Ibrahim Altaweel of Good Research, Nathan Good, also of Good Research, and Chris Jay Hoofnagle of Berkeley have posted their updated Web Privacy Census, Technology Science 2015121502, Online. Here is the abstract: Most people may believe that online activities are tracked more pervasively now than they were in the past. In 2011, we started surveying […]
…is a Post feature from last week about the practice of structured-settlement purchasing. The story summarizes: Unlike traditional settlements, which are paid out in one sum, structured settlements dispense the payout in portions over a lifetime to protect vulnerable people from immediately spending it all. Since 1975, insurance firms have committed an estimated $350 billion to […]
Jeffrey Davis of Florida has written Regulating for the First Time the Decision to Grant Consumer Credit: A Look at the First Steps Taken by the United States and Australia. Here is the abstract: In this Article, I discuss the changes in three consumer-credit realms. First, I compare the Australian regime applicable to all forms […]
From Pearls Before Swine. (HT: ContractsProf Blog)
by Jeff Sovern Richard posted a link last week to the Times article about how debt collectors first sue in court and then when consumers sue them, use arbitration clauses to block the consumer law suit. Today the Times published four letters responding to the article, including mine. I want to comment on two of […]
This essay by David Ropeik (pictured to the right) explains that people often miscalculate health risks. Risk from flu (influenza) is far greater than from measles (particularly for certain age groups). Flu causes a lot of deaths and staggering economic costs, yet vaccination rates remain low. Get a flu shot.
As law school enrollment and job placement decreased, law schools considered many options to improve either or both. One proposal was a “two-year” law school, endorsed by President Obama. It was viewed as a quicker and cheaper alternative, and several schools began promoting their program. The plan was for students to go to school year […]
by Paul Alan Levy Last week the Seventh Circuit addressed several recurring issues pertaining to libel law in McCarthy v. Fuller, a case involving a falling out between by two sets of religious advocates pertaining to the holiness of certain alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary. (Choice characterization on Techdirt: “The details of the actual […]
Last week, the CFPB filed a motion in a D.C. federal district court seeking to unmask companies that sued the agency this past summer, in a case whose public filings bear the mysterious caption John Doe Company v. CFPB (No. 1:15-cv-1177, D.D.C.). The lawsuit was entirely under wraps until October, when the court unsealed the […]
As the NYT reported last week, The D.M.V. proposal would mandate that autonomous vehicles be operated by a licensed driver who could take over if necessary. That driver would also be on the hook for traffic violations. The manufacturers of self-driving cars would have to subject their vehicles to a third-party safety test. And they would apply […]