| Volume 74 Number 11 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
An Advanced Directive, commonly called a "living will" gives you the right to make your own decisions regarding whether to die a natural death or be kept alive by artificial means after being diagnosed with a terminal condition. For a free copy, Click here for more.
Ad-Skipping DVR Sparks Lawsuit
If you're one of the many DVR users in the United States (or PVR for other parts of the world), you likely enjoy your shows commercial-free. How? Well, you pick up the remote and fast forward. A new technology by Dish Network, called "Auto Hop", allows consumers to automatically bypass commercials without the need to manually fast-forward. In a lawsuit against Dish Network, content providers CBS, FOX, and NBC insist distributors like Dish can't allow consumers to automatically bypass commercials, drawing a distinction between the automatic and "traditional" manual means of fast-forwarding. Consumers have skipped past commercials for years. Despite that, the networks insist that Dish Network has violated their copyrights by stripping away the commercials. How could this battle shape the future of television? Click here for more.
Family Robbed After Facebook Photo
At the end of last week, a 17 year old girl was helping her grandmother count her cash savings. The teenager snapped a picture of the cash and posted it to Facebook. Seven hours later, two armed buglers arrived at her family's home demanding to speak with the teenager about the cash. Thankfully no one was hurt, but authorities are sending a clear message...
Be smart!
Never post anything to Facebook or other social networking sites before considering the consequences. Click here for more.
Your Money
Should you live at home, on campus, or off campus? Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Credit card receipt did not violate FACTA. The Seventh Circuit held that Shell Oil did not "willfully" violate the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act by printing the last four digits of a customer's "account number" on a gas pump receipt. The FACTA requires the truncation of credit-card numbers on electronically printed receipts. The case presented the question whether the terms “card number” and “primary account number” are interchangeable. Under the Act, the receipt must not display “more than the last 5 digits of the card number.” The statute does not define the phrase “card number.” The court found it did not have to define “card number,” stating, “because we can’t see why anyone should care how the term is defined. A precise definition does not matter as long as the receipt contains too few digits to allow identity theft. The Act does its work by limiting the number of exposed digits, and Shell Oil printed one fewer digit than the Act allows.” Click here for more.