| Volume 100 Number 9 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
As a general rule, a business is not liable for a slip and fall injury simply because it owns the property where the injury occurred. For the business to be responsible the injured person must show the business was "negligent" and that is why the injury happened.
For example, if the business knew there was a slippery spot on the floor and did not take reasonable steps to clean it up, it would be liable to a customer who was injured as a result of its negligence.
For more general information about the law, check out my website.
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Verizon Now Throttling Data Speeds
If you're a Verizon Wireless consumer still on the company's unlimited data plan, you can start to expect lower speeds if you pass about 4.7 gigs of data a month. Beginning in October, Verizon is expected to throttle data speeds for the top 5% of its customers to limit the burden on the LTE network. Other wireless companies, like AT&T, started throttling data speeds for grandfathered unlimited users, pushing them to more expensive tiered data plans.
Do you exceed 4.7 gigs of data a month? Will Verizon slow your data speeds down?
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President to Sign Cell Phone Unlocking Bill
On Friday, the House and Senate passed a bill to (again) legalize the unlocking of cellphones. Consumers were able to legally unlock their cellphones until the Library of Congress declared it copyright infringement in 2012.
With cellphone unlocking legal again, consumers will be able to take their phones with them when they change providers. It will also increase the availability of low-cost, second-hand mobile devices.
President Obama has pledged to sign the bill into law.
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Movie Leaks Online Weeks Before Release
Lionsgate could lose millions of dollars after The Expendables 3 leaked online three weeks ahead of its theatrical release. The latest installment of the popular movie starring Sylvester Stallone, Ronda Rousey, and Harrison Ford has been downloaded more than 200,000 times since it hit the Internet late last week.
Be careful! If you're tempted to find the movie yourself, think twice. Backers of the project have previously sued consumers for illegally downloading other movies they have funded. Simply, it's best to wait to see this one in the theaters. Otherwise, you could end up dealing with an angry distribution company ready to sue.
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Your Money
What's right for you - a new or used car?
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For the Lawyers
Consumer filing claim under FDCPA does not have to first dispute the debt.
The district court held that the consumer could not bring suit challenging the information contained in a debt collector’s letter without having first disputed the validity of the debt pursuant to the FDCPA’s validation procedure.
The Third Circuit reversed, finding the statute’s text provides no indication that Congress intended to require debtors to dispute their debts under § 1692g before filing suit under § 1692e, and in fact, the statutory language suggests the opposite. The court noted that the language of § 1692g indicates that disputing a debt is optional.
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