T-Mobile wants the U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco to stay or hold in abeyance its review of the California Public Utilities Commission’s USF contribution overhaul until the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolves the carrier’s appeal of the district court’s March 31 preliminary injunction denial, said T-Mobile’s motion Monday (docket 3:23-cv-00483). T-Mobile telegraphed its intentions to seek the stay, over the CPUC’s objections, in a joint case management statement May 4 (see 2305040077).
Mutual of Omaha hired a third-party vendor to sell Medicare supplemental insurance coverage through unwanted phone solicitations, in violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, alleged plaintiff Michael Van Baalen’s April 3 state court complaint, removed Friday by Mutual of Omaha to U.S. District Court for New Mexico in Albuquerque. Mutual disputes all of Van Baalen’s allegations, believes the complaint lacks any merit, and denies that Van Baalen “has been harmed in any way,” said its notice of removal (docket 1:23-cv-00416).
U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap for Eastern Texas in Marshall signed a memorandum opinion and order Friday (docket 2:22-cv-00471) denying Altice USA’s Feb. 17 motion to dismiss the recording industry’s claims for vicarious liability for copyright infringement and contributory copyright infringement. The industry alleges Altice gave its internet subscribers the “unfettered ability” to steal music; Altice’s defense is that it can’t “police” the internet (see 2303140008).
Reversing the district court’s dismissal of Yout’s complaint for a declaration that its YouTube-ripping software isn't a circumvention tool under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (see 2210240004) would “eviscerate critical safeguards” the statute’s Section 1201 provides, said the Copyright Alliance’s amicus brief Thursday (docket 22-2760) in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Reversal also would “thus undermine copyright’s goal to disseminate expressive works in the interests of free expression,” said the brief in support of defendant-appellee the Recording Industry Association of America.
Plaintiff Ruhi Reimer’s claims against Kohl’s for alleged Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations are unusual among TCPA class actions because Reimer originally gave the merchant consent to receive its promotional text messages, but then he couldn’t get the messages to stop.
Verizon seeks an order compelling the town of Southwick, Massachusetts, to produce a certified copy of the written record of the proceedings before its planning board that contributed to the board’s denial of Verizon’s application for a wireless communications facility in the municipality, said its motion Thursday (docket 3:21-cv-10414) in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts in Springfield.
Liberty Broadband subsidiary GCI Communications agreed to pay $40.24 million to settle allegations it breached the False Claims Act by knowingly inflating its prices and violating FCC competitive bidding rules in connection with its participation in the commission’s Rural Health Care (RHC) program, said DOJ and the FCC in a statement Thursday. Just over $26 million of the settlement amount will be USF restitution payments directly to the FCC under a contemporaneous consent decree with the commission, said the settlement agreement.
Amazon, Canon USA and Canon’s Japanese parent filed suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court for Western Washington in Seattle to “permanently prevent and enjoin” 29 defendants from selling counterfeits of Canon-branded camera chargers and batteries on the Amazon store. The defendants, through their illegal actions, breached their contracts with Amazon, “compromised the integrity” of the Amazon store and “undermined the trust that customers place in Amazon and Canon,” said the complaint (docket 2:23-cv-00679).
Meta hasn’t “proceeded with dispatch” in responding to discovery in the consolidated Meta Pixel healthcare litigation, said the plaintiffs in a joint case management statement Tuesday (docket 3:22-cv-03580) in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Francisco.
A class action filed Monday in U.S. District Court for Southern West Virginia in Huntington seeks to hold Altice USA and its Suddenlink internet service accountable under the West Virginia Consumer Credit Protection Act (WVCCPA) for the allegedly unlawful practice of “cramming its customers' bills with illegal fees and charges.” The fees and charges are “unauthorized and deceptive,” and have “a significant impact” on West Virginia consumers, alleged the complaint (docket 3:23-cv-00380).