The FDA still has no real idea where those salmonella tomatoes came from. They suspect both Mexico and Florida, but as you may have noticed: Florida and Mexico are kind of big. And there’s no real evidence aside from a guess by the FDA based on the “time frame” of the outbreak matching up with the harvest in those locations.
Government Policy
The MPAA Says They Shouldn't Need Proof To Sue You
By 6.23.08
A legal brief submitted by an attorney representing The Motion Picture Association of America states that intellectual-property holders should have the right to collect up to $150,000 per violation without having to actually prove copyright infringement, Wired reports. The MPAA attorney, who seems to feel very inconvenienced by the whole “due process” thing writes, “It is often very difficult, and in some cases, impossible, to provide such direct proof when confronting modern forms of copyright infringement, whether over P2P networks or otherwise; understandably, copyright infringers typically do not keep records of infringement.” Details, inside…
U.S. Marshals Raid Rat-Infested PETCO Distribution Center
By 6.20.08
The FDA sent U.S. Marshals to seize “various animal food products” stored at a PETCO distribution center in Joliet, Illinois yesterday, because the storage conditions had been deemed unsanitary twice in a row:
By 6.20.08
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It’s been a few weeks without a BPA story, so here goes: Four parents in Ohio have sued Evenflo, Avent America, Handicraft, Playtex Products, and Novartis for using bisphenol A in their baby products. They’re seeking class action status. [Washington Post]
New Spy Law Will Provide Immunity To Wiretapping Telcos
By 6.20.08
Update: Voted! Passed 293-129.
Today the House votes on a new compromise FISA Bill that will make the NSA’s formerly questionable activities—like spying on Americans—legal, and will grant conditional immunity upon the telephone companies that aided the NSA in spying on their customers. It’s “conditional” because there will still be a court review, but nobody seems to be taking the court review seriously: Senator Russ Feingold, D-WI, calls it a “capitulation” in the ongoing fight over holding the telcos responsible, and Rep. Roy Blunt, R-MO, says the review will be a “formality.” Looks like you’re about to get off free, Verizon and AT&T!
Cable Company Employee And Registered Sex Offender Charged For Allegedly Touching A 13-Year-Old
By 6.20.08
Thomas Jefferson, 43, was part of a crew subcontracted by Verizon installing cable in a subdivision in Glen Allen, VA, when police say he went to a house where a 13 year old girl was home alone and asked for a drink of water. NBC12 says that after he asked for the water he “touched the girl in her private areas.”
Use Your Credit Card At A Marriage Counselor, See Your Limit Get Reduced
By 6.19.08
The FTC claims that CompuCredit didn’t properly disclose that it monitored spending and cut credit lines if consumers used their cards at certain places. Among them: tire and retreading shops, massage parlors, bars, billiard halls, and marriage counseling offices. “What they didn’t say was that you could be punished for specific kinds of purchases.”
By 6.19.08
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Over 400 people have been charged in the government’s national mortgage fraud probe, called “Operation Malicious Mortage,” which dealt with individual rather than corporate fraud. [Reuters]
By 6.19.08
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Sign of economic desperation: man robs kids’ lemonade stand, but the kids chase him into nearby house and call the cops, who arrest him and charge him with felony robbery. [AP]
Woman Punches JetBlue Flight Attendant In The Face For Not Letting Her Smoke
By 6.19.08
Once again we remind you not to drink too much at the airport before getting on your flight. We know airports are boring and sad and they make you want to kill the pain with copious amounts of gin. Don’t do it — or you could end up punching a JetBlue flight attendant in the face.
Should The Proposed Sale Of Anheuser-Busch To A Belgian Brewer Be Stopped?
By 6.17.08
Missouri governor Matt Blunt has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, “asking for a federal review of the proposed sale of Anheuser-Busch Cos. to Belgian brewer InBev,” says the AP. Blunt is concerned that allowing the maker of Becks and Stella Artois beers to buy the St. Louis-based brewery could create a “near monopoly” in the US beer market, and that it would damage the Missouri economy.
The Methods That Target DMCA Violators Are Flawed
By 6.17.08
When we read stories like Tanya Andersen’s and consider the countless others who have been wrongfully targeted by trade groups like the RIAA, it becomes evident that the system by which DMCA takedown notices are issued is very far from perfect. For the uninitiated, DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices are official statements which assert that an artist’s or company’s intellectual rights have been violated (i.e. copyright infringement) and often threaten legal action against an individual. In a study conducted by the University of Washington, researchers proved that this system is seriously flawed, according to the New York Times. In one experiment, the team received takedown notices from the MPAA which accused 3 laserjet printers of downloading the latest Indiana Jones movie and Iron Man. More, inside…
TurboTax Doesn't See Anything Unusual About Your $1,635,335 In Moving Expenses
By 6.16.08
Reader Elijah is glad he gave his taxes a manual check before sending them off. Despite accidentally inflating his cross-country moving expenses from $1,635 to $1,635,335, TurboTax’s audit check said Elijah’s return was “green” — meaning that he was at low risk for an audit. Now, Elijah’s wondering: If $2,000 error on his tax return wouldn’t put him at risk of an audit, what would?
RIAA Pulls Case Before It Can Be Dismissed, Then Refiles Days Later To Get Different Judge
By 6.15.08
If you were still somehow unconvinced that the RIAA’s legal strategy is “be sleazy, intimidate, then profit,” their latest legal maneuvering might finally convince you. Next week, a judge was to decide whether their case against a New York family should be thrown out—the family’s lawyer, RIAA critic Ray Beckerman, argued “that if the RIAA can’t prove anybody downloaded the music from an open share folder, then the case would have to be dismissed.”
Tax-Relief Company Agrees To Refund $1.5 Million To Scammed Customers In 18 States
By 6.15.08
JK Harris & Company is a tax-relief company in South Carolina that promises to help people settle IRS debts for “pennies on the dollar” by helping them file an Offer in Compromise (OIC) on their behalf. What they didn’t tell consumers is that “the IRS accepts only a small number of these kinds of cases,” writes digtriad. What they also didn’t mention is that they’ll accept your money even if they know you won’t qualify for an OIC, and they won’t give refunds. “In many cases, JK Harris did not even apply to the IRS to help consumers as promised. But the company still refused to give those consumers their money back.” Now JK Harris has made an agreement with attorneys general in 18 states to change its advertising and pay $1.5 million in restitution.
By 6.13.08
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Contractor crime isn’t just for Comcast: Two men in Verizon Wireless longsleeves robbed a 64-year-old lady’s home at gunpoint, binding her and her live-in-aid’s hands and taking cash, jewelry, and electronics. [FairfaxCounty.gov]
Wal-Mart Employee Stabs Customer
By 6.13.08
Wal-Mart employee, Ray Canales, age 18, has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a teenage customer inside the store, according to KPRC. The altercation started at about 10:15pm Wednesday night at the Wal-Mart in Pearland, TX. More, inside….
