After Meta, parent company of Facebook, acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, the FTC brought Sherman Act antitrust claims against the company in 2020. The district court had previously denied a motion to dismiss, and, yesterday, denied both parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment–finding the case must go to trial. In so doing, though, the court commented that […]
Author Archives: Adam Pulver
The FTC brought administrative proceedings against tax preparation company H&R Block, arguing that the company had made deceptive statements about its “free filing” products. H&R Block brought an action in federal district court seeking to enjoin the administrative proceedings, challenging the FTC’s structure. Yesterday, the FTC announced the parties had reached a settlement of the […]
On her last day as Secretary of Transportation during the last Trump Administration, Elaine Chao signed off on a joint venture between American Airlines and JetBlue, which allowed extensive cooperation and coordination between the two airlines, effectively allowing the two to operate as a single airline with respect to most routes out of Boston and […]
After Bayer voluntarily recalled certain anti-fungal consumer products that contained benzene due to a production error , consumers who had purchased the affected products filed a class action. They alleged three forms of harm: (1) that they were deprived of the benefit of their bargain because they contracted for safe products that did not contain […]
California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act provides significant protections to consumers in that case–particularly for those who purchase automobiles. One provision gives certain car buyers a “refund-or-replace remedy,” requiring the manufacture to replace a defective car, or provide restitution, after a “reasonable number of attempts” for repair. Today, the California Supreme Court issued a decision as […]
Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion in Heckman v. Live Nation Entertainment, where it affirmed a district order denying a motion to compel mass arbitration of a consumer antitrust class action about online ticket sales practices by Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Finding the arbitration agreement “borderline unintelligible,” the panel majority held that both the […]
In Guidotti v. Legal Helpers Debt Resolution, L.L.C., 716 F.3d 764 (3d Cir. 2013), the Third Circuit addressed the question of, when considering a motion to compel arbitration, what standards district courts should apply when determining whether an agreement to arbitrate was actually formed between the parties. The court held that the Rule 12(b)(6) standard […]
Today, the FTC announced it had finalized its “Click-to-Cancel Rule.” Amending its 1973 “Negative Option Rule,” the rule will prohibit sellers from: misrepresenting any material fact made while marketing goods or services with a negative option feature; failing to clearly and conspicuously disclose material terms prior to obtaining a consumer’s billing information in connection with […]
Enacted in 1988, the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) makes it unlawful for a “video tape service provider” to “knowingly disclose[], to any person, personally identifiable information concerning any consumer of such provider.” The statute further defines “consumer” as “any renter, purchaser, or subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider.” The […]
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination “on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.” Courts of appeals […]