No one likes getting spammed, but when you’ve got unsolicited text messages blowing up your phone with links to porn, it’s a lot harder to avoid than the pitches for fake Rolexes and male enhancement drugs that end up banished to your email’s spam folder. A lawsuit in Illinois that’s seeking class-action status claims the operators of two subscription adult entertainment sites spammed peoples’ phones with links to their sites, though the recipients never signed up for such texts in the first place. [More]
lawsuits
Lawsuit Claims Operators Of Two Adult Subscription Sites Sent Unsolicited Texts Linking To Porn
By 9.2.15
Fox News Anchor Sues Hasbro Over Toy Hamster With Her Name
By 9.2.15 — Updated: 10.6.16
Harris Faulkner, an anchor on the Fox News cable network, is a human and has been on TV for decades. Yet the toy company Hasbro sells a tiny plastic hamster as part of its Littlest Pet Shop line which is named Harris Faulkner. How did the hamster get its name? Is it intended to insult or honor Ms. Faulkner, or just a very strange coincidence? She has sued the company for $5 million, either way. [More]
Philadelphia Sues, Fines Uber $300K Over Allegations Of Operating Illegally
By 9.2.15
After 10 months of driving the streets in Philadelphia, Uber now faces a lawsuit and $300,000 fine for providing ride-hailing services in violation of city regulations. [More]
Hollywood Studio Suing 16 Users Of Popcorn Time Over Alleged Online Piracy
By 9.2.15
Often when we hear about Hollywood seeking to snuff out online piracy, it’s the sites or services that distribute that content that are the targets of any legal action. But this time, the studio behind a direct-to-DVD flick starring Pierce Brosnan is going after 16 users of Popcorn Time, a service that uses an integrated media player to stream movies and TV from torrent sites. [More]
Lawsuit Alleges Chipotle Misleads Customers About Use Of GMOs
By 9.1.15
Back in April, Chipotle proudly declared that it was the only major fast food chain in the country to contain an entirely GMO-free menu. Now, just four months later, a recently filed class-action lawsuit says that proclamation isn’t exactly truthful, accusing the fast casual restaurant of false advertising and deceiving diners into paying more for their food. [More]
Broadcasters Association Sues FCC Over Cable Competition Rules
By 8.31.15
Under federal law, a city can regulate cable TV rates for its residents if there is not “effective competition” in that market — that is, if one cable operator dominated the TV landscape in that area. But the Federal Communications Commission recently revised its way of looking at things so that it now presumes that satellite providers offer effective competition for the cable industry. This change hasn’t gone over well with broadcasters, who have petitioned a federal appeals court to challenge the FCC. [More]
Nestle Says There’s No Place For Forced Labor In Cat Food Supply Chain
By 8.31.15
After American consumers learned about horrible working conditions and trafficked workers on some fishing vessels out of Thailand, class action lawsuits began, accusing American, European, and Thai companies of benefiting from deplorable working conditions farther up their supply chain. One of the companies accused, the Swiss conglomerate Nestle, says that “forced labor has no place in [their] supply chain” for Fancy Feast cat food. [More]
Class Action Suit Alleges Nestle Benefits From Fishing Vessel Slavery To Make Fancy Feast
By 8.28.15
Last week, we shared the news that a Costco customer had filed a class action lawsuit against the warehouse retailer, claiming that they sell shrimp benefiting from slave labor. Now cat owners have filed a similar lawsuit against Nestle, parent company of Fancy Feast cat food, claiming that the company uses mistreated and enslaved workers to catch fish destined for cat food cans. [More]
10 Things We Learned About The Structured Settlement Purchase Industry
By 8.28.15
Report after report finds that payday lenders, auto title loan firms and pension advance operations unfairly target vulnerable consumers with high fees and questionable terms, but a new investigative piece from The Washington Post shows that are some lesser-known, but very lucrative players offering quick cash to vulnerable consumers: structured settlement purchasing companies. [More]
Court Sides With Consumer In Suit Against Retailer That Charges $250 When Customers Threaten To Complain
By 8.26.15
Last summer, a consumer in Wisconsin filed a lawsuit against online retailer Accessory Outlet over what she called a bogus $250 fine the company imposed, claiming she breached the terms of sale when she threatened to have the charge canceled after the iPhone case she ordered never shipped. Today, a New York court sided with the consumer by granting a default judgement in the case, essentially agreeing that Accessory Outlet’s “terms of sale” and the debt it alleged the woman owed were void. [More]
Federal Court Rules: Chicken Sandwich Not Protected By Copyright
By 8.25.15
You may recall that we recently tested various burger recipes sent in by readers. What if I took one of those recipes, slapped the name “Morranwich” on it and made it the basis of a billion-dollar burger empire? While the reader whose recipe I used for the sandwich might be really upset, they couldn’t make a copyright claim against Morranwich Worldwide (a division of Cyber Dynamics Systems Corporation) because, as precious as a sandwich recipe might be, it’s not copyrightable. [More]
Wyndham Hotels Loses Legal Battle With Feds Over Lax Security Practices
By 8.24.15
If a consumer-facing company, like say a massive hotel chain, touts its dedication to the security of customer information and then does something to repeatedly put that information at risk — like storing unencrypted credit card data on barely secure networks — can they be forced to share some of the blame when hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers are stolen? The hotel chain says that would be blaming the victim, but a federal appeals court has affirmed the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to go after businesses that fail to live up to their security promises. [More]
Comcast Unmasks Anonymous Commenter In Defamation Case
By 8.21.15
Do online commenters have a right to remain anonymous? If their comments are possibly defamatory, should the subject of those statements have to prove the defamation before learning the identity of the writer? This are questions surrounding the story of an Illinois Comcast subscriber who, after a nearly four-year legal battle, has been identified as the writer of inflammatory comments directed at a local politician. [More]
Florida Says Skim Milk Is “Imitation Milk Product” Unless You Add Vitamins
By 8.20.15
Is “skim milk” just the same as “whole milk” with the cream skimmed off? Not according to the state of Florida, where producers of skim milk must either add vitamins to their product or be forced to carry the stigma of it being categorized as an “imitation milk product.” [More]
Customer Sues Costco, Claims Workers In Shrimp Farms Are Trafficked And Mistreated
By 8.19.15
A woman in California is suing Costco over its shrimp, alleging that the company sells shrimp from Thailand that is raised by workers who have been trafficked and are forced to work without pay. In her complaint, the lead plaintiff says that Costco is misleading its customers about the origins of the shrimp it sells. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Unattended United Airlines Serving Cart Fell On, Injured Passenger
By 8.18.15
Anyone who’s left their elbow and knee in the airplane aisle knows — getting bumped by the beverage cart isn’t a pleasant experience. But one couple who flew on a United Airlines flight from Hawaii to Japan say in a new lawsuit that their flight crew left a service cart unsecured and on its own in the aisle, claiming that it fell on the man, injuring his leg. [More]
Retailer That Overcharged, Then Sued Military Personnel Is Going Out Of Business
By 8.14.15
A year ago, Virginia-based USA Discounters was in the spotlight after the supposedly discount retailer — which had several locations adjoining military bases and directly marketed its financing to servicemembers — was criticized for charging ridiculously high prices on its products and then suing soldiers in such a way that they could rarely defend themselves in court. The retailer then changed its name to USA Living and promised to not be so evil, even though the lawsuits continued. Now comes news that the retailer is going to close up shop for good. [More]
Judge Dismisses Suit Accusing Uber Of Misrepresenting Services, Racketeering
By 8.14.15
Uber scored a victory in one of the many legal battles it’s party to on Thursday, when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by 15 Connecticut taxi and limousine companies that aimed to stop the ride-sharing service from operating in the state. [More]
