Nearly 11 years after it was first filed — and after a trip that saw it go all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court — a class action claim brought against Comcast by cable customers here in the Philadelphia area may finally be coming to an end, and for only a small fraction of what the plaintiffs had once hoped to collect. [More]
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Bill To Undo Hobby Lobby Ruling Fails In Senate; May Come Back From Dead Later This Year
By 7.17.14
Last week, Senator Patty Murray of Washington introduced legislation that would have undone the recent Supreme Court Hobby Lobby ruling, in which the nation’s highest court found that closely held private corporations can exempt themselves from a federal law requiring them to provide health insurance that covers female contraception. Yesterday, the bill fell four votes short of moving forward, but it’s supporters are pledging to bring it up for another vote later in the year. [More]
Lawmakers To Try Undoing SCOTUS Hobby Lobby Ruling
By 7.9.14
In response to the recent Supreme Court decision that gave Hobby Lobby and other closely held private companies the ability to get around the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate by claiming a religious objection, a group of lawmakers are set to introduce legislation that would override that decision. [More]
What Does The Hobby Lobby Ruling Mean For Consumers?
By 6.30.14
This morning, the Supreme Court issued its ruling on one of the most-watched cases of the season, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. The issue was employer-provided healthcare, and what companies are required to provide under the Affordable Care Act. But the broader issues brought up by the ruling have implications beyond one craft store’s benefits package. [More]
Broadcasters Using Aereo Ruling To Try To Shut Down Dish’s Streaming Service
By 6.30.14
The fallout from last week’s Supreme Court ruling against streaming video startup Aereo continues, with broadcasters arguing that the SCOTUS decision bolsters their legal efforts to shut down Dish Network’s Dish Anywhere service. [More]
Police Must Now Have A Warrant To Search Your Phone
By 6.25.14
The Supreme Court today put an end to years of contentious debate over whether or not police can search the phones of people they arrest without first getting a warrant, ruling unanimously that law enforcement must always have a warrant before they can do the search. [More]
Aereo: SCOTUS Ruling Sends “Chilling Message” To Tech Industry
By 6.25.14
As you’ve probably heard, earlier today the Supreme Court plunged a shiv into the gut of Aereo, siding with the broadcast networks in their lawsuit against the streaming video startup. Not surprisingly, the company’s CEO, who previously said he had no Plan B if the decision went against Aereo, is not exactly happy with the court’s divided ruling. [More]
Supreme Court Sides With TV Networks, Rules Against Aereo
By 6.25.14
A divided Supreme Court has sided with the broadcasters in their lawsuit against streaming video startup Aereo. A 6-3 decision reverses an earlier ruling by a federal appeals court that Aereo did not violate broadcasters’ copyright. This end result is that Aereo is effectively illegal in the eyes of SCOTUS. [More]
You Can’t Just Patent An Idea — You Actually Have To Make A Thing, Supreme Court Rules
By 6.19.14
The Supreme Court today issued rulings on a handful of cases. One was about two companies nobody’s ever really heard of, arguing over patents for software to manage banking transactions. The details of the patents themselves, and the transactions they deal with, are kind of complicated and insidery — but they’re also not necessarily that important. The broader implications of the ruling, and the legal precedent the Court set with it, though, will have an impact for years to come. [More]
Supreme Court To Decide When Online Rants Cross Line Into Criminal Threats
By 6.16.14
If I go on Facebook and tell someone in Florida that I am going to beat him into a bloody pulp and maybe kidnap his kid for good measure, I’m in violation of federal law. But does it matter whether I actually intend to do any of these things or if I’m just ranting with no intention of getting up from my comfy couch to do anyone any harm? That’s the question the Supreme Court will soon have to decide. [More]
You Can Make Your Own Aereo At Home, But Is It Worth It?
By 5.31.14
While cord-cutters around the country wait impatiently for the Supreme Court to make up its mind about the legality of Aereo — the subscription service that collects local over-the-air broadcast TV feeds and streams them to paying users over the Internet — we’ve been looking into what it would take to replicate something close to Aereo that couldn’t be shut down by SCOTUS. [More]
Aereo Supreme Court Case Could Change TV & Cloud-Based Tech Forever, Regardless Of Who Wins
By 4.21.14
Many big court cases involve one side arguing to maintain the status quo while the other contends that the current situation needs revising. But tomorrow, the broadcast TV networks face off against startup streaming video service Aereo in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that could have far-reaching implications no matter which side is victorious. [More]
How To Buy A Politician: What Today’s Supreme Court Ruling Means For Consumers
By 4.2.14
Everyone knows that money talks. But today, the Supreme Court made it official: political donations are speech. Therefore, they ruled, the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment applies to them too. And that means removing the limits. [More]
Supreme Court Ruling Removes Campaign Contribution Limit
By 4.2.14
Earlier today, the Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated decision in a case involving limits on donations to political campaigns. In a 5-4 decision, the Supremes ruled that caps placed on an individual’s total campaign contributions were a violation of their First Amendment rights. [More]
AT&T: Mandatory Binding Arbitration Actually Benefits The Consumer
By 4.27.11
Earlier today, the Supreme Court ruled that it’s okay for companies to effectively preempt class-action lawsuits by putting mandatory binding arbitration clauses into their contracts with consumers. To most of us, that looks like a slap in the face to the American consumer, but the folks at AT&T want us all to know that the Supreme Court decision is actually going to benefit us all. [More]
Supreme Court Rules That Companies Can Block Customers' Class-Action Suits
By 4.27.11
In a huge blow to peeved consumers, the Supreme Court ruled earlier today that companies can block customers from joining together in a class-action suit by forcing each complaint into arbitration.
Supreme Court Makes It Easier To Sue Debt Collectors
By 4.26.10
Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that debt collectors can’t use a “bona fide error” defense to avoid being sued for misinterpreting the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (FDCPA). In other words, if a debt collection agency makes a demand that’s in violation of the Act, it can’t say it didn’t know any better. Well, it can, but you can go right ahead and sue. [More]
