Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Peeking Into The House Of Cards: Money Laundering, Luxury Real Estate, And The Necessity Of Data Verification For The Corporate Transparency Act’S Beneficial Ownership Registry, S. Alexandra Bieler

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

It is estimated that $800 billion to $2 trillion are laundered globally every year, funding the schemes of bad actors and terrorists alike. These astronomical sums are moved around the world without detection; this is in large part due to the ease with which anonymous shell companies, typically limited liability companies (LLCs), can be created, particularly in the United States. America is one of the most egregious enablers of this practice because most states require little to no information about the person ultimately controlling the entity, known as the “beneficial owner.” Working through an LLC, bad actors often turn to …

Make Some Sense Of Scent Trademarks: The United States Needs A Graphical Representation Requirement, Gabrielle E. Brill

Law Student Publications

When it comes to consumer loyalty, some businesses have decided to go beyond attracting the eyes. Why not keep customers via their nostrils? Accordingly, the scent marketing industry is booming. Jennifer Dublino, Vice President of Development at ScentWorld Events, remarks that “smell is one of the most unique of human senses. Scent enters the limbic system [of the brain] and bypasses all of the cognitive and logical thought processes and goes directly to the emotional and memory areas of the brain.” Companies like ScentAir have been created specifically to help stores design fragrances that best fit their image and objectives …

Swimming Up The Stream Of Commerce: How Plaintiffs In Products Liability Litigation Are Disadvantaged By Current Personal Jurisdiction Doctrine, Lily S. Smith

Law Student Publications

"“The Court must periodically intervene in the perpetual battle between plaintiffs and corporations over personal jurisdiction, especially when one side has secured a competitive advantage. The time for such intervention has likely arrived.”

Emma is a resident of Billings, Montana, and she ordered the “Whitten 10-in-1, 8 Blade Onion Mincer, Chopper, Slicer, Cutter, Dicer, with Container” on Amazon. The product is a multifunctional kitchen tool that can chop, slice, cut, and dice your vegetable of choice. By pushing down on the container’s lid, the vegetable is forced through blades, resulting in perfectly cut vegetables. Via Amazon Prime, Emma received the …

The Common Law And The Self-Driving Car, Mbilike M. Mwafulirwa

University of San Francisco Law Review

No abstract provided.

“Over-Stressed” Vines Produce No Wines, Whereas “Under-Stressed” Vines Mass Produce: Consolidation, Anti-Competition, And The Fall Of The Family Winery, Elyse Gottschalk

University of San Francisco Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Obligations And Regulatory Challenges Of Online Broker-Dealers And Trading Platforms, Christine Lazaro, Teresa J. Verges

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

Investing has been evolving for decades. On “Mayday” in 1975, the SEC abolished fixed commissions, changing the face of the brokerage industry. A few months later, Charles Schwab opened its first offices, and discount brokerages were born. By the mid-1980s, there were over 600 discount brokers operating. By 1990, discount brokerage firms captured just under than 10% of the market, although Charles Schwab captured 40% of the discount brokerage market. Throughout the 1990s, new firms entered the market, including E*Trade and AmeriTrade. Online trading became more prevalent; by 1999 25% of all trades occurred online. The term “day trader” …

A Comment On Foohey Et Al., Steering Loan Modifications Post-Pandemic, Susan Block-Lieb

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Ransomware Warfare: Exploring Global And Private Negotiations To Help U.S. Victims Respond To The Threat, Karina Nad

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

By weaponizing technology, now more than ever before, cybercriminals are transforming the cyberworld into their new hunting ground. Almost daily, news headlines alert us to a new malicious cyber threat or major data breach. The evolution of cybercrime has created a malicious online environment, or "malspace," that is now inhabited by hacker groups and espionage units from all over the world. As a global concern, the use of powerful online capabilities by hacker groups has led to the "militarization" of cyberspace. Closer to home, critical infrastructure, valuable personal data, and access to medical care has been compromised at alarming rates …

What Is Consumer Protection For?, Luke Herrine

Articles

When law and economics barreled its way into consumer protection scholarship two score years ago, it brought with it the consumer sovereignty framework: an approach to analysis in which actual markets are compared to an ideal market in which consumers optimize exogenous welfare functions by choosing between optimally competitive sellers. Even after two decades of behavioralist critique and even with increasingly critical perspectives taking root since the Global Financial Crisis, this consumer sovereignty ideal continues to serve as both a descriptive and normative baseline for consumer protection scholarship.

This Article argues that it is time to reconsider the consumer sovereignty …

Opening Remarks, Christopher J. Buccafusco, Matthew Vernace

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Need For Adopting Mass Arbitration Waivers In The Online Sports Betting Industry, Samuel Ditchek

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

FanDuel and DraftKings, two ascending corporate powerhouses, have been the driving force in online sports betting's surge in popularity. Akin to other online services, both of these providers have featured/currently feature binding arbitration clauses that compel users to settle disputes through arbitration. Though their Terms of Use resemble typical consumer contracts, FanDuel and DraftKings have made a costly error in failing to account for mass copycat arbitration actions. These types of actions are avenues for large groups of consumers to individually file arbitration claims in order to force a settlement. Without the intention of actually pursuing their arbitration claims, consumers …

Strengths And Weaknesses Of Notice And Consent Requirements Under The Gdpr, The Ccpa/Cpra, And The Fcc Broadband Privacy Order, Scott Jordan

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

We compare the notice and consent requirements of the three recent privacy regulations that are most likely to serve as the starting points for the creation of a comprehensive consumer privacy bill in the United States: the European General Data Protection Regulation, the Calfornia Consumer Privacy Act/California Privacy Rights Act, and the Federal Communications Commission's Broadband Privacy Order. We compare the scope of personal information under each regulation, including the test for identifiability and exclusions for de-identified information, and identify problems with their treatment of de-identified information and of pseudonymous information. We compare notice requirements, including the level of required …

Table Of Contents

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Addictive Technology And Its Implications For Antitrust Enforcement, James Niels Rosenquist, Fiona M. Scott Morton, Samuel N. Weinstein

Articles

The advent of mobile devices and digital media platforms in the past decade represents the biggest shock to cognition in human history. Robust medical evidence is emerging that digital media platforms are addictive and, when used in excess, harmful to users’ mental health. Other types of addictive products, like tobacco and prescription drugs, are heavily regulated to protect consumers. Currently, there is no regulatory structure protecting digital media users from these harms. Antitrust enforcement and regulation that lowers entry barriers could help consumers of social media by increasing competition. Economic theory tells us that more choice in digital media will …

An American Dream Gone Green: A Discussion Of Existing Environmental Marketing Regulations And The Need For Stricter Legislation, Christian Robledo

Touro Law Review

Many consumers seek to purchase environmentally friendly products and companies have responded with “green” marketing, which includes claims of environmental benefits and sustainability with respect to what is being sold. Unfortunately, these claims often overstate their impact on the environment or are presented in a way to mislead consumers. This practice is referred to as greenwashing. Not only does it harm consumers, but it potentially harms the reputation of truly eco-friendly companies that are viewed with skepticism or outright distrust due to the deceitfulness of companies that do engage in greenwashing.

This Note discusses the lack of legislation that currently …

Compulsory Licensing Of Patents In Times Of Public Health Emergency, Kelsey Truglio

Touro Law Review

In March 2020, the United States shut down to avoid the continued spread of the COVID-19 virus as it spread globally. In December 2020, the first COVID-19 vaccines were granted emergency usage authorization in the United States. Wealthy nations were able to quickly purchase and hoard vaccines for public distribution, leaving many third-world countries and developing nations struggling to continue to survive the pandemic without vaccination.

Compulsory licensing should be allowed on otherwise patented or patentable new technology in times of global health emergency, regardless of which entity creates the technology. This will enable governments of countries spanning all wealth …

The Wild West Of Data Privacy: Why Rhode Island Needs To Enact Comprehensive Legislation To Protect Consumers’ Data, Candace Quinn

Roger Williams University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Regulating Charitable Crowdfunding, Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer

Journal Articles

Charitable crowdfunding is a global and rapidly growing new method for raising money to benefit charities and individuals in need. While mass fundraising has existed for more than a hundred years, crowdfunding is distinguishable from those earlier efforts because of its low cost, speed of implementation, and broad reach. Reflecting these advantages, it now accounts annually for
/="/">billions of dollars raised from tens of millions of donors through hundreds of Internet platforms such as Charidy, Facebook, GoFundMe, and GlobalGiving. Although most charitable crowdfunding campaigns raise only modest amounts, every year several efforts attract tens of millions of dollars in …

Understanding American Privacy, Neil M. Richards, Andrew B. Serwin, Tyler Blake

Scholarship@WashULaw

This Article is an explanation of some of the key features of American privacy law for a general audience. In particular, it tries to explain American privacy law against the critique that because the US currently lacks a European-style privacy law, the United States lacks much in the way of privacy law. We argue that the lack of a European-style data protection law in the United States is not the end of the analysis. This article therefore offers a basic roadmap to American privacy law for the uninitiated. In order to understand American privacy, we believe that it is important …

The Surprising Virtues Of Data Loyalty, Neil M. Richards, Woodrow Hartzog

Scholarship@WashULaw

Lawmakers in the United States and Europe are seriously considering imposing duties of data loyalty that implement ideas from privacy law scholarship, but critics claim such duties are unnecessary, unworkable, overly individualistic, and indeterminately vague. This paper takes those criticisms seriously, and its analysis of them reveals that duties of data loyalty have surprising virtues. Loyalty, it turns out, can support collective well-being by embracing privacy’s relational turn; it can be a powerful state of mind for reenergizing privacy reform; it prioritizes human values rather than potentially empty formalism; and it offers solutions that are flexible and clear rather than …