Category Archives: Uncategorized

New York Decision Denying Discovery of Doe Critics Casts Broad Doubts on Libel Suits over Consumer Reviews

by Paul Alan Levy The Appellate Division in New York has today affirmed the denial of a pre-litigation petition brought by Woodbridge Structured Funding seeking to compel Opinion Corp. to provide identifying information about the authors of two critical consumer reviews on its Pissed Consumer site. 

Should Macao Music Group Be Able to Identify Twitter Users Criticizing Its CEO?

We recently filed an amicus brief about the standards for subpoenas identifying anonymous Internet users accused of defamatory or otherwise wrongful communications in a surprising venue – the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.  The underlying case was filed in the Western District of Washington by Macao Music Group, an offshore […]

Sens. Warren and Brown: regulatory changes shouldn’t conflate small banks, large banks

At a hearing on Capitol Hill last week, lawmakers from both parties expressed interest in exempting small banks and credit unions from new financial rules, reported the Wall St. Journal. But there must be a limit, warned two of the committee’s most pro-consumer voices: Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the top Democrat on the powerful […]

Battle over Obamacare contraception coverage continues

That last summer's decision in Hobby Lobby wasn't the end of the legal fight over what health care coverage the government could require businesses asserting religious objections to provide for their employees became clear just three days after the Hobby Lobby was handed down. In a brief order that drew a sharp dissent from three […]

How Italian Colors Guts Private Antitrust Enforcement by Replacing it with Ineffective Forms of Arbitration

That's the title of this article by law professor Einer Elhauge. Here's his to-the-point abstract: The recent US Supreme Court decision in American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurant threatens to gut private antitrust enforcement in the United States by replacing it with ineffective forms of arbitration. The Court's logic that the right to pursue a […]

Texas Real Estate Firm Cannot Compel Yelp to Identify Anonymous Critic

by Paul Alan Levy A trial judge in Texas has turned down a motion to compel Yelp to comply with a subpoena seeking identifying information about an unhappy consumer who complained about alleged misconduct by a Texas real estate firm, the Rhodes Team, and its agent, one Jeremy Wages, who allegedly did not stay in […]

More on privacy and technology: good news from California, bad news from Samsung

California is considering enacting a new law protecting its citizens from warrantless spying. The proposed California Electronic Communications Privacy Act has bipartisan backing, along with support from major tech companies and civil liberties groups. Read more here from Top Tech News. Meanwhile, Samsung's SmartTVs can spy on you, reports CNN Money. Read more here.