Phil Law Weblog

For the past couple of years, Congress has been dickering lackadaisically over the details of possible anti-spyware legislation. Statutes recently enacted by Alaska and Utah might force Congress to finally address this issue.
Pro-consumer (and, in some cases, anti-capitalism) forces have pushed to outlaw most adware, particularly pop-up ads that come bundled with some software. [...]

Four major merchant associations said Monday that they have filed an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, MasterCard and banks that issues credit cards. The suit alleges that some banks and credit card companies are engaging in “collusive practices” by setting credit-card interchange fees at high levels.

A tentative settlement agreement in the rehabilitation of AIK Comp, a failed workers’ compensation self-insured group, was reached Monday through court-ordered mediation.
At issue had been the reorganization plan and the method used to arrive at member assessments. The failed compensation fund was taken over by state insurance commissioners last year after reporting a $58.5 [...]

After months of complaints that its Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Latest News about Google Library effort constituted a violation of copyright law, Google has been sued by a leading writer’s association and three writers who claim that the search giant is infringing on the works of thousands of individual writers.
The Authors Guild and three individual [...]

Victims of personal data security breaches are showing their displeasure by terminating relationships with the companies that maintained their data, according to a new national survey sponsored by global law firm White & Case.
The independent survey of nearly 10,000 adults, conducted by the respected privacy research organization Ponemon Institute, reveals that nearly 20 percent [...]

A pair of conservative national organizations has charged the California Teachers Association with illegally using a new $60 annual assessment on its members to fight a number of initiatives on the November.
District Court in San Jose, three California teachers, represented by the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, sought to block the union [...]

Vermont law firm Johnson & Perkinson has issued a press release announcing that it is filing a class action suit in the US against ATI, on behalf of investors.
In the complaint, it is alleged that “throughout the Class Period, ATI reported strong financial results in publicly disseminated press releases and in filings with the [...]

Exnicios of the New Orleans law firm of Liska, Exnicios & Nungesser, and Conrad S.P. Martin & Williams, have filed a class action lawsuit against a number of major oil companies they say are actually responsible for Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of New Orleans.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court For The Eastern [...]

Disgruntled Australian shareholders are expected to take more action, report Glenda Korporaal and Florence Chong 24 sep 05 last week’s landmark Sons of Gwalia decision has taken Australia a step closer to a US-style regime of shareholder class actions.
The decision - in favour of a shareholder in goldminer Sons of Gwalia, which went into [...]

A class action complaint alleging Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City inflated charges for uninsured patients will be heard on the hospital’s motion to dismiss on September. The plaintiffs who are all from Illinois, accused the hospital for its unfare and unreasonable charges of medication.
According to the suit filed by Chicago attorney James Branit [...]