| Volume 97 Number 4 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Shopping online gives you a wide variety of merchants to choose from, but what do you really know about them?
Protect yourself from getting ripped off by using a credit card. Under federal law, a charge for something never delivered is a billing error, and you do not have to pay the credit card bill if you dispute the error in a timely manner.
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Microsoft Ends Support for Windows XP
Do you still use Windows XP as your operating system? If so, you could be susceptible to cyberattacks.
On Tuesday, Microsoft ended support for the Windows XP operating system, meaning that it will no longer provide consumers with security updates. Although released in 2001, the operating system remained popular with consumers throughout the years. Even with the release of succeeding operating systems Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, consumers stuck by Windows XP because of the intuitive interface and general ease of use.
Consumers aren't the only ones sticking by Windows XP. An estimated 95% of bank ATMs and 75% of utility companies still use Windows XP. In essence, it's everywhere.
What's the next step for Windows XP users?
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Discover Settles Lawsuit for $8.7 Million
In 2012, attorneys representing a class of plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against Discover Financial Services for repeatedly making "prerecorded telephone calls to consumers who had not expressly invited or authorized the calls."
Last week, a United States District Judge in California approved a settlement in the class action lawsuit which granted plaintiffs $8.7 million in damages. The class includes an estimated 8 million potential members, meaning that individual class members shouldn't expect a windfall.
How did Discover violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act? Was the settlement appropriate?
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Your Money
Should you borrow from home equity?
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For the Lawyers
One-sidedness is not a defense to an arbitration clause.
The Tenth Circuit held that a “business-goes-to-court-but-consumer-goes-to-arbitration” agreement, even if unconscionable under state law, is enforceable under the FAA.
The court stated:
“Under New Mexico law a compulsory-arbitration provision in a contract may be unconscionable, and therefore unenforceable, if it applies only, or primarily, to claims that just one party to the contract is likely to bring. The question before us is whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts this state law for contracts governed by the FAA. We hold that New Mexico law is preempted in this case and the arbitration clause must be enforced.”
The court noted that the reasoning that supports a finding of unconscionability is based on a belief that arbitration is inferior to a judicial proceeding. According to the court, this reasoning is flawed. “In other words, just as the FAA preempts a state statute that is predicated on the view that arbitration is an inferior means of vindicating rights, it also preempts state common law — including the law regarding unconscionability — that bars an arbitration agreement because of the same view.”
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