A telemarketing fraud suit filed May 23, 2023, by 48 states and the District of Columbia against VoIP service provider Avid Telecom for allegedly facilitating illegal robocall traffic on its network (see 2305230065), “does not contain a scintilla of evidence” that Avid ever initiated "even a single illegal robocall,” said the defendant's answer (docket 4:23-cv-00233) to the complaint Friday in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Tucson. Nor does the complaint have evidence that Avid knew “that any of the calls that it received from an originating aggregator or carrier was an illegal robocall," it said.
Though the Telephone Consumer Protection Act “expressly prohibits” unsolicited fax advertising, a Delaware marketing services company, routinely sends them directly to recipients or through at least 10 hired John Doe agents, alleged a class action Thursday (docket 1:24-cv-04912) in U.S. District Court for Northern Illinois in Chicago. William Gress, a practicing chiropractor in Homewood, Illinois, received a fax solicitation from Klip-It or its agents on June 4, advertising an “influencer marketing platform” to attract new patients through social media, said the complaint. The defendants, “either negligently or wilfully,” violated the rights of Gress and other recipients in sending the faxes, it said. Gress had no prior relationship with the defendants and hadn’t authorized the sending of fax ads, it said. On information and belief, the June 4 fax “was sent as part of a mass broadcasting of faxes,” it said. The fax didn’t contain an opt-out notice that complies with the TCPA, it said. On information and belief, the defendants have transmitted similar unsolicited fax ads to at least 40 other persons in Illinois, it said. There’s “no reasonable means” for Gress or other recipients of the defendants’ unsolicited fax ads to avoid receiving illegal faxes, said the complaint: “Fax machines must be left on and ready to receive the urgent communications authorized by their owners.”
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website June 14, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
Google has never had, and is unlikely to obtain, “monopoly power in any properly defined relevant market for advertising services,” said its answer Wednesday (docket 1:23-cv-05177) in U.S. District Court for Southern New York in Manhattan to Gannett’s May 15 amended complaint. The complaint alleges that Google and Alphabet unlawfully have acquired and maintain monopolies for the advertising technology tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space. Google’s conduct as alleged in Gannett’s complaint “was lawful, justified, procompetitive, and carried out in Google’s legitimate business interests,” said its answer. Its conduct “constitutes bona fide competitive activity, the benefits of which significantly outweigh any alleged anticompetitive effects,” it said. The plaintiff's deceptive trade practices and common-law fraud claims against Google are barred, in whole or in part, “for failure to allege with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake,” and because Gannett hasn’t and can’t establish a false, misleading or deceptive act or practice, it said. To the extent that Gannett seeks recovery of civil penalties, those penalties are limited by the applicable state statutes, the due process clause of the U.S. and applicable state constitutions, and they also “must have a reasonable relation to the actual harm established,” it said.
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website June 13, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.
Summit Health combines patients’ searches for medical information with their protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) and sells it to advertisers without their permission, alleged a privacy class action Wednesday (docket 2:24-cv-06972) in U.S. District Court for New Jersey in Newark. The suit also names Meta, Google, PubMatic, Microsoft and Magnite.
The Commerce Department on June 13 issued antidumping and countervailing duty orders on non-refillable steel cylinders from India (A-533-912/C-533-913). The orders set permanent antidumping and countervailing duties, which will remain in place unless revoked by Commerce in a sunset or changed circumstances review. Commerce will now begin conducting annual administrative reviews, if requested, to determine final assessments of AD/CVD on importers and make changes to cash deposit rates.
The European Commission on June 12 provisionally set countervailing duties on Chinese electric vehicles, though there could still be changes before the provisional rates are posted, no later than July 4. The day after the publication, importers would need a guarantee to cover the amount of duties, but the duties themselves would not be collected until the definitive duties are set, which could be as much as four months later. If a majority of countries in the EU vote against the duties, they wouldn't be levied.
The Commerce Department issued antidumping duty orders on brass rod from Brazil (A-351-859), India (A-533-915), Mexico (A-201-858), South Korea (A-580-916) and South Africa (A-791-828), and a countervailing duty order on brass rod from South Korea (C-580-917). The orders set permanent antidumping and countervailing duties that will remain in place unless revoked by Commerce, which may only take place under certain conditions, such as a sunset or changed circumstances review. Commerce will now begin conducting annual administrative reviews, if requested, to determine final assessments of AD/CV duties on importers and make changes to cash deposit rates.
A listing of recent Commerce Department antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted on CBP's website June 11, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. The messages are available by searching for the listed CBP message number at CBP's ADCVD Search page.