Category Archives: Uncategorized

Court rejects for-profit colleges’ challenge to Department of Education “gainful employment” rule

As the AP reports (via Huffington Post): A federal court has ruled in favor of tough new regulations aimed at career training programs, dealing a major blow to the for-profit college industry. In an opinion released Tuesday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled the Education Department has the right to demand […]

DOJ brings criminal charges in payday lending case

The Department of Justice this week charged a payday lender with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and mail fraud, and aiding and abetting mail fraud. Although there is even more, here is the gist of the government's case: According to the […]

CFPB reports on illegal practices uncovered in 2015

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released its latest supervision report outlining the illegal practices uncovered by the CFPB in the first four months of 2015. It found problems with • dual-tracking at mortgage servicers that could mislead consumers to believe their trial modifications were canceled, • lack of quality control measures at consumer reporting […]

Gag Orders That Protect Grand Jury Subpoenas to Identify Anonymous Speakers

by Paul Alan Levy Now that a federal court gag order against it has been lifted, Reason Magazine has now published its own comments, and a number of other bloggers have been writing as well, about Reason’s experience with a grand jury subpoena seeking to identify anonymous online commenters.  In response to an article about […]

Illinois Supreme Court Orders Identification of Anonymous Critic

by Paul Alan Levy In a decision issued yesterday in Hadley v. Subscriber Doe a/k/a Fuboy, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed lower court rulings that an anonymous commenter who responded to a local newspaper article by calling a local politician a “Sandusky waiting to be exposed,” making particular reference to the fact that he could […]

FCC ruling addresses robo-calls to cellphones

Interpreting the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday issued a ruling addressing robocalls made to cell phones. The FCC's ruling provide: • Service providers can offer robocall-blocking technologies to consumers and implement market-based solutions that consumers can use to stop unwanted robocalls. • Consumers have the right to revoke their consent […]

FCC to help low-income families pay for Internet access

The Washington Post reports today: Major upgrades are coming to a federal aid program that helps low-income Americans connect to basic communications services. The Federal Communications Commission voted Thursday to consider how to allow eligible Americans to purchase Internet access using government funds, in a move that recognizes high-speed Internet as a key to pulling the poor out […]

Chiming in to Support ISP That Is Defending Reviewers’ Right to Remain Anonymous

In an amicus brief filed this afternoon, Public Citizen and Twitter have urged the California Court of Appeal for the First District to join with the Court of Appeal for the Sixth District in ruling that plaintiffs seeking to identify anonymous online critics whose statements they claim are defamatory or otherwise wrongful must produce evidence […]