Business Feeds

In an article entitled “A Push to Regulate Prepaid Cards,” The Wall Street Journal (on 6/25/09) warned that prepaid reloadable cards—payment cards not tied to a traditional bank account—will not be covered by the new federal law designed to protect against fraud, ID theft, and losses from stolen cards. Also not covered: gift cards, wire transfers, checks, and securities/commodities transfers.

“Though many prepaid card companies do offer some consumer protections,” the article said, “they do so voluntarily.” A member of the federal government’s Consumer Advisory Council cautioned: “Cardholders’ inability to reject unauthorized charges makes it risky for them (to use the cards) to pay bills or make purchases online.”

However, the article continued, almost all prepaid cards are serviced by either Visa or MasterCard, “which offer holders zero liability and other protections against fraud.” But, usually, prepaid card issuers don’t send out monthly statements, so you won’t know if or when you’ve been a victim of fraud, or by whom.

As more people with cred

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Worried that giving a reference might open your company up to being sued? Read over these points to cut off any legal issues with giving references before they happen.

When checking references, its important to try and get as much information about the potential employee as possible. But when giving references for a former employee many entrepreneurs aren’t as eager to provide the same information. Here’s some information about why it is important to give a reference no matter what the former staff member’s history with the company was, as well as some procedures for every small business to follow to avoid legal ramifications.

How To Protect The Company When Writing A Letter Of Reference

When offering letters of reference or giving references over the phone, sharing a former employee’s negative experience can have serious legal and financial consequences.

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Acer reported its best quarter for revenue ever on Friday, smashing its earlier stellar growth rate, and predicting it will do even better thanks to continued growth of netbooks and its planned expansion into smartphones.

Acer reported third quarter revenue 5.3 percent over the third quarter of 2008 to NT$167.6 billion (US$5.2 billion). Net profit increased 14 percent to NT$3.47 billion (US$107.8 million). Acer executives said the company would have done even better had it not been for shortages of some components.

Both Gartner and IDC have put Acer in second place in the PC market, but that’s in units sold. Dell is far larger than Acer in terms of pure dollar revenue. That’s because Dell sells server, storage systems and has a services business. Acer, a pure consumer play, has none of that.

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Many people enter network marketing to earn additional income and are surprised by the social and emotional benefits of becoming part of the organization.

Multi-level marketing is not a new concept, but the latest thing to hit the network marketing world is certainly getting attention. The Trump Network offers a well-tested line of health, wellness and anti-aging products. But the benefits of this type of marketing network certainly go beyond the financial gains. Let’s explore all of the benefits.

Network Marketing’s Social Benefits

Network marketing offers social networking at its finest – - an opportunity to grow a business and nurture new relationships. Many people enter network marketing to create multiple streams of income, and realize they have found a great group of new friends.

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A rapidly growing computer support franchise is, for a limited time only, slashing the price of its business opportunity.

The founder, Hamish Robertson, explains what Robertson Technologies franchisees can expect for their money – which will amount to an initial £15k instead of £25k for the first five successful applicants.

Beyond that Hamish intends to recruit a staggering further 75 franchisees.

Most of our competitors want to service clients remotely and only provide on-site support in an emergency. We

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“Many Americans are coping with the worst job market in a generation by doubling up. (Moonlighting.) They’re scrambling to pick up the slack as they, or their partners, lose jobs, endure pay cuts or watch their retirement savings shrivel.” That’s a quote from a feature article in USA Today (6/24/09) entitled “Moonlighting becomes a way of life for many.”

Other reasons not mentioned: To pay down credit card balances, cope with the new, higher interest rates on many cards, and compensate for having their credit limits decreased.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national newspaper reported, there were about 7.6 million holders of multiple jobs so far this year: 5.3% of all employees. Workers in

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Three of the four commissioners in the Federal Trade Commission are in favor of filing a formal complaint against Intel over anticompetitive behavior, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.

The investigation into Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has been going on since mid-2008 but got kicked into high gear after the European Union fined the chipmaker $1.45 billion for engaging in anticompetitive practices, according to Reuters.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz and Commissioners Thomas Rosch and Pamela Jones Harbour are in favor of filing a complaint, the sources said.

“The Bush administration wasn’t really serious about antitrust, but Obama’s pretty serious about this stuff,” said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with The Enderle Group.

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SAN FRANCISCO — The CEO of Twitter admitted it’s hard for even the company itself to get precise figures on its growth rate while conceding traffic in the U.S. has “probably” slowed and Web traffic is “not as robust as it was. But we’ll be launching some things that will pick that up,” said Evan Williams here during an onstage interview at the Web 2.0 Summit Tuesday evening.

Williams also addressed the question that seems to have a special fascination for the media and the Internet industry — Twitter’s plans to generate more revenue. The popular microblogging service has so far resisted selling ads on the site.

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Whether it’s about late payments, pricing or quality of service, disagreements can quickly turn nasty in business. Mark Tudor, a principal at the law firm Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP, looks at how to resolve disputes between small businesses speedily and effectively.

Will someone else deal with it?

Disputes can be contractual or tortious. For most small businesses, disputes will be contractually based and are unlikely to be covered by insurance policies. Claims in negligence are more likely to be covered by insurance policies. Therefore, the first thing a business must do upon becoming aware of a dispute is to establish whether there is an insurer who will pick up the claim and the legal costs of the claim. This article is restricted to contractual claims. F

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