Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

The Technological And Business Evolution Of Machine Based Gambling In America, Darren Prum, Carlin Mccrory

Darren A. Prum

Machine Based Gambling has become a major source of revenue to many states across the country that need the money but face obstacles to raising taxes within their jurisdiction. The figures are startling with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s cut at over $1.456 Billion in 2011, which exceed the next closest state by $500 million. In addition, there are more than twice as many slot machines available to the public than ATMs. The benefits of machine based gaming has allowed many governments to revitalized tourism locations, make some Native Americans economically self-sufficient, and save horse and dog race tracks ...

Dirty Debts Sold Dirt Cheap, Dalie Jimenez

Dalie Jimenez

This Article examines the sale and purchase of consumer debts (e.g., delinquent credit card debts) through the lens of a rare collection of contracts.† It finds that in many instances, sellers disclaim all warranties about the underlying debts sold or the information transferred, sometimes as far as specifically refusing to stand by “the accuracy or completeness of any information provided.” The Article argues that the collection of consumer debts sold through these transactions violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s prohibition against using deceptive or misleading representations in connection with the collection of a debt. After considering potential ...

Cracking The Cable Conundrum: Government Regulation Of A La Carte Models In The Cable Industry, Jade Brewster

Jade Brewster

No abstract provided.

Big Data And Due Process: Toward A Framework To Redress Predictive Privacy Harms, Kate Crawford, Jason Schultz

Boston College Law Review

The rise of “Big Data” analytics in the private sector poses new challenges for privacy advocates. Through its reliance on existing data and predictive analysis to create detailed individual profiles, Big Data has exploded the scope of personally identifiable information (“PII”). It has also effectively marginalized regulatory schema by evading current privacy protections with its novel methodology. Furthermore, poor execution of Big Data methodology may create additional harms by rendering inaccurate profiles that nonetheless impact an individual’s life and livelihood. To respond to Big Data’s evolving practices, this Article examines several existing privacy regimes and explains why these ...

An Impossible Reconciliation? Understanding Class-Action Waivers And Arbitration After American Express V. Italian Colors, Kristine A. Bergman

Kristine A Bergman

No abstract provided.

Le Contrôle Des Conditions Générales: L'Envol Manqué Du Phénix, Nicolas Pierre Marie Kuonen

Nicolas Kuonen

This article presents and discusses the new fairness test for Standard Terms & Conditions ("ST&C") which has recently been introduced in Switzerland (the new art. 8 of the Swiss Federal Act against Unfair Competition). This article's first aim is to provide some guidelines for the understanding of that test. It second aim is to explain why, although it was supposed to strongly impact ST&C used in Switzerland, it has failed to change anything to date.

The Evolution Of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act; Changing Interpretations Of The Dmca And Future Implications For Copyright Holders, Hillary A. Henderson

Hillary A Henderson

Copyright law rewards an artificial monopoly to individual authors for their creations. This reward is based on the belief that, by granting authors the exclusive right to reproduce their works, they receive an incentive and means to create, which in turn advances the welfare of the general public by “promoting the progress of science and useful arts.”

Copyright protection subsists . . . in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device . . . . In no ...

Why Do Cities Innovate In Public Health? Implications Of Scale And Structure, Paul Diller

Paul Diller

Big cities have frequently enacted public health regulations—especially with respect to tobacco use and obesity—that go beyond the state and federal regulatory floors. That cities innovate in public health at all is remarkable. They have less to gain financially from more stringent regulation than higher levels of government, which shoulder more of the burden of Medicare and Medicaid. Cities are supposed to fear mobile capital flight; if they regulate, businesses will leave. Moreover, because innovation is costly and likely to be copied by others when successful, a free-rider problem might inhibit local policy innovation generally.

Cities’ prolific regulation ...

Circolazione Di Titoli Di Debito E Responsabilità Degli Investitori Professionali, Valerio Sangiovanni

Valerio Sangiovanni

No abstract provided.

Empowering The Consumer: A Discussion On Minnesota's Dual Agency Statute And A Proposed Solution That Puts The Consumer First, Micheal Fleming

Student Scholarship

Many Americans across this county strive to achieve the dream of home ownership. The obstacles that stand in the way of achieving that dream can be staggering and unique to the persons pursuing home ownership. To a certain extent, it is expected that there be some proverbial hoops of fire to jump through before finally turning that key to a new home. What the consumer does not expect is to find a statutory scheme that creates unnecessary obstacles, such as a broker with a divided loyalty and information barriers, at the expense of the public. This statutory scheme is enshrined ...

Sacred Cows, Holy Wars: Exploring The Limits Of Law In The Regulation Of Raw Milk And Kosher Meat, Kenneth Lasson

Kenneth Lasson

SACRED COWS, HOLY WARS

Exploring the Limits of Law in the Regulation of Raw Milk and Kosher Meat

By Kenneth Lasson

Abstract

In a free society law and religion seldom coincide comfortably, tending instead to reflect the inherent tension that often resides between the two. This is nowhere more apparent than in America, where the underlying principle upon which the first freedom enunciated by the Constitution’s Bill of Rights is based ‒ the separation of church and state – is conceptually at odds with the pragmatic compromises that may be reached. But our adherence to the primacy of individual rights and ...

Los Consumidores Ante Las Comisiones Bancarias Abusivas, Gabriel Martinez Medrano

Gabriel Martinez Medrano

Analisis de la Regulacion del Banco Central de Argentina sobre comisiones bancarias.

Forced Arbitration Undermines Enforcement Of Federal Laws By Suppressing Consumers' And Employees' Ability To Bring Claims, Jean R. Sternlight

Congressional Testimony

Testimony of Professor Jean R. Sternlight to the Senate Judiciary Committee, arguing for the passage of the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2013.

The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform And Consumer Protection Act: Unresolved Issues Of Regulatory Culture And Mindset, Gill North, Ross Buckley

University of New South Wales Faculty of Law Research Series 2013

The Dodd-Frank Act in the United States is a major piece of legislation. Some of its reforms are bold, particularly in the areas of consumer protection and derivative trading. However, the regulatory framework of the Act is far from complete. While the broad reform was successfully negotiated through Congress and the Senate, the political challenges are far from over. The full scope and nature of the financial reform will take several years to evolve as the mandated studies and rule making are completed and implemented. We argue that the extent to which the reforms achieve their stated objectives will depend ...

Filling In The Holes In Whistleblower Protection Systems: Lessons From The Hanford Council Experience, Jonathan Brock

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

The Money Or The Media? Lessons From Contrasting Developments In Us And Australian Whistleblowing Laws, Terry Morehead Dworkin, A.J. Brown

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Stymieing Controversy Over Generic Top-Level Domains (Gtlds) And Other Internet Governance Decisions With Content Neutrality, Nafees Uddin

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

What Do We Worry About When We Worry About Price Discrimination? The Law And Ethics Of Using Personal Information For Pricing, Akiva A. Miller

Akiva A Miller

New information technologies have dramatically increased sellers’ ability to engage in retail price discrimination. Debates over using personal information for price discrimination frequently treat it as a single problem, and are not sufficiently sensitive to the variety of price discrimination practices, the different kinds of information they require in order to succeed, and the different ethical concerns they raise. This paper explores the ethical and legal debate over regulating price discrimination facilitated by consumers’ personal information. Various kinds of “privacy remedies”—self-regulation, technological fixes, state regulation, and legislating private causes of legal action—each have their place. By drawing distinctions ...

Publicidad De Las Acciones Colectivas., Gabriel Martinez Medrano

Gabriel Martinez Medrano

El trabajo aborda reciente jurisprudencia sobre las formas de publicar o comunicar la existencia de acciones colectivas a los consumidores, sin que los costos de dichas comunicaciones se transforme en una barrera para que puedan ser tramitadas.

Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. V. Bartlett And Its Implications, Brian Wolfman, Anne King

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The authors state that the U.S. Supreme Court’s preemption ruling in Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, which generally shields generic drug manufacturers from state-law damages liability for design-defect claims, may also have broader implications for preemption jurisprudence. In this article they describe the Supreme Court’s decision in Mutual and evaluate how it may affect future products-liability litigation.

Part I provides an overview of the case’s factual background and of federal generic drug regulation, while Part II discusses the Court’s majority opinion and the dissents. Part III analyzes the implications of the decision, offering ideas on ...