Viacom International is getting a second shot at proving that YouTube massively infringed its copyrights by hosting clips from shows like "The Daily Show" and "Family Guy" without its permission. And whether Viacom and its lawyers succeed or not, they've already managed to shape the developing case law over copyrighted content that users illegally upload to the Internet.

The U.K. Bribery Act arrived this summer in a hail of publicity. But that act won't move mountains without a change in Britain's legal structure. "There's a real need [in the U.K.] for a middle ground between full-on criminal prosecution and civil recovery," said the former U.K. corruption prosecutor Matthew Cowie, now with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meager & Flom.