Eyes on Ecom Law

Tennessee DOR and Attorney General Approve Unconstitutional “Economic Nexus” Rule

On Monday, October 3, 2016, the Tennessee Attorney General approved for publication by the Secretary of State a new rule promulgated by the Department of Revenue that requires out-of-state sellers who make at least $500,000 in sales to Tennessee customers to register for, collect and remit Tennessee sales and use tax, regardless of whether or...

Brann & Isaacson Files Petition for a Writ Certiorari on Behalf of Direct Marketing Association

On Monday, August 29, 2016, the Direct Marketing Association filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court seeking review of the decision of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Direct Mktg. Ass’n v. Brohl, 814 F.3d 1129 (10th Cir. 2016). Brann & Isaacson senior partner George Isaacson and...

Matthew Schaefer Publishes Article in E-Commerce Law & Policy on State Efforts to Overturn Quill

Brann & Isaacson Partner Matthew Schaefer authored the article “Internet sales taxes: US states aim to put Quill on the agenda,” appearing in the August 2016 issue of E-Commerce Law & Policy. In the article, Schaefer describes recent and newly-proposed state “economic nexus” laws that seek to undermine the “physical presence” standard of substantial nexus...

State Tax Notes Publisher Lauds Brann & Isaacson

In the June 27, 2016 edition of leading industry publication of State Tax Notes (Vol. 80, No. 13), Deputy Publisher David Brunori praised Brann & Isaacson’s work in defending the interests of online retailers and remote sellers in constitutional litigation regarding the physical presence “substantial nexus” standard of Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S....

Substantial Nexus Under Siege: Industry Fights Back!

Martin Eisenstein and David Bertoni have published their latest blog for members of the American Catalog Mailers Association:  The Industry Is Fighting Back.   The blog goes over each of the major battlefronts in the states’ multi-pronged effort to overturn the long-settled Commerce Clause rule of “substantial nexus,” which requires that companies have a physical presence...

BREXIT and Trademark Protection: Dangerous Territory Ahead?

There has been much discussion about the potentially dramatic impact of last week’s historic vote in the U.K. to withdraw from the European Union-from the plummeting pound sterling to the reunification of Ireland and the secession of Scotland from the U.K. Perhaps slightly less cataclysmic in the global sense, the Brexit also has the potential...

Louisiana Jumps on the Bandwagon, Enacts Remote Seller Consumer Notification and Reporting Requirements, Backed by Subpoena Power, Letters Rogatory, and Court Enforcement

Another state has adopted Colorado-style notice and reporting requirements. On June 17, 2016, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed into law Act No. 559 (formerly House Bill No. 1121) [To read the law, click here.], imposing customer notification and annual reporting requirements on each “remote retailer” making sales of tangible personal property or taxable services...

Tennessee Expands Data Breach Reporting Obligations

Amendments to Tennessee’s Data Breach Notification law will take effect July 1, 2016. The amendments, passed into law as H.B. 1631, and signed into law by Governor Bill Haslam earlier this spring, significantly tighten the notification requirements with respect to personal data regarding Tennessee Residents. 47 states, as well as the District of Columbia, have...

Colorado-Style Customer Notification Requirements Spread: Oklahoma Directs Remote Sellers To Send Annual Purchase Summaries To Consumers

On May 18, 2016, Oklahoma enacted a new statute, HB 2531, patterned, in part, after the Colorado notice and reporting law that has been the subject of long-running federal court litigation in Direct Marketing Association v. Brohl, 814 F.3d 1129 (10th Cir. 2016). (Brann & Isaacson represents the DMA in the Colorado suit.) Under the...

Vermont Enacts “Economic Nexus” Standards And Customer Notification Provisions, Set To Take Effect After Further Legal Developments In Other States

Not to be out done by other states that have enacted laws intended to challenge or circumvent the Supreme Court’s decision in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992), Vermont has enacted a new statute that adopts both South Dakota-type sales tax “economic nexus” thresholds and Colorado-type customer notification provisions. However, the new...