It’s blatantly a parody, coupled with social criticism of the world’s largest retailer, but Wal-Mart had its lawyers fire off nastygrams to computer store owner Charles Smith and, perhaps more effectively, to CafePress. Now things have proceeded to court. Smith’s website is here. (Abigail Goldman,”Wal-Mart Parodist Sues to Sell Products”, L.A. Times/Chicago Tribune, Mar. 7)(via Housing Panic).
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Dating service sued for turning away married man
Attorney John Claassen, formerly of Skadden Arps, is suing online matchmaker eHarmony.com, which declined to list him because he is not yet divorced and it has a rule against listing profiles of persons who admit to being married. He’s claiming marital-status discrimination in his suit, filed in Alameda County. (Knight-Ridder; AP; SFist)(& welcome Sploid readers). More: Akhmed Al-Fayyed explains why he thinks eHarmony might lose (Mar. 29).
If I could sue like the animals
Canadian photographer Gregory Colbert is starting an outfit he calls the Animal Copyright Foundation whose intent is to collect royalty payments on behalf of animal species as compensation for the use in advertising of, for instance, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Target’s spotted dog, the Hartford’s stag, and other furred, finned or feathered creatures, the proceeds to be distributed to conservation causes that benefit animals. In all fairness, media accounts describe Colbert as seeking not obligatory rules requiring payment of the 1 percent royalties when a photo or video is used, but rather a “seal of approval” system in which advertisers vie for consumer favor by voluntarily pledging the set-aside. One almost hesitates to publicize the idea, however, for fear it will percolate in the law schools and emerge after a few years as an asserted new legal entitlement, as “animal standing” has done. (WSJ law blog, Mar. 16; Tim Nudd, AdFreak, Mar. 10; Lunch Over IP, Feb. 25).
“Not About The Money” files: $175 million suit against BGE
One of our favorite clichés is repeated in a tale of a lawsuit over a tragic electrocution. Because it’s BGE’s fault Gary Dart’s trailer caught on fire, because, after all, powerlines never go down during a snowstorm without negligence. Good thing it’s not about the money, or they might have asked for a lot more than $175 million. The attorney is Dave Ellin. (Joseph M. Giordano, “BGE Is Sued Over Electrocution”, Dundalk Eagle, Mar. 27). Because BGE is a regulated utility (whose maintenance budget is set in negotiations with the governmental public utility commission), the expenses of the lawsuit, including any damages, will eventually be passed on to local ratepayers. (Update: or not. See comments.)
Update: Maine jury hammers Hagens Berman
Seattle’s best-known plaintiff’s firm gets a huge black eye and is told to pay $10.8 million : “The jury unanimously found Wednesday that lawyers from Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP violated their duty of loyalty to three small water bottlers that in 2003 were close to settling a claim with Nestle Waters North America, the owner of Poland Spring Water Co.” For more about the case, see Mar. 20 and links from there. “Jurors will return to federal court next week to settle the issue of punitive damages.” (“Jury awards more than $10 million in water bottlers’ lawsuit”, AP/Boston Globe, Mar. 23; Vanesso Ho and Mike Lewis, “Seattle law firm told to pay $10.8 million”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mar.24; Lattman, Mar. 24).
Thanks to Dave Kopel
…for his guestblogging here over the past week. For more of Dave’s writing, check out his main site as well as the Volokh Conspiracy.
Sensible Public Health
Here’s a story about a public health intervention that:
1. Appears to have reduced the rate of sexually transmitted diseases.
2. Especially by encouraging people to have a check-up.
3. Appears to have been fairly inexpensive.
4. Involved no coercion.
The Bay Area Reporter offers a story about a costumed character who promotes sexual disease control (sort of like Smokey the Bear encourages people to prevent forest fires). But the particular costume would scandalize many people. Read the whole article before you make up your own mind.
Major Development in Syria
The opponents of the Assad regime have announced a united front coalition. The expatriate Syrian blogger Ammar Abdulhamid analyzes the coalition, and concludes that, even though the coalition leaders are hardly white knights, the coalition offers the best chance to lead a transition to a post-Assad state that does not degenerate into warlordism.
Housekeeping note: older comments
I’ve had to turn off comments for entries older than seven days, because of the unending flood of comment spam. If you’ve got something important to say about an entry older than that — or if you’re involved in a running conversation that gets cut off when it reaches the deadline — drop Ted or me a line and we’ll consider accommodating you.
Don’t Mess with Texas Morals Police: Tavern Patrons Arrested for Intoxication
“Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said,” according to Reuters. Public intoxication is illegal in Texas, and the authorities contend that their preemptive arrests will prevent people from driving drunk or committing other offenses. HT Peaktalk. More: Mar. 31.