Chegg 2014 Annual Report Download - page 47

Table of Contents
9
Numerous laws and regulatory schemes have been adopted at the national and state level in the United States, and in
some cases internationally, that have a direct impact on our business and operations. For example:
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and similar laws adopted by a number of states, which regulate unsolicited
commercial emails, create criminal penalties for emails containing fraudulent headers and control other abusive
online marketing practices. Similarly, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has guidelines that impose
responsibilities on us with respect to communications with consumers and impose fines and liability for failure
to comply with rules with respect to advertising or marketing practices they may deem misleading or deceptive.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), which restricts telemarketing and the use of
automated telephone equipment. The TCPA limits the use of automatic dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded
voice messages, SMS text messages and fax machines. It also applies to unsolicited text messages advertising
the commercial availability of goods or services. Additionally, a number of states have enacted statutes that
address telemarketing. For example, some states, such as California, Illinois and New York, have created do-not-
call lists. Other states, such as Oregon and Washington, have enacted “no rebuttal statutes” that require the
telemarketer to end the call when the consumer indicates that he or she is not interested in the product being
sold. Restrictions on telephone marketing, including calls and text messages, are enforced by the FTC, the
Federal Communications Commission, states and through the availability of statutory damages and class action
lawsuits for violations of the TCPA.
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, or CARD Act and other state laws
and regulations that relate to credit card and gift certificate use fairness, including expiration dates and fees. Our
business also requires that we comply with payment card industry data security and other standards. In
particular, we are subject to payment card association operating rules, certification requirements and rules
governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible
for us to comply. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, or if our data security systems are
breached or compromised, we may be liable for card issuing banks’ costs, subject to fines and higher transaction
fees and lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from our customers, process electronic funds
transfers or facilitate other types of online payments, and our business and operating results could be adversely
affected.
Regulations relating to the Program Participation Agreement of the U.S. Department of Education and other
laws and regulations relating to the recruitment of students to colleges and other institutions of higher learning.
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which imposes additional restrictions on the ability of online
services to collect information from minors. In addition, certain states, including Utah and Massachusetts, have
laws that impose criminal penalties on the production and distribution of content that is “harmful to a minor.”
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which provides relief for claims of circumvention of copyright
protected technologies and includes a safe harbor intended to reduce the liability of online service providers for
hosting, listing or linking to third-party content that infringes copyrights of others.
The Communications Decency Act, which provides that online service providers will not be considered the
publisher or speaker of content provided by others, such as individuals who post content on an online service
provider’s website.
Employees
As of December 31, 2014, we had 709 full-time employees. We also engage temporary, seasonal employees and
consultants. None of our employees are represented by labor unions or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have
not experienced any work stoppages and we consider our relations with our employees to be good.
Seasonality
Information about seasonality is set forth in the section “-Seasonality of Our Business” in Part II, Item 7 of this Annual
Report on Form 10-K.