In December, after an inexplicably long trip through the legislative process, President Obama signed the Consumer Review Fairness Act, making it illegal for companies to demand that consumers sign away their right to speak honestly. However, not everyone seems to have gotten this message. [More]
gag clauses
Speak Freely America: New Federal Law Outlaws Gag Clauses That Punish You For Negative Reviews
By and 12.14.16
A new federal law will be born today. If it is signed by President Obama, one of his final acts in office will be to enshrine into law one of the core principles on which Consumerist — now in its eleventh year — was founded: That honest consumers have the right to complain. [More]
Bill Outlawing “Gag Clauses” That Punish Customers For Writing Negative Reviews Goes To President
By 11.29.16
After more than a year of waiting, Congress has finally okayed a piece of legislation that, if signed by the president, will stop companies from using so-called “non-disparagement” or “gag” clauses to prevent or discourage customers from writing honest reviews. [More]
Yelp Explains Why It’s Flagging “Questionable Legal Threats” In Reviews
By 7.26.16
A couple months ago, while writing an update to the ongoing saga of the Texas couple being sued for writing a negative Yelp review about their petsitter, we noticed that Yelp had flagged the petsitter’s page with an alert that this particular review was being challenged in court. Now the company is going a step further, flagging reviews that have led to “Questionable Legal Threats.” [More]
Couple That Was Sued For $1M Over Yelp Review Asks Court To Dismiss Lawsuit
By 6.2.16
For months, we’ve been following the saga of the Texas couple who were first sued by their petsitter for $6,766 over a negative Yelp review, only to have that case dropped and re-filed as a full-on defamation lawsuit seeking up to $1 million in damages. Now, the couple is asking the court to just throw the entire case out because it should be prohibited by Texas state law. [More]
