Balough
December 7, 2013
A junk fax sender is not entitled to have its insurance company defend or indemnify when the sender is sued for sending unsolicited faxes. The sender, Capital Associates of Jackson County, Inc., was insured by American States Insurance Company. The policy covered “advertising injury.” Capital Associates was sued by JC Hauling Company as a class-representative when […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Normally, the discovery rule allows the statute of limitations to start to run when a person knows or should have known of the injury. However, in a case in New York, a man was allowed to be added as a plaintiff three years after the statute of limitations had run because he never told his […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
When you post your website privacy policies, you better abide by them. That lesson was learned anew when the Federal Trade Commission and Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. entered into a consent decree over charges that Petco violated its posted privacy policy. Petco sells pet and food supplies to customers at www.PETCO.com. On the website, the […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
For those convicted of a crime, there is no privacy regardless of how long ago the crime was committed. The California Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit for invasion of privacy against Discovery Communications, Inc. brought after the production and broadcast in 2001 of a television show depicting the plaintiff as an accessory to a murder […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
If your car’s on-board emergency assistance system doesn’t work when you need roadside assistance, maybe you should call the FBI. That’s because up until a recent court decision barring the practice, the FBI has been able to obtain warrants to listen in on in-car conversations through the roadside assistance devices installed in luxury cars. The […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Public libraries that receive government funding or discounts for Internet access must install software filters to block images that constitute obscenity or child pornography, the Supreme Court has ruled. The 6-3 decision in United States v. American Library Association, Inc., reverses the trial court that found the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) unconstitutional because it […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Violating your website’s privacy policy can cause you long-term problems with the Federal Trade Commission. Just ask Eli Lilly and Company. As a result of an e-mail error where all the recipients were listed for everyone to see, the company was forced to enter into a consent decree that now requires Lilly to make extensive […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Use of the Hershey’s and Mrs. Fields Original Cookies websites by children has turned into a bitter experience for both companies. Each company recently entered into a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) because they were collecting personal information from children without […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
It’s black letter law that federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction to hear infringement actions under the U.S. Copyright Act. But now the Indiana Supreme Court has found that state courts may indeed hear cases involving the Copyright Act if the claims are raised first in a counterclaim. Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction in cases when […]
Balough
December 7, 2013
Unless you can prove it otherwise, Victor is not Victoria. At least that’s what the United States Supreme Court found when it ruled that Victor’s Little Secret did not dilute the trademark of Victoria’s Secret. Victor’s Little Secret is located in a strip mall in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, just outside of Louisville. It sells adult videos, […]
