Articles

02.14.17

The Future of Essential Health Benefits

The Essential Health Benefits (EHB) rule may be among the many parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are on the chopping block as the Trump Administration and Congress seek to repeal and replace the law. Essential Health Benefits, which define what health care benefits plans in the ...


02.14.17

The Digital Content Market in Mexico

Today’s global content market is constantly evolving. The rise of digital platforms has created new and exciting opportunities for production, distribution, and consumption of content. Producers and distributors are meeting their audiences where they live, which is increasingly on digital ...


02.13.17

Spotlight on the False Claims Act

Why it matters: The False Claims Act (FCA) continued to prove itself a powerful tool to combat fraud on the government in 2016. In December 2016, the DOJ released figures showing that, for fiscal year 2016, it had collected over $4.7 billion, its “third highest annual recovery in False ...


02.10.17

Social Media Communications Insufficient to Order Halt, Court Rules

Why it mattersAn employer lost a motion requesting a California federal court limit the communications of the plaintiff's counsel in a wage and hour dispute. Jerrod Finder filed a putative class action against Leprino Foods Company, alleging that his employer violated California wage law. While ...


02.09.17

FTC Clamps Down on Homeopathic Products

Homeopathy is a system of alternative medicine created in 1796 in Germany. The system is based on the principle that “like cures like,” meaning that a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people can also be used to cure similar symptoms in sick people. In fact, the ...


02.09.17

Apple Ad out of Tune With Publicity Rights, Says New Suit

A new lawsuit accuses Apple of violating the publicity rights of a singer who says an iPhone ad illegally samples his voice. Jerome Lawson, the lead singer of the 1970s group The Persuasions, does not allege that Apple violated the copyright in the song “Good Times,” perhaps because he ...


02.09.17

New Suit: JCPenney Scammed Consumers With Deceptive Pricing

The latest company to be hit with a deceptive pricing class action: JCPenney, charged with falsely inflating “original” prices to create a misleading impression of big discounts that don’t actually exist.Kansas resident Ann Cavlovic claimed that she fell for the tactic when she ...


02.03.17

AG Sues Google Over Student Privacy Violations

Does Google violate the privacy rights of students by collecting personal data when they use its educational apps?Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says yes in a new lawsuit accusing the tech company of illegally gathering and using the information for advertising purposes.Formerly known as ...


02.03.17

Current State of the FTC: Three Top Priorities

On February 2, Acting Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Maureen Ohlhausen, addressed the ABA 2017 Consumer Protection Conference in Atlanta and highlighted her consumer protection goals. If there is a theme to her vision, it is that regulatory humility is integral to creating a better ...


02.03.17

FTC Hangs Up on "Massive" Robocall Scams

The Federal Trade Commission took action against a pair of "massive" robocall telemarketing scams that prompted several defendants to agree to (1) a permanent ban from making robocalls and (2) a payment of more than $500,000 to the Commission.A number of defendants were named in the two ...