In the wake of rising industry concerns, a bipartisan group of 33 Attorneys General, led by North Carolina AG Josh Stein, has taken a stand against the burgeoning threat poised by the influx of illegal flavored disposable e-cigs. The group issued a letter directly to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center…
Telemarketing practices in Connecticut are set to undergo a series of changes, as recent amendments to the state’s telemarketing law come into effect from October 1, 2023. As per the amendment, certain definitions have been broadened and tighter restrictions are being placed on telephonic sales calls. The amendments were prompted by robust public discussion about…
In what implies a serious crackdown on deceptive online business practices, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) along with a unified alliance of six Attorney Generals (AGs) have proposed an order with the intention to ban Roomster, the infamous rental listing platform, and its proprietors. This ban is intended for the act of buying or incentivizing…
In a notable development dated August 24, 2023, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has passed a ruling which predominantly favors the Texas Medical Association, along with other plaintiffs, which include air ambulance providers. The issued order vacates certain regulations and related guidelines on how the ‘Qualified Payment Amount’ (QPA)…
In a significant turn of events, the Fourth Circuit has reversed a previous judgment consolidating customer lawsuits resulting from a 2018 data breach suffered by a multinational hotel corporate franchise. The original verdict had permitted a class certification in the high-profile consumer data breach case, but the recent decision throws this ruling into ambiguity, drawing…
In an anticipated move that echoes the evolving attitude towards cannabis, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has advanced a recommendation to reclassify marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule III under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). This is a report from Politico and Bloomberg, captured on JD Supra. As per the current…
In the escalating quest to address the increasing cost of prescription medications, it appears lawmakers’ spotlights have focused on the end consumer. The rallying call among policymakers has been a combination of measures aimed at simultaneously lowering drug prices while also providing consumers with more options for their out-of-pocket expenses. On this account, an increasing…
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced that globally-renowned home appliances manufacturer, Whirlpool Corporation, has conceded to pay a hefty $11.5 million civil penalty. This substantial settlement arises from the CPSC’s charges asserting that Whirlpool deliberately did not promptly report, as mandated by law, that 17 models of their electric radiant heat cooktops had…
The Cooper Davis Act, an amendment proposed to the Controlled Substances Act in the United States, has been a controversial proposal stirring contentious conversations among differing stakeholders including parents, consumer safety advocates, and anti-drug coalitions, as well as the DEA, privacy experts, and constitutional scholars. A recent article details the ongoing disputes and disagreements. The…
In an important development in the field of consumer privacy, the state of Oregon has enacted the Oregon Consumer Privacy Act (OCPA). As per this recent legislation, signed off by Governor Tina Kotek on July 18, 2023, Oregon now joins the states of California, Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, Montana, Florida, and Texas…
Welcome to the fourth edition of the AI Legal News Summer Roundup. Our main focus in this piece will be key themes including creators and consumers seeking increased control and protection over their content as it is used to train AI models. This extends to the realms of both copyright law and privacy laws. Additionally,…
A recent study published by the Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A journal, an affiliated journal of the International Society for Mycotoxicology, may alter how legal professionals and others perceive the use of different types of straws for drinking. The study, titled “Steel Beats Glass and Plastic, All Beat Paper:” investigates the prevalence of Per-…
In an important recent development, a federal court has issued an order imposing an injunction that postpones the compliance dates for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule. This rule governs the collection of small business lending data under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act). This…
The Garden State has recently taken significant steps towards regulating credit card surcharges. On August 18, 2023, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a notable bill imposing limits on the surcharges merchants may charge their customers for choosing the option of credit card payment for goods or services.JD Supra provides an in-depth analysis…
BJ’s Wholesale Club, a popular membership-only warehouse club chain operating in the US, has lost a preliminary bid to dismiss a potentially significant class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit, brought forth by Joe Alves, accuses BJ’s of employing a computer code known as Session Replay Code (SRC) to surreptitiously record consumer activity on the company’s website. The…
In the realm of legal decisions and court cases of major corporations, the past week has seen a plethora of significant rulings. From consumer misrepresentation cases to broader issues of labeling instructions, decision-makers across geographies are navigating through intricate jurisprudence. Here’s a quick roundup of some of the prime legal pronouncements. One of the key…
Gaston College, a significant educational institution, has notified approximately 191,000 individuals regarding a data breach that took place in February 2023. After discovering that an unauthorized party had accessed confidential information stored on Gaston College’s IT network, the college filed a notice of data breach with the Attorney General of Maine on August 25, 2023….
In a disturbing turn of events, late last month, over 300,000 customers of Standard Insurance Company were impacted by a data breach. The breach, centered on the MOVEit data healthcare transfer service, was revealed by Pension Benefit Information, LLC (“PBI”). The extent of information accessed by unauthorized parties is believed to include sensitive details such…
The advent of e-commerce in recent times has been a noteworthy paradigm shift in the business world. However, it has also heightened issues concerning counterfeit goods, with significant implications for both businesses and consumers. From replicas that closely mimic the original product to cheap imitations, counterfeits are proliferating on online platforms, inadvertently causing immense harm….
According to a recent report by WebRecon, there were noticeable fluctuations in U.S. court filings regarding consumer litigation through July. The patterns reflect an upswing in some areas and a reduction in others, providing a complex landscape for corporate law professionals to navigate. In July, numbers indicated a slight uptick in court filings under the…
In a noteworthy development, the High Court of England and Wales rejected an attempt to enforce a US arbitration award in a case involving cryptocurrency-related consumer contract. The case in question is Payward, Inc. and Others v. Chechetkin, according to a report on JD Supra. The claimants sought enforcement of an arbitration award against a…
Pension Benefit Information, LLC (PBI) has recently disclosed a security breach resulting from a MOVEit vulnerability—a technology that offers secure and managed file transfers. According to a formal notice submitted to the Attorney General of Maine, this incident has impacted customers of Continental Casualty Company (CNA), with unauthorized access to sensitive consumer data being executed….
In August 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focused its regulatory efforts on a less high-profile, yet relevant topic, issuing one Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Power Output Claims for Amplifiers Used in Home Entertainment Products. According to the rulemaking notice, the Proposed Rule is primarily aimed at a specific industry. Yet, its issuance serves…
Wells Fargo, one of the world’s most prominent financial institutions, has once again found itself at the center of a legal controversy. The bank has recently paid yet another fine in connection to its mistreatment of customers. Despite the major implications of this development, the issue seems to find itself largely unnoticed outside of the…
As we traverse the labyrinth of legal regulation updates, it is essential to keep up with new mandates. One such significant update arrived in the form of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new small business lending data collection and reporting rule—Section 1071 Final Rule. Legal professionals worldwide, especially those working within large corporations and…