Articles

While most of us were busy nursing a New Year’s hangover on January 1, 2015, the EU was introducing new VAT legislation, which could have huge consequences for tens of thousands of online businesses. In a snapshot: this new legislation changes the way VAT is applied to digital products purchased from within the EU. Prior to the changes, VAT was charged in the seller’s country only — meaning only one set of accounts were needed to keep your VAT tax affairs in order. However, going forward VAT will be charged in the country in which the digital product is purchased, making the […]

On the first Monday of December, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Elonis vs. United States, in which the Court took up the issue of what intent should be required for a person to be convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 875(c) which makes “communication containing any threat to kidnap…or…injure [another person]” a federal crime punishable by a fine and up to 5 years of imprisonment. Anyone who has spent any time on the Internet knows that threats and harassment are a common, if ugly, occurrence (see, for example, gamergate). What you might not know is […]