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ACCO Engineered Systems, Inc. v. Contractors' State License Board

(California Court of Appeal) - Upheld a decision of the Contractors' State License Board finding that a large contracting company violated California law by failing to obtain a building permit before replacing a boiler. Affirmed the denial of the company's writ petition.




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Berkeley Hills Watershed Coalition v. City of Berkeley

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that a neighborhood organization could not stop the construction of three new single-family homes in a certain location, despite alleged violations of zoning and environmental laws. Affirmed the denial of a writ petition.




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Boatworks, LLC v. City of Alameda

(California Court of Appeal) - Struck down a portion of a city ordinance authorizing development impact fees for parks and recreation. Affirmed the lower court in relevant part, in this case involving California's Mitigation Fee Act.




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Fidelity and Deposit Co. v. Edward E. Gillen Co.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that a construction company's surety (an insurance company) may not augment its contractual indemnification rights with the ancient doctrine of quia timet -- equitable protection from probable future harm. The construction company allegedly had gone belly up on a government project. Affirmed summary judgment against the surety's claim.




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Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas v. Smith

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that the State of Texas should not have been enjoined from terminating Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood facilities. Concluded that the district court applied an incorrect standard of review, in this case involving the facilities' alleged noncompliance with accepted medical and ethical standards. Vacated a preliminary injunction and remanded.




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Winsted v. Berryhill

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that the Social Security Administration did not adequately explain why it denied a man's application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. The issue had to do with residual function capacity. Reversed the district court's judgment and remanded to the federal agency.




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Winsted v. Berryhill

(United States Seventh Circuit) - In an amended opinion, held that the Social Security Administration did not adequately explain why it denied a man's application for disability insurance benefits and supplemental security income. The issue had to do with residual function capacity. Reversed the district court's judgment and remanded to the federal agency.




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Reed v. Taylor

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that a civilly committed sexually violent predator could be required to pay for GPS monitoring or else face criminal prosecution, even though his sole income was Social Security. Affirmed a summary judgment ruling in a case involving a now-repealed Texas law.




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D.C. Association of Chartered Public Schools v. District of Columbia

(United States DC Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. The district court dismissed claims by a group of chartered schools complaining about school funding practices but the case was vacated and remanded for dismissal because they lacked jurisdiction to hear the claims in the first instance.




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CREDIBLE BEHAVIORAL HEALTH INC v. JOHNSON

(MD Court of Appeals) - No. 19, Sept. Term, 2019




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Paypal Phishing Scam - Attention! Your PayPal Account Could Be Suspended!

Phishing scammers need a little help scamming you!




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SARS Phishing Scam - SARS eFiling Payment Adjudicated

The shortest phishing scam e-mail ever!




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NatWest Credit Card Services Banking Phishing Scam

An extremely legitimate looking phishing scam aimed at NatWest credit card holders.




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Unclaimed Funds Scam - Re: Mail From Thailand

The 419 scammers are afraid that they are going to pay your fake fund into the wrong bank account, so they want to make sure if they have the correct banking details... how considerate of them.




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Banking Phishing Scam - Nedbank transaction notification #2410-779

Phishing scammers targeting Nedbank customers with malware.




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Super Loan Spam - C_PLUS_PLUS_GENIUS, You are PRE-SELECTED for a Super Loan up to R150,000! - Super-Loan.co.za

Super-Loan.co.za are super spammers and when you go to their website you will find that it is super useless, i.e. it only shows the Microsoft IIS7 status page. Super professional.




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Canadian Pharmacy, Medications and Drug Spam - Image has been damaged

The Canadian Pharmacy Spammers are at it again, or should we say still at it again.




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General Malware Spam - You have received a new fax message

Fax or malware? This is clearly malware.




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Berkeley Hills Watershed Coalition v. City of Berkeley

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that a neighborhood organization could not stop the construction of three new single-family homes in a certain location, despite alleged violations of zoning and environmental laws. Affirmed the denial of a writ petition.




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Western Watersheds Project v. Grimm

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Revived conservationist groups' challenge to the federal government's participation in the killing of gray wolves in Idaho. Reversed a dismissal for lack of Article III standing and remanded.




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United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma v. FCC

(United States DC Circuit) - Granted in part. In a petition to review an order loosening regulations to allow microcell transmission towers supporting cell phone reception to be built on or near Native American cultural sites, the FCC's determination that it wasn't in the public interest to review small cell deployment was arbitrary and capricious.




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Union of Medical Marijuana Patients v. City of San Diego

(Supreme Court of California) - Reversed. The City of San Diego authorized medical marijuana dispensaries. It decided that the dispensaries did not constitute a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, so an environmental review was not necessary. Plaintiff challenged the failure to conduct an environmental review. The appeals court agreed with the City’s assessment. The Supreme court ruled that an improper test was applied under Public Resources Code section 21065 to determine whether a review was necessary or not. The case was remanded for further proceedings.




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Refined Metals Corp. v. NL Industries, Inc.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. A lawsuit relating to who should pay for the cleanup of a contaminated site was dismissed because the limitations period had expired by the time the plaintiff filed suit.




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DRK Photo v. McGraw Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming summary judgment to the defendant schoolbook publisher against a stock photography agency complaining of copyright infringement because they were nonexclusive licensing agents for the photos at issue and failed to demonstrate adequate ownership interest to confer standing.




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Great Minds v. FedEx Office and Print Services, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirming a district court judgment dismissing a copyright infringement suit brought by a producer of educational materials against FedEx for their duplication of the products on behalf of school districts, whose use was licensed as noncommercial, because the distinction between their use and FedEx's facilitation of their use should have been explicitly laid out in the license they gave the schools.




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Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Granted a new trial in a copyright case involving a claim that Led Zeppelin copied key portions of its hit Stairway to Heaven from a song written by a musician named Randy Wolfe. Held that several jury instructions were erroneous and prejudicial, including the instructions on originality, and thus vacated the jury's verdict of no infringement.




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Capitol Records, LLC v. ReDigi Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed a finding of copyright infringement, in a lawsuit that involved copyrighted music recordings resold through an internet platform. The suit was brought by several record companies.




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BWP Media USA Inc. v. Polyvore, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Revived a media company's claim that a popular website infringed its copyright in certain photographs of famous celebrities. The website, which enables users to create and share digital photo collages, has a clipper tool that lets users clip images from other websites. Reversed summary judgment in relevant part, in this case involving the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.




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Media Rights Technologies, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Revived a tech company's copyright infringement claims against a competitor. Held that claim preclusion did not bar the company from asserting copyright infringement claims that had accrued after its earlier patent infringement suit against the competitor.




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Glassell Non-Operated Interests Ltd. v. Enerquest Oil and Gas LLC

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that an oil company did not breach its contract with several other oil companies. The dispute arose out of a joint agreement to cooperatively develop oil prospects in Texas. Reversed the judgment below.




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Fed. Treasury Ent. Sojuzplodoimport, OAO Moscow Distillery Cristall v. Spirits Int'l B.V.

(United States Second Circuit) - In an international trademark action involving rival claims to the "Stolichnaya" trademarks, the district court's dismissal is vacated in part and affirmed in part where: 1) considerations of international comity precluded the district court from determining that the Russian Federation's assignment of trademark rights to plaintiff was invalid under Russian law and dismissing plaintiff's claims under section 32(1) of the Lanham Act for lack of standing; but 2) plaintiff's remaining claims are barred by res judicata and laches.




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Federal Home Loan Bank of Bost v. Moody's Corp.

(United States First Circuit) - In a case arising out of the near-collapse of the mortgage-backed securities market, alleges that various rating agencies falsely gave out triple-A ratings to mortgage-backed securities they knew were far riskier than indicated by their pristine ratings, the District Court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims on jurisdictional grounds is reversed where it erred in finding that it lacks statutory power to transfer this action to another federal court in which personal jurisdiction over certain defending parties may be met.




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US v. Cortes-Medina

(United States First Circuit) - Sentence for conviction of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances within 1,000 feet of a protected location, 21 U.S.C. sections 841(a)(1), 846 and 860, is affirmed over defendant's claims that the sentence is both procedurally flawed and substantively unreasonable where, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, such as the applicability of a statutory mandatory minimum sentence, the starting point for a court's sentencing determination is the guideline range, not the parties' recommendations.




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Vannoy v. Fed. Reserve Bank of Richmond

(United States Fourth Circuit) - In an employment discrimination action, contending that defendant-employer interfered with and retaliated against plaintiff, a former employee, in violation of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and failed to accommodate and discriminatorily discharged plaintiff in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendants is: 1) affirmed as to plaintiff's FMLA retaliation claim and ADA claims; but 2) vacated as to plaintiff's FMLA interference claim where genuine issues of material fact exist.




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Medina & Medina, Inc. v. Hormel Foods Corp.

(United States First Circuit) - In a case involving a dispute over an unwritten and allegedly exclusive distributorship agreement between plaintiff and Hormel Foods Corp. under Puerto Rico's Dealer's Contracts Act (Law 75), P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 10 sections 278-278e, the district court's judgment is: 1) affirmed in part where plaintiff's exclusivity claim as presented is time-barred; and 2) reversed in part where the statute of limitations bar to recovery extends to plaintiff's Costco-related claim as well.




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Fredrickson v. Starbucks Corp.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a class action brought by three former baristas at Starbucks, challenging defendant's practice of withholding state and federal taxes from baristas' paychecks based on cash tips received, the district court's dismissal with prejudice is reversed and the case remanded to state court where: 1) the Tax Injunction Act and the Anti-Injunction Act deprives the district court of subject matter jurisdiction over plaintiffs' claims for declaratory and injunctive relief; and 2) the federal-state comity doctrine bars the district court from awarding statutory damages on the state-tax component of the plaintiffs' claims.




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Biondo v. Kaledia Health

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Plaintiff, who is profoundly deaf, appeals from dismissal on summary judgment her claim that a hospital violated the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide an ASL interpreter. The panel concluded that material issues of fact preclude summary judgment.




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Union of Medical Marijuana Patients v. City of San Diego

(Supreme Court of California) - Reversed. The City of San Diego authorized medical marijuana dispensaries. It decided that the dispensaries did not constitute a project for the purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, so an environmental review was not necessary. Plaintiff challenged the failure to conduct an environmental review. The appeals court agreed with the City’s assessment. The Supreme court ruled that an improper test was applied under Public Resources Code section 21065 to determine whether a review was necessary or not. The case was remanded for further proceedings.




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American Bankers Association v. National Credit Union Administration

(United States DC Circuit) - Remanded. A final rule issued by the National Credit Union Administration intended to make it easier for community credit unions to expand their coverage that was opposed by bankers was largely affirmed, but remanded to consider a portion that might impact poor and minority urban residents.




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Refined Metals Corp. v. NL Industries, Inc.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. A lawsuit relating to who should pay for the cleanup of a contaminated site was dismissed because the limitations period had expired by the time the plaintiff filed suit.




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Fidelity National Financial, Inc. v. Friedman

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Reversed and remanded. The district court’s order vacating a registered judgement is reversed, holding that a court need not have personal jurisdiction over a judgment debtor in order to “merely register” a previously obtained judgment.




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Planned Parenthood of Indiana v. Adams

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. A preliminary injunction against enforcement of state laws requiring parental notification in the case of pregnant unemancipated minors seeking abortions was upheld.




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Fed. Trade Comm'n v. Whole Foods Market, Inc.

(United States DC Circuit) - Denial of the FTC's request for a preliminary injunction against the merger of the Whole Foods and Wild Oats supermarket chains is reversed and remanded where: 1) the case was not moot despite the merger's having already occurred; 2) the district court did not abuse its discretion by considering the market definition proposed by the FTC, in which Whole Foods and Wild Oats compete in the "premium, natural, and organic supermarkets" (PNOS) market, not against all supermarkets; 3) the FTC met the threshold requirements for obtaining a preliminary injunction by demonstrating a likelihood of success on its claim that the two supermarkets did compete in the PNOS market; and 4) the district court was best positioned to balance the FTC's showing against the equities weighing against an injunction. (Amended and reissued opinion)




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Equitable Res., Inc. v. United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Mfg., etc.

(United States Sixth Circuit) - In a company's suit under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) to vacate or modify the arbitration award against it, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the union is affirmed where: 1) the arbitrator did not exceed his authority by interpreting the CBA in a way that allowed the company to be found liable for a breach; 2) the arbitrator did not exceed the scope of his authority to decide a representational issue in this case because the arbitrator's successor decision was permissible in furtherance of his interpretation of the CBA; 3) the award's remedy does not violate public policy; and 4) the arbitrator did not dispense his own brand of industrial justice.




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NAF Holdings, LLC v. Li & Fund (Trading) Limited

(United States Second Circuit) - In a dispute arising out of a merger, and in light of Delaware Supreme Court's answer to a certified question that plaintiff was not required to bring its breach of contract claim as a derivative action, the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor defendant is vacated where plaintiff is not barred from pursuing its claim directly.




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Varjabedian v. Emulex Corporation

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming a district court conclusion in a putative securities class action relating to a corporate merger that the Securities Exchange Act does not create a private right of action for shareholders confronted with a tender offer and dismissing the complaint as to one defendant, who was not a proper defendant, holding that the Exchange Act requires a showing of negligence rather than scienter for the claims brought, and remanding for the district court to reconsider the defense motion to dismiss under the negligence standard.




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Latido Music Announces Advisory Board - Notable Execs From Univision, Warner Bros., Cinedigm

Latido Music, The Premiere 24-hour Digital Television Network Dedicated To Latin Music, Has Announced The Formation Of Its Advisory Board




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PaTRAM Institute To Record Next CD In Saratov, Russia, Accompanied By The Wonderworking Kursk Root Icon Of The Mother Of God

Fresh Off Their GRAMMY Nomination For Their CD, Teach Me Thy Statutes,the PaTRAM Institute Will Record Their Next CD In Saratov, Russia This August.




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Xprnc Media Announces The 'Rise Above - ON TOUR' Marketing Program Empowering Artists To Directly Connect With Fans In-store At Media Retail

The 'Rise Above - ON TOUR' Marketing Program Is An Innovative, Unique And Low Cost Opportunity To Place Your Local Performance In Front Of Committed Music Fans And Store Staff Across All Your Markets




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Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority v. Tong

(United States Second Circuit) - Reversed and Remanded. Plaintiff sued seeking to expand its primary runway. The district court ruled that Plaintiff lacked standing to invalidate a Connecticut statute prohibiting the expansion, but even if it had standing the Federal Aviation Act did not preempt the statute. The appeals court disagreed and reversed and remanded for an entry of judgment in Plaintiff’s favor.