Ahmed E. Taha of Pepperdine has written Selling the Outlier, forthcoming in the Journal of Corporation Law. Here is the abstract: Advertisements for products ranging from weight-loss programs to mutual funds regularly feature the results of people who have used the product. However, these advertisements often present the results only of people who had an atypically […]
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 […]
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 […]
Rena I. Steinzor of Maryland and the Center for Progressive Reform has written (Still) 'Unsafe at Any Speed': Why Not Jail for Auto Executives? Harvard Law & Policy Review (Forthcoming). Here's the abstract: Americans can be forgiven for wondering what has gone so drastically wrong with the companies that sell automobiles. In 2014, 64 million, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
by Jeff Sovern CFPB Monitor is reporting: [T]he House Appropriations Committee has approved an amendment to the FY 2016 Financial Services Appropriations bill that would impose new requirements on the CFPB before it can issue a rule governing arbitration agreements. The amendment, which was introduced by Republican Representatives Steve Womack and Tom Graves, reportedly would […]
If you own a car, remember to check if it's is affected by this hard-fought and important safety recall, which involves airbags that could explode and project metal at the passenger. (My car was on the list, and the dealership was able to do the fix in a few hours.) The website ClickOnDetroit reported yesterday […]
Alleging that auto loan company Security National Automotive Acceptance Company misled servicemembers about the consequences of nonpayment, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau yesterday filed suit against the company in federal court in Ohio. The CFPB alleges that the company used a combination of illegal threats and deceptive claims to collect debts. The suit seeks compensation […]