The Prepaid Press - February 2009 - (Page 4)

PREPAID BUSINESS February 15 · 2009 - 4 THE RETSKE REPORT By Gene Retske A Courthouse Divided line down the center. On the left side of the sign is the outline of the state of Texas, on the right, the outline of Arkansas. It is the only federal building of any kind in the country that crosses state lines. This bifurcation of a federal courthouse creates an anomalous situation that brings into sharp focus the complexities of dealing across state lines. There is a separate court staff for each state, who work in one state or the other, but they can sign pleadings for each other. Texas and Arkansas clerks are cross-deputized, but work primarily in their own state. Barnes and Folsom are the only Article III judges that have the authority of the Chief Justice of the United States to sit in separate circuits. Special laws had to be enacted in Texas and Arkansas to accommodate this situation. The U.S. Congress also had to write an exemption to federal laws so that prisoners who were being tried in one state could go to the bathroom in a different state, without being extradited. Civil cases can usually be moved with the consent of the parties. Judge David Folsom’s Eastern District of Texas courtroom is, of course, in Texas. His third floor courtroom backs up to Judge Harry Barnes Western District of Arkansas courtroom. The men’s room is in the Arkansas half of the building, and the women’s in the Texas side. (On the second floor, the men’s room is in Texas and the woman’s room in Arkansas.) There is a white line that runs through the center of the building on each floor, representing the TexasArkansas frontier, although that seems to be a strange term in this case. Sitting in the back row of Judge Folsom’s Eastern District courtroom, you are less than a foot, the thickness of the wall, from the back of Judge Barnes’ Western District courtroom. Employees and court workers have learned to deal with the vagaries created by this arrangement, and effortlessly make the necessary adjustments to accommodate a house divided. Visitors often make feeble attempts at humor, but the staff there have long since quit grimacing over their unoriginal jokes. One attorney quipped, “I think I will mosey over to Arkansas and go potty.” To which, an Arkansas bailiff reportedly said, “Why don’t you take a Texas while you are there?” sovereign turf that are outside the continental boundaries of the United States. Anything that is widely distributed, or used, is likely to cross multiple boundaries, increasing the complexity of doing business in multiple jurisdictions. The people in the Texarkana Courthouse are particularly suited to the difficulties in dealing with two jurisdictions, since the city of Texarkana itself has two of everything – two city governments, two mayors, two police departments – across two states. But, no matter how adept someone is, no one is prepared to handle the 50+ different enclaves, which creates endless permutations, increasing the likelihood that errors will be made, thereby increasing the legal exposure for doing business. There are two morals to this story. First, make sure you are covered for every location that you are selling products or services. Be sure that you that into account the complexity and expense of dealing with multiple locations in your business plan. It can be expensive, maybe devastatingly so, if you miss a critical filing or license. The second moral is that the leaders of the companies that are participants in an industry take a proactive role in making sure that rules in different, maybe even overlapping jurisdictions don’t conflict with each other. Industry organizations and associations are the best venue for this, if they exist. The lesson of the Texarkana Federal Courthouse is that overlapping kingdoms don’t have to conflict, if some careful planning and judicious cooperation is used. Be sure that you that into account the complexity and expense of dealing with multiple locations in your business plan. There are four distinct jurisdictions in the Texarkana Federal Courthouse – The Eastern District of Texas, the Western District of Arkansas, the 5th Circuit and the 8th Circuit. But this highly concentrated lesson in interstate jurisdictions is a vivid demonstration of the complexities of a nation with 50 more or less independent states, a federal district-Washington DC - and several territories, in addition to military bases, embassies and other pieces of This winter I had occasion to visit the federal courthouse in Texarkana as part of my expert witness practice. Built in 1933, the courthouse is straddled across the Texas and Arkansas border, exactly half the building in each state. The building is located in the 5th and the 8th Circuits, as well as the Eastern District of Texas and the Western District of Arkansas. Outside the front of the building is a large sign with a http://www.quadrantdistribution.com http://www.quadrantdistribution.com http://www.ipaystation.com http://www.ipaystation.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Prepaid Press - February 2009

Payments & Processing: Prepaid Debit Card Trends Contents The Retske Report: A Courthouse Divided Regulatory Rundown Prepaid Business: 5 Minutes With Darren Dat Lu, CEO of Lunex Group Prepaid Telecom: International Mobile Top-Up Virgin Mobile USA Compliance Plan Accepted by NYSE Tata Communications Launches One IP World KIT Communications Selects PhoenixSoft Sprint Nextel Increases Payments to Virgin Mobile Motorola, Sprint and Boost Mobile Welcome iDEN Flip PhoenixSoft Announces New Program Virgin Mobile Partners with Susan G. Komen The State of Prepaid Technology: Prepaid Virtual Operators Emerge Prepaid Wireless Roundup Boost Launches ‘Monthly Unlimited’ in More Cities Cricket Selects Callidus On-Demand Solution ICC Worldwide Expands Prepaid Products IPsmarx Launches SIP Based Card Platform The Legal Line Prepaid Telecom in Brief Pinnacle Rolls Out Ingenico’s Payment Terminals TransCard Makes Staff Announcements H&R Block Bank Selects MasterCard Avangate Pays Vendors and Affiliates with Prepaid MC TIO Networks Announces Grant of Stock Options TSYS Offers Enhanced Loyalty Solution First American Payment Systems Inks Deal with RDM Hypercom Introduces HyperSafe Remote Key System i2c Expands Team iPayStation Integrates with Movistar Payments & Processing in Brief New Javelin Report on Evolving Prepaid Card Market TransCard, Socialwise Plan to Revolutionize Prepaid Congresswoman Introduces Financial Literacy Act Industry Analysis on Mobile Banking Available Gift Cards & Promotions: Seven Cost-Conscious Marketing Strategies for 2009 Ntreev USA Announces PvP Tournament hhgregg to Help Circuit City Customers NRF Releases December Industry Sales Cellfire Expands Kroger Mobile Coupon Program Petrofix.com Offers a New Fuel Solution Gift Cards & Promotions in Brief Our Advertisers Contact Us

The Prepaid Press - February 2009

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