| Volume 84 Number 2 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Unwanted text messages can be both costly and annoying. Under the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created rules to prohibit unwanted commercial e-mail messages to wireless devices. If you're receiving unwanted messages,
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Sequester: Immediate Aftermath & Beyond
After congressional leaders failed to produce an alternative budget, President Obama was forced to sign the Sequestration Order for Fiscal Year 2013 that will account for massive spending cuts, layoffs, and furloughs. The Department of Defense is getting the worst of it, with 800,000 employees facing furloughs.
Government employees aren't the only ones feeling the pain. Although public schools everywhere will feel the hit, military schools will be hit first (and likely hardest), including everything from food to building repairs.
Medical doctors and patients across the nation will also suffer. The sequester order extends a 2% cut to Medicare payments, which means doctors will make at least $11 billion less from Medicare in 2013. As a result, patients on Medicare will have an even more difficult time finding medical care.
Will congress step up? Or will the results of the sequester become the new "normal"?
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FTC Top Ten Complaint Categories
The Federal Trade Commission released its annual complaint report last week, and it's in line with what many already know. According to the report, the FTC received nearly 370,000 complaints about
identity theft and nearly 200,000 complaints about debt collection.
For the first time in history, the FTC received more than 2 million complaints. For a complete breakdown,
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Court Reduces Award in Apple v. Samsung
Last year, a federal jury ordered Samsung to pay $1 billion in damages to Apple on numerous patent infringement claims. On Friday, the judge on the case ordered the damages award cut in half. According to U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh, the jurors did not properly follow instructions for calculating damages. In addition to reducing Samsung's tab to $599 million, Judge Koh ordered a new trial on whether Samsung stole Apple ideas.
Apple and Samsung currently have lawsuits pending against one another in eight other countries.
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Your Money
Planning to buy a home? Compare mortgage terms (i.e. 15, 20, 30 year)! Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Agreement to submit a dispute to a third party is an “arbitration agreement,” subject to the FAA, even if the word arbitration is not used. The Second Circuit held that an agreement to name a third doctor to decide a dispute if the doctors chosen by each of the parties cannot agree, was an arbitration agreement within the meaning of the Federal Arbitration Act. In essence, the court noted that any time “the parties have agreed to submit a dispute for a decision by a third party, they have agreed to arbitration.” Click here for more.