Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

A Public Interest Perspective On The Impact Of The Broadcasting Provisions Of The 1996 Act, Angela J. Campbell

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Unintended Consequences, Susan Ness

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Review Essay: Using All Available Information, Max Huffman

ExpressO

This is a review essay entitled “Using All Available Information,” in which I review and comment on Justice Stephen Breyer’s new book, Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution, published in September 2005. Justice Breyer’s book, adapted from the Tanner Lectures given in 2005 at Harvard Law School, serves partly as a response to Justice Scalia’s 1997 volume A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law. I review Justice Breyer’s book in part by comparison to and contrast with Justice Scalia’s. I propose that much about Justice Breyer’s interpretive philosophy, which centers on determining the “purposes” of texts and interpreting …

Identity Theft And Consumer Protection: Finding Sensible Approaches To Safeguard Personal Data In The United States And Canada, Kamaal Zaidi

ExpressO

This paper examines identity theft in both the United States and Canada. Various examples of commercial fraud and scams are discussed in the context of a growing trend of identity thieves assuming identities of innocent consumers. As such, various pieces of legislation and consumer initiatives (involving online consumer complaint mechanisms)in U.S. and Canadian jurisdictions are highlighted to demonstrate the pursuit towards broader consumer protection of personal data used in daily commercial transactions. The author argues that these modern efforts to safeguard consumers from identity theft is a progressive measure that will continue to afford increasing protections for consumer personal data, …

An Economic Approach To The Regulation Of Direct Marketing, Daniel R. Shiman

Federal Communications Law Journal

The growing ubiquity of electronic media and the almost total absence of cost in mass distributions of direct marketing have exacerbated the problem of the increasing intrusion of direct marketing into the privacy of citizens. The Author proposes utilization of a microeconomic social welfare analysis to guide policymakers in determining what forms of direct media should be regulated and what the most effective forms of regulation are likely to be. Sending and receiving costs provide the key factors in determining the extent of the "welfare-reducing marketing" and "marketing aversions," but the Author points to a number of other factors as …

Should The Securities Exchange Act Be The Sole Federal Remedy For An Erisa Fiduciary Misrepresentation Of The Value Of Public Employer Stock?, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 637 (2006), Mark Casciari, Ian Morrison

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Standards Of Practice For Pension Practitioners, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 667 (2006), David Pratt

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Inherent Attorney Conflicts Of Interest Under Erisa: Using The Model Rules Of Professional Conduct To Discourage Joint Representation Of Dual Role Fiduciaries, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 721 (2006), Paul M. Secunda

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Great Vanishing Benefit, Employer Provided Retiree Medical Benefits: The Problem And Possible Solutions, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 785 (2006), Larry Grudzien

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Can Systems Analysis Help Us To Understand C.O.B.R.A.?: A Challenge To Employment-Based Health Insurance, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 753 (2006), Alison Mcmorran Sulentic

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Resolving The Judicial Paradox Of "Equitable" Relief Under Erisa Section 502(A)(3), 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 827 (2006), Colleen E. Medill

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The "Priority Statute" - The United States' "Ace-In-The-Hole", 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1205 (2006), Richard H.W. Maloy

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Always Low Prices, Always At A Cost: A Call To Arms Against The Wal-Martization Of America, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 267 (2006), Justin R. Watkins

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

What's Up On Stock-Drops? Moench Revisited, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 605 (2006), Craig C. Martin, Matthew J. Renaud, Omar R. Akbar

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Shareholders' Rights To A Cause Of Action Under The Investment Company Act Of 1940 Following Exxon Mobil V. Allapattah, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1521 (2006), Renee Labuz

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Developing Trends With The Class Action Fairness Act Of 2005, 40 J. Marshall L. Rev. 115 (2006), Steven M. Puiszis

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Erisa Reform In A Post-Enron World, 39 J. Marshall L. Rev. 563 (2006), Justin Cummins, Meg Luger Nikolai

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Costs And Consequences Of Federal Telecommunications Regulations, Jerry Ellig

Federal Communications Law Journal

Federal regulation of telecommunication profoundly affects United States consumers, determining what services are priced above and below cost, what kinds of technologies and services are offered and when, and what firms are allowed to compete. In this Article, the Author surveys the voluminous literature on the economic costs and outcomes of these regulations, focusing predominantly on the effects of regulation on prices, quantity, quality of service, and overall consumer and social welfare. The Author estimates costs and assesses outcomes for ten types of federal telecommunications regulated activity: telecommunications regulatory spending, long-distance access charges, universal service funding, local number portability, enhanced …

A Digital Age Communications Act Paradigm For Federal-State Relations, Kyle D. Dixon, Philip J. Weiser

Publications

This article captures the effort of the Digital Age Communications Act (DACA) to craft a new framework for the federal-state relationship in implementing a next generation telecommunications regulatory regime. In particular, it sets forth a DACA model that would implement a "rule of law" regulatory paradigm for an era of technological dynamism. This era requires, as the article explains, a coherent federal framework that circumscribes the role of state and local authorities so as to advance sound competition policy goals. The sole exception to this policy is the recognition that a basic local service rate retains both political and practical …

The Modern Age Of Informed Consent, Barbara L. Atwell

University of Richmond Law Review

This essay explores the informed consent ramifications of the confluence of these two phenomena: developments in medical technology and emerging adulthood. In particular, it explores consent to medical treatments by emerging adults that are both elective and irreversible. In such cases, policy considerations dictate that additional safeguards be implemented to ensure that the consent given is truly informed. Part II of this essay provides an overview of the informed consent doctrine and outlines a variety of advancements in elective medical technology. Part III explores the concept of emerging adulthood. Part IV suggests that when emerging adults seek medical treatments that …

Abuse Prevention 2005, James J. White

Articles

Today I do not debate the empirical question (what is the cause of the increase in bankruptcy filings?) nor do I address the buried moral question (who deserves the protection of bankruptcy law?). Rather, I speculate about the consequences of 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code and about the reasons it will achieve or fail to achieve the goals of its sponsors. Along the way I hope to learn something about how law changes, or fails to change behavior.

Taking The Stand: The Lessons Of The Three Men Who Took The Japanese American Internment To Court, Lorraine K. Bannai

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Product Liability Law, Gary J. Spahn, Brent M. Timberlake

University of Richmond Law Review

While Virginia is not typically seen as "progressive" in the field of product liability law, the Commonwealth is nonetheless a forum in which these product liability battles take place. This article summarizes selected decisions of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, federal district courts in Virginia, and courts of the Commonwealth issued between July 1, 2004 and May 15, 2005. This article also includes a discussion of the most relevant legislative changes made by the Virginia General Assembly over the same time period. While a complete analysis of every decision and statute affecting product liability is …

Take Us Back To The Ball Game: The Laws And Policy Of Professional Sports Ticket Prices, Nathan R. Scott

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The prices of professional sports tickets have skyrocketed in recent years, depriving many fans of the time-honored tradition of taking their families out to a ball game. This Article argues that legal reform and political action are appropriate responses to these soaring prices.

First, the Article rebuts the threshold objection that economics alone justify current ticket prices. Professional sports teams reap a windfall from the public through corporate welfare, special-interest legislation, and favorable antitrust and tax laws. This preferential legal treatment undercuts the argument that teams are simply charging, or should charge, what the market will bear. In addition, teams …

Bankruptcy Abuse: An Empirical Study Of Consumer Exemptions Cases, Bernard Trujillo

ExpressO

On April 20, 2005, the President of the United States signed a sweeping legislative overhaul of the consumer bankruptcy system. The bankruptcy reform legislation is based on an empirical assertion: that sophisticated debtors with the means to re-pay their debts were instead filing for bankruptcy and acquiring a discharge, thereby abusing the bankruptcy system.

This Article presents the results of an empirical study of bankruptcy court doctrine in consumer exemptions proceedings over a twenty-year period. The findings suggest a serious empirical flaw in the premise of the bankruptcy reform legislation. The study shows that the bankruptcy system minimizes abuse by …

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Virginia Cellular And Highland Cellular: The Fcc Establishes A Framework For Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designation In Rural Study Areas, Mark C. Bannister

Federal Communications Law Journal

In 1996, Congress passed the first substantial rework of the Communications Act of 1934. This Act was intended to benefit consumers by encouraging competition and establishing a series of explicit mechanisms for assuring universal service. One of the outcomes is the creation of significant controversy over the federal, and in some cases, state universal service subsidy for the class of telecommunications providers typically known as wireless or cellular and defined by federal statute as "commercial mobile radio service" ("CMRS"). Incumbent local exchange carriers ("ILECs") characterize these subsidies as a windfall and as unnecessary to provide wireless phone service. They argue …

Navigating Communications Regulation In The Wake Of 9/11, Jamie S. Gorelick, John H. Harwood Ii, Heather Zachary

Federal Communications Law Journal

In no industry has the impact of the events of September 11, 2001 ("9/11") been felt more strongly than in the communications industry. After 9/11, as the American people demanded a greater sense of security, Congress and the executive branch agencies reacted with new laws, new regulations, and new practices designed to protect our nation's critical communications infrastructure and enhance the ability of law enforcement and intelligence agencies to investigate those who would do us harm. The U.S. communications providers could do so consistent with their responsibilities to customers and to shareholders. That partnership, based upon rules developed over decades, …

Homeland Security And Wireless Telecommunications: The Continuing Evolution Of Regulation, Christopher Guttman-Mccabe, Amy Mushahwar, Patrick Murck

Federal Communications Law Journal

Since the grant of the first Commercial Mobile Radio Service ("CMRS") license over twenty years ago, the wireless industry has grown from a service of convenience to one that is indispensable. What once was a device used for sporadic phone calls now is viewed by many Americans as a source of invaluable communication and security. As the wireless industry matured, government officials turned to the mobile phone as a way to make the United States safer. E-9 11, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act ("CALEA"), Wireless Priority Service ("WPS"), and Outage Reporting all were initiated on the wireless platform …

Universal Service: Problems, Solutions, And Responsive Policies, Allen S. Hammond Iv

Federal Communications Law Journal

No abstract provided.