SEC Filings Section 16 Filings Only
 
PFSWEB INC filed this 10-K on 03/31/2011.
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claims for other misuses of personal information, including unauthorized marketing purposes. Liability for misappropriation of this information could decrease our profitability. In such circumstances, we also could be liable for failing to provide timely notice of a data security breach affecting certain types of personal information. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission and state agencies have brought numerous enforcement actions against Internet companies for alleged deficiencies in those companies’ privacy and data security practices, and they may continue to bring such actions. We could incur additional expenses if new regulations regarding the collection, use or storage of personal information are introduced or if government agencies investigate our privacy or security practices.
     We rely on encryption and authentication technology licensed from third parties to provide the security and authentication necessary to effect secure transmission of sensitive customer information such as customer credit card numbers. Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries in the field of cryptography or other events or developments may result in a compromise or breach of the algorithms that we use to protect customer transaction data. If any such compromise of security were to occur, it could subject us to liability, damage our reputation and diminish the value of our brand-name. A party who is able to circumvent the security measures could misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in operations. We may be required to expend significant capital and other resources to protect against such security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by such breaches. Our security measures are designed to prevent security breaches, but our failure to prevent such security breaches could subject us to liability, damage our reputation and diminish the value of our brand-name.
     We also may provide non-secured channels for customers to communicate. Despite the increased security risks, customers may use such channels to send personal information and other sensitive data. In addition, “phishing” incidents are on the rise. Phishing involves an online company’s customers being tricked into providing their credit card numbers or account information to someone pretending to be the online company’s representative. Such incidents have recently given rise to litigation against online companies for failing to take sufficient steps to police against such activities by third parties, and may discourage customers from using online services.
Specific Risks Related to Our Business Process Outsourcing Business
Our service fee revenue and gross margin is dependent upon our clients’ business and transaction volumes and our costs; many of our client service agreements are terminable by the client at will; we may incur financial penalties if we fail to meet contractual service levels under certain client service agreements.
     Our service fee revenue is primarily transaction based and fluctuates with the volume of transactions or level of sales of the products by our clients for whom we provide transaction management services. If we are unable to retain existing clients or attract new clients or if we dedicate significant resources to clients whose business does not generate sufficient revenue or whose products do not generate substantial customer sales, our business may be materially adversely affected. Moreover, our ability to estimate service fee revenue for future periods is substantially dependent upon our clients’ and our own projections, the accuracy of which has been, and will continue to be, unpredictable. Therefore, our planning for client activity and targeted goals for service fee revenue and gross margin may be materially adversely affected by incomplete, delayed or inaccurate projections. In addition, many of our service agreements with our clients are terminable by the client at will. Therefore, we cannot assure you that any of our clients will continue to use our services for any period of time. The loss of a significant amount of service fee revenue due to client terminations could have a material adverse effect on our ability to cover our costs and thus on our profitability. Certain of our client service agreements contain minimum service level requirements and impose financial penalties if we fail to meet such requirements. The imposition of a substantial amount of such penalties could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations.
We subcontract a portion of our client services to third parties, and we are subject to various risks and liabilities if such subcontractors do not provide the subcontracted services or provide them in a manner that does not meet required service levels.
     We currently, and may in the future, subcontract to one or more third parties a portion of our end-to-end solution service offering. Although our end-to-end solution service clients generally approve in advance the designation of the subcontractor and its provision of the subcontracted services, under the terms of our contracts with our end-to-end solution service clients, we remain liable to provide such subcontracted services and may be liable for the

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