A case involving a fan who claims he was overcharged for tickets to the Seahawks-Broncos game is headed to the NJ Supreme Court. He paid $2000 each for two tickets worth no more than $800.

NJ law protects plaintiff and consumers like him against inflated prices by requiring at least 95% of the tickets to be sold to the general public. According to plaintiff, the NFL only sold 1% in a nationwide lottery.

Plaintiff expects the class action will result in the NFL paying millions to those fans who paid more than the face value of their tickets.

In class, we discuss the American legal system’s doctrinal foundation of presumption of innocence, based on Blackstone’s formulation, and even deeper, its Biblical roots. A Kansas man was recently released from prison for a crime he did not commit. His brother confessed to killing his niece and then committed suicide.

Kansas has no law helping those who are released from prison.  Other states, such as Texas, would have given him $1.8 million, or $80,000 for every year lost, “not including a yearly compensation afterward.” Colorado would provide $70,000 for each year, and Alabama, $50,000 per year.

As a remedy, it is possible to sue state officials under federal law. Section 1983 of the code in part states, “Every person who … subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law.”

These cases are difficult, but not impossible, to prove. Police have “conditional immunity” from prosecution, and prosecutors have absolute immunity, where a case can go forward if there is evidence of intentional misconduct.

The craze over cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, calls into question as to how things are valued in this space. This article and video help shed some light on the issue as to whether Bitcoin is a bubble or something with real world value.

Source:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanlewis/2017/12/07/what-is-the-fundamental-value-of-bitcoin/#6527eb19545a

In class, we discuss trademark and trade dress.  Ever open a can of Play-Doh and smell that distinct scent?  Well, now Hasbro has trademarked that scent.

“‘The scent of Play-Doh compound has always been synonymous with childhood and fun,’” said Jonathan Berkowitz, a senior vice president of global marketing for the Play-Doh brand. “‘By officially trademarking the iconic scent, we are able to protect an invaluable point of connection between the brand and fans for years to come.’”

Distractions can cause auto accidents and smartphones have been identified as one.  Many states have laws that limit the use of smartphones while driving. Lawyers generally do not pursue distraction cases if there is evidence of some other cause, such as speeding or reckless driving.

There has been an increase in motor vehicle fatalities across the country and they include those involving pedestrians and bicyclists. The studies, however, do not seem to attribute the increases to speeding or driving under the influence.

Many speculate smartphone use is a major cause of the spike in fatalities, but none of the studies show any causal connection. Part of the difficulty in collecting data lies in the reporting forms used by police.  “Only 11 states use reporting forms that contain a field for police to tick-off mobile-phone distraction, while 27 have a space to note distraction in general as a potential cause of the accident.”

In February 2016, a jury awarded a woman $10 million in compensatory damages and $62 million in punitive damages in a suit against Johnson & Johnson for causing her cervical cancer.  She died in 2015 after prolonged use of baby powder made by the company.

In its ruling vacating the judgment, the appeals court cited a recent Supreme Court ruling disallowing lawsuits in states where the plaintiff is not a resident and where the injury did not occur.  The plaintiff in this case is from Alabama and sued in Missouri.

“Jim Onder, who is representing many plaintiffs in the lawsuits, has argued that Missouri is a proper jurisdiction because Johnson & Johnson packages and labels some products in Missouri.”  According to the article, most research indicates talc, which is a soft mineral, has a minimum correlation to ovarian cancer.  In other lawsuits, jurors awarded plaintiffs more than $300 million combined, and the company intends to have all these rulings overturned.

Toys R Us entered Chapter 11 recently causing panic among toymakers. The company owes millions to suppliers.

Toys R Us owes $14.06 million to Jakks, which last year posted a profit of $1.2 million, making the California-based toy supplier one of more than 100,000 creditors sideswiped by the toy chain’s bankruptcy in the run-up to the all-important holiday season. In total, Toys R Us owes $7.5 billion to a group that includes virtually every major toymaker in the country: Mattel (owed $136 million), Hasbro ($59 million), Spin Master ($33 million), Lego ($32 million), Radio Flyer ($12 million), Crayola ($2.6 million).

Companies such as Lego, who are working with Toys R Us, expect their own sales to decline. Small “mom and pop” companies that make things like fidget spinners “rely heavily on Toys R Us for visibility and sales, and often spend months customizing items to the retailer’s specifications.” These companies have “little hope” they will receive part of what they are owed.

Toys R Us received “$3.1 billion from JP Morgan and others to help pay for inventory and company investments.” Some suppliers believe the money can help keep the company in business, but others are not so optimistic.

The district court judge dismissed the guilty verdict against Sheriff Joe Arpaio citing President Trump’s plenary power to pardon under Article II of the United States Constitution.

“Prosecutor John Keller said it was appropriate to dismiss the case against Arpaio.”

A veteran did the brave thing by taking a truck to drive victims of the Las Vegas shooting to the hospital. In the article, the author loosely uses the word “steal,” in reference to the truck, but in fact the defense of necessity would negate any charge of theft.

The veteran stated “he looked for victims with the most serious injuries first, loaded them into the truck bed and drove them to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center. He made two trips before ambulances arrived on scene.”

Friends said of him: “‘You’re an outstanding example of what we should all strive to be in time of crisis,’” “There’s a lot of unsung heroes that day that stood up and helped people,” the veteran told the press.

IKEA, the popular low-cost furniture manufacturer, recalled 27 million “Malm” dressers.   Three children were recently killed as a result of the defect in design.

The company was on notice of the tendency of the furniture to be top-heavy, but did nothing to address the issue until the death of a 22-month-old child earlier this year.  In addition to the recall, the company offered to send crews to people’s homes to tether the dresser to the wall.

“On average, one child dies every two weeks from falling TVs or furniture. At least six deaths have been connected to Ikea’s Malm dresser.”

Posted by Mike Bocchino.

Tom Brady has been accused of knowing about his team deflating footballs in the 2015 AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. The footballs’ air pressure had been significantly reduced to a point where other players could tell the difference. The NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, investigated and suspended Brady for knowing about the tampering of the footballs. Brady fought the suspension in federal district court and his lawyers persuaded the judge. He ruled that Brady did not need to serve his suspension because it was an unfair punishment for just being accused of knowing about the deflation.

The commissioner then took the case to the court of appeals where they did not look at the facts of whether or not Brady deflated the ball, but rather whether or not Goodell was able to cast such a punishment on a player. They looked solely at whether Goodell, as arbitrator, acted in the spirit of the collective bargaining agreement. Judges Barrington Daniels Parker Jr. and Denny Chin wrote in their opinion, “We hold that the commissioner properly exercised this broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand with instructions to confirm the award.”

Basically they agree that the commissioner acted on the powers which he, the league, and the players union had all agreed upon in 2011. So those of you out there saying that Goodell has too much power, the players agreed to what he can and cannot do. Plus, the tampering of footballs is cheating and this is not the first time that Brady had been caught cheating, never mind countless times that he did not get caught. It was only a matter of time.

But overall, the court of appeals did a great job looking at whether or not Roger Goodell stepped over the line or acted within his range of duties and whether or not it was the best interest of the league, which it was.

Mike is business administration major with a concentration in finance at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2018.

The teen clothing chain, Aeropostale, filed for Chapter 11 protection, claiming online and fast-fashion retailers are the cause. The company expects to emerge within six months as a leaner company. It will close 113 stores in the U.S. and all 41 stores located in Canada.

“Online retailers and fast-fashion retailers such as H&M, Forever 21 and Inditex’s Zara have posed a threat to traditional apparel retailers, but American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. have managed to turn around their businesses by controlling inventories and responding faster to changing fashion trends.”

The company may come out of this with restructured debt, but a long-term solution would require rethinking its brand.

The Second Circuit upheld Tom Brady’s suspension for the first four games of the new season and overturned the district court’s ruling.  The court ruled the arbitrator’s award was valid and should not be disturbed.

Judge Parker, writing for the majority, stated, “Our role is not to determine for ourselves whether Brady participated in a scheme to deflate footballs or whether the suspension imposed by the Commissioner should have been for three games or five games or none at all. Nor is it our role to second-guess the arbitrator’s procedural rulings.”  He continued, “Our obligation is limited to determining whether the arbitration proceedings and award met the minimum legal standards established by the Labor Management Relations Act.”

Courts are loathe to upend an arbitrator’s decision, unless for example, there was some type of fraud or corruption on the part of the arbitrator. The parties agree by contract to arbitration in lieu of bringing their case to court.

Brady can appeal to the entire Second Circuit (en banc) and to the United States Supreme Court, however, his chances either take the case are slim.

The opinion can be found here: http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/98c62698-d29a-4b91-98a0-5a5af0c19e88/1/doc/15-2801_complete_opn.pdf

Several states have statutes that make it a crime to refuse to take a breathalyzer if suspected of driving under the influence. Some states, like New Jersey, make refusal a civil offense. The High Court is reviewing statutes in North Dakota and Minnesota that make it a crime for people suspected of drunken driving to refuse to take alcohol tests. Drivers prosecuted under those laws claim they violate the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

The justices questioned lawyers representing the states as to why police cannot be required to get a telephonic warrant every time they want a driver to take an alcohol test. “Justice Stephen Breyer pointed to statistics showing that it takes an average of only five minutes to get a warrant over the phone in Wyoming and 15 minutes to get one in Montana.”  However, this may not be correct.

“Kathryn Keena, a county prosecutor representing Minnesota, suggested some rural areas may have only one judge on call, making it too burdensome to seek a warrant every time. She said even if a warrant were procured, a driver could still refuse to take the test and face lesser charges for obstruction of a warrant than for violating drunken driving test laws.”

Telephonic warrants have also been the rule in New Jersey since 2009. Recently, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed itself, reverting back to the federal standard requiring police to obtain a warrant after establishing they have probable cause. Under the more stringent standard of using telephonic warrants, police were complaining it took to long to reach a judge. Police also used consent forms they carried, causing an outcry from the defense bar that such a practice may lead to further abuses. Justice Anthony Kennedy said the states are asking for “an extraordinary exception” to the warrant rule by making it a crime for drivers to assert their constitutional rights.

The problem for the states is that without the threat of a refusal penalty, the only proof available at trial as to whether someone was intoxicated while driving is the observations made by police. Observations, however, cannot prove blood alcohol level.

In a Fortune interview, Republican front-runner, Donald Trump, indicated he may replace Fed chief, Janet Yellen, although it appears he likes it when interest rates are low. Speaking from a business standpoint, he would be correct. On the other hand, he acknowledges that low rates are not good for savings accounts, “The problem with low interest rates is that it’s unfair that people who’ve saved every penny, paid off mortgages, and everything they were supposed to do and they were going to retire with their beautiful nest egg and now they’re getting one-eighth of 1%,” says Trump. “I think that’s unfair to those people.”

Trump is in favor of taking power away from the Fed and have more Congressional oversight.

In Torts, we discuss defamation and the strict limitations surrounding public figures when pursuing claims against people who say things that hurt their good reputation. Bill O’Reilly, a former prominent news commentator, filed a $5 million-dollar lawsuit against a former politician who posted statements on Facebook regarding his former girlfriend’s treatment by Fox News after she made harassment accusations.

The complaint states: “‘Plaintiff [O’Reilly] seeks damages for the public hatred, ridicule, disgrace, and permanent harm to his professional and personal reputations as a result of Defendant Panter’s publication of knowingly defamatory statements about Plaintiff, which were made with actual malice, as well as Defendant Panter’s intentional infliction of emotional distress upon Plaintiff.’”

Claims made by public figures are difficult, but not impossible, to prove because they require a showing of malice.  Here, the complaint alleges defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Posted by Anirudh Ramesh.

Companies need to provide high quality services. If companies provide defective or unsatisfactory services, they may be subject to legal action. Tesla is an automotive manufacturer. They specialize in building electrical cars and solar panels. Tesla had failed to provide reliable equipment to Walmart. Thus, the company opened itself to legal issues.

“The Walmart suit alleges breach of contract, gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards. Walmart is asking Tesla to remove solar panels from more than 240 Walmart locations where they have been installed, and to pay damages related to all the fires Walmart says that Tesla caused.” (cnbc.com) According to the contract with Tesla, Tesla is supposed to provide reliable equipment. However, Tesla did not pay heed to the defectiveness of the solar panels that were installed. This resulted in property damage to Walmart. In addition, Tesla used amateurs to inspect the panels. Tesla should have used knowledgeable personnel to inspect the solar panels.

Since Tesla could not perform the contract that it had agreed to, it is subject to breach of contract. Tesla needed to be more careful and should have taken measures to prevent this loss from occurring. Since Tesla could do neither of the two things, it will be held accountable to pay Walmart for damages. Since Walmart has sued Tesla, an out of court settlement will be ideal.

Anirudh is an accounting and IT major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2021.

Posted by Frank Volturo.Over the past two decades, the New England Patriots have been a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. They have won 6 Super Bowls since 2001, all with the same head coach and quarterback. However, as successful as they have been, they have had their fair share of scandals. In 2007, there was a scandal called “spygate” where Patriots coach Bill Belichick was charged with filming the practice of other teams. In 2015, there was a scandal called “deflate-gate” where Patriots QB Tom Brady was suspended 4 games for tampering with the air pressure of footballs. Three weeks ago, the Patriots celebrated their sixth Super Bowl since the turn of the century. But, over the past week, another scandal has risen.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been accused of soliciting prostitution at a massage parlor in Florida. This comes less than three weeks since the Patriots won the big game. Now, Kraft faces a lawsuit. Kraft has already been charged since the evidence is there. He was caught on camera twice at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida. He was caught once the day of the AFC Championship game and once the day before. If Kraft does end up getting convicted, he could potentially face up to two years in prison (one per incident), but usually there is a settlement of a fine and community service.

Soliciting somebody to commit prostitution is a major crime and Kraft will definitely be held accountable one way or another. On top of a fine and community service, the NFL will likely suspend Kraft for at least a few games and fine him as well. They may even decide to take draft picks from the Patriots if the situation is bad enough. Kraft is one of 25 people caught soliciting prostitution at this spa since police installed cameras in January. While they will all face legal action, the spa is in much more trouble. They are being accused of sex trafficking. It has been said that they have been taking women from different countries and having them work at the spa and offer prostitution. This is a major felony if they get charged.

Overall, this situation is messy on all sides. As a businessman or businesswoman, one always needs to act as if somebody is watching them at all time. Being a billionaire like Kraft, you have to know that you are not the average person. In this case, even the average people involved all got caught as well. Even when you are in private, you must think like the whole world knows what you’re doing.

Frank is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

Posted by Ethan Atiles.This past week news had broken that Honda would be contacting 106,683 Ridgeline owners about an issue regarding their mid-size pickup truck’s fuel pump. It was made known that contact with various cleaning solutions or other acids could potentially cause a crack in the fuel pump feed port to crack, such crack could lead fuel leakage that lead to potential fire hazards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had reported saying that dealers will replace the fuel pump and install fuel pump covers free of charge if needed.

The actions taken by both Honda and their respected dealers are very efficient and safe. Once the issue was made known precautionary actions were taken to not only save lives, but from the company’s standpoint, helping maintain their image. Injuries and even deaths that could have arisen as a result of malfunctions within the fuel pump would have been detrimental to Honda as a company.

The amount of lawsuits Honda could have potentially faced would have left a big mark on the company. Not only would they have had to have dealt with the medical bills of everyone affected, there would have also had to have been sorts of compensations in an attempt lighten the moods of their customers. Then even on top of that, whatever else individuals felt they were entitled to Honda would have most likely had to have been dealt in court.

Damages that could have possibly affected areas around the incident also would have deserved some services from Honda as well. Finally, Honda would have had to deal with lawful actions presented by those dealerships who sold the cars in the first place as they would feel not responsible and feel Honda should cover their clients.

Honda’s quick reaction to vocalize the issue most definitely prevented maybe various lawsuits that could have risen, thus saving large amounts of money, and overall, the company’s reputation and legitimacy to the public.

Ethan is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Honda-recalling-over-100K-pickups-that-could-13624989.php

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Honda-recalling-over-100K-pickups-that-could-13624989.php

Posted by William Steck.

Huawei, a multi-national, Chinese-based telecom company has again found itself in the headlines for the wrong reason. This time the corporation is facing several new lawsuits accusing it of corporate espionage.

For years, Huawei has been seen as an industry leader, recently producing some of the first 5G compatible phones, but despite its advanced engineering tactics, Huawei has been banned from entering the U.S. marketplace. The ban stems from fear of government espionage shared by both U.S. government officials and consumers. Officials and consumers believe that if the company were to enter the U.S. marketplace, it would be pressured by the Chinese Government to create back doors in its products, leading to massive breaches in U.S. national security and consumers privacy.

Although allegations of corporate espionage are not new to Huawei, few have been able to prove it, until now. In a new report, the U.S. Justice Department states that in 2013, a Huawei engineer stole a robotic arm from a T-Mobile factory. After stealing this piece of highly coveted intellectual property, the engineer proceeded to photograph it and then return it the next day, claiming he had taken it by “mistake.” The report goes on to detail a Huawei bonus program created to incentivize its workers to steal information from competing corporations. Similar suits against Huawei are also underway in Texas, Australia, Britain, German, and Poland.

Unethical and illegal actions, like the ones taken by Huawei engineers, seriously damage companies that lose billions of dollars in trade secrets and intellectual property as well as society as a whole. This year at CES in Las Vegas, 5G was all the rage. New home Wi-Fi routers from D-Link and other manufactures will allow consumers to access the internet without the need for a cable modem. This could benefit those who work from home, as well as those who live in remote areas who could finally gain access the internet.

But allegations against Huawei continue to keep the technology out of reach for millions of people by reducing competition in the market and by inflating costs. Despite their current situation, former employees claim the company’s goal is to surpass the United States as the dominant technological superpower by 2025. In order for the U.S to remain as the dominant technological superpower, courts in the U.S and around the world will need to take a hard stance on corporate espionage and hold Huawei accountable for their actions. If not, corporations, governments, and consumers could be at risk to lose even more intellectual property and personal data.

William is a business student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2018/10/18/texas-courtroom-tech-firm-huawei-stands-accused-corporate-espionage-aid-china

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-huawei-indictment-tells-a-story-of-deceit-and-corporate-espionage/2019/01/29/c2035abe-23f4-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b418cbdcd1a1

Posted by Wenzhuo Li.

Recently, a proposal to tax wealth finds support across party lines, along with the premise that the government should combat inequality. As leading Democrats roll out proposals to increase taxes on the rich, the American people are largely behind them.

In my opinion, there are several advantages about this proposal:

1. It can reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and improve the fairness of the society.
2. It can increase the contribution of the rich to society and make them more socially responsible.
3. It can make poor citizens have better social security like health insurance.

In this Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley’s article it said, “She says she wants to tax wealthy Americans to pay for programs for veterans, children and the homeless”. We can know that tax wealthy policy has its social responsibility and role in public welfare.

In the article, Ms. Warren said “Across party lines, Americans want the very wealthiest families to pay their fair share so we can have an economy that works for everyone.” Taxing the wealthy can pay for the economy gap.

Even there are lots of advantages of this proposal, it still has shortcomings:

1. People might lose job opportunities. Taxing wealthy will reduce the investment, so some middle-class workers like investment advisers or some companies.
2. The government may lose the support of the rich.

Anyway, it’s a good proposal but it still faces challenges; it is a socially responsible policy, but it still needs to pass the test of time and society.

Wenzhuo is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

Source:

Posted by Pennie Papamichael.

They are claiming that they were groped at fraternity parties and are arguing the idea that “the school has fostered an environment where alcohol-fueled gatherings at off-campus fraternity houses dictate the undergraduate social scene” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). The lawsuit claims that Yale does not sponsor many social events or gatherings, so people continue to go to these fraternity parties to socialize and meet other students. The lawsuit specifically states, “Male students routinely controlled the admission, alcohol, lighting, and music for many Yale social gatherings. This dynamic created dangerous environments in which sexual misconduct thrived” (UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT). Most colleges and universities have ignored the many cases that have come up in order to protect their reputation, however, it seems as time has passed people are still continuously being sexually harassed and abused. The dean of the university responded by saying, “that Yale ‘plays no formal role in the organizations not affiliated with the university, including Greek organizations,’ the university was working on providing alternative social spaces and events on campus” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). In the lawsuit these three women are fighting to have Yale and their fraternities tame their parties as well as forcing fraternities to allow women in and share all the benefits in the membership such as networks that can lead to jobs and internships.

The problem with this lawsuit is that “‘Yale often claims that the university cannot punish the fraternities because they are unregistered, off-campus organizations,’” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). The women are fighting this by addressing the fact that the fraternities are “acting as extensions of Yale” because “Yale allows them to use the University’s name, email address, bulletin boards and campus facilities for recruitment” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). The three women are Anna McNeil a junior, Eliana singer a sophomore, and Ry Walker 20. They all claim that they have been groped at fraternity parties in their first semesters. Furthermore, Ry Walker even explains that when she was about to go into the party, one of the fraternity members controlling who could go in, passed her over while white women could enter. Ry Walker stated, “We eat together, take classes together, exist in this coeducational place. But somehow because of the way Greek life operates on campus and the control they have over social spaces here, that means that on weekend nights, men are the only ones who have power” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). Furthermore, the lawsuit also accuses the University of “violating Title IX of federal education law, which prohibits sex discrimination by institutions receiving federal funding, and breach of contract for not providing the educational environment it promised. It accuses the fraternities of violating the Fair Housing Act for offering housing only to men, and Yale and the fraternities of violating Connecticut’s law against discrimination in places of public accommodation” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment).

In my opinion, I believe that these three women have a lot of courage and resilience. They are trying to fight in order to make women feel safer on college campuses, which I believe is a great thing. However, I also believe that if these women feel unsafe during these fraternity parties their simple answer is to not attend. There are other ways to be included in social events which do not involve putting yourself in a dangerous situation. In my opinion, putting yourself at risk of danger is not worth a couple hours of “fun”. I agree that this is a serious situation that needs to be addressed, however I think that no matter how many lawsuits are filed for sexual harassment, it will never fully stop it, which is a terrible thing. People need to be able to make smart choices for themselves and understand the risks that they are putting themselves through at these fraternity parties.

Pennie is business undecided at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2022.

http:// https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/us/yale-fraternities.html

Posted by Anna Plank.On February 7th, Capitol Forum (whose headquarters is in Washington DC) sued Blomberg (whose headquarters is in New York). In the physical lawsuit, Capitol Forum enhances on its business model by saying, “[our] reports are extensively researched and carefully written, often the product of months of work, and [our] subscribers rely on these reports to make investment and business decisions.” Bloomberg’s net worth is 57 billion dollars, and (as found on their website) they “deliver business and markets news, data, analysis, and video to the world, featuring stories from Businessweek and Bloomberg News.” While Bloomberg has a larger global presence, both companies are business news outlets that specialize in reporting accurate, detailed information about the business world.

However, Capitol Forum claimed (within their lawsuit): “(1) copyright infringement; (2) contributory copyright infringement; (3) misappropriation of proprietary information under the ‘hot news’ doctrine; and (4) tortious interference with contractual relationships, arising from Bloomberg’s illegal solicitation, receipt, and use of Capitol Forum’s copyrighted and proprietary reports.” The company claimed copyright infringement since all the articles and research that is carried out by Capitol Forum are their own materials. As such, they are the copyrighted products of Capitol Forum. Additionally, the “hot news’ doctrine” states that there is legal protection for works that have been published and have clear authorship as well as economic value that doesn’t diminish in a small period. This precedent was established in 1918 through International News Service v. Associated Press. Their fourth claim focuses on the relationship the company has with their paying customers. If their customers see that the articles are being outsourced to other, FREE distributors than they are less likely to continue their membership with Capitol Forum.

While it seems Capitol Forum has sufficient grounds for their lawsuit, the Columbia Journal Review claims, “the Second Circuit rejected a misappropriation claim filed by Barclays, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley against a financial news site called Theflyonthewall.com.” Although Fly was taking these companies financial reports and republishing them, they did so completely under jurisdiction since they were giving all credit to each respective company. This lawsuit between Capitol Forum and Bloomberg seems to have a similar set up; however, since the hot news doctrine was put into place in 1918, before the dot com bubble exploded on the internet, it makes sense to begin to look at this law in a new light.
In conclusion to the lawsuit, Capitol forum demands for the court to declare that Bloomberg has indeed engaged in all activities listed and ask for compensatory damages in the amount of 150,000 dollars for each act of infringement. Additionally, Capitol Forum requested for a trial by jury and not by arbitration. As of now, there has been no update or response to this lawsuit, but it certainly has the potential to swing either way.

Anna is an accounting and IT major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2022.

Article Links:
https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/hot-news-lawsuit-bloomberg.php

Capitol Forum sues Bloomberg, alleging improper use of its content

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5731054/Bloomberg.pdf

Posted by Jiaqi Duan.

The “Ponzi scheme” originated from a man named Charles Ponzi (1882-1949). The investment plan is simple to say, investing in something and then getting a high return. However, Ponzi deliberately made this plan very complicated, so that ordinary people could not figure out.

In 1919, when the First World War was just over and the world economic system was in chaos, Ponzi used this confusion. He claimed that by purchasing some sort of postal bill in Europe and selling it to the United States, he could make money.

Since Ponzi, in less than 100 years, various “Ponzi schemes” have emerged around the world. With the process of China’s reform and opening up, the “Ponzi scheme” has also entered China in large numbers. In the 1980s, there was a “rat meeting” in the southern part of China, which was a replica of the “Ponzi scheme”. The more well-known “Ponzi scheme” improved version is a variety of pyramid schemes.

All scams have a common character. As we all know, the risk is proportional to the return is the investment of iron law, “Ponzi scheme” often does the opposite. Liars often attract investors, who do not know the truth of a high rate of return, and never emphasize the risk factors of investment. The return rates of various cases may vary, some are too high, such as Ponzi’s promised investment can get 50% return within 45 days, and some are stable and extraordinary returns, such as Madoff’s annual guaranteed return to customers. His was only about 10%, but he strongly stressed that “investment must be earned, there is no loss.” But in any case, scammers always try to design an investment path that is much higher than the average return of the market, and never reveal or emphasize the risk factors of investment.

There is also the use of funds to make up the replenishment characteristics. Since the promised return on investment cannot be achieved at all, the return on investment for the old customers can only be achieved by the participation of new customers or other financing arrangements. This puts a very high demand on the flow of funds for the Ponzi scheme. Therefore, the scammers always try to expand the scope of the client, broaden the scale of the funds absorbed, and get enough space for the funds to replenish. Most scammers never refuse to add new funds, because the scope is bigger, not only the benefits are more substantial, but the risk of capital chain breaks is greatly reduced, and the duration of scams can be greatly extended.

And there is also the pyramidal features of the investor structure. In order to pay the high return of investors first, the “Ponzi scheme” must continue to develop offline, attracting more and more investors through seduction, persuasion, affection, and connections, thus forming a “pyramid” style. Investor structure. A small number of insiders at the apex benefit from extracting a large number of participants from the bottom of the tower and the tower. Even the inscrutable Nasdaq’s former chairman of the board, Madoff, is inevitably entangled in the layman’s clichés, making extensive use of friends, family and business partners to develop “downline”, and some people get commissions for successful “investment”. The downline has developed a new “downline”, and the snowball type has grown into a “pyramid” structure.

Jiaqi is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

Work cited:
Dunn, Donald. The Incredible True Story of the King of Financial Cons, Ponzi, 2004.

Posted by Amy Chin.

Coming off the horizon of a myriad of data privacy scandals, legislators have called attention to the lack of federal regulation in the sector of consumer privacy. While some states, such as California, have taken charge and created statutes and regulations of their own, there exists no overarching federal statute. Many cases have fallen to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) but even this federal agency lacks the substantial power needed to establish and enforce ethical data practices.

One of the most widely discussed scandals is Facebook’s sharing of personal user data first discovered in the case of the Cambridge Analytica scandal which questioned whether Facebook broke a consent decree to improve its privacy practices. The case made another public appearance recently in discussions with the FTC of a multi-billion dollar fine in response to this abuse of data. This would be the first significant fine issued joining the other approximately one hundred enforcement actions issued by the FTC in the past decade.

A common theme of this topic is the glacial pace of regulation and federal action in comparison to the everchanging speed of the technology it aims to regulate. With proponents pushing for legislation in Congress it still took two years for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to author and publish the report on February 13th asking for the establishment of a “comprehensive federal privacy statute with specific standards.” The mixed bag of state statues, a limited FTC, and the judicially unexplored field of technology, the need for a universal policy is apparent.

Concerns over the misuse of data first arose from questions on the basis of ethics. Without official regulation the norms of business procedures are usually the only guiding factor in determining moral practices. Accordingly, since technology has advanced so quickly the industry has yet to pause long enough to set such universal standards. As a result, Zuckerberg and other companies avoided scrutiny for some time and have yet to be held accountable legally. These actions earned Zuckerberg the title of “digital gangster” from British lawmakers with the accusations that Facebook and similar tech giants were walking over the few rules and standards that had been set.

The nuance of data privacy in conjunction with consumer unawareness of where all their freely given data is being used leaves the field of data privacy exposed and with no direction. In the words of Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ.), who requested the GAO report, “consumers’ privacy is being violated online and offline in alarming and dangerous ways.” Lacking any concrete federal legislation or laws, the enforcement of data privacy standards has been anything but effective. While the GAO report is a step in the right direction, the fast pace of technology has lapped the subdued reaction of the government in creating effective laws to protect the information and data of its constituents.

Amy is a marketing and information technology management major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2022.

https://www.cnet.com/news/us-needs-an-internet-data-privacy-law-gao-tells-congress/

https://apnews.com/ea753cc557664ba9922666b220d4d9b4

Posted by Anirudh Ramesh.

Companies need to provide high quality services. If companies provide defective or unsatisfactory services, they may be subject to legal action. Tesla is an automotive manufacturer. They specialize in building electrical cars and solar panels. Tesla had failed to provide reliable equipment to Walmart. Thus, the company opened itself to legal issues.

“The Walmart suit alleges breach of contract, gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards. Walmart is asking Tesla to remove solar panels from more than 240 Walmart locations where they have been installed, and to pay damages related to all the fires Walmart says that Tesla caused.” (cnbc.com) According to the contract with Tesla, Tesla is supposed to provide reliable equipment. However, Tesla did not pay heed to the defectiveness of the solar panels that were installed. This resulted in property damage to Walmart. In addition, Tesla used amateurs to inspect the panels. Tesla should have used knowledgeable personnel to inspect the solar panels.

Since Tesla could not perform the contract that it had agreed to, it is subject to breach of contract. Tesla needed to be more careful and should have taken measures to prevent this loss from occurring. Since Tesla could do neither of the two things, it will be held accountable to pay Walmart for damages. Since Walmart has sued Tesla, an out of court settlement will be ideal.

Anirudh is an accounting and IT major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2021.

Posted by Frank Volturo.Over the past two decades, the New England Patriots have been a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. They have won 6 Super Bowls since 2001, all with the same head coach and quarterback. However, as successful as they have been, they have had their fair share of scandals. In 2007, there was a scandal called “spygate” where Patriots coach Bill Belichick was charged with filming the practice of other teams. In 2015, there was a scandal called “deflate-gate” where Patriots QB Tom Brady was suspended 4 games for tampering with the air pressure of footballs. Three weeks ago, the Patriots celebrated their sixth Super Bowl since the turn of the century. But, over the past week, another scandal has risen.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been accused of soliciting prostitution at a massage parlor in Florida. This comes less than three weeks since the Patriots won the big game. Now, Kraft faces a lawsuit. Kraft has already been charged since the evidence is there. He was caught on camera twice at a massage parlor in Jupiter, Florida. He was caught once the day of the AFC Championship game and once the day before. If Kraft does end up getting convicted, he could potentially face up to two years in prison (one per incident), but usually there is a settlement of a fine and community service.

Soliciting somebody to commit prostitution is a major crime and Kraft will definitely be held accountable one way or another. On top of a fine and community service, the NFL will likely suspend Kraft for at least a few games and fine him as well. They may even decide to take draft picks from the Patriots if the situation is bad enough. Kraft is one of 25 people caught soliciting prostitution at this spa since police installed cameras in January. While they will all face legal action, the spa is in much more trouble. They are being accused of sex trafficking. It has been said that they have been taking women from different countries and having them work at the spa and offer prostitution. This is a major felony if they get charged.

Overall, this situation is messy on all sides. As a businessman or businesswoman, one always needs to act as if somebody is watching them at all time. Being a billionaire like Kraft, you have to know that you are not the average person. In this case, even the average people involved all got caught as well. Even when you are in private, you must think like the whole world knows what you’re doing.

Frank is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

Posted by Ethan Atiles.This past week news had broken that Honda would be contacting 106,683 Ridgeline owners about an issue regarding their mid-size pickup truck’s fuel pump. It was made known that contact with various cleaning solutions or other acids could potentially cause a crack in the fuel pump feed port to crack, such crack could lead fuel leakage that lead to potential fire hazards. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had reported saying that dealers will replace the fuel pump and install fuel pump covers free of charge if needed.

The actions taken by both Honda and their respected dealers are very efficient and safe. Once the issue was made known precautionary actions were taken to not only save lives, but from the company’s standpoint, helping maintain their image. Injuries and even deaths that could have arisen as a result of malfunctions within the fuel pump would have been detrimental to Honda as a company.

The amount of lawsuits Honda could have potentially faced would have left a big mark on the company. Not only would they have had to have dealt with the medical bills of everyone affected, there would have also had to have been sorts of compensations in an attempt lighten the moods of their customers. Then even on top of that, whatever else individuals felt they were entitled to Honda would have most likely had to have been dealt in court.

Damages that could have possibly affected areas around the incident also would have deserved some services from Honda as well. Finally, Honda would have had to deal with lawful actions presented by those dealerships who sold the cars in the first place as they would feel not responsible and feel Honda should cover their clients.

Honda’s quick reaction to vocalize the issue most definitely prevented maybe various lawsuits that could have risen, thus saving large amounts of money, and overall, the company’s reputation and legitimacy to the public.

Ethan is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Honda-recalling-over-100K-pickups-that-could-13624989.php

https://www.nhregister.com/news/article/Honda-recalling-over-100K-pickups-that-could-13624989.php

Posted by William Steck.

Huawei, a multi-national, Chinese-based telecom company has again found itself in the headlines for the wrong reason. This time the corporation is facing several new lawsuits accusing it of corporate espionage.

For years, Huawei has been seen as an industry leader, recently producing some of the first 5G compatible phones, but despite its advanced engineering tactics, Huawei has been banned from entering the U.S. marketplace. The ban stems from fear of government espionage shared by both U.S. government officials and consumers. Officials and consumers believe that if the company were to enter the U.S. marketplace, it would be pressured by the Chinese Government to create back doors in its products, leading to massive breaches in U.S. national security and consumers privacy.

Although allegations of corporate espionage are not new to Huawei, few have been able to prove it, until now. In a new report, the U.S. Justice Department states that in 2013, a Huawei engineer stole a robotic arm from a T-Mobile factory. After stealing this piece of highly coveted intellectual property, the engineer proceeded to photograph it and then return it the next day, claiming he had taken it by “mistake.” The report goes on to detail a Huawei bonus program created to incentivize its workers to steal information from competing corporations. Similar suits against Huawei are also underway in Texas, Australia, Britain, German, and Poland.

Unethical and illegal actions, like the ones taken by Huawei engineers, seriously damage companies that lose billions of dollars in trade secrets and intellectual property as well as society as a whole. This year at CES in Las Vegas, 5G was all the rage. New home Wi-Fi routers from D-Link and other manufactures will allow consumers to access the internet without the need for a cable modem. This could benefit those who work from home, as well as those who live in remote areas who could finally gain access the internet.

But allegations against Huawei continue to keep the technology out of reach for millions of people by reducing competition in the market and by inflating costs. Despite their current situation, former employees claim the company’s goal is to surpass the United States as the dominant technological superpower by 2025. In order for the U.S to remain as the dominant technological superpower, courts in the U.S and around the world will need to take a hard stance on corporate espionage and hold Huawei accountable for their actions. If not, corporations, governments, and consumers could be at risk to lose even more intellectual property and personal data.

William is a business student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/technology/2018/10/18/texas-courtroom-tech-firm-huawei-stands-accused-corporate-espionage-aid-china

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/the-huawei-indictment-tells-a-story-of-deceit-and-corporate-espionage/2019/01/29/c2035abe-23f4-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b418cbdcd1a1

Posted by Wenzhuo Li.

Recently, a proposal to tax wealth finds support across party lines, along with the premise that the government should combat inequality. As leading Democrats roll out proposals to increase taxes on the rich, the American people are largely behind them.

In my opinion, there are several advantages about this proposal:

1. It can reduce the gap between the rich and the poor and improve the fairness of the society.
2. It can increase the contribution of the rich to society and make them more socially responsible.
3. It can make poor citizens have better social security like health insurance.

In this Ben Casselman and Jim Tankersley’s article it said, “She says she wants to tax wealthy Americans to pay for programs for veterans, children and the homeless”. We can know that tax wealthy policy has its social responsibility and role in public welfare.

In the article, Ms. Warren said “Across party lines, Americans want the very wealthiest families to pay their fair share so we can have an economy that works for everyone.” Taxing the wealthy can pay for the economy gap.

Even there are lots of advantages of this proposal, it still has shortcomings:

1. People might lose job opportunities. Taxing wealthy will reduce the investment, so some middle-class workers like investment advisers or some companies.
2. The government may lose the support of the rich.

Anyway, it’s a good proposal but it still faces challenges; it is a socially responsible policy, but it still needs to pass the test of time and society.

Wenzhuo is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

Source:

Posted by Pennie Papamichael.

They are claiming that they were groped at fraternity parties and are arguing the idea that “the school has fostered an environment where alcohol-fueled gatherings at off-campus fraternity houses dictate the undergraduate social scene” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). The lawsuit claims that Yale does not sponsor many social events or gatherings, so people continue to go to these fraternity parties to socialize and meet other students. The lawsuit specifically states, “Male students routinely controlled the admission, alcohol, lighting, and music for many Yale social gatherings. This dynamic created dangerous environments in which sexual misconduct thrived” (UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT). Most colleges and universities have ignored the many cases that have come up in order to protect their reputation, however, it seems as time has passed people are still continuously being sexually harassed and abused. The dean of the university responded by saying, “that Yale ‘plays no formal role in the organizations not affiliated with the university, including Greek organizations,’ the university was working on providing alternative social spaces and events on campus” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). In the lawsuit these three women are fighting to have Yale and their fraternities tame their parties as well as forcing fraternities to allow women in and share all the benefits in the membership such as networks that can lead to jobs and internships.

The problem with this lawsuit is that “‘Yale often claims that the university cannot punish the fraternities because they are unregistered, off-campus organizations,’” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). The women are fighting this by addressing the fact that the fraternities are “acting as extensions of Yale” because “Yale allows them to use the University’s name, email address, bulletin boards and campus facilities for recruitment” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). The three women are Anna McNeil a junior, Eliana singer a sophomore, and Ry Walker 20. They all claim that they have been groped at fraternity parties in their first semesters. Furthermore, Ry Walker even explains that when she was about to go into the party, one of the fraternity members controlling who could go in, passed her over while white women could enter. Ry Walker stated, “We eat together, take classes together, exist in this coeducational place. But somehow because of the way Greek life operates on campus and the control they have over social spaces here, that means that on weekend nights, men are the only ones who have power” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment). Furthermore, the lawsuit also accuses the University of “violating Title IX of federal education law, which prohibits sex discrimination by institutions receiving federal funding, and breach of contract for not providing the educational environment it promised. It accuses the fraternities of violating the Fair Housing Act for offering housing only to men, and Yale and the fraternities of violating Connecticut’s law against discrimination in places of public accommodation” (Women Sue Yale Over a Fraternity Culture They Say Enables Harassment).

In my opinion, I believe that these three women have a lot of courage and resilience. They are trying to fight in order to make women feel safer on college campuses, which I believe is a great thing. However, I also believe that if these women feel unsafe during these fraternity parties their simple answer is to not attend. There are other ways to be included in social events which do not involve putting yourself in a dangerous situation. In my opinion, putting yourself at risk of danger is not worth a couple hours of “fun”. I agree that this is a serious situation that needs to be addressed, however I think that no matter how many lawsuits are filed for sexual harassment, it will never fully stop it, which is a terrible thing. People need to be able to make smart choices for themselves and understand the risks that they are putting themselves through at these fraternity parties.

Pennie is business undecided at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2022.

http:// https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/us/yale-fraternities.html

Posted by Anna Plank.On February 7th, Capitol Forum (whose headquarters is in Washington DC) sued Blomberg (whose headquarters is in New York). In the physical lawsuit, Capitol Forum enhances on its business model by saying, “[our] reports are extensively researched and carefully written, often the product of months of work, and [our] subscribers rely on these reports to make investment and business decisions.” Bloomberg’s net worth is 57 billion dollars, and (as found on their website) they “deliver business and markets news, data, analysis, and video to the world, featuring stories from Businessweek and Bloomberg News.” While Bloomberg has a larger global presence, both companies are business news outlets that specialize in reporting accurate, detailed information about the business world.

However, Capitol Forum claimed (within their lawsuit): “(1) copyright infringement; (2) contributory copyright infringement; (3) misappropriation of proprietary information under the ‘hot news’ doctrine; and (4) tortious interference with contractual relationships, arising from Bloomberg’s illegal solicitation, receipt, and use of Capitol Forum’s copyrighted and proprietary reports.” The company claimed copyright infringement since all the articles and research that is carried out by Capitol Forum are their own materials. As such, they are the copyrighted products of Capitol Forum. Additionally, the “hot news’ doctrine” states that there is legal protection for works that have been published and have clear authorship as well as economic value that doesn’t diminish in a small period. This precedent was established in 1918 through International News Service v. Associated Press. Their fourth claim focuses on the relationship the company has with their paying customers. If their customers see that the articles are being outsourced to other, FREE distributors than they are less likely to continue their membership with Capitol Forum.

While it seems Capitol Forum has sufficient grounds for their lawsuit, the Columbia Journal Review claims, “the Second Circuit rejected a misappropriation claim filed by Barclays, Merrill Lynch, and Morgan Stanley against a financial news site called Theflyonthewall.com.” Although Fly was taking these companies financial reports and republishing them, they did so completely under jurisdiction since they were giving all credit to each respective company. This lawsuit between Capitol Forum and Bloomberg seems to have a similar set up; however, since the hot news doctrine was put into place in 1918, before the dot com bubble exploded on the internet, it makes sense to begin to look at this law in a new light.
In conclusion to the lawsuit, Capitol forum demands for the court to declare that Bloomberg has indeed engaged in all activities listed and ask for compensatory damages in the amount of 150,000 dollars for each act of infringement. Additionally, Capitol Forum requested for a trial by jury and not by arbitration. As of now, there has been no update or response to this lawsuit, but it certainly has the potential to swing either way.

Anna is an accounting and IT major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2022.

Article Links:
https://www.cjr.org/united_states_project/hot-news-lawsuit-bloomberg.php

Capitol Forum sues Bloomberg, alleging improper use of its content

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/5731054/Bloomberg.pdf

Posted by Jiaqi Duan.

The “Ponzi scheme” originated from a man named Charles Ponzi (1882-1949). The investment plan is simple to say, investing in something and then getting a high return. However, Ponzi deliberately made this plan very complicated, so that ordinary people could not figure out.

In 1919, when the First World War was just over and the world economic system was in chaos, Ponzi used this confusion. He claimed that by purchasing some sort of postal bill in Europe and selling it to the United States, he could make money.

Since Ponzi, in less than 100 years, various “Ponzi schemes” have emerged around the world. With the process of China’s reform and opening up, the “Ponzi scheme” has also entered China in large numbers. In the 1980s, there was a “rat meeting” in the southern part of China, which was a replica of the “Ponzi scheme”. The more well-known “Ponzi scheme” improved version is a variety of pyramid schemes.

All scams have a common character. As we all know, the risk is proportional to the return is the investment of iron law, “Ponzi scheme” often does the opposite. Liars often attract investors, who do not know the truth of a high rate of return, and never emphasize the risk factors of investment. The return rates of various cases may vary, some are too high, such as Ponzi’s promised investment can get 50% return within 45 days, and some are stable and extraordinary returns, such as Madoff’s annual guaranteed return to customers. His was only about 10%, but he strongly stressed that “investment must be earned, there is no loss.” But in any case, scammers always try to design an investment path that is much higher than the average return of the market, and never reveal or emphasize the risk factors of investment.

There is also the use of funds to make up the replenishment characteristics. Since the promised return on investment cannot be achieved at all, the return on investment for the old customers can only be achieved by the participation of new customers or other financing arrangements. This puts a very high demand on the flow of funds for the Ponzi scheme. Therefore, the scammers always try to expand the scope of the client, broaden the scale of the funds absorbed, and get enough space for the funds to replenish. Most scammers never refuse to add new funds, because the scope is bigger, not only the benefits are more substantial, but the risk of capital chain breaks is greatly reduced, and the duration of scams can be greatly extended.

And there is also the pyramidal features of the investor structure. In order to pay the high return of investors first, the “Ponzi scheme” must continue to develop offline, attracting more and more investors through seduction, persuasion, affection, and connections, thus forming a “pyramid” style. Investor structure. A small number of insiders at the apex benefit from extracting a large number of participants from the bottom of the tower and the tower. Even the inscrutable Nasdaq’s former chairman of the board, Madoff, is inevitably entangled in the layman’s clichés, making extensive use of friends, family and business partners to develop “downline”, and some people get commissions for successful “investment”. The downline has developed a new “downline”, and the snowball type has grown into a “pyramid” structure.

Jiaqi is a student at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University.

Work cited:
Dunn, Donald. The Incredible True Story of the King of Financial Cons, Ponzi, 2004.

Posted by Amy Chin.

Coming off the horizon of a myriad of data privacy scandals, legislators have called attention to the lack of federal regulation in the sector of consumer privacy. While some states, such as California, have taken charge and created statutes and regulations of their own, there exists no overarching federal statute. Many cases have fallen to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) but even this federal agency lacks the substantial power needed to establish and enforce ethical data practices.

One of the most widely discussed scandals is Facebook’s sharing of personal user data first discovered in the case of the Cambridge Analytica scandal which questioned whether Facebook broke a consent decree to improve its privacy practices. The case made another public appearance recently in discussions with the FTC of a multi-billion dollar fine in response to this abuse of data. This would be the first significant fine issued joining the other approximately one hundred enforcement actions issued by the FTC in the past decade.

A common theme of this topic is the glacial pace of regulation and federal action in comparison to the everchanging speed of the technology it aims to regulate. With proponents pushing for legislation in Congress it still took two years for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to author and publish the report on February 13th asking for the establishment of a “comprehensive federal privacy statute with specific standards.” The mixed bag of state statues, a limited FTC, and the judicially unexplored field of technology, the need for a universal policy is apparent.

Concerns over the misuse of data first arose from questions on the basis of ethics. Without official regulation the norms of business procedures are usually the only guiding factor in determining moral practices. Accordingly, since technology has advanced so quickly the industry has yet to pause long enough to set such universal standards. As a result, Zuckerberg and other companies avoided scrutiny for some time and have yet to be held accountable legally. These actions earned Zuckerberg the title of “digital gangster” from British lawmakers with the accusations that Facebook and similar tech giants were walking over the few rules and standards that had been set.

The nuance of data privacy in conjunction with consumer unawareness of where all their freely given data is being used leaves the field of data privacy exposed and with no direction. In the words of Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ.), who requested the GAO report, “consumers’ privacy is being violated online and offline in alarming and dangerous ways.” Lacking any concrete federal legislation or laws, the enforcement of data privacy standards has been anything but effective. While the GAO report is a step in the right direction, the fast pace of technology has lapped the subdued reaction of the government in creating effective laws to protect the information and data of its constituents.

Amy is a marketing and information technology management major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2022.

https://www.cnet.com/news/us-needs-an-internet-data-privacy-law-gao-tells-congress/

https://apnews.com/ea753cc557664ba9922666b220d4d9b4

Posted by Paul Kikta.

The lawsuit that I decided to evaluate was Liebeck vs. McDonalds. Liebeck vs. McDonalds is a 1994 product liability lawsuit about the hot coffee McDonalds sold. On February 27, 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year old woman from Albuquerque, New Mexico accidently spilled coffee on herself. This coffee was dangerously hot to the point where it caused her third degree burns through her clothes in seconds. She endured burns that covered six percent of her body. Because of this, she recovered for two years after being hospitalized for eight days.

This arrived to higher-level court through a lack of a compromise. At first, Mrs. Liebeck wanted $20,000 to settle the case, but McDonalds refused and countered with $800. That money is not enough for Mrs. Liebeck because it does not cover her medical expenses. When it went to court, the jurors saw her third degree burns, facts that McDonalds served their coffee 30 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the industry average, and other testimonies that McDonalds’ coffee have burned hundreds of adults and children. Liebeck’s lawyer, Kenneth Wagner, claimed McDonalds’ coffee way too hot in comparison to other competitors. The average temperature of coffee served is between 135 and 140; however, McDonalds was at 190, which means that burns happen at a significantly faster rate. The plaintiff also learned that “McDonalds had faced over 700 claims by people who had suffered burns from the coffee from 1982-1992. Some of these claims involved full-thickness burns similar to those suffered by Ms. Liebeck” (Welman). After admitting a claim such as that, it looked very good for Mrs. Liebeck to achieve victory.

In her case victory, the jury granted 2.7 million dollars for spilling coffee on herself. After the case ended, many authors published articles about her victory, agreeing or disagreeing with its result. To me, it does not seem fair that she won that much money unless her hospitalization bills and recovery costed that much. She just became a millionaire because of an action that she could have avoided if she paid attention. I think that the lawsuit also took into account for the hundreds of other cases with coffee burns- the lawsuit punished McDonalds to lower their coffee temperate and Mrs. Liebeck was the fortunate one on the other end. Due to many political and public statements on the case, “Ms. Liebeck … entered into a settlement with McDonalds … which the parties agreed would remain secret, has never been revealed to the public despite the fact that the case received extensive public reporting” (Welman). The result of a very controversial case that the public pressured showed that it helps to create more fairs results of the case. Everyone agreed that Liebeck should win but not to the extend she got.

Paul is an economics/ mathematical finance major at the Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, Class of 2020.

Source:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/darryl-s-weiman-md-jd/the-mcdonalds-coffee-case_b_14002362.html

Posted by Alexa Christie.

In Frankfort, Kentucky, Attorney General Andy Beshear sues Volkswagen claiming the automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scheme violated the state’s consumer protection law. There were 3,800 vehicles registered in Kentucky with this defect. The lawsuit was filed in a state court. “”We have a very strong law that is meant to prevent companies like this … from making an outright lie that they then use to sell what’s a pretty expensive product,” Beshear said at a state Capitol news conference.” Beshear thinks that Volkswagen should be held accountable for this scheme of false advertisement. Last year, 600,000 cars were sold in the United States with software that was designed to cheat on required emissions tests.

Volkswagen was trying to advertise that their customers, who wanted a “green” car were getting one, when in fact they were not. A Volkswagen spokeswomen announced that the company, Volkswagen, was working with federal environmental regulators to resolve this problem. Texas, New Mexico, New Jersey, and West Virginia were also filing separate lawsuits against Volkswagen. The company has received more than $20 billion in fines from state and federal regulators. In September, Volkswagen admitted to using illegal software installed in their “clean diesel” engines.

Alexa is a business administration major with a concentration in management at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2018.

Posted by Daphine Llosa.

A recent legal issue involves money laundering, embezzlement and fraud. Money laundering is a form of obtaining money illegally, usually by using transfers between banks and businesses. Embezzlement is theft or misappropriation of funds. Fraud is a wrongful deception for the purpose of attaining financial or personal gain.  On Friday, October 23, 2015 the New Mexico Republican Secretary of State, Dianna Duran, plead guilty of fraud. The state attorney general, Democrat Hector Balderas, filed 65 charges against Ms. Duran in August 2015 which included; fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and campaign finance violations. Investigations revealed that she used about $13,000 of the donations from her campaign to clear gambling debt around the state and to cover other personal matters. In order to hide the transfers to personal accounts, Ms. Duran altered the campaign finance reports. Ms. Duran had a hearing with her defense lawyer, Erlinda Johnson, and after refusing multiple times from leaving office she resigned. According to the New York Times, in hopes that she can receive five years of probation and get spared prison time, Ms. Duran pled guilty to six out of the sixty-five charges; four misdemeanors and two felonies. She stated that for her best interests, her loved ones and for all of New Mexico’s residents; she will be seeking for professional help due to her non-ethical and corrupt actions.

It had been a little over 80 years since New Mexico had a Republican serve as secretary of state. She ranked as the second highest elected official in New Mexico, where she served as state senator prior to becoming the 24^th Secretary of State. Susana Martinez, Governor of New Mexico, received the resignation letter provided by Ms. Duran, which stated; ‘Although I may be leaving office, I shall always reflect upon the last 36 years of service, honored to work with you and other, serving the citizen of New Mexico.’ As of today, deputy secretary of state, Mary Quintana is fulfilling Ms. Duran’s place until the governor chooses who will be replacing her until the upcoming election in 2016. Any further and additional details or information regarding Ms. Duran’s replacement or charges will be released in the coming weeks. The degree of punishment and the formal legal consequences applied to Ms. Duran is scheduled to be on December 14, 2015.

Daphne is a graduate student in accounting with a Certification in Forensic Accounting, at the Feliciano School of Business, Montclair State University, Class of 2016.