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Archive for October, 2008|Monthly archive page


New Mexico Lawyer of the week: Vern Payne

In Lawyer of the week on October 30, 2008 at 4:48 am

Vern Payne is a Belen Attorney with over 40 years of legal experience. Mr. Payne also spent time in the judiciary as both a New Mexico trial judge and a member of the New Mexico Supreme Court. In addition, Mr. Payne has served as both a Faculty Advisor and Faculty Member of The National Judicial College.

Mr. Payne received his Juris Doctorate from the University of New Mexico in 1964 and has continuously served the State of New Mexico since that time. He is the senior partner of Smith & Payne, and specializes as a New Mexico probate lawyer.

Vern’s father was also a New Mexico lawyer who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives for the State of New Mexico. Vern’s mother was presented with the Mother of the Year Award for New Mexico. Vern is bilingual; speaking Spanish fluently enables him to better serve the diverse populous of New Mexico.

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eBay’s Sellers Feedback Policy – Unfair?

In Consumer Protection on October 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm

I recently read a BBC article about a cell phone proprietor from the UK who is unhappy with eBay’s “seller feedback” policy, which bans seller’s ability to leave negative feedback on a buyer. The cell phone proprietor claims that this policy emboldens buyers to hold seller’s ransom by demanding price cuts or the buyer will leave negative feedback about the seller’s practices. In other words, the buyer holds all the chips as the seller cannot refute any claims by buyers (even if they are false).

As an e-tailer I understand these eBay sellers concerns. Because of credit card companies chargeback policies, informed credit card users make very similar demands. For instance, our company website clearly states that certain items are non-refundable. However, we receive at least one or two emails a month that read like this “I am not happy with this product (which is non refundable) and want to return it for a full refund. If my refund is not issued, I will be demanding a chargeback from my credit card company.” As a retailer, I know that I will lose every time if the customer makes good on his threat and proceeds with a chrageback.

I also understand and believe in the other side of the coin – Consumer Protection. My question is simply: Is there a better way to balance business and consumer protection?


Do you buy into this “Code” for free speech on the Internet?

In Free Speech on October 28, 2008 at 5:26 pm

According to The New York Times, the Big 3 search engine companies are spearheading a coalition of companies and human rights organizations who aim to introduce a “code ” for free speech on the Internet. Reportedly, the goal is to “better protect free speech and privacy against government intrustion.”

The code is an effort of “The Global Network Initiative”, however the past actions of many members of the Global Network has some folks looking at the code skeptically. For instance: the Big 3 have been roundly criticized for cooperating with Chinese government censorship. Yahoo in particular has been criticized for its involvement in helping Chinese authorities identify Shi Tao, who had sent a brief of a Chinese government document calling for Press censorship to his private Yahoo email account, and is now serving a 10 year prison sentence as a result of the sent email.

It is little wonder that critics like Morton Sklar of the World Organization for Human Rights USA are calling the code “little more than a broad statement of support for a general principle without any concrete backup mechanism to ensure that the guidelines will be followed.”

Of course there are two sides to every coin and many would say that any effort, no matter how ineffective, to ensure privacy and free speech on the Internet should be applauded.

You will be able to make a call for “heads or tails” soon as the code is scheduled to be published tomorrow, Wednesday the 29th of October.

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