| Volume 126 Number 12 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
You may not want to switch to a “business” credit card. An offer for a business card may have some advantages, but it has one big disadvantage—business cards are not subject to all of the new credit card laws that protect consumers. My opinion is if you are happy with your current credit card, don’t switch. Click here for more.
New Restrictions on For-Profit College ITT
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education announced that ITT Technical Institute schools can no longer enroll students who rely on federal loans to pay for tuition. The decision was based on risk factors of students and taxpayers. The federal government stated that it is not in the best interest of students to allow ITT to continue to enroll students who rely on federal aid. ITT is also prohibited from awarding raises or bonuses to executives. The for-profit giant operates over 130 campuses in 38 states and about 45,000 students were enrolled in its program last year. Click here for more.
Your Money
If you have an iPhone you may want to update immediately to prevent a security flaw that leaves your personal information vulnerable. Yesterday, Apple issued a security patch to fix a dangerous flaw in its iPhones and iPads. This was in response to an attempted hack into the phone of a human rights activist in the Middle East. The hack is the first known case of software that can remotely take over a iPhone 6. Click here for more.
For the Lawyers
Arbitration agreement may not be enforceable if the online purchase does not require customer to click a button to agree to the seller's terms. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that an Amazon arbitration agreement may not be enforceable because there was no actual or constructive notice of the arbitration terms. In the case, the plaintiff filed a class action suit and Amazon moved to dismiss the action because it was barred by its arbitration agreement. The district court granted the motion to dismiss because the plaintiff agreed to the terms when he clicked on a button stating "Place your order." The Second Circuit disagreed and stated that Amazon's button was arguably insufficient to give notice, because the order button and statement of agreement to terms were separated. The case has been sent back to the lower court to determine if the website gave users notice of the arbitration terms. Nicosia v. Amazon.com, Inc (2nd Cir. 2016). Click here for more.