Just a reminder to our British friends, in many way, the US is not one country, but 50+ individual countries. Most law here is State law. While the great majority of law is _mostly_ the same from one state to another, it isn't uniform. And the differences can be very strong.
In this case, iD is in Texas. Though it may be a Delaware corporation, I'll bet dollars to donuts that its employment contracts have a 'Choice of Law' clause that specifies Texas Law to be used to settle disputes.
Texas is an "At Will" employment law state. That means either party can terminate an employment contract "at will." That means you do not have to give reasons, beyond some minimum guarantees that the decision was not unconstitutionally discriminatory, i.e., based on race, gender, etc.
Some states do have "Right To Work" employment laws, but I believe they're in the minority.
So in "At Will" states, even if you do an excellent job, that "You're fired!" that comes out of the blue is perfectly legal.
A couple of months ago, the Roger MacWilco Mac Alpha was released. It allows PC and Mac users to communicate with each other on the same RW channel. Just FYI, In October of 99, Roger Wilco merged with HearMe (formerly MPath Interactive). In addition to Roger Wilco, HearMe has several free voice products available now (currently all PC though)
Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides a non-exhaustive list of factors to be examine when determining whether the particular use of another's work is permissible. They're not long, so I'll post them: "In determining whether the use made of a work in a particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include--- (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." Obviously, factors 3 and 4 reflect the weight of Lars' argument. The difference in quality between a digital MP3 and a tape cassette copy of a vinyl recoring might easily fall into the scope of the "substantiality" term. Also, the NET Act (No Electronic Theft) Act amended the copyright law placing volume and dollar value thresholds for criminal copyright violations, closing the so-called "LaMacchia Loophole", which enabled an MIT student to escape liability because even though the computer service he provided (IIRC this was pre-WWW) allowed people to pirate and otherwise infringe the copyright of computer games, he did not personally profit from it. Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer but I'm not your lawyer. And I dont' practice right now anyway.
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In this case, iD is in Texas. Though it may be a Delaware corporation, I'll bet dollars to donuts that its employment contracts have a 'Choice of Law' clause that specifies Texas Law to be used to settle disputes.
Texas is an "At Will" employment law state. That means either party can terminate an employment contract "at will." That means you do not have to give reasons, beyond some minimum guarantees that the decision was not unconstitutionally discriminatory, i.e., based on race, gender, etc.
Some states do have "Right To Work" employment laws, but I believe they're in the minority.
So in "At Will" states, even if you do an excellent job, that "You're fired!" that comes out of the blue is perfectly legal.
Hack The Law. (.com coming soon I hope)
A couple of months ago, the Roger MacWilco Mac Alpha was released. It allows PC and Mac users to communicate with each other on the same RW channel. Just FYI, In October of 99, Roger Wilco merged with HearMe (formerly MPath Interactive). In addition to Roger Wilco, HearMe has several free voice products available now (currently all PC though)
Section 107 of the Copyright Act provides a non-exhaustive list of factors to be examine when determining whether the particular use of another's work is permissible. They're not long, so I'll post them: "In determining whether the use made of a work in a particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include--- (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for non-profit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work." Obviously, factors 3 and 4 reflect the weight of Lars' argument. The difference in quality between a digital MP3 and a tape cassette copy of a vinyl recoring might easily fall into the scope of the "substantiality" term. Also, the NET Act (No Electronic Theft) Act amended the copyright law placing volume and dollar value thresholds for criminal copyright violations, closing the so-called "LaMacchia Loophole", which enabled an MIT student to escape liability because even though the computer service he provided (IIRC this was pre-WWW) allowed people to pirate and otherwise infringe the copyright of computer games, he did not personally profit from it. Disclaimer: I'm a lawyer but I'm not your lawyer. And I dont' practice right now anyway.