The Freedom of Information Act in President Obama’s First Term

by Brian Wolfman On his first full day in office, President Obama issued a memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). He quoted Louis Brandeis's famous line that "sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants" and directed federal agencies to "adopt a presumption in favor of disclosure." Less than two months later, […]

Plaintiffs and Toyota Agree to Sudden-Acceleration Settlement

by Brian Wolfman The Impact Litigation Journal reports that The parties have announced a settlement in the Toyota sudden acceleration multi-district litigation pending in a Santa Ana federal court. Under the terms of the settlement, which must now receive judicial approval, Toyota will install a brake-override system in some 3.25 million vehicles in addition to paying […]

Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank Reversed in Part

On Wednesday the Ninth Circuit gave Wells Fargo a belated Christmas present in Gutierrez v. Wells Fargo Bank, — F.3d —-, 2012 WL 6684748 (9th Cir. 2012), vacating the injunctive and restitution relief ordered by the lower court. The district court decision had held Wells Fargo's procedures for ordering debit card withdrawals unfair and fraudulent […]

Airline Fees Make It Very Difficult to Comparison Shop Based on Price

by Brian Wolfman We explained recently that airlines may be misleading consumers into paying add-on fees for seats by tricking consumers in thinking that most of the good seats are sold out when they really aren't. And we've covered the issue of airline fees and prices generally many times (go, for instance, here and here). […]

Privacy Invasions That Also Discriminate

by Jeff Sovern Regular readers of this blog will know that businesses use cookies, etc. to track consumer online behavior for marketing purposes. But what may be less well known is that businesses use the information they glean online to offer different consumers different prices.  A recent paper makes the point. See Jakub Mikians, László […]

The Boca Raton Scam on Non-Profits Pops Up Again (Yet Another Name)

by Paul Alan Levy This morning's Washington Post carries a report on a scam operation preying on non-profits, based in Boca Raton — the scammers lure the credulous by using the name of a famous news personality, promising priceless exposure on PBS, then charge $23,400 for the privilege of having a short film created for […]

Prior Restraint Doctrine Protects Negative Yelp Review Against Preliminary Injunction

by Paul Alan Levy Today we have joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia to seek appellate review of the preliminary injunction recently entered by a trial judge in Fairfax County, Virginia, requiring Jane Perez to make two changes in reviews of a Washington D.C. contractor named Christopher Dietz that she had […]