2018
Toxics In Packaging: Are You Protected?
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsAs many direct marketers wrestle with the new Proposition 65 regulations (set to go into effect on August 30, 2018), there are other state laws relating to product safety as to which they should be aware. We address here the nineteen (19) states that have enacted so-called “toxics in packaging” laws that regulate the presence...
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2017
Proposition 65: Big Changes for Direct Marketers
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsStarting next summer, you’ll be required put Proposition 65 product safety warnings in your catalogs and on your websites near every affected product.
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2017
Class Actions: What Might Be On Your Horizon as a Direct Marketer?
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsCompanies who have faced class action lawsuits, even (and maybe especially) frivolous ones, won’t soon forget the experience. Just getting a case dismissed, or fending off class certification in the first place, can be extraordinarily costly and stressful. The amounts at stake are often huge–with potential downsides of “per violation” penalties in the four...
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2017
CAN-SPAM: Is the FTC Poised For Major Changes?
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsThe FTC has asked interested parties to address a wide variety of questions concerning its CAN-SPAM rules, including whether the rules provide any benefits at all to consumers. Where might this lead?
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2017
Spokeo Speaks — Again
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsIn Robins v. Spokeo, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit has again allowed a case to go forward on a gossamer thread of alleged “harm,” despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s admonition that concrete harm must alleged.
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2017
Reference Prices: Are You at Risk?
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsReference prices advise consumers that they are getting a bargain. The California Court of Appeal, however, just upheld a $6.8 million penalty on the grounds that a company’s use of list prices and comparison prices constituted a deceptive trade practice. Amazon is also apparently under investigation for its use of list prices. If past is prologue, we...
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2017
Former Prices: A Class Action Trap
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsDo you promote “former prices” to underscore the bargains you’re offering? If so, you should be on high alert. Increasingly, lawyers are targeting these kinds of promotions for sweeping class action lawsuits.
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2016
Substantial Nexus Under Siege: Industry Fights Back!
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsMartin Eisenstein and David Bertoni have published their latest blog for members of the American Catalog Mailers Association: The Industry Is Fighting Back. The blog goes over each of the major battlefronts in the states’ multi-pronged effort to overturn the long-settled Commerce Clause rule of “substantial nexus,” which requires that companies have a physical presence...
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2016
Quill: Rumors of Its Death Are Greatly Exaggerated
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsIn their latest Legal Corner blog for the American Catalog Marketing Association, partners Martin Eisenstein and David Bertoni report on the multi-front efforts by states to convince the public that Quill’s physical presence requirement is no longer good law or to attack it through burdensome notice and reporting obligations. The blog updates direct marketers on...
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2016
Oregon Following in Ohio’s Footsteps?
David Bertoni / 0 CommentsIts being reported that the State of Oregon is considering enacting a tax modeled on Ohio’s infamous Commercial Activity Tax (the “Ohio CAT”). “The plan,” according to reports, “would scrap Oregon’s corporate income tax system in favor of a 0.39 percent Commercial Activity Tax, or CAT, modeled after Ohio’s system. It would also cut taxes...
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