovation by clever crooks, for example burglars spying on social network users to figure out when they'll be away from home. But social networks are even better-suited for con men and identity thieves, who exploit the inherent sense of trust and affection between friends to scam unsuspecting users. That's according to New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and the state's Acting Consumer Affairs Director Thomas R. Calcagni, who say they have seen an increase in the number of social media scams on Facebook or other sites, often using hijacked accounts.
The NJ officials' statement warns against one common approach in which scam artists hack into a user's account and access their address book, then send messages pleading with their friends to wire cash because they are stuck in some foreign country. To make it extra-alarming, they might construct elaborate stories about being robbed, getting sick, or having an accident in some place that is nice to visit, but not somewhere you'd really want to stay. They can even throw in details like the names of spouses or boyfriends/girlfriend and various kinds of biographical information to make it extra-convincing -- all gleaned from the user's profile, of course.
Dow stated: "People lower their guard when someone they know from a social networking site needs their help. Rather than sending an email to random people, these thieves have learned they can improve their chances by hacking into social networking accounts and then directing pleas for money to the account holder's list of friends." Common tricks used by criminals trying to hack into social network accounts include anything which requires you to paste a URL into your browser, quizzes, polls or contests asking for personal information like your social security number, credit card number or bank account information, requests to update Flash or download a new program, and anything that asks you link to another page and invites your friends there.
Okay, I don't want to be too harsh here because I imagine the criminals can go to great lengths to present a convincing come-on, and they're taking advantage of good-natured, trusting individuals. But trust is overrated, and there is a right way and a wrong way to be good-natured.
First of all, if someone sends me a serious message over a social network, my first instinct would be to ask why they didn't send me an email or call. If they are sending the message to my email address (having located it in an online address book) I would be somewhat more inclined to hear them out, but it would be pretty easy to confirm that they are who they say they are, by asking questions like "where/when did we meet," "when's the last time I saw you," or something else -- not on their profile or anywhere else online -- only they would know. I'd also try calling them and sending messages to their other email accounts seeking confirmation of the story.
And after I finally confirmed they were real, then -- and only then -- would I tell my friend in Turkish prison to go hit up someone else cuz I blew it all in Vegas last week. Good luck and godspeed, voyager! P.S. send a postcard.
Labels:
banks,
facebook,
new jersey,
news,
nj,
social media
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
NFL thinks outside the box with New Jersey Super Bowl in 2014
Reporting from Irving, Texas -- NFL owners, historically resistant to change, bundled up Tuesday and took a step into the great wide open.
At the annual May meetings, they voted to award a Super Bowl to the New York area, sending the February 2014 game there and turning back bids by Tampa and South Florida. It was a historic moment because there has never been an outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather city. The game will be played at the soon-to-open, $1.6-billion home of the Giants and Jets in East Rutherford, N.J.
"We wished for it, we got it, and now we've got to do the work," said Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, after waiting nervously through four ballots, with the New York-New Jersey bid finally edging Tampa by a simple majority. South Florida, which just played host to the Super Bowl, was eliminated after the second round.
In a larger sense, the league's willingness to try something new — a risk not everyone agrees with — is reflective of Commissioner Roger Goodell's push to be innovative in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Consider some of the changes that have taken place since Goodell took over for Paul Tagliabue in 2006. The Pro Bowl was rescheduled for the Sunday before the Super Bowl to give that all-star game more exposure. Overtime has been changed for the postseason, increasing the likelihood that both teams will have a possession in the extra period. There's a very realistic possibility that two meaningless exhibition games will be replaced by regular-season games. Division rivalries have been pushed to the end of the season to give teams incentive to play hard all the way through their schedules.
The draft has been moved to prime time and is now stretched over three days. The scouting combine has become a made-for-TV event. International games are a staple of the regular season. The league has put a renewed emphasis on player conduct and concussion studies. The umpire has been moved from the defensive to offensive side of the ball to protect him. Hand-held devices soon will be commonplace in stadiums to keep fans apprised of games around the league.
Goodell is not directly responsible for all of these things — he didn't have a vote on the rules changes or location of the Super Bowl, for instance — but league insiders say he is relentless when it comes to pushing the envelope to best position the league and maximize revenue streams. That's vital for a game that's going to have an increasingly difficult time coaxing fans off their couches and into stadiums.
"I feel very strongly that we cannot be complacent in what we do," Goodell said. "We have to continue to find ways to grow the game, to reach new fans, to continue to provide quality. That's what the NFL represents.
"So innovation is a big part of our initiative, whether it's the Super Bowl in New York, the changes we've made to the draft, or changes we've made to the Pro Bowl, we're going to try to find new ways to reach our fans and to make sure we're bringing them the highest quality entertainment."
Tisch called that one of the "signatures" of Goodell's young tenure as commissioner.
"There are a lot of people who are going to be fighting for that dollar that's going to be spent on sports and entertainment," Tisch said. "You've got to take some chances. The public wants to see something new."
OT rule tabled
Owners tabled the discussion of expanding the new postseason overtime rules to the regular season. There was strong momentum among many people in the NFL to do that in March, when the playoff rules were put in place, but for the moment that has dwindled. There will be no such changes to regular-season games this fall.
Roethlisberger talk
Goodell said he will issue a decision "within the next week or so" about when Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger can rejoin the Steelers. The quarterback has been suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the league's personal-conduct policy, and the commissioner hasn't allowed him to participate in team activities, pending evaluations.
L.A. stadium talk
Although it's very preliminary, the concept of a stadium in downtown Los Angeles next to Staples Center gets a thumbs up from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He called the plan's backers, businessmen Casey Wasserman and Tim Leiweke, "so credible and so substantive" and said the idea "makes a lot of sense for downtown Los Angeles." That said, the City of Industry stadium proposal is at least a year ahead of that and has the significant advantage of all the necessary land entitlements.
By Sam Farmer
At the annual May meetings, they voted to award a Super Bowl to the New York area, sending the February 2014 game there and turning back bids by Tampa and South Florida. It was a historic moment because there has never been an outdoor Super Bowl in a cold-weather city. The game will be played at the soon-to-open, $1.6-billion home of the Giants and Jets in East Rutherford, N.J.
"We wished for it, we got it, and now we've got to do the work," said Giants co-owner Steve Tisch, after waiting nervously through four ballots, with the New York-New Jersey bid finally edging Tampa by a simple majority. South Florida, which just played host to the Super Bowl, was eliminated after the second round.
In a larger sense, the league's willingness to try something new — a risk not everyone agrees with — is reflective of Commissioner Roger Goodell's push to be innovative in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Consider some of the changes that have taken place since Goodell took over for Paul Tagliabue in 2006. The Pro Bowl was rescheduled for the Sunday before the Super Bowl to give that all-star game more exposure. Overtime has been changed for the postseason, increasing the likelihood that both teams will have a possession in the extra period. There's a very realistic possibility that two meaningless exhibition games will be replaced by regular-season games. Division rivalries have been pushed to the end of the season to give teams incentive to play hard all the way through their schedules.
The draft has been moved to prime time and is now stretched over three days. The scouting combine has become a made-for-TV event. International games are a staple of the regular season. The league has put a renewed emphasis on player conduct and concussion studies. The umpire has been moved from the defensive to offensive side of the ball to protect him. Hand-held devices soon will be commonplace in stadiums to keep fans apprised of games around the league.
Goodell is not directly responsible for all of these things — he didn't have a vote on the rules changes or location of the Super Bowl, for instance — but league insiders say he is relentless when it comes to pushing the envelope to best position the league and maximize revenue streams. That's vital for a game that's going to have an increasingly difficult time coaxing fans off their couches and into stadiums.
"I feel very strongly that we cannot be complacent in what we do," Goodell said. "We have to continue to find ways to grow the game, to reach new fans, to continue to provide quality. That's what the NFL represents.
"So innovation is a big part of our initiative, whether it's the Super Bowl in New York, the changes we've made to the draft, or changes we've made to the Pro Bowl, we're going to try to find new ways to reach our fans and to make sure we're bringing them the highest quality entertainment."
Tisch called that one of the "signatures" of Goodell's young tenure as commissioner.
"There are a lot of people who are going to be fighting for that dollar that's going to be spent on sports and entertainment," Tisch said. "You've got to take some chances. The public wants to see something new."
OT rule tabled
Owners tabled the discussion of expanding the new postseason overtime rules to the regular season. There was strong momentum among many people in the NFL to do that in March, when the playoff rules were put in place, but for the moment that has dwindled. There will be no such changes to regular-season games this fall.
Roethlisberger talk
Goodell said he will issue a decision "within the next week or so" about when Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger can rejoin the Steelers. The quarterback has been suspended for the first six games of the season for violating the league's personal-conduct policy, and the commissioner hasn't allowed him to participate in team activities, pending evaluations.
L.A. stadium talk
Although it's very preliminary, the concept of a stadium in downtown Los Angeles next to Staples Center gets a thumbs up from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He called the plan's backers, businessmen Casey Wasserman and Tim Leiweke, "so credible and so substantive" and said the idea "makes a lot of sense for downtown Los Angeles." That said, the City of Industry stadium proposal is at least a year ahead of that and has the significant advantage of all the necessary land entitlements.
By Sam Farmer
Labels:
new jersey,
news,
nj
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
2 Lawmakers Urge NJ Gov to Join Health Care Suit
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) -- Gov. Chris Christie says he'll wait for assessments from his attorney general and health commissioner before making any decisions on whether New Jersey should join other states in the lawsuit challenging health care reform.
State Assembly members Dave Rible and Mary Pat Angelini, both Republicans representing Monmouth County, are urging Christie to join 14 other states challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.
Rible and Angelini say a mandate that all citizens should buy health insurance is in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Christie says he hopes to have his Cabinet members' assessments by the end of the week and will make a decision soon after.
State Assembly members Dave Rible and Mary Pat Angelini, both Republicans representing Monmouth County, are urging Christie to join 14 other states challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care reform bill signed into law by President Barack Obama last week.
Rible and Angelini say a mandate that all citizens should buy health insurance is in violation of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Christie says he hopes to have his Cabinet members' assessments by the end of the week and will make a decision soon after.
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010
AOL To Launch Patch.org; Commits Millions To Revamp Local Strategy
AOL plans later this week to launch patch.org, a charitable foundation intended to improve the quality of life in underserved communities. It is part of a move by the recent Time Warner spinoff to focus on local markets, advertising and editorial content to become every community's online newspaper, Jon Brod, executive vice president at AOL Ventures, told attendees at the BIA/Kelsey conference in San Diego Monday.
Brod laid out AOL's strategy, which will allow patch.org to partner with community foundations. "This is a charitable foundation with all profits being returned to communities we serve," he says. "We believe local information is the most important and helpful information people want and need. And we are committed to filling this need in society without regard to economic status."
Pointing to AOL's commitment to invest up to $50 million this year on local initiatives, Brod says Patch.org ties into AOL's focus on local content that bridges the gap between real-life offline neighborhoods and online communities. It follows the company's push to hire local journalists to write and post community news.
Today, Patch supports 41 communities in four states, up from five markets when acquired by AOL in June 2009. The initiative cost roughly 4.1% of what it takes to run a like-size daily newspaper when you strip out ink, print, and distribution. Brod says as more people migrate to online, AOL believes the project will become profitable.
The concentration on community also means focusing on mobile and Mapquest. The mapping technology will get a complete makeover, including user interface, employee support, and rebranding to give the mapping tool a new look and feel. "Mapquest, quite candidly, has been under-resourced during the past several years, but despite that it has remained a massive brand," Brod says.
Evidently, Mapquest sits at the nineteenth-largest property on the Web with 46% market share and 40 million monthly unique users, according to Brod. However, he declined to provide specifics on local advertising opportunities and skirted questions on specific technologies that might allow AOL to go head-to-head with mapping tools from Google and Microsoft, or geo-tagging tools from Twitter and others.
AOL also plans to revive the City's Best brand in 25 markets between July and September 2010. City's Best is an eight-year-old brand that AOL stopped funding in the end of 2008. The site features the best entertainment options in each city. It will combine professional editorial with consumer opinions that will allow community members to vote for the best in each city.
When asked how this differs from AOL's failed efforts to roll out Digital City, Brod says the billions of dollars spent online by consumers today, along with the penetration of smartphones in the market, and the use of much more sophisticated technology will make work today what didn't work in 1995.
Brod laid out AOL's strategy, which will allow patch.org to partner with community foundations. "This is a charitable foundation with all profits being returned to communities we serve," he says. "We believe local information is the most important and helpful information people want and need. And we are committed to filling this need in society without regard to economic status."
Pointing to AOL's commitment to invest up to $50 million this year on local initiatives, Brod says Patch.org ties into AOL's focus on local content that bridges the gap between real-life offline neighborhoods and online communities. It follows the company's push to hire local journalists to write and post community news.
Today, Patch supports 41 communities in four states, up from five markets when acquired by AOL in June 2009. The initiative cost roughly 4.1% of what it takes to run a like-size daily newspaper when you strip out ink, print, and distribution. Brod says as more people migrate to online, AOL believes the project will become profitable.
The concentration on community also means focusing on mobile and Mapquest. The mapping technology will get a complete makeover, including user interface, employee support, and rebranding to give the mapping tool a new look and feel. "Mapquest, quite candidly, has been under-resourced during the past several years, but despite that it has remained a massive brand," Brod says.
Evidently, Mapquest sits at the nineteenth-largest property on the Web with 46% market share and 40 million monthly unique users, according to Brod. However, he declined to provide specifics on local advertising opportunities and skirted questions on specific technologies that might allow AOL to go head-to-head with mapping tools from Google and Microsoft, or geo-tagging tools from Twitter and others.
AOL also plans to revive the City's Best brand in 25 markets between July and September 2010. City's Best is an eight-year-old brand that AOL stopped funding in the end of 2008. The site features the best entertainment options in each city. It will combine professional editorial with consumer opinions that will allow community members to vote for the best in each city.
When asked how this differs from AOL's failed efforts to roll out Digital City, Brod says the billions of dollars spent online by consumers today, along with the penetration of smartphones in the market, and the use of much more sophisticated technology will make work today what didn't work in 1995.
Friday, March 19, 2010
In New Jersey, the For-Sale Signs Are in Bloom
MAPLEWOOD
“GET ready for the block party! Great neighborhood!” That is how an agent named Heather Gilheany verbally baits the hook in her listing for 156 Oakland Road, a three-bedroom one-bath colonial built in 1925.
“Selling the neighborhood,” explained Ms. Gilheany of Coldwell Banker. “That is what we always do — sell not just the house, but the neighborhood.”
But it so happens that on this particular block of Oakland Road, and in the immediately surrounding three or four blocks, for-sale signs abound. While the agents are busy “selling the neighborhood,” someone just driving by might be forgiven for wondering whether the entire neighborhood was for sale — lock, stock and barrel.
Last week there was a for-sale sign in front of No. 157, and one at No. 160 on the opposite side of the street.
There was another at 66 Burnett Terrace around the corner, two on the same block of nearby Highland Avenue, two on contiguous blocks of Plymouth Avenue, and so on. In all, there were a dozen signs within a roughly four-block area, although in some cases, houses were already under contract and the signs were being kept up during the attorney-review process.
This neighborhood of 75 to 80 houses is sometimes called the Tuscan section of town, after the local Tuscan Elementary School. The houses were mostly built in the 1920s and 1930s. The price range on those for sale was $425,000 to $599,000, except for one, a larger house at 104 Plymouth Avenue, which was recently listed for $674,900.
In Maplewood over all, there are 126 active listings, out of 5,541 owner-occupied homes, according to Patricia Ross, a Coldwell Banker agent, who says she has lived in town all her life and sold real estate there since 1984. She found the number high but not unusually so. And she noted that many residents moved from one house to another within Maplewood over the course of their lives.
Ms. Ross has a listing for a three-bedroom one-bath Tudor at 93 Midland Avenue, two blocks from Oakland Road. It has been on the market for five months at an asking price of $459,000. She declined to discuss the situation of the sellers or to say whether she was contemplating a change in strategy as more houses are put on the market this spring. But several agents selling neighborhood houses, in some instances on behalf of heirs, said that they were pressing sellers to cut asking prices because of the growing inventory.
Robert Northfield, another Coldwell Banker agent, said it was “very important for the Realtor to take sellers around to see the competition, take them to open houses so they can understand how best to price theirs.”
Mr. Northfield, who has the listing for 104 Plymouth Avenue, said he thought the presence of two houses for sale side by side, or several on a block, could be a good thing in some ways. “It helps generate traffic,” he said. “The neighborhood sells itself, and each house has a unique character and will find its own buyer.”
He said 104 Plymouth would attract a “totally different” buyer than other houses in the neighborhood, but he would be happy to have other agents “piggyback” on the open houses he schedules there — because attracting home shoppers is positive however it occurs.
On Oakland Road, No. 160 — the largest of the three for sale, and at $549,900 the most expensive — was under contract a couple of days after the first open house on Feb. 28, said Jessica Keefe, the selling agent.
“There were five offers,” said Ms. Keefe of Coldwell Banker in Montclair, “four over asking price.”
The five-bedroom house last sold in 1998 for $200,000, according to Zillow.com. Ms. Keefe said the owners had put in a new kitchen and bath, and “made the product sparkle” before putting it on the market last month.
“Fresh towels in the baths, beautifully decorated family room and first floor, a pristine basement,” were all part of the packaging, she said.
“They had already bought another house in Glen Ridge,” Ms. Keefe said of the sellers, “which was also a multiple-bid situation. They looked very carefully at the multiple listings for homes in their neighborhood, and in setting the price, we thought about the best way to create a perception of value. That’s what it’s all about.”
There are, of course, larger market forces at work right now in all neighborhoods, no matter their size or status. Real estate specialists included the following:
¶Spring is traditionally the most popular time to show and sell a house, coinciding with better weather and the rhythms of the school year.
¶As the national recession eases, a “shadow inventory” is emerging: some homeowners who put off trying to sell are starting to try now.
¶The federal tax credit program for first-time buyers expires April 30, and many buyers are trying to beat the deadline.
Focusing more tightly, though, real estate agents in northern New Jersey said a concentration of for-sale signs was often the result of sociological change, rather than change of season or economy.
“I think what happens is a natural progression,” said Perri K. Feldman, an agent based in the Keller-Williams office in Summit. “People move into a neighborhood when their children are young, and then when everyone is older, and their children have stopped boomeranging back home, one decides to put their house on the market.
“Then, all the nosy neighbors come to the open house,” Ms. Feldman continued. “And they start to chat back and forth: ‘Oh, did you hear that the house on the next street over sold, and it went pretty fast? Oh, and this neighbor and that neighbor are putting their houses up, and the other one is thinking about it.’
“And pretty soon, they start calling me, because, well, they’ve been thinking — and it’s time.”
“GET ready for the block party! Great neighborhood!” That is how an agent named Heather Gilheany verbally baits the hook in her listing for 156 Oakland Road, a three-bedroom one-bath colonial built in 1925.
“Selling the neighborhood,” explained Ms. Gilheany of Coldwell Banker. “That is what we always do — sell not just the house, but the neighborhood.”
But it so happens that on this particular block of Oakland Road, and in the immediately surrounding three or four blocks, for-sale signs abound. While the agents are busy “selling the neighborhood,” someone just driving by might be forgiven for wondering whether the entire neighborhood was for sale — lock, stock and barrel.
Last week there was a for-sale sign in front of No. 157, and one at No. 160 on the opposite side of the street.
There was another at 66 Burnett Terrace around the corner, two on the same block of nearby Highland Avenue, two on contiguous blocks of Plymouth Avenue, and so on. In all, there were a dozen signs within a roughly four-block area, although in some cases, houses were already under contract and the signs were being kept up during the attorney-review process.
This neighborhood of 75 to 80 houses is sometimes called the Tuscan section of town, after the local Tuscan Elementary School. The houses were mostly built in the 1920s and 1930s. The price range on those for sale was $425,000 to $599,000, except for one, a larger house at 104 Plymouth Avenue, which was recently listed for $674,900.
In Maplewood over all, there are 126 active listings, out of 5,541 owner-occupied homes, according to Patricia Ross, a Coldwell Banker agent, who says she has lived in town all her life and sold real estate there since 1984. She found the number high but not unusually so. And she noted that many residents moved from one house to another within Maplewood over the course of their lives.
Ms. Ross has a listing for a three-bedroom one-bath Tudor at 93 Midland Avenue, two blocks from Oakland Road. It has been on the market for five months at an asking price of $459,000. She declined to discuss the situation of the sellers or to say whether she was contemplating a change in strategy as more houses are put on the market this spring. But several agents selling neighborhood houses, in some instances on behalf of heirs, said that they were pressing sellers to cut asking prices because of the growing inventory.
Robert Northfield, another Coldwell Banker agent, said it was “very important for the Realtor to take sellers around to see the competition, take them to open houses so they can understand how best to price theirs.”
Mr. Northfield, who has the listing for 104 Plymouth Avenue, said he thought the presence of two houses for sale side by side, or several on a block, could be a good thing in some ways. “It helps generate traffic,” he said. “The neighborhood sells itself, and each house has a unique character and will find its own buyer.”
He said 104 Plymouth would attract a “totally different” buyer than other houses in the neighborhood, but he would be happy to have other agents “piggyback” on the open houses he schedules there — because attracting home shoppers is positive however it occurs.
On Oakland Road, No. 160 — the largest of the three for sale, and at $549,900 the most expensive — was under contract a couple of days after the first open house on Feb. 28, said Jessica Keefe, the selling agent.
“There were five offers,” said Ms. Keefe of Coldwell Banker in Montclair, “four over asking price.”
The five-bedroom house last sold in 1998 for $200,000, according to Zillow.com. Ms. Keefe said the owners had put in a new kitchen and bath, and “made the product sparkle” before putting it on the market last month.
“Fresh towels in the baths, beautifully decorated family room and first floor, a pristine basement,” were all part of the packaging, she said.
“They had already bought another house in Glen Ridge,” Ms. Keefe said of the sellers, “which was also a multiple-bid situation. They looked very carefully at the multiple listings for homes in their neighborhood, and in setting the price, we thought about the best way to create a perception of value. That’s what it’s all about.”
There are, of course, larger market forces at work right now in all neighborhoods, no matter their size or status. Real estate specialists included the following:
¶Spring is traditionally the most popular time to show and sell a house, coinciding with better weather and the rhythms of the school year.
¶As the national recession eases, a “shadow inventory” is emerging: some homeowners who put off trying to sell are starting to try now.
¶The federal tax credit program for first-time buyers expires April 30, and many buyers are trying to beat the deadline.
Focusing more tightly, though, real estate agents in northern New Jersey said a concentration of for-sale signs was often the result of sociological change, rather than change of season or economy.
“I think what happens is a natural progression,” said Perri K. Feldman, an agent based in the Keller-Williams office in Summit. “People move into a neighborhood when their children are young, and then when everyone is older, and their children have stopped boomeranging back home, one decides to put their house on the market.
“Then, all the nosy neighbors come to the open house,” Ms. Feldman continued. “And they start to chat back and forth: ‘Oh, did you hear that the house on the next street over sold, and it went pretty fast? Oh, and this neighbor and that neighbor are putting their houses up, and the other one is thinking about it.’
“And pretty soon, they start calling me, because, well, they’ve been thinking — and it’s time.”
Labels:
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NJ mocks MD budget
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie took a swipe at Gov. Martin O’Malley’s budget in a recent address, saying that Gov. Martin O’Malley’s $13 billion spending plan relies on “borrowing to cover current obligations” and “in doing so they are piling one problem on top of another, reducing the creditworthiness of their state, and creating a crisis that will be larger in the future.”
True Maryland is undergoing tough times. The state faces a $2 billion budget hole that O’Malley plugs using a combination of cuts and one-time accounting maneuvers. O’Malley borrows about $350 million from account that collects state income taxes to cover operating costs, a move that raised some eyebrows but did not impact the Maryland’s top credit rating.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown stressed that point when we asked his opinion. “Maryland has a triple- A bond rating,” he said. “We don’t take that for granted.” He also said the state’s borrowing, saying that debt is plowed back into Maryland’s economy. State financed construction projects, he said, represent 16 percent of Maryland’s construction industry.
Some on the Senate Budget and Tax Committee are not so sure and are considering major cuts to O'Malley's budget. But, regardless of the in-state budget discussion, is Maryland even in the same league as New Jersey?
A call to Fitch revealed that NJ's GO bonds just got a AA- rating in December. Also state now faces $10.7 billion hole in its $29 billion budget, according to Christie. “It is a massive deficit,” Christie told his legislature. “The largest deficit of any state in America.”
True Maryland is undergoing tough times. The state faces a $2 billion budget hole that O’Malley plugs using a combination of cuts and one-time accounting maneuvers. O’Malley borrows about $350 million from account that collects state income taxes to cover operating costs, a move that raised some eyebrows but did not impact the Maryland’s top credit rating.
Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown stressed that point when we asked his opinion. “Maryland has a triple- A bond rating,” he said. “We don’t take that for granted.” He also said the state’s borrowing, saying that debt is plowed back into Maryland’s economy. State financed construction projects, he said, represent 16 percent of Maryland’s construction industry.
Some on the Senate Budget and Tax Committee are not so sure and are considering major cuts to O'Malley's budget. But, regardless of the in-state budget discussion, is Maryland even in the same league as New Jersey?
A call to Fitch revealed that NJ's GO bonds just got a AA- rating in December. Also state now faces $10.7 billion hole in its $29 billion budget, according to Christie. “It is a massive deficit,” Christie told his legislature. “The largest deficit of any state in America.”
Labels:
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New Jersey Walmart restricts access to PA system after 'all black people leave' announcement
After a racist announcement was made
over the public-address system at a
Walmart in southern New Jersey, the store
has vowed to change its access to the
system.
Shoppers at the Washington Township store
were shocked Sunday night when a voice
came over the retailer's public-address
system announcing: “Attention, Walmart
customers: All black people, leave the
store now.”
The store says it will be reduce the number
of phones that have access to the public-
address system.
Investigators are zeroing in on two dozen
phones in the store where the racial
announcement may have originated.
The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office
said that not all of the phones are in the
view of security cameras, and some are
accessible to the public.
WITH NEWS WIRE SERVICES
over the public-address system at a
Walmart in southern New Jersey, the store
has vowed to change its access to the
system.
Shoppers at the Washington Township store
were shocked Sunday night when a voice
came over the retailer's public-address
system announcing: “Attention, Walmart
customers: All black people, leave the
store now.”
The store says it will be reduce the number
of phones that have access to the public-
address system.
Investigators are zeroing in on two dozen
phones in the store where the racial
announcement may have originated.
The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office
said that not all of the phones are in the
view of security cameras, and some are
accessible to the public.
WITH NEWS WIRE SERVICES
Labels:
new jersey,
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Monday, March 15, 2010
N.J. Court Rules Gmail User Accused Of Libel Can Remain Anonymous
Upholding the right to send anonymous emails, a New Jersey appellate court has rejected a request to unmask a Gmail user who accused a student of underage drinking.
The court ruled that although high school student Alexandra Zubowski alleged she was libeled in the email, she didn't submit an affidavit stating the email's content was false. Without such a document, she had not presented a solid enough case of defamation to be able to unmask the sender, the court ruled.
Zubowski and her parents sued after a Gmail user sent an email to her school alleging that she wasn't living up to promises of good conduct that she made as a member of the school's "Heroes and Cool Kids" program. The email, signed by "a concerned parent," included photos from Facebook of Zubowski and other students. One showed Zubowski standing in front of a ping pong table with plastic cups and seven beer cans on top of it.
The school forwarded the email to the police, who investigated but declined to press charges.
Zubowski sued the anonymous author for libel and a judge ordered Google to provide information about the IP address associated with the account. Zubowski learned that the Internet service provider was Optimum Online; that company notified the customer about the subpoena, after which the author moved to quash it.
A trial judge in Bergen County, N.J. agreed with the author and quashed the subpoena.
The appellate court upheld that decision earlier this month, ruling that "no reasonable factfinder" could conclude that the email was false. Not only did Zubowski fail to deny that she had engaged in underage drinking, but the anonymous author also presented several other Facebook photos that, according to the court, showed her "holding and drinking alcoholic beverages."
Courts in New Jersey have said that people have the right to speak anonymously online, and therefore can only be unmasked if libel plaintiffs show they have a potentially valid case and if their interest in suing outweighs the speakers' First Amendment interests in keeping their identity secret.
Zubowski argued that those requirements only apply when people seek to unmask anonymous online authors who post in a public forum, and not to senders of emails, which she called a "private communication" similar to physical letters.
She argued that the court should simply decide whether she had alleged sufficient facts to proceed on the libel case without then weighing that against the sender's right to anonymity. But the appellate court said it didn't have to decide whether to balance Zubowski's right to sue against the speaker's right to remain unknown because Zubowski hadn't made out a potentially valid defamation case.
"We consider all of the photographs in conjunction with plaintiff's failure to present any certification of her own, or from any other witness, certifying that she was not consuming alcoholic beverages on the occasion that is depicted in the original photograph," the court wrote. "Having done so, only one conclusion can be drawn: plaintiff has not presented prima facie proof that [the sender's] statement was false."
The court ruled that although high school student Alexandra Zubowski alleged she was libeled in the email, she didn't submit an affidavit stating the email's content was false. Without such a document, she had not presented a solid enough case of defamation to be able to unmask the sender, the court ruled.
Zubowski and her parents sued after a Gmail user sent an email to her school alleging that she wasn't living up to promises of good conduct that she made as a member of the school's "Heroes and Cool Kids" program. The email, signed by "a concerned parent," included photos from Facebook of Zubowski and other students. One showed Zubowski standing in front of a ping pong table with plastic cups and seven beer cans on top of it.
The school forwarded the email to the police, who investigated but declined to press charges.
Zubowski sued the anonymous author for libel and a judge ordered Google to provide information about the IP address associated with the account. Zubowski learned that the Internet service provider was Optimum Online; that company notified the customer about the subpoena, after which the author moved to quash it.
A trial judge in Bergen County, N.J. agreed with the author and quashed the subpoena.
The appellate court upheld that decision earlier this month, ruling that "no reasonable factfinder" could conclude that the email was false. Not only did Zubowski fail to deny that she had engaged in underage drinking, but the anonymous author also presented several other Facebook photos that, according to the court, showed her "holding and drinking alcoholic beverages."
Courts in New Jersey have said that people have the right to speak anonymously online, and therefore can only be unmasked if libel plaintiffs show they have a potentially valid case and if their interest in suing outweighs the speakers' First Amendment interests in keeping their identity secret.
Zubowski argued that those requirements only apply when people seek to unmask anonymous online authors who post in a public forum, and not to senders of emails, which she called a "private communication" similar to physical letters.
She argued that the court should simply decide whether she had alleged sufficient facts to proceed on the libel case without then weighing that against the sender's right to anonymity. But the appellate court said it didn't have to decide whether to balance Zubowski's right to sue against the speaker's right to remain unknown because Zubowski hadn't made out a potentially valid defamation case.
"We consider all of the photographs in conjunction with plaintiff's failure to present any certification of her own, or from any other witness, certifying that she was not consuming alcoholic beverages on the occasion that is depicted in the original photograph," the court wrote. "Having done so, only one conclusion can be drawn: plaintiff has not presented prima facie proof that [the sender's] statement was false."
Labels:
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Sunday, February 28, 2010
New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners Sussex-Warren Chapter to hold networking meeting
BLAIRSTOWN -- The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners (NJAWBO) Sussex-Warren Chapter, the state’s leading organization addressing the specific interests of women entrepreneurs, will be holding their monthly breakfast meeting 7:45 a.m. Wednesday, March at the Andover Diner, 193 Main Street, Andover.
This month’s breakfast meeting discussion will focus on employee benefits. Attendees will discuss ways that have been successful for them to acquire and maintain employee benefits for their small business including healthcare, dental, vision and 401ks.
All NJAWBO members, prospective members and guests are welcome. There is no charge for participation in this meeting for members and first time guests. Interested participants may join the NJAWBO group at 7:45 am, leaving as their work day and schedule requires. All women business owners are invited and encouraged to attend the event.
The Sussex-Warren Chapter of NJAWBO meets once a month for a breakfast meeting and one evening a month, rotating venues throughout Sussex and Warren counties. The meetings are both educational and social in nature. For more information, or to join the Sussex-Warren Chapter of NJAWBO, email chapterinfo@njawbosw.org.
The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners is the oldest statewide organization in New Jersey with a mission to address the concerns and issues of business ownership by women. The organization’s objectives are to encourage and support business ownership by women, enable women business owners to network, provide a legislative voice for the interests of women-owned businesses and provide entrepreneurial training and assistance. Since its founding in 1978, the organization has grown to include 12 chapters across the state. Classes, seminars and informational events are offered to members and aspiring entrepreneurs through NJAWBO and NJAWBO’s Women’s Business Center.
For further information about NJAWBO or NJAWBO’s Women’s Business Center, call the state headquarters at 609-799-5101 or visit http://www.njawbo.org/.
This month’s breakfast meeting discussion will focus on employee benefits. Attendees will discuss ways that have been successful for them to acquire and maintain employee benefits for their small business including healthcare, dental, vision and 401ks.
All NJAWBO members, prospective members and guests are welcome. There is no charge for participation in this meeting for members and first time guests. Interested participants may join the NJAWBO group at 7:45 am, leaving as their work day and schedule requires. All women business owners are invited and encouraged to attend the event.
The Sussex-Warren Chapter of NJAWBO meets once a month for a breakfast meeting and one evening a month, rotating venues throughout Sussex and Warren counties. The meetings are both educational and social in nature. For more information, or to join the Sussex-Warren Chapter of NJAWBO, email chapterinfo@njawbosw.org.
The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners is the oldest statewide organization in New Jersey with a mission to address the concerns and issues of business ownership by women. The organization’s objectives are to encourage and support business ownership by women, enable women business owners to network, provide a legislative voice for the interests of women-owned businesses and provide entrepreneurial training and assistance. Since its founding in 1978, the organization has grown to include 12 chapters across the state. Classes, seminars and informational events are offered to members and aspiring entrepreneurs through NJAWBO and NJAWBO’s Women’s Business Center.
For further information about NJAWBO or NJAWBO’s Women’s Business Center, call the state headquarters at 609-799-5101 or visit http://www.njawbo.org/.
Labels:
events,
new jersey,
news,
nj
In New Jersey, No Consensus on Foreclosure Problem
IN gauging the severity of the foreclosure problem in New Jersey, the experts could hardly be farther apart. Some see the state as relatively unscathed at this point, with the situation about to improve; others see worsening conditions that may turn downright severe.
But then again these same experts are the first to admit that they are handicapped by extremely unreliable information. Real estate market analysts, lawyers, academics, public officials: there are clusters of them on either side of the debate.
“Precise numbers on foreclosures are very elusive,” said James W. Hughes, the dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. But he said he was hearing reports from researchers in the field that foreclosure filings in some county courts were increasing. That trend may pick up steam as federal home-buyer stimulus programs expire, and high-paying jobs continue migrating out of state.
Jeffrey G. Otteau, whose Otteau Valuation Group provides real estate market analysis to the industry, sounded a similar note on the quality of available statistics. “The numbers from the various sources do not square,” was how he put it. Mr. Otteau quoted data from RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that monitors court filings around the country, in characterizing New Jersey’s current foreclosure rate as very low — just .04 percent of households. He also predicted that foreclosure actions would decline as the overall economy improved. RealtyTrac, a subscriber service, is a primary source of information about distressed properties for investors.
As one of very few sources for up-to-date statistics detailed down to the local level, it also provides data to Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. But its tracking and counting methods have been criticized, not only by Mr. Otteau in New Jersey but also by state officials in Colorado and Georgia, among others.
For instance, in 2008, when RealtyTrac reported that New Jersey’s rate of foreclosures increased 101 percent, Mr. Otteau accused the company of overcounting — in effect listing the same property repeatedly as it moved through the various steps in court. That might include a lender’s initial filing when an owner is 90 days delinquent on payments, as well as transfer of ownership to a lender, and a court-ordered sheriff’s auction.
“All indications are that RealtyTrac has stopped doing that,” Mr. Otteau said last week. “But the accuracy can in no way be positively verified.”
In 2009, according to RealtyTrac’s numbers, the rate of foreclosure filings in New Jersey increased by just 1 percent, to 1.8 percent, which equates to 18 of every 1,000 homeowners, Mr. Otteau noted. Nationally, foreclosures were reported to be up by 21 percent, for a foreclosure rate of 22.1 per 1,000 homeowners.
“That meant New Jersey ranked 39th of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia,” he said, “placing it in the better-of-the-pack.”
Cross-checking RealtyTrac numbers with other statistics often amounts to an “apples and oranges” problem, according to Mr. Otteau and Mr. Hughes. For instance, a report last month by the New Jersey court system estimated the number of foreclosure filings rose 29 percent from 2008. But the number is a raw count, not a calculation of rate.
Still, Mr. Otteau said, it does not jibe with RealtyTrac’s report as best he can tell. Goldie Sommer, a real estate lawyer who specializes in short sales for the firm Sommer & Engelhart in Fairfield, said she had ended up relying on the anecdotal reports of brokers who list properties available for short sale — and on the fact that she is extremely busy — to infer that the number of homeowners facing foreclosure was “bouncing up again.”
Ms. Sommer said she had handled about 250 short sales in the last two years. In her view, the process benefits both sides: the bank can avoid higher court costs, the potential need to evict after foreclosure and the prospect of the low-bidding “sharks” who show up at sheriff’s sales. And borrowers are saved from a damaging credit report, Ms. Sommer said. “Rather than show a foreclosure on a credit report, which takes off 200 points on a person’s credit score,” she said, “with a short sale a person will be able to get another mortgage later on.”
Information on short sales is not published by the state Multiple Listing Services. But the tally of short sales is disclosed to brokers as members of the listing services, and some do try to keep track of trends.
For instance Michael Hawley, of the United Association of Realtors, said that 35 to 40 percent of Essex County homes currently listed in the $300,000-to-$350,000 price range were short sales. At $700,000 and above, he added, 10 to 15 percent of listings are short sales.
An office manager for Weichert in Caldwell estimated that 15 percent of all listings right now were delinquent-mortgage properties; at Unicasa United Realty in Newark, a manager estimated that more than 60 percent of the agency’s listings were for properties whose owners were “underwater,” or owed more than the home was worth.
The short-sale alternative does complicate the calculating of foreclosure rates, Mr. Otteau said, because it means a large proportion of homes fall out of the process before actual foreclosure. He said that was why statisticians usually relied instead on the number of foreclosure filings — even though it too can be suspect, presenting “the potential for another type of miscounting.”
“It’s uneven,” Mr. Otteau said of all the estimates and anecdotes. “We do know that, but again, it’s a general sense of things, not a snapshot.”
But then again these same experts are the first to admit that they are handicapped by extremely unreliable information. Real estate market analysts, lawyers, academics, public officials: there are clusters of them on either side of the debate.
“Precise numbers on foreclosures are very elusive,” said James W. Hughes, the dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University. But he said he was hearing reports from researchers in the field that foreclosure filings in some county courts were increasing. That trend may pick up steam as federal home-buyer stimulus programs expire, and high-paying jobs continue migrating out of state.
Jeffrey G. Otteau, whose Otteau Valuation Group provides real estate market analysis to the industry, sounded a similar note on the quality of available statistics. “The numbers from the various sources do not square,” was how he put it. Mr. Otteau quoted data from RealtyTrac, a company based in Irvine, Calif., that monitors court filings around the country, in characterizing New Jersey’s current foreclosure rate as very low — just .04 percent of households. He also predicted that foreclosure actions would decline as the overall economy improved. RealtyTrac, a subscriber service, is a primary source of information about distressed properties for investors.
As one of very few sources for up-to-date statistics detailed down to the local level, it also provides data to Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. But its tracking and counting methods have been criticized, not only by Mr. Otteau in New Jersey but also by state officials in Colorado and Georgia, among others.
For instance, in 2008, when RealtyTrac reported that New Jersey’s rate of foreclosures increased 101 percent, Mr. Otteau accused the company of overcounting — in effect listing the same property repeatedly as it moved through the various steps in court. That might include a lender’s initial filing when an owner is 90 days delinquent on payments, as well as transfer of ownership to a lender, and a court-ordered sheriff’s auction.
“All indications are that RealtyTrac has stopped doing that,” Mr. Otteau said last week. “But the accuracy can in no way be positively verified.”
In 2009, according to RealtyTrac’s numbers, the rate of foreclosure filings in New Jersey increased by just 1 percent, to 1.8 percent, which equates to 18 of every 1,000 homeowners, Mr. Otteau noted. Nationally, foreclosures were reported to be up by 21 percent, for a foreclosure rate of 22.1 per 1,000 homeowners.
“That meant New Jersey ranked 39th of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia,” he said, “placing it in the better-of-the-pack.”
Cross-checking RealtyTrac numbers with other statistics often amounts to an “apples and oranges” problem, according to Mr. Otteau and Mr. Hughes. For instance, a report last month by the New Jersey court system estimated the number of foreclosure filings rose 29 percent from 2008. But the number is a raw count, not a calculation of rate.
Still, Mr. Otteau said, it does not jibe with RealtyTrac’s report as best he can tell. Goldie Sommer, a real estate lawyer who specializes in short sales for the firm Sommer & Engelhart in Fairfield, said she had ended up relying on the anecdotal reports of brokers who list properties available for short sale — and on the fact that she is extremely busy — to infer that the number of homeowners facing foreclosure was “bouncing up again.”
Ms. Sommer said she had handled about 250 short sales in the last two years. In her view, the process benefits both sides: the bank can avoid higher court costs, the potential need to evict after foreclosure and the prospect of the low-bidding “sharks” who show up at sheriff’s sales. And borrowers are saved from a damaging credit report, Ms. Sommer said. “Rather than show a foreclosure on a credit report, which takes off 200 points on a person’s credit score,” she said, “with a short sale a person will be able to get another mortgage later on.”
Information on short sales is not published by the state Multiple Listing Services. But the tally of short sales is disclosed to brokers as members of the listing services, and some do try to keep track of trends.
For instance Michael Hawley, of the United Association of Realtors, said that 35 to 40 percent of Essex County homes currently listed in the $300,000-to-$350,000 price range were short sales. At $700,000 and above, he added, 10 to 15 percent of listings are short sales.
An office manager for Weichert in Caldwell estimated that 15 percent of all listings right now were delinquent-mortgage properties; at Unicasa United Realty in Newark, a manager estimated that more than 60 percent of the agency’s listings were for properties whose owners were “underwater,” or owed more than the home was worth.
The short-sale alternative does complicate the calculating of foreclosure rates, Mr. Otteau said, because it means a large proportion of homes fall out of the process before actual foreclosure. He said that was why statisticians usually relied instead on the number of foreclosure filings — even though it too can be suspect, presenting “the potential for another type of miscounting.”
“It’s uneven,” Mr. Otteau said of all the estimates and anecdotes. “We do know that, but again, it’s a general sense of things, not a snapshot.”
Labels:
banks,
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new jersey,
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nj
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Yelp Sued For Offering To Bury Bad Reviews In Exchange For Ads
A California veterinary center has sued review site Yelp for allegedly promising to bury bad reviews in exchange for purchasing $3,600 worth of advertising on the site.
"Yelp frequently exercises its control over the Yelp.com listing application to modify business listing pages to the advantage of businesses that purchase Yelp advertising subscriptions, and the disadvantage of those that decline," Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital owner Gregory Perrault alleges in a complaint (PDF) filed in federal district court in the central district of California.
Cats and Dogs, based in Long Beach, alleges that Yelp violated California's business code. The company is seeking class-action status.
Perrault says in his complaint that his dispute with Yelp stemmed from two "defamatory" reviews that appeared on the site. The posts allegedly included statements like "Dr. Perrault is the rudest vet I've ever been to" and "my poor dog was terrified of him."
Perrault says in his lawsuit that shortly after these reviews appeared, he began receiving "frequent, high-pressure calls from Yelp advertising employees, who promised to manipulate Cats and Dogs' Yelp.com listing page in exchange for Cats and Dogs purchasing an advertising subscription."
Specifically, he alleges that a Yelp sales representative promised to move the reviews to the bottom of its results, ensure that they did not appear in search engine results, and also allow the hospital to decide which order reviews would appear in on Yelp, in exchange for a one-year $300-a-month ad buy.
The lawsuit was filed one year after the East Bay Express reported in an explosive article that some business owners were alleging that Yelp sales representatives offered to bury bad reviews in exchange for ad purchases. Yelp's CEO disputed the allegations.
Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman says that it's not clear how far the case will get in court. Even if Cats and Dogs can prove that Yelp's sales representatives promised to remove bad reviews in exchange for ad purchases, it's not clear that such tactics violate California's business code, Goldman says.
On the other hand, he adds, judges might be sympathetic to the business owners who are suing. "The allegations are damning," he says. "I could see a court saying, 'Give me a legal theory and I will find a remedy.'"
A Yelp spokesperson denied the allegations and said the company will fight the lawsuit aggressively. "The allegations are demonstrably false, since many businesses that advertise on Yelp have both negative and positive reviews. These businesses realize that both kinds of feedback provide authenticity and value."
"Yelp frequently exercises its control over the Yelp.com listing application to modify business listing pages to the advantage of businesses that purchase Yelp advertising subscriptions, and the disadvantage of those that decline," Cats and Dogs Animal Hospital owner Gregory Perrault alleges in a complaint (PDF) filed in federal district court in the central district of California.
Cats and Dogs, based in Long Beach, alleges that Yelp violated California's business code. The company is seeking class-action status.
Perrault says in his complaint that his dispute with Yelp stemmed from two "defamatory" reviews that appeared on the site. The posts allegedly included statements like "Dr. Perrault is the rudest vet I've ever been to" and "my poor dog was terrified of him."
Perrault says in his lawsuit that shortly after these reviews appeared, he began receiving "frequent, high-pressure calls from Yelp advertising employees, who promised to manipulate Cats and Dogs' Yelp.com listing page in exchange for Cats and Dogs purchasing an advertising subscription."
Specifically, he alleges that a Yelp sales representative promised to move the reviews to the bottom of its results, ensure that they did not appear in search engine results, and also allow the hospital to decide which order reviews would appear in on Yelp, in exchange for a one-year $300-a-month ad buy.
The lawsuit was filed one year after the East Bay Express reported in an explosive article that some business owners were alleging that Yelp sales representatives offered to bury bad reviews in exchange for ad purchases. Yelp's CEO disputed the allegations.
Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman says that it's not clear how far the case will get in court. Even if Cats and Dogs can prove that Yelp's sales representatives promised to remove bad reviews in exchange for ad purchases, it's not clear that such tactics violate California's business code, Goldman says.
On the other hand, he adds, judges might be sympathetic to the business owners who are suing. "The allegations are damning," he says. "I could see a court saying, 'Give me a legal theory and I will find a remedy.'"
A Yelp spokesperson denied the allegations and said the company will fight the lawsuit aggressively. "The allegations are demonstrably false, since many businesses that advertise on Yelp have both negative and positive reviews. These businesses realize that both kinds of feedback provide authenticity and value."
Monday, February 15, 2010
Southern New Jersey Patent Attorney Stuart M. Goldstein Secures approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ...
Marlton, New Jersey (PRWEB) October 5, 2009 -- Stuart M. Goldstein (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com), partner and founding shareholder of the law firm of Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC, has been successful in securing approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a new revolutionary patent (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com) that overcomes the limitations and disadvantages of prior supercharger control systems - efficiently, easily, effectively.
The new invention by Billy Machner of Browns Mills, New Jersey, addresses the problems that plague most current superchargers. A supercharger is installed on a vehicle internal combustion engine to provide air at high pressure into the engine's intake manifolds. Added high-pressure air increases engine horsepower. However, since most superchargers are driven by the engine, the engine has to work harder to operate the supercharger. As a result, engine efficiency is reduced and more fuel is consumed. There are more emissions and more wear on engine components. Simply put, that means added expense for fuel and parts, as well as an increased negative impact on the environment.
Machner's supercharger control system is a compact, solid mount unit that is easily installed on an engine's existing crankshaft by a supercharger clutch assembly. The supercharger control system directs the operation of the vehicle's supercharger, allowing the driver to simply and efficiently switch the supercharger on or off. When the supercharger is not needed, the driver can switch it off - the clutch assembly is disconnected to stop the operation of the supercharger. The driver can easily switch it on when opting to obtain high-speed performance. This on/off process helps, over the long run, to increase fuel efficiency, limit exhaust emissions, and reduce wear on the engine, crankshaft and other engine components, including the supercharger itself, by keeping cool when disconnected.
Retrofitted into aftermarket vehicles with superchargers or offered as standard or optional equipment with new production vehicles, this supercharger control system offers a wealth of practical marketing opportunities.
It is through Mr. Goldstein's expertise in matters involving a variety of industrial and consumer products as well as equipment and systems within the mechanical, electrical, and marine disciplines that make him the patent attorney clients seek out in order to receive patent protection for their creative products and improvements.
Mr. Goldstein oversees Hollstein Keating's southern New Jersey office's Intellectual Property Department, specializing in patent and trademark law. Mr. Goldstein's solid background, experience, and technical knowledge in the mechanical, electrical-mechanical, and marine arts began with his B.S. in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York in 1972. For six years, he worked as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., attaining primary examiner status. Since 1978, he has been registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney (Registration #22817), handling patent application prosecution and related litigation.
As a specialist in the patent field, Mr. Goldstein advises manufacturers, businesses, and individuals on product design, development, and integrity, guiding them efficiently through the complex patent approval process. Says Mr. Goldstein, "If it is new and useful, if it can be made, if it has potential value, it should be patented. When you are looking to protect your original invention or improvement on existing technology, when you are looking to secure intellectual property ownership rights, when you are looking to safeguard future commercial success, the goal is to protect your patent ownership rights. Over the years, I have seen the consequences of not obtaining patent protection (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com), of opportunities lost, and the loss of investment, time, energy, marketing possibilities and ownership. With patent protection, your creative product or improvement becomes your exclusive property. And the rewards that come with it can be enormous."
Mr. Goldstein's representative patent areas include all types of mechanical and electrical products and improvements, methods and systems: for example, construction tools and equipment, cleaning tools and appliances, electrical lighting and switches, household appliances, plumbing and electrical tools, appliances and related equipment, hardware and gardening tools, conveyor systems, automotive products and accessories, vessel and marine-related products and systems, recreational and leisure-related products, and medical devices and appliances.
Among the newest technical patents that have received patent approval through Mr. Goldstein's professional guidance are the Chair Storage Rack (U.S. Pat. No, 7,578,400), which allows for the simple and efficient storage of beach chairs and beach accessories, and the Adjustable Fishing Rod Holder (U.S. Pat. No. 7,559,171), allowing the fishing rods of anglers and fishermen to be maintained in place in a variety of pre-selected fishing angles. The Bow Mounted Vessel Propulsion System (U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,810), which is a practical, effective, and efficient vessel propulsion system that addresses the limitations of prior propulsion systems, by reducing hull surface drag, enhancing fuel efficiency, and increasing vessel speed and maneuverability. The Conduit Rack Electrical Junction Box (U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,912) provides for a more efficient installation and use in suspended conduit racks. Invented by a licensed electrician for use within the construction industry, this invention accepts runs of protective conduit in conduit rack systems without interfering with the horizontal run of the conduit. This improvement eliminates the need for bending runs of conduit, saving time, material costs and labor. The Bimini Twist Jig (U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,346) offers a simple, easy to use product that always results in the tying of a perfect Bimini twist - considered to be the most important knot in fishing. The Eyeglass Display and Demonstration System (U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,799) is a convenient and practical system that allows the eyeglass wearer to visualize how a given pair of glasses will actually look with any given lens shape and tint before the lenses are fitted in the frames.
For additional information, contact Angela Forte, Office Administrator at 856.810.8860. Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC is a full service civil litigation firm with expertise in all aspects of property, casualty, and commercial matters. Hollstein Keating represents a wide range of clients with nationwide legal concerns - individuals, corporations, businesses, and Fortune 500 companies concentrated throughout the Northeast, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Their practice areas include casualty, commercial litigation, environmental, insurance coverage, maritime law, mass and toxic tort, patent and trademark law, products liability, sports and recreational law, and subrogation.
About Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC
Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC (http://www.hollsteinkeating.com) is a full service civil litigation firm with expertise in all aspects of property, casualty, and commercial matters. Hollstein Keating represents a wide range of clients with nationwide legal concerns - individuals, corporations, businesses, and Fortune 500 companies concentrated throughout the Northeast, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Their practice areas include casualty, commercial litigation, environmental, insurance coverage, maritime law, mass and toxic tort, patent and trademark law, products liability, sports and recreational law, and subrogation.
Websites:
http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com
http://www.hollsteinkeating.com
###
The new invention by Billy Machner of Browns Mills, New Jersey, addresses the problems that plague most current superchargers. A supercharger is installed on a vehicle internal combustion engine to provide air at high pressure into the engine's intake manifolds. Added high-pressure air increases engine horsepower. However, since most superchargers are driven by the engine, the engine has to work harder to operate the supercharger. As a result, engine efficiency is reduced and more fuel is consumed. There are more emissions and more wear on engine components. Simply put, that means added expense for fuel and parts, as well as an increased negative impact on the environment.
Machner's supercharger control system is a compact, solid mount unit that is easily installed on an engine's existing crankshaft by a supercharger clutch assembly. The supercharger control system directs the operation of the vehicle's supercharger, allowing the driver to simply and efficiently switch the supercharger on or off. When the supercharger is not needed, the driver can switch it off - the clutch assembly is disconnected to stop the operation of the supercharger. The driver can easily switch it on when opting to obtain high-speed performance. This on/off process helps, over the long run, to increase fuel efficiency, limit exhaust emissions, and reduce wear on the engine, crankshaft and other engine components, including the supercharger itself, by keeping cool when disconnected.
Retrofitted into aftermarket vehicles with superchargers or offered as standard or optional equipment with new production vehicles, this supercharger control system offers a wealth of practical marketing opportunities.
It is through Mr. Goldstein's expertise in matters involving a variety of industrial and consumer products as well as equipment and systems within the mechanical, electrical, and marine disciplines that make him the patent attorney clients seek out in order to receive patent protection for their creative products and improvements.
Mr. Goldstein oversees Hollstein Keating's southern New Jersey office's Intellectual Property Department, specializing in patent and trademark law. Mr. Goldstein's solid background, experience, and technical knowledge in the mechanical, electrical-mechanical, and marine arts began with his B.S. in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York in 1972. For six years, he worked as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., attaining primary examiner status. Since 1978, he has been registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney (Registration #22817), handling patent application prosecution and related litigation.
As a specialist in the patent field, Mr. Goldstein advises manufacturers, businesses, and individuals on product design, development, and integrity, guiding them efficiently through the complex patent approval process. Says Mr. Goldstein, "If it is new and useful, if it can be made, if it has potential value, it should be patented. When you are looking to protect your original invention or improvement on existing technology, when you are looking to secure intellectual property ownership rights, when you are looking to safeguard future commercial success, the goal is to protect your patent ownership rights. Over the years, I have seen the consequences of not obtaining patent protection (http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com), of opportunities lost, and the loss of investment, time, energy, marketing possibilities and ownership. With patent protection, your creative product or improvement becomes your exclusive property. And the rewards that come with it can be enormous."
Mr. Goldstein's representative patent areas include all types of mechanical and electrical products and improvements, methods and systems: for example, construction tools and equipment, cleaning tools and appliances, electrical lighting and switches, household appliances, plumbing and electrical tools, appliances and related equipment, hardware and gardening tools, conveyor systems, automotive products and accessories, vessel and marine-related products and systems, recreational and leisure-related products, and medical devices and appliances.
Among the newest technical patents that have received patent approval through Mr. Goldstein's professional guidance are the Chair Storage Rack (U.S. Pat. No, 7,578,400), which allows for the simple and efficient storage of beach chairs and beach accessories, and the Adjustable Fishing Rod Holder (U.S. Pat. No. 7,559,171), allowing the fishing rods of anglers and fishermen to be maintained in place in a variety of pre-selected fishing angles. The Bow Mounted Vessel Propulsion System (U.S. Pat. No. 7,096,810), which is a practical, effective, and efficient vessel propulsion system that addresses the limitations of prior propulsion systems, by reducing hull surface drag, enhancing fuel efficiency, and increasing vessel speed and maneuverability. The Conduit Rack Electrical Junction Box (U.S. Pat. No. 7,022,912) provides for a more efficient installation and use in suspended conduit racks. Invented by a licensed electrician for use within the construction industry, this invention accepts runs of protective conduit in conduit rack systems without interfering with the horizontal run of the conduit. This improvement eliminates the need for bending runs of conduit, saving time, material costs and labor. The Bimini Twist Jig (U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,346) offers a simple, easy to use product that always results in the tying of a perfect Bimini twist - considered to be the most important knot in fishing. The Eyeglass Display and Demonstration System (U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,799) is a convenient and practical system that allows the eyeglass wearer to visualize how a given pair of glasses will actually look with any given lens shape and tint before the lenses are fitted in the frames.
For additional information, contact Angela Forte, Office Administrator at 856.810.8860. Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC is a full service civil litigation firm with expertise in all aspects of property, casualty, and commercial matters. Hollstein Keating represents a wide range of clients with nationwide legal concerns - individuals, corporations, businesses, and Fortune 500 companies concentrated throughout the Northeast, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Their practice areas include casualty, commercial litigation, environmental, insurance coverage, maritime law, mass and toxic tort, patent and trademark law, products liability, sports and recreational law, and subrogation.
About Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC
Hollstein Keating Cattell Johnson & Goldstein PC (http://www.hollsteinkeating.com) is a full service civil litigation firm with expertise in all aspects of property, casualty, and commercial matters. Hollstein Keating represents a wide range of clients with nationwide legal concerns - individuals, corporations, businesses, and Fortune 500 companies concentrated throughout the Northeast, specifically in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and New York. Their practice areas include casualty, commercial litigation, environmental, insurance coverage, maritime law, mass and toxic tort, patent and trademark law, products liability, sports and recreational law, and subrogation.
Websites:
http://www.nj-pa-patentattorney.com
http://www.hollsteinkeating.com
###
Labels:
autos,
laws,
new jersey,
news,
nj
Monday, February 8, 2010
Free Business Symposium to Bolster Monmouth & Ocean County Year-Round Tourism
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Robert Hilton
Executive Director
Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tel: 732.337.7061
robertjhilton@aol.com
BUSINESSES OF ALL SECTORS UNITING TO SHOWCASE A SHORE FOR ALL SEASONS
Free February 12 Symposium to launch “A Partnership for Success” to promote year-round tourism in Monmouth and Ocean Counties
Freehold, NJ – February 8, 2010 – Drawing from nearly every business sector – from hotels, restaurants and seaside arcades to commercial laundries, restaurant supply houses and local markets – a new business force is rising like high tide and launching a wave to showcase Monmouth and Ocean counties as a shore for all seasons.
“A Partnership for Success” is the powerful idea behind the newly organized Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau (JSCVB) and its 2010 Symposium scheduled for February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakewood, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The JSCVB is supported by a joint effort of the Monmouth County and Ocean County departments of tourism created to foster a coordinated partnership between government and the wide variety of businesses in both counties impacted by tourism. The symposium is being co-hosted by the MODC Cultural & Tourism Committee.
The symposium will allow businesses, as well as local chambers of commerce and government bodies, to learn about the benefits of the $100 membership in the JSCVB, which include preferred treatment on the web site; priority consideration for inclusion in press and travel trade tours; priority consideration for reference in press releases and marketing campaigns; representation at consumer and travel expositions; and advocacy through the NJ Travel Industry Association and the U.S. Travel Association.
“We are a destination marketing organization and our goal is to market the Jersey Shore,” said Robert Hilton, executive director of the JSCVB. “With the economy the way it is today, the greatest challenge is letting people know what’s going on in this region. People can’t advertise individually the way they did before. We have the ability to advertise, get to trade shows, put information on the Internet and reach people to tell them what’s happening year-round. Individually, businesses don’t have the budget to do all that.”
For example, the JSCVB soon will be launching a $35,000, five-week media marketing campaign using radio station WPLJ that will promote local activities and drive consumers to www.visitthejerseyshore.com.
“Tourism makes a vital contribution to the social and economic well-being of the region,” said Jeanne DeYoung, director of tourism for Monmouth County, who noted that each visitor spends nearly $550 and creates $64 in state and local tax revenue and that every 160 visitors creates one job and $240 in wages. “Tourism is an economic engine that provides jobs, builds interest in the environment and maintains the economic viability of many local businesses.”
Barbara Steele, director of public affairs and tourism for Ocean County, added, “This symposium will be an opportunity to network. It will provide nuts and bolts information about the resources and support that are available to anybody who has tourism dollars flowing through their business or organization, either directly or indirectly.”
That brush paints a very wide stroke, according to Hilton. While many business sectors benefiting from tourism are obvious – such as hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts; restaurants; seaside entertainment and shopping outlets – others are less apparent, he said. They can include such disparate businesses as commercial laundries and restaurant supply houses; non-traditional shore entertainment venues for rainy days; local markets and convenience stores that enjoy greater foot-traffic when tourism increases; contractors and construction companies; business services firms; and many others, he said.
The JSCVB already boasts an impressive membership list, including Monmouth Park Racetrack, Six Flags Great Adventure, the Molly Pitcher Inn and the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, Jenkinson’s Pavilion in Point Pleasant, Seastreak Ferry and Seaside Heights. However, the JSCVB is not just for large businesses, DeYoung stresses.
“In the current challenging economy, the JSCVB offers an additional outlet for businesses, large and small alike, to access a customer base through cooperative marketing and partnerships year-round that perhaps would not be accessible to them on their own,” she said.
Hilton added, “The local food market, pharmacist or hardware store may never have felt a need to advertise to out-of-town travelers, but when more people visit the region, they have more customers. Tourism benefits all of us. When people come to the Jersey Shore it creates revenue, it generates taxes and keeps property taxes down. It raises all boats.”
The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium – Tourism & Business / A Partnership for Success will be held Friday, February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1885 Route 70, Lakewood. Networking and a continental breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9:00 a.m. There is no charge to attend.
To register for the symposium, contact the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau by phone at 732-303-5984, fax at 732-845-0412 or email at director@visitthejerseyshore.com.
What:
The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium
Tourism & Business - “A Partnership for Success”
A panel discussion about the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, its activities to promote year-round tourism for Monmouth and Ocean counties and the benefits of membership.
Where:
Hilton Garden Inn
1885 Route 70, Lakewood
When:
Friday – February 12
Networking and Continental Breakfast - 8:30 a.m.
Program - 9:00-11:00 a.m.
How:
To Register:
Call 732-303-5984
Fax 732-845-0412
Email director@visitthejerseyshore.com
There is no charge to attend the symposium
Contact:
Robert Hilton
Executive Director
Jersey Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau
Tel: 732.337.7061
robertjhilton@aol.com
BUSINESSES OF ALL SECTORS UNITING TO SHOWCASE A SHORE FOR ALL SEASONS
Free February 12 Symposium to launch “A Partnership for Success” to promote year-round tourism in Monmouth and Ocean Counties
Freehold, NJ – February 8, 2010 – Drawing from nearly every business sector – from hotels, restaurants and seaside arcades to commercial laundries, restaurant supply houses and local markets – a new business force is rising like high tide and launching a wave to showcase Monmouth and Ocean counties as a shore for all seasons.
“A Partnership for Success” is the powerful idea behind the newly organized Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau (JSCVB) and its 2010 Symposium scheduled for February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lakewood, beginning at 8:30 a.m. The JSCVB is supported by a joint effort of the Monmouth County and Ocean County departments of tourism created to foster a coordinated partnership between government and the wide variety of businesses in both counties impacted by tourism. The symposium is being co-hosted by the MODC Cultural & Tourism Committee.
The symposium will allow businesses, as well as local chambers of commerce and government bodies, to learn about the benefits of the $100 membership in the JSCVB, which include preferred treatment on the web site; priority consideration for inclusion in press and travel trade tours; priority consideration for reference in press releases and marketing campaigns; representation at consumer and travel expositions; and advocacy through the NJ Travel Industry Association and the U.S. Travel Association.
“We are a destination marketing organization and our goal is to market the Jersey Shore,” said Robert Hilton, executive director of the JSCVB. “With the economy the way it is today, the greatest challenge is letting people know what’s going on in this region. People can’t advertise individually the way they did before. We have the ability to advertise, get to trade shows, put information on the Internet and reach people to tell them what’s happening year-round. Individually, businesses don’t have the budget to do all that.”
For example, the JSCVB soon will be launching a $35,000, five-week media marketing campaign using radio station WPLJ that will promote local activities and drive consumers to www.visitthejerseyshore.com.
“Tourism makes a vital contribution to the social and economic well-being of the region,” said Jeanne DeYoung, director of tourism for Monmouth County, who noted that each visitor spends nearly $550 and creates $64 in state and local tax revenue and that every 160 visitors creates one job and $240 in wages. “Tourism is an economic engine that provides jobs, builds interest in the environment and maintains the economic viability of many local businesses.”
Barbara Steele, director of public affairs and tourism for Ocean County, added, “This symposium will be an opportunity to network. It will provide nuts and bolts information about the resources and support that are available to anybody who has tourism dollars flowing through their business or organization, either directly or indirectly.”
That brush paints a very wide stroke, according to Hilton. While many business sectors benefiting from tourism are obvious – such as hotels, motels and bed and breakfasts; restaurants; seaside entertainment and shopping outlets – others are less apparent, he said. They can include such disparate businesses as commercial laundries and restaurant supply houses; non-traditional shore entertainment venues for rainy days; local markets and convenience stores that enjoy greater foot-traffic when tourism increases; contractors and construction companies; business services firms; and many others, he said.
The JSCVB already boasts an impressive membership list, including Monmouth Park Racetrack, Six Flags Great Adventure, the Molly Pitcher Inn and the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, Jenkinson’s Pavilion in Point Pleasant, Seastreak Ferry and Seaside Heights. However, the JSCVB is not just for large businesses, DeYoung stresses.
“In the current challenging economy, the JSCVB offers an additional outlet for businesses, large and small alike, to access a customer base through cooperative marketing and partnerships year-round that perhaps would not be accessible to them on their own,” she said.
Hilton added, “The local food market, pharmacist or hardware store may never have felt a need to advertise to out-of-town travelers, but when more people visit the region, they have more customers. Tourism benefits all of us. When people come to the Jersey Shore it creates revenue, it generates taxes and keeps property taxes down. It raises all boats.”
The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium – Tourism & Business / A Partnership for Success will be held Friday, February 12 at the Hilton Garden Inn at 1885 Route 70, Lakewood. Networking and a continental breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., with the program starting at 9:00 a.m. There is no charge to attend.
To register for the symposium, contact the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau by phone at 732-303-5984, fax at 732-845-0412 or email at director@visitthejerseyshore.com.
What:
The Jersey Shore CVB 2010 Symposium
Tourism & Business - “A Partnership for Success”
A panel discussion about the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, its activities to promote year-round tourism for Monmouth and Ocean counties and the benefits of membership.
Where:
Hilton Garden Inn
1885 Route 70, Lakewood
When:
Friday – February 12
Networking and Continental Breakfast - 8:30 a.m.
Program - 9:00-11:00 a.m.
How:
To Register:
Call 732-303-5984
Fax 732-845-0412
Email director@visitthejerseyshore.com
There is no charge to attend the symposium
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Friday, February 5, 2010
Pa. businessman admits bribing NJ labor inspector
The owner of a Philadelphia-based temporary labor firm has admitted bribing a senior investigator in the New Jersey Labor Department.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday that Channavel "Danny" Kong of Philadelphia pleaded guilty Feb. 2 to bribery and failure to pay employment taxes.
The 38-year-old Kong remains free on bond pending his May 28 sentencing.
He owned Sunrise Labor, a company that provided temporary employees to businesses and usually assumed responsibility for withholding and paying state and federal payroll taxes.
Kong admitted that from 2006 through January 2009 he paid more than $55,000 to labor investigator Joseph Rivera to protect the company from state audits. Rivera pleaded guilty in March 2009 to accepting bribes.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced Thursday that Channavel "Danny" Kong of Philadelphia pleaded guilty Feb. 2 to bribery and failure to pay employment taxes.
The 38-year-old Kong remains free on bond pending his May 28 sentencing.
He owned Sunrise Labor, a company that provided temporary employees to businesses and usually assumed responsibility for withholding and paying state and federal payroll taxes.
Kong admitted that from 2006 through January 2009 he paid more than $55,000 to labor investigator Joseph Rivera to protect the company from state audits. Rivera pleaded guilty in March 2009 to accepting bribes.
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Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc. Announces Record Earnings
FORT LEE, N.J., Feb. 4, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Bancorp of New Jersey, Inc. (NYSE Amex:BKJ), holding company for Bank of New Jersey, reported record annual and fourth quarter net income. For the year ended December 31, 2009, net income reached $1.3 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, compared to $527 thousand, or $0.10 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, net income reached a fourth quarter record level of $435 thousand, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to $174 thousand, or $0.03 per diluted share, for the quarter ended December 31, 2008. The net income generated during each of these periods represents the highest net income ever achieved by the Company during these respective periods and continues the Company's profitability.
During the year ended December 31, 2009, net interest income increased by 38.3% and exceeded $9.5 million compared to approximately $6.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, net interest income reached $2.7 million, an increase of approximately $800 thousand, or approximately 44.7%, over the $1.9 million of net interest income earned during the fourth quarter of 2008. These increases are reflective of management's focus on and success improving its net interest income during periods of falling interest rates. As a result of improved net interest income, the company was able to absorb increases in noninterest expense as a result of increased FDIC insurance expense, the impact of the FDIC special assessment during the year, and increased costs associated with continued branch expansion during 2009.
Bancorp of New Jersey's total assets grew by approximately 5.1% to $319.6 million at December 31, 2009 compared to $304.1 million at December 31, 2008. The Company also experienced continued growth in its loans, deposits, and equity as well. Total loans reached $263.9 million at December 31, 2009 compared to $234.9 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $29.0 million, or 12.3%. Total deposits increased to $267.1 million at December 31, 2009 from $254.0 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $13.1 million, or 5.2%. Stockholders' equity grew to $49.5 million at December 31, 2009 from $47.9 million at December 31, 2008, reflecting an increase of $1.7 million, or 3.5%. The increase in equity is net of the effect of the 30 cent per share special cash dividend which was declared during 2009 and totaled approximately $1.5 million.
Bank of New Jersey, headquartered at 1365 Palisade Avenue, Fort Lee, New Jersey, offers convenient hours and a high level of service for traditional consumer and commercial products and services. The Bank, currently, has 6 branch offices located in Fort Lee (3 locations), Hackensack, Haworth, and Harrington Park, all in Bergen County, NJ. A seventh location in Englewood, NJ, has received regulatory approvals and is expected to open during the summer of 2010.
For more information about Bank of New Jersey and its products and services, please visit http://www.bonj.net or call 201-944-8600.
During the year ended December 31, 2009, net interest income increased by 38.3% and exceeded $9.5 million compared to approximately $6.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2008. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, net interest income reached $2.7 million, an increase of approximately $800 thousand, or approximately 44.7%, over the $1.9 million of net interest income earned during the fourth quarter of 2008. These increases are reflective of management's focus on and success improving its net interest income during periods of falling interest rates. As a result of improved net interest income, the company was able to absorb increases in noninterest expense as a result of increased FDIC insurance expense, the impact of the FDIC special assessment during the year, and increased costs associated with continued branch expansion during 2009.
Bancorp of New Jersey's total assets grew by approximately 5.1% to $319.6 million at December 31, 2009 compared to $304.1 million at December 31, 2008. The Company also experienced continued growth in its loans, deposits, and equity as well. Total loans reached $263.9 million at December 31, 2009 compared to $234.9 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $29.0 million, or 12.3%. Total deposits increased to $267.1 million at December 31, 2009 from $254.0 million at December 31, 2008, an increase of $13.1 million, or 5.2%. Stockholders' equity grew to $49.5 million at December 31, 2009 from $47.9 million at December 31, 2008, reflecting an increase of $1.7 million, or 3.5%. The increase in equity is net of the effect of the 30 cent per share special cash dividend which was declared during 2009 and totaled approximately $1.5 million.
Bank of New Jersey, headquartered at 1365 Palisade Avenue, Fort Lee, New Jersey, offers convenient hours and a high level of service for traditional consumer and commercial products and services. The Bank, currently, has 6 branch offices located in Fort Lee (3 locations), Hackensack, Haworth, and Harrington Park, all in Bergen County, NJ. A seventh location in Englewood, NJ, has received regulatory approvals and is expected to open during the summer of 2010.
For more information about Bank of New Jersey and its products and services, please visit http://www.bonj.net or call 201-944-8600.
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