Internet Resources for California Businesses

A. Government Sites—Federal

Americans with Disabilities Act

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada

Information and technical assistance on the ADA by the U.S. Department of Justice.

BusinessLaw.gov

http://www.business.gov/

Home page, operated by the U.S. Small Business Administration, with links to legal and regulatory information, and plain English guides for starting a business, handling finances, managing employees, and other topics.

CIA, The World Factbook

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html

U.S. government profiles of countries and territories around the world.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

http://www.eeoc.gov/

EEOC site with basic introduction to employers' rights and responsibilities under the federal equal employment opportunity laws.

Federal agencies (through Library of Congress site)

http://www.loc.gov/rr/news/fedgov.html

A Library of Congress resource page with links to most federal agencies.

Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC)

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/

Part of the U.S. General Service Administration, the FCIC's Small Business Links offer information for persons planning or owning small businesses, including information on procurement, taxes, woman- and minority-owned businesses, human resources, and financial and legal issues.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

http://www.fdic.gov/

Home page with links to statistical data, pertinent regulations, and FAQs.

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

http://www.frbsf.org/

Home page. The current FRBSF discount rate, used to determine the usury ceiling in California, is posted at http://www.frbsf.org/banking/data/discount/index.html.

Federal Trade Commission

http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/business.shtm

Home page for businesses, with links to business publications, advertising guidance, fair packaging and labeling, antitrust law guide, and other topics. Information concerning the Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger notification requirements is at http://www.ftc.gov/bc/hsr/introguides/introguides.htm.

FirstGov.gov

http://www.firstgov.gov/Business/Business_Gateway.shtml

The official web portal of the U.S. government, with links to information on contracting with the U.S. government, export licenses, business financial assistance, and many other topics.

Internal Revenue Service

http://www.irs.gov/

Home page; access to downloadable IRS forms and publications.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

http://www.osha.gov/

Home page.

Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)

http://www.dol.gov/esa/ofccp/index.htm

Home page with statutory, regulatory, and compliance information regarding nondiscrimination requirements for federal contractors.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

http://www.occ.treas.gov/

Home page with links to reports and other resources for banking industry professionals as well as public information about the national banking system.

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative

http://www.ustr.gov/index.html

Home page.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

http://www.sec.gov/

Home page with links to information for small businesses; online access to proposed and final rules, SEC releases, policy statements, and other commission notices and information; searchable database of all electronic company filings since 1994.

SEC Edgar

http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

SEC Edgar main page, with access to electronic filings and forms.

Small Business Administration

http://www.sba.gov/

Home page with extensive links to federal and other resources for small businesses.

Social Security Administration

http://www.ssa.gov/

Home page. SSA forms are available online at http://www.ssa.gov/online/forms.html.

THOMAS

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.html

Website of the Library of Congress providing federal legislative information.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

http://www.uscis.gov

Home page with links to immigration laws and forms.

U.S. Copyright Office

http://www.copyright.gov/

Home page with links to copyright registration and other information.

U.S. Department of Commerce

http://www.commerce.gov/

Home page.

U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division

http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/public/guidelines/guidelin.htm

Link to Antitrust Division Guidelines and Policy Statements.

U.S. Department of Labor

http://www.dol.gov/

Home page with links to statutory and regulatory information, labor statistics, small business regulatory compliance assistance, and other information.

U.S. Department of Labor, Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)

http://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm

Dictionary of job titles and standardized job descriptions; useful for job placement, occupational research, career guidance, labor-market information, curriculum development, and long-range job planning. Last updated in 1991, the DOT has now been replaced by O*NET Online, http://online.onetcenter.org/.

U.S. Department of State

http://www.state.gov/

Home page with links to international commercial laws and guides.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

http://www.epa.gov/

Home page.

U.S. Government Printing Office

http://www.gpo.gov/

Home page with links to products and services, including online searchable copies of the United States Code and the Code of Federal Regulations.

U.S. International Trade Commission

http://www.usitc.gov/

Home page with rules, regulations, reports, and other information, including an extensive list of links to international trade resources.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

http://www.uspto.gov/

Home page with downloadable forms and information on patent applications and trademark registrations.

B. International Sites

Private International Law Database: Trade/Business Transactions Law, U.S. Department of State

http://www.state.gov/www/global/legal_affairs/transaction_law.html

Access to treaties in force for the United States, other international instruments, and information on current negotiations and projects concerning private international law. Updated through January 1, 2001. For treaty actions since President Bush took office, see http://www.state.gov/s/l/c3428.htm.

Electronic Embassy Website

http://www.embassy.org/

Information on all foreign embassies in Washington, D.C.

Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH)

http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=1

Home page.

International Trademark Association (INTA)

http://www.inta.org

INTA is an international nonprofit membership association dedicated to the support and advancement of trademarks and related intellectual property.

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

http://www.uncitral.org/

Home page with links to UNICITRAL texts, including conventions, model laws, guides to enactment, legislative guides, legislative recommendations, and model contract rules. In particular, this website includes the text of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

CISG Database at Pace University School of Law, Pace Law Library, Institute of International Commercial Law

http://cisgw3.law.pace.edu/

Site dedicated to U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), with annotated text of CISG, CISG in different languages, cases organized by countries, and related CISG material.

International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT)

http://www.unidroit.org/english/home.htm

Home page.

Canadian System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR)

http://www.sedar.com/

Home page of the Canadian equivalent to the SEC's EDGAR. Provides access to corporate filings of Canadian companies with Canada's securities regulatory authorities.

C. Government Sites—California

California Department of Corporations, Securities Regulation Division

http://www.corp.ca.gov/srd/security.htm

Access to forms, departmental publications, Commissioner's releases, opinions and notices, franchising information, and other topics.

California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/

Home page.

California Employment Development Department (EDD)

http://www.edd.ca.gov

Home page; information concerning job placement and referrals, unemployment insurance, disability insurance, employment and training, labor-market information, payroll taxes, and other topics.

California Franchise Tax Board (FTB)

http://www.ftb.ca.gov/

Home page with links to downloadable state tax forms and publications.

California Law Revision Commission

http://www.clrc.ca.gov/

Home page.

Official California Legislative Information

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/index.html

Full text of bills, resolutions, and constitutional amendments, as well as their status, history, votes, analyses, and veto messages.

California Legislative Resource

http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10137&id=10452

Webpage maintained by the State Bar of California with many helpful links regarding California's legislative process, pending bills, legislative calendar, committees, and other topics.

California Business Legislation Resource

http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_sections_generic.jsp?cid=10701&id=7041

Click on "Legislation" in left-hand menu. Provides links to recent business law legislative developments, from the State Bar of California, Business Law Section.

California Business Permits and Licensing Information

http://www.calgold.ca.gov/

To locate appropriate permitting information for California businesses, the CalGOLD database provides links and contact information that direct users to agencies that administer and issue business permits, licenses, and registration requirements from all levels of government.

California State Office of Privacy Protection

http://www.privacy.ca.gov/

State agency dedicated to promoting and protecting the privacy rights of consumers.

California state agencies

http://www.ca.gov

State of California site with links to California agencies, departments, and commissions.

California State Association of Counties

http://www.csac.counties.org/

Home page with links to all California counties.

California State Board of Equalization

http://www.boe.ca.gov/

Home page with access to information about sales and use taxes, sellers' permits, forms, and publications.

California Secretary of State: California Business Portal:

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/business.htm

Home page.

Forms:

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/bpd_forms.htm

Directory of forms and samples for different business filings, including UCC forms; some in fill-in format.

Business Filings:

 

Corporations

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/corp/corporate.htm

Corporations main page with links to filing tips to meet statutory minimum requirements, name availability, FAQs, and more.

Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/llc/llc.htm

LLC main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more.

Limited Partnerships

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/lp/lp.htm

Limited partnerships main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more.

General Partnerships

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/gp/gp.htm

General partnerships main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more.

Limited Liability Partnerships

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/llp/llp.htm

Limited liability partnership main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, and more.

Trademarks and Service Marks

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ts/ts.htm

Trademarks and service marks main page with links to forms and fees, name availability, FAQs, private service companies, and more.

Miscellaneous Filings

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/other/bp_other.htm

Links to filing requirements for unincorporated common interest development associations, unincorporated associations, unincorporated nonprofit associations, foreign lending institutions, and foreign partnerships.

California Business Search

http://kepler.ss.ca.gov/list.html

Fill-in boxes to check records online for corporations, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies.

Starting a Business

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/resources.htm

A step-by-step guide for starting a business in California; available in English or Spanish.

e-file Statement of Information

https://businessfilings.ss.ca.gov/

Fill-in boxes to file a Statement of Information for a corporation online.

Notary Public

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/notary/notary.htm

Notary public main page, with links to topics such as obtaining a notary public commission, handbook, authentications, apostille or certification, forms, and fees.

Uniform Commercial Code

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ucc/ucc.htm

UCC main page with links to financing statement forms, amendment forms, requests for information, revised Article 9 (as of July 1, 2001), and FAQs.

International Business Relations Program

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/ibrp/ibrp.htm

Main page in English or Spanish with international resources and business tips; intended to assist foreign corporations with various filing procedures.

Business Program Division, Legislation

http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/bpd_newleg.htm

Summaries and links to new state laws affecting businesses.

D. Private Agency Sites

ABA Section of Business Law

http://www.abanet.org/buslaw/home.html

Home page with links to publications and other resources for business lawyers.

Active Capital

http://activecapital.org/

Site dedicated to helping individual accredited investors, SBICs, and institutional venture capitalists find small, growing companies through a secure Internet database, and providing ongoing training and research for entrepreneurs and small investors.

AllBusiness

http://www.allbusiness.com

Small business portal, with links to forms, directories, and resources on many topics.

American Arbitration Association

http://www.adr.org/

Home page with links to rules and procedures.

Annual Reports.com

http://www.annualreports.com/

Free service offering links to annual reports of public companies.

BenefitsLink

http://www.benefitslink.com

Compliance information and tools for employee benefit plan sponsors, service-providers, and participants.

Better Business Bureau

http://www.bbb.org/

Home page.

The Biz-Tech Network by Brint Institute, LLC

http://www.brint.com/

Portal with a meta-index of business, management, and information technology topics; it also provides search capabilities and full text articles on related issues.

Business.com

http://www.business.com/

Business search engine and directory intended to help users find companies, products, services, and other business-related information; some features are fee-based.

Business Law Section of the State Bar of California

http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_sections_generic.jsp?sCategoryPath=/Home/Attorney%20Resources/Sections/Business%20Law

Home page with links to standing committees, programs, and publications.

Business Week Online

http://www.businessweek.com/

Articles, links, and opportunity to subscribe to free newsletter.

CNN Money

http://money.cnn.com/

General business news website offered by CNN and Fortune, Money and Business 2.0 magazines.

Corporate Finance Sourcebook

http://www.financesourcebook.com/

Link for ordering popular guidebook published by National Register Publishing. The guidebook features over 1500 top investment sources and 1700 service firms for business entrepreneurs.

Corporate Information

http://www.corporateinformation.com/

Subscription-based website offering research reports on public, private, domestic, and foreign corporations.

Creative Commons

http://creativecommons.org

A nonprofit organization founded by Prof. Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University that provides special copyright license forms and other free tools to enable authors, scientists, artists, and educators to share intellectual property.

DeVry University Business Administration Portal

http://www.academicinfo.net/busmeta.html

Portal with annotated links to a variety of business-related topics.

Dun & Bradstreet

http://www.dnb.com/

Home page of Dun & Bradstreet. Subscribers can request reports and run online queries in proprietary databases.

Edgar Online, Inc.

http://www.edgar-online.com/

Edgar Online, Inc. is a private company, not affiliated with the SEC, specializing in the extraction, packaging, and distribution of public company information contained in SEC filings.

Enterpreneur.com

http://www.entrepreneur.com/mag

Free access to Entrepreneur magazine articles back to 1997.

Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

http://www.fasb.org/

Access to FASB Statements of Financial Accounting Standards and other resources.

Findlaw Business Center

http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/

Portal with links to articles and guides on starting a business, taxes and accounting, small business legal concerns, and more. Part of West Group.

Garage Technology Ventures

http://www.garage.com/

Venture capital fund for emerging technology companies.

Google Small Business Directory

http://directory.google.com/Top/Business/Small_Business/

A directory of small business resources.

Hieros Gamos Small Business Center

http://www.hg.org/sbcenter.html

Portal with links to topics such as starting a business, choosing a legal structure, and financing.

Hoover's Online

http://www.hoovers.com/

Subscription-based site with industry snapshots, company profiles, earnings, and other information.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

http://www.icann.org/

Private agency responsible for global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers, including domain names (such as .com, .org, and country codes such as .fr), as well as addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols.

JAMS

http://www.jamsadr.com/index.asp

Home page with information about JAMS mediation and arbitration services and a search engine to assist in locating qualified mediators and arbitrators. The website also offers a downloadable guide to dispute resolution clauses in commercial contracts.

MarketResearch.com

http://www.marketresearch.com/

Free database of market research reports representing all market and industry sectors.

MegaLaw.com Small Business Portal

http://www.megalaw.com/top/smbusiness.php

Portal with links to federal agencies and other websites related to small businesses.

NASDAQ and American Stock Exchanges (mirrored site)

http://www.nasdaq.com/

and

http://www.amex.com/

Comprehensive current information on market performance and investments.

National Association of Attorneys General

http://www.naag.org/

Association of the attorneys general of all 50 states, with contact information and links to enforcement initiatives.

National Association of Secretaries of State, Business Registration and Filing Services

http://www.nass.org

Access to most state business and corporations divisions from a single webpage.

National Association of Seed and Venture Funds

http://www.nasvf.org/

Network of private, public, and nonprofit organizations investing and facilitating investment in entrepreneurs.

National Business Association

http://www.nationalbusiness.org/

Nonprofit association's site for the self-employed and small business community.

National Venture Capital Association (NVCA)

http://www.nvca.org/

Home page with links to members and other resources.

New York Stock Exchange

http://www.nyse.com/

Comprehensive, current information on market performance and investments.

News Cuts

http://www.newscuts.com/Small.Business.shtml

Free and fee-based small business news service.

Open Directory Project - Small Business

http://www.dmoz.org/Business/Small_Business/

Free site with links to topics such as business plans, finance, home offices, and start-ups; edited by volunteers.

Public Register's Annual Report Service

http://www.annualreportservice.com/

Free access to annual reports of over 2200 companies. Site also has links to the SEC's Edgar database for filings.

Reuters

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsChannel.aspx?type=businessNews

Database providing research reports on companies and industries.

The Small Business Portal

http://www.thesmallbusinessportal.com/

Links to topics such as starting a business, franchise advice, financing, and home-based businesses.

Standard & Poor's

http://www.standardandpoors.com/

Home page with search engine for public company credit ratings and other features.

Tripod by Lycos

http://www.tripod.lycos.com/smallbiz/index.html

Portal with tips on starting an online business, yellow pages, and some free and some fee-based services.

U.S. GAAP Website

http://cpaclass.com/gaap/

Comprehensive source of information on generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S.

Wall Street Journal Online Edition

http://online.wsj.com

General business and financial news.

Washburn University School of Law Small Business Portal

http://www.washlaw.edu/subject/small.business.html

Portal with links to a forms library and business and economic data.

Yahoo! Finance

http://biz.yahoo.com/i/

Free company profiles and stock charts for over 9000 public companies.

Yahoo! Small Business

http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/

Portal with links to topics such as creating a website, promoting a business, and selling online.