Monthly Archives: September 2012

Google Bloggers Protected for Now

 

Discovery related to what people are doing with social media is a rising topic in litigation all over the country. In this case the court gave the bloggers protection. The result may very well be different if a private citizen is the topic of slanderous statements.

SUBPOENA OF GOOGLE FOR NAMES OF BLOGGERS RULED PROPERLY QUASHED
A plaintiff in a defamation suit over anonymous postings on a Google-hosted blog may not obtain the writers' names, a New Jersey appeals court ruled on Wednesday, upholding a trial judge who had quashed a subpoena. Because the statements concerned a public figure and a matter of public concern, the statements were nonactionable “rhetorical hyberbole,” the Appellate Division said. The Ocean County suit was brought by Somerset Development of Lakewood and its president, Ralph Zucker, against a group called “Cleaner Lakewood” and individuals who posted on its blog,cleanerlakewood.blogspot.com.

 

Hurricane Katrina Class Action Lawsuit Settled For $61 Million

While places like New Orleans are still suffering the long term economic effects of Hurrican Katrina it looks like the lawsuits related to the trgic event are winding down. The following article from the Huffington post provides some detials. Hurricane Katrina Class Action Lawsuit Settled For $61 Million AP  |  Posted: 09/14/2012 10:27 am 25Continue Reading

FDA warns L’Oreal over anti-wrinkle product claims.

  The Wall Street Journal (9/12, B3, Dooren, Glazer, Subscription Publication) reports that in a letter dated Sept. 7, the FDA warned L'Oréal's Lancôme USA subsidiary that its online ads falsely promotes anti-wrinkle products as having medical benefits. Quoting from the Warning Letter, the Journal notes that FDA particularly objected to Lancôme's claim that oneContinue Reading

IRS awards UBS whistleblower $104 million.

  The AP (9/12) reports that the IRS has “awarded an ex-banker $104 million for providing information about overseas tax cheats – the largest amount ever awarded by the agency.” Bradley Birkenfeld exposed widespread tax evasion at UBS AG in a case that resulted in a $780 million fine and “an unprecedented agreement requiring UBSContinue Reading

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