After 10 years, the legal battle over a silly 29-second YouTube video of a baby dancing to a Prince song has hit a dead end, with the Supreme Court announcing this morning that it will not hear arguments in this high-profile copyright case. [More]
Government Policy
Supreme Court: It’s Unconstitutional To Reject Potentially Offensive Trademarks
By 6.19.17
The Supreme Court has struck down a longstanding clause in federal law that prohibits the Patent and Trademark Office from registering trademarks that “disparage… persons, living or dead, institutions, beliefs, or national symbols, or bring them into contempt, or disrepute.” [More]
Fake Breast Cancer Charity Must Shut Down, Pay $350K To Real Charities
By 6.16.17
A purported charity called The Breast Cancer Survivors Foundation existed for six years, raising money through direct mailers and soliciting donors over the phone. It took in about $3 million per year, spinning heartwarming tales in its mailings of helping patients. This turned out to not actually be true, and those millions went to the professional fundraiser who ran the operation. [More]
How Does Trump Cuba Policy Change Affect Travelers & Airlines?
By 6.16.17
Just a month after lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill that would open up Cuba to tourist travel following the 2016 decision to end the all-out travel ban, the Trump administration has outlined a proposal that would restrict the small amount of tourist travel currently allowed, potentially throwing a wrench in airlines’ business in the country. [More]
TSA Testing New CT Scanner That Could Eventually Ease Restrictions On Liquids, Electronics
By 6.16.17
Imagine a future where you can bring a large bottle of water and your laptop or tablet with you into the cabin of a commercial flight. The Transportation Security Administration is testing one of its new computerized tomography (CT) scanning machines for carry-on bags in Phoenix, and will soon launch a test in Boston. The use of these machines in the future could mean fewer restrictions on carry-on items, and faster security screening. [More]
How The Fed’s Interest-Rate Hike Will Affect Consumers
By 6.16.17
The Federal Reserve’s latest increase in short-term interest rates will have only a modest impact on consumer borrowing costs. But if the central bank continues to push up rates, which seems likely, then consumers should be adjusting their borrowing strategies now to minimize the impact later on. [More]
Netflix Changes Its Mind, Decides Maybe It Does Care About Net Neutrality Again
By 6.15.17
Netflix, once a loudmouthed supporter of net neutrality — the concept that your internet service provider should no say in what you do or where you go online — but Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently shrugged off the need for neutrality as something that was important to the company a decade ago, but which it not longer really needs. Either not everyone at Netflix is as flippant as their CEO or Hastings has had a change of heart. [More]
Report: Feds May Try To Stop Merger Of DraftKings, FanDuel
By 6.15.17
DraftKings and FanDuel — the two biggest names in daily fantasy sports — are currently waiting on federal regulators to approve a merger that would combine the two companies into one operation. However, a new report claims that the Federal Trade Commission may try to block this blessed union. [More]
With DeVos Unwilling To Defend Rules, States Try To Protect Students Defrauded By For-Profit Colleges
By 6.14.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has made it clear that she has no intention to defend regulations put in place to protect students at failed for-profit colleges. But a number of states are now attempting to step in to do the job the Department of Education won’t. [More]
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos “Resets” Rules On For-Profit Colleges
By 6.14.17
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has announced plans to “reset” two regulations that were recently put in place to hold for-profit colleges more accountable and prevent students at these schools from being left with nothing but debt if their college collapses. [More]
11 States Sue Trump Administration For Second Time Over Appliance Energy Efficiency Delays
By 6.13.17
For the second time in two months, a coalition of state attorneys general has sued the Department of Energy, once again claiming the Trump administration has violated federal law by refusing to implement a number of new energy efficiency standards for multiple types of appliances. [More]
FDA Decides To Delay New Nutrition Labels Until Some Vague Point In The Future
By 6.13.17
Only weeks after food industry lobbyists asked the Food and Drug Administration to delay the starting date for revised Nutrition Facts labels, their wish has been granted. The FDA has announced it plans to kick this can down the road by extending these deadlines — possibly by as much as three years. [More]
Attorney General Jeff Sessions Asked Congress To Let Him Prosecute Medical Marijuana
By 6.13.17
Recently, Congress once again extended a ban on the Department of Justice using its funds to prosecute legitimate medical marijuana operations in states that have legalized the drug for medicinal purposes. However, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked lawmakers to end this prohibition and allow his prosecutors to go after medical cannabis. [More]
3 Things We Know About The Senate’s Obamacare Repeal Bill
By 6.12.17 — Updated: 6.13.17
The Senate — or at least, 13 Republican senators — are currently plugging away at their version of legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Hill-watchers say the goal is to have a vote within the next two weeks, but no drafts of the bill have circulated, no hearings have been held, and all talks are closed-door — so what do we know about the bill? [More]
6 Key Allegations From The D.C. & Maryland Lawsuit Against President Trump
By 6.12.17
This morning, the attorneys general for both the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump, accusing him of violating the so-called “emoluments clauses” of the U.S. Constitution by continuing to own his various business hotel, restaurant, golf, and real estate ventures. But what are the exact allegations being brought in this case? [More]
Supreme Court: Protections Against Debt Collectors Don’t Apply To Banks That Purchase Defaulted Loans
By 6.12.17
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits debt collectors from a number of annoying and aggressive practices, like calling late at night to hassle folks about their debt or publicly outing people as debtors. However, this morning — in Justice Neil Gorsuch’s first opinion — the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that this law doesn’t apply to banks that purchase defaulted loans with the intention of collecting on them. [More]
12 States Say They Will Sue Trump Administration If EPA Rolls Back Vehicle Emissions Standards
By 6.9.17
The environmental fight between certain states and the Trump administration continues, with more than a dozen attorneys general putting the White House on alert that they will sue if the Environmental Protection Agency moves forward with its plan to undo automotive greenhouse gas emissions standards that the previous administration put in place. [More]
