Civil Procedure, Commercial Law & Contracts, Communications & Media Law

Florida Federal Court Rejects FCC Ruling on Autodialed Collection Calls to Cell Phones

by John L. Culhane, Jr., Mark J. Furletti, Alan S. Kaplinsky, Jeremy T. Rosenblum, Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/14/2013

A Florida federal court has rejected the Federal Communication Commission's 2008 ruling that by providing a wireless number to a creditor on a credit application, a consumer has given "prior express consent" as required by...more

Telecommunications Regulatory Update – April 2013: Baker & McKenzie

by Patrick Fair, James Halliday, Anne Petterd, Penny Ward | Baker & McKenzie Australia on 5/8/2013

ACMA warns about getting CISs right - The ACMA has formally warned Activ8me and Sure Telecom about failing to make available critical information summaries (CISs) in breach of the Telecommunications Consumer...more

Hookah Lounge Has Serious Cable Problems, And Dish Network Will Not Pay For It

by Kyle P. Konwinski | Varnum LLP on 5/2/2013

My cable bill seems to go up each month, but I know that if I go back and read my lengthy, small-print cable agreement, somewhere I will be able to find where I agreed to it. I'm sure if I called and complained, one of the...more

California District Court Dismisses TCPA Claim Against Los Angeles Lakers

by Joshua Threadcraft | Burr & Forman on 4/29/2013

According to the Complaint, Plaintiff attended a Lakers basketball game at which time he saw the following statement to fans in the arena: “TEXT your message to 525377.” Plaintiff sent a text message stating “I love you...more

Homework For The Privacy Commissioner Of Canada: Guidelines To Follow

by Tim Banks | Dentons on 4/24/2013

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics tabled its Report, entitled “Privacy and Social Media in the Age of Big Data” on April 23, 2013....more

Retailers Should Use Caution In Collecting Zip Codes From Consumers

by Mark Bross | Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C. on 4/15/2013

In a recent decision, Tyler v. Michaels Stores, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ("SJC") has increased the risk of class action lawsuits under M.G.L. c. 93A against retailers who collect consumers' ZIP codes during...more

Who Owns Your Online Persona?

by Wayne Chang, Paul Cowie | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/27/2013

Originally published in The Recorder on March 22nd, 2013. Eagle v. Morgan, 2013-11-4303 (E.D. Pa. 2013), represents one of the first trials on the issue of who owns social media accounts: the individual employee who...more

Massachusetts Follows California in Finding Retailers Vulnerable to Suit for Collecting Zip Codes in Credit Card Transactions

by Michael von Ansbach-Young | BakerHostetler on 3/26/2013

Earlier this month, the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued an opinion holding that zip codes “may well qualify” as personally identifiable information under the Massachusetts law controlling the treatment of PII in credit...more

LinkedIn Data Breach Lawsuit Dismissed For Lack Of Standing

by Amelia Gerlicher, James McCullagh | Perkins Coie on 3/19/2013

A federal judge in the Northern District of California recently added to the growing list of cases rejecting attempts to recover damages resulting from data breaches. In In re LinkedIn User Privacy Litigation, Case no....more

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rules That Retailers May Be Sued for Wrongful Use of Customer Zip Codes Recorded During...

by Cynthia Larose, A. W. "Chip" Phinney III | Mintz Levin - Privacy & Security on 3/14/2013

“May I have your zip code?” is an all-too-familiar question that may be going the way of the dinosaur in Massachusetts. Many retailers commonly ask customers for their zip codes when processing credit card transactions at,...more

Breach of Privacy in the Cloud (U.S.)

by Field Law on 3/12/2013

In 2012, LinkedIn made headlines as a result of a significant data breach. The passwords and email addresses of over 6 million LinkedIn users were hacked and posted online. Encryption and security was improved by LinkedIn in...more

It Ain't Over 'Till the Fat Lady Sings - Party's Contractual Obligations Continue In Agreement To Negotiate

by Sarah Aberg | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 2/21/2013

In IDT Corp. v Tyco Group, S.A.R.L., 2012 NY Slip Op 09190 (1st Dept. Dec. 27, 2012) the Appellate Division held that if you sign a binding agreement that includes an obligation to negotiate, the obligation to negotiate is...more

Are You Recording Your Customers’ Calls? Better Listen

by Albert Gidari, Jr., John Roche | Perkins Coie on 2/4/2013

Federal law and most states only require one party to a phone call to consent to recording it, which means the person recording the call doesn’t need anyone else’s permission; however, a minority of states, including...more

Speaking Of . . . Insurance Coverage - Is There Coverage For Alleged “Disparagement” Of Another Company’s Product? One California...

by Walter Judge | Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC on 2/4/2013

We previously discussed the troubling issues of: a) whether your company’s insurance policy(ies) actually provides coverage for claims of IP infringement, and b) which of your policies is the one(s) you should be looking to...more

Better Know a Plaintiff: A Lesson from the Skinnygirl Margarita Class Action Lawsuit

by Mark Spatz | Cohen & Gresser LLP on 2/1/2013

Regular viewers of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report – the author’s preferred source of punditry – should be familiar with the recurring segment, “Better Know a District.” In that segment, Stephen Colbert comically provides...more

Faulkner v. ADT and the Landscape for CIPA Class Actions

by Michael Bracken, Thomas Gilbertsen, Daniel Silverman | Venable LLP on 1/25/2013

Last week the Ninth Circuit ruled on the issue of whether a business can be held liable under the California Invasion of Privacy Act, Cal. Penal Code § 632 (“CIPA”) for monitoring or recording its own customer service...more

The Ninth Circuit Amends TCPA Opinion in Meyer v. Portfolio Recovery Associates and Provides Relief to Debt Collection Industry

by Michael Mallow, Christine M. Reilly | Loeb & Loeb LLP on 1/23/2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has amended a recent decision in which it suggested that prior express consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for telephone calls made to mobile phones for...more

The Common Law Release Rule Meets Its Demise In California

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 1/15/2013

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 877 (CCP 877) modified what is commonly referred to as the common law release rule. Prior to 1957, that rule held that the release of one tortfeasor given by a plaintiff had the...more

Advertising News & Analysis - January 10, 2013

by Ellen Traupman Berge, Molly Cusson, Lisa Jose Fales, Thomas Gilbertsen, Jeffrey D. Knowles, Amy Ralph Mudge, Ari Rothman, Randal M. Shaheen | Venable LLP on 1/15/2013

In this issue: - Old Rules Still Apply to New Technologies - NAD Says It Won’t Demur Just Because a Regulator OKs Language - Toys“R”Us Settlement Exposes Dark Side of Refund Policies - Hollister Gift Card...more

The APP STORE Trademark Wars: New Year’s Installment

by Sam Hudson | Foley Hoag LLP - Trademark, Copyright &... on 1/14/2013

Amazon has recorded another success in its battle with Apple over use of the term APP STORE. The U.S. District Court in California has granted Amazon’s motion for summary judgment on Apple’s claim of false advertising...more

US Supreme Court Upholds Arbitrators Authority to Decide the Validity of a Non-Compete Clause in an Arbitration Agreement

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/9/2013

The US Supreme Court recently vacated a decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, holding that the national policy favoring arbitration found in the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and supporting case law, a policy which...more

Contract Disputes and Prevailing Party Attorneys Fees in California

by Peter Bauman - Senior Associate at Tharpe &... on 1/9/2013

Under California law, the recovery of attorneys’ fees are authorized by statute in a variety of situations. Among these are contract disputes. The “prevailing party” in a contract dispute is entitled to recover their...more

E-Discovery Guidelines Coming To A Court Near You

by Robert Freedman - Partner at Tharpe & Howell,... on 1/8/2013

New E-Discovery Guidelines related to the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) have been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Find the Guidelines and related documents...more

End of the Dark Ages? Lawsuits Put Sports TV Blackout Rules to the Test

by Jeremy Lacks | Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 1/4/2013

Could the New York Yankees sell the broadcasting rights to their games to cable companies and subscribers in Mississippi? Could a Los Angeles Kings fan living on the East Coast pay to watch a crucial, late-season game live...more

Déjà Vu All Over Again: California Federal Court Finally Tells Merchants When They Can Ask Consumers for Personal Infomation - But...

by Michael Mallow, Michael Thurman | Loeb & Loeb LLP on 12/28/2012

A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California issued an opinion Dec. 17, 2012, that seems to answer definitively a question that has weighed on the minds of California merchants for the...more

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Civil Procedure › Commercial Law & Contracts › Communications & Media Law