Stockholder activism, the current political environment, and the current high level of government intervention and regulatory reform may lead to substantial new regulations and disclosure obligations, which may lead to additional compliance costs and impact, in ways we cannot currently anticipate, the manner in which we operate our business. Our management and other personnel have and will continue to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance programs and monitoring of public company reporting obligations and, as a result of the new corporate governance and executive compensation related rules, regulations, and guidelines prompted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) and further regulations and disclosure obligations expected in the future, we will likely need to devote additional time and costs to comply with such compliance programs and rules. New laws and regulations, as well as changes to existing laws and regulations affecting public companies, including provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Dodd-Frank Act and rules adopted by the SEC and Nasdaq, will likely result in increased costs to us as we respond to their requirements. We are currently evaluating and monitoring developments with respect to these rules and regulations, and we cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. New legislation that would change U.S. or foreign taxation of international business activities or other tax-reform policies, including the imposition of tax based on gross income, could seriously harm our business. Reforming the taxation of international businesses has been a priority for politicians, and a wide variety of potential changes have been proposed. Some proposals, several of which have been enacted, impose incremental taxes on gross revenue, regardless of profitability. Any changes in the taxation of such activities may increase our worldwide effective tax rate and the amount of taxes we pay and seriously harm our business. For example, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 ("Tax Act") was enacted on December 22, 2017 and significantly reformed the Code. The Tax Act lowered the U.S. federal corporate income tax rate, changed the utilization of net operating loss carryforwards arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, allowed for the expensing of certain capital expenditures, and put into effect sweeping changes to U.S. taxation of international business activities. As a result, our net U.S. deferred tax assets and corresponding valuation allowances were revalued at the new U.S. corporate rate. We continue to examine the impact this tax reform legislation may have on our business. The impact of this tax reform on us and on holders of our common stock is uncertain and could seriously harm our business. Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards to offset future taxable income may be subject to certain limitations. In general, under Section 382 of the Code, a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” is subject to annual limitations on its ability to use its pre-change net operating loss (“NOL”) carryforwards or other tax attributes, to offset future taxable income or reduce taxes. We believe that we have undergone one or more ownership changes and accordingly, our ability to use our NOL carryforwards may be limited. Additionally, the Tax Act, which was enacted on December 22, 2017, significantly reformed the Code, including changes to the rules governing NOL carryforwards. For NOL carryforwards arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the Tax Act limited a taxpayer’s ability to utilize such carryforwards to 80% of taxable income. In addition, NOL carryforwards arising in tax years ending after December 31, 2017 can be carried forward indefinitely, but carryback is generally prohibited. NOL carryforwards generated by us before January 1, 2018 will not be subject to the taxable income limitation and will continue to have a twenty-year carryforward period. However, the changes in the carryforward and carryback periods as well as the new limitation on use of NOLs may significantly impact our ability to use NOL carryforwards generated after December 31, 2017, as well as the timing of any such use, and could seriously harm our business. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We do not currently intend to pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock may be investors’ sole source of gain for the foreseeable future. - 67 -
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