The Goodson Blogson

Over the weekend, Hurricane Helene devastated more than 600 miles of the southeastern United States, from the Gulf Coast of Florida through Tennessee ( NYTimes: Mapping the Destruction ). Western North Carolina was hit especially hard with flooding, landslides, and collapsing highways and bridges, leaving the mountain region inaccessible and impassable from all directions. DriveNC.gov maintains a map of current road closures, warning that "All roads in Western North Carolina should be considered closed and non-emergency travel is prohibited." Widespread power outages and shortages of food and water have followed in the wake of the storm. While aid has begun to reach the region, recovery and repairs will be a slow and difficult process, and the full impact of the destruction is not yet known. The Asheville Citizen-Times and The Assembly NC have temporarily suspended their paywalls for hurricane-related coverage. If you are able to help, agencies are seeking monetary contr...

Last week, the talk of the Internet was an essay called "The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger." The Cut's financial-advice columnist Charlotte Cowles details the elaborate telephone scam that led her to withdraw five figures of savings and surrender the cash to someone she believed to be an undercover CIA agent. Social media chatter debated whether Cowles's predicament was the relatable reaction of a frazzled mom who had been targeted by experienced con artists, or the public admission of a surprising lapse in common sense. However one may feel about Cowles's particular experience, one thing is certain: she is hardly alone in falling for a scam. Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission estimated that American consumers lost more than $10 billion to fraud in 2023 . While almost half of these losses came from investment fraud, imposter scams (like the one Cowles faced) represented nearly $3 billion of this figure. The FTC news r...

The Goodson Law Library has recently subscribed to the National Consumer Law Center's NCLC Digital Library . This campus-wide database includes full-text access to 22 e-book titles on consumer law topics, including: debtor rights, mortgages & foreclosures, credit & banking, deception & warranties, and consumer litigation. A how-to guide for consumers on Surviving Debt is also included in this subscription. The Quick Start Guide contains tips and tricks for searching and browsing the digital library. Recent updates to online editions as well as significant law changes in the last six months are marked with blue or red flags, respectively. As the guide cautions, the database's search features differ from research services like Lexis and Westlaw, but it is possible to develop proximity searches and exclude unwanted words using the NCLC search syntax. A separate "Advanced Pleadings Search" link is available to limit results only to sample documents included...

Yesterday's New York Times contained an article on the legal battles surrounding the labeling of plant-based food products . As meatless patties like the Impossible™ Burger and Beyond Burger™ continue their gains in popularity, lobbying groups for the beef industry have ramped up efforts to block the use of certain words in the products' labeling through legislation. A number of states already have passed laws that regulate whether vegan, vegetarian, or lab-grown meat products can use terms like "meat," "burger," or "sausage." An NPR story rounds up the existing state laws . One proposed bill , still pending in the Washington state legislature, would make the production and sale of lab-grown meat a misdemeanor if enacted. Why the concern? Lawmakers cite the potential for consumer confusion, which food labeling laws are designed to prevent. Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations contains hundreds of definitions of various food products, spe...

How many email addresses do you have? More importantly, how many email addresses have you forgotten about? In June, Lifehacker posted a helpful guide, How to Find and Delete Your Old Email Addresses . Echoing concerns raised recently by Consumer Reports , the posts noted that dormant email accounts present a serious security vulnerability – especially if you used them as password recovery addresses for linked services or other, more valuable email accounts. Both posts detail some steps to locate and delete unwanted, dormant email addresses. A few key tips to identify past addresses to potentially shutter: Conduct a web search for your known usernames and email addresses. View the connected email accounts on your social media services (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) by accessing your Settings. Check the secondary "password recovery" accounts listed on your primary email account and other online services. Review any saved logins in your web browsers or passw...

Today is Data Privacy Day , an international event to raise awareness about online privacy and security. As noted on the event's website, "Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the Jan. 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection." The Data Privacy Day website includes practical tips to Stay Safe Online . Three easy steps that everyone can take today to increase their online privacy and security include: Strengthen your passwords. Did you know that current members of the Duke community can download the password management service LastPass Premium for free? LastPass and other services like it will help you create long, extra-strength passwords, which are then stored securely in a "vault" – leaving you with only one master password to remember going ...

The end of the calendar year often sees an increase in solicitations from non-profit organizations. Whether you feel compelled to give back or are just calculating charitable deductions for next year's tax return, it's helpful to research tax-exempt organizations to learn more about where your dollars are being spent, and to avoid sending money to fraudulent organizations. The Internal Revenue Service's Exempt Organization Select Check provides quick information about particular non-profit organizations, and the general deductibility level of contributions. For more detailed financial data regarding tax-exempt organizations, the best source is the annual Form 990 filed with the IRS. Form 990 archives are available through a number of sources: Duke University community members have access to GuideStar , a leading source of reliable nonprofit information and backfiles of Form 990. Charity Navigator is another option to review ratings of charitable organizations, incl...

The average torts casebook contains a fascinating – and sobering – history of negligent acts and liability for injuries, from bringing fireworks onto a crowded train to being hit by a stray baseball and countless other misfortunes in between. But now there's a place where seminal moments in the history of U.S. tort law will really come to life. This weekend, the American Museum of Tort Law had its dedication ceremony in Winsted, Connecticut, and officially opens its doors on Sunday. The new museum is the brainchild of consumer advocate (and Winsted native) Ralph Nader, whose 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed revolutionized the consumer protection movement and resulted in the passage of federal automobile safety standards. The New York Times reviewed the museum's development and opening exhibits. These include such well-known examples as the McDonald's "hot coffee" spill, tobacco and asbestos litigation, and the defective automobiles which spurred the publication...

Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission announced a massive lawsuit against four cancer "charities" which allegedly misused nearly $200 million in consumer donations. The complaint was filed in federal court on Monday, with the FTC as well as all 50 states' attorneys general offices listed as plaintiffs. As Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring noted in the FTC press release , "This is the first time the FTC, all 50 states, and the District of Columbia have filed a joint enforcement action alleging deceptive solicitations by charities and I hope it serves as a strong warning for anyone trying to exploit the kindness and generosity of others." The FTC's case infographic starkly illustrates the discrepancy between the defendants' charitable aid and organizational overhead expenses, with the vast majority of donations going to employee compensation and other non-charitable uses, such as cars, tickets to sporting events, trips, and even dating ...

Bankruptcy! Do Not Pass Go; Do Not Collect $200 . Most people first learn the concept of bankruptcy as children, when they run out of money in the board game Monopoly . If they are lucky, that's the extent of their experience with bankruptcy. Unfortunately, more than one million consumers filed some type of bankruptcy petition in the federal courts just last year. As the U.S. Courts' Bankruptcy Statistics page details, bankruptcy is a harsh reality for consumers and businesses alike. It's also a complex area of law for legal researchers. A brand-new research guide in the Goodson Law Library will point you to the appropriate sources of law and explanatory texts. From the quick general primer of Bankruptcy Basics to the nineteen-volume treatise Collier on Bankruptcy , the new research guide on Bankruptcy Law covers resources aimed at attorneys as well as those written for consumers. The guide also outlines free and subscription-based sources for the various statutes, ...

Infused liquors have been gracing modern cocktail menus for some time now; in fact, they're so well-established that the New York Times and Martha Stewart were on the bandwagon years ago. But earlier this month, bartenders in Boise found their happy hours turned upside down, when the Idaho Alcoholic Beverage Control Unit confiscated their flavor-enhanced spirits during routine inspections . The reason for the raids on basil-flavored vodka and bacon-infused whiskey? Idaho Statutes § 23-921 , which says, "It shall be unlawful for any licensee to sell, keep for sale, dispense, give away, or otherwise dispose of any liquor in the original containers or otherwise than by retail sale by the drink." Police Lt. Russ Wheatley told local media, "From our perspective, [bars] have to sell liquor by the drink...You can't take it out of a bottle, replace it and then sell it again. That is illegal. This is really a consumer protection issue. We don't know what people ar...

The Goodson Law Library recently updated its guide to Legal Research for Non-Lawyers . The new additions include an extensive list of local and national services for legal referrals , maintained by the Duke Law School Pro Bono Project. New links to free legal research resources like Google Scholar (for case law) and the American Bar Association's Law Reviews & Journals Search (for articles) have also been added. By far, though, the biggest change to the guide was the addition of e-book versions (where available) of popular Nolo Press self-help guides via the Legal Information Reference Center . These electronic versions may be used on-site by library visitors or off-campus by those with a current Duke University NetID. In many cases, the version available online is more recent than the library’s Reference Collection copies, which are updated less frequently. Some highlights: Paul Bergman & Sara J. Berman-Barrett. Represent Yourself in Court: How to Prepare and Try a W...

Last month, Google announced plans to consolidate more than 60 of its 70+ separate privacy policies into a single, unified document. The streamlined privacy policy , which Google described as “beautifully simple […] a lot shorter and easier to read,” will take effect on Thursday, March 1 . Almost immediately, careful readers raised concerns about sharing formerly-private Google search data across multiple applications. Gadget blog Gizmodo declared the move a reversal of Google’s official corporate motto (“Don’t be evil”), warning that “things you could do in relative anonymity today, will be explicitly associated with your name, your face, your phone number come March 1st.” Members of Congress also expressed concern about the changes, which Google addressed in an open letter . The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued to compel the Federal Trade Commission to enforce a prior consent order which required Google to protect user data. (The case was dismissed several weeks...

December can be full of unexpected surprises – a holiday card from a long-lost friend, a sudden snow day from work or school, or a fabulous gift from your wish list . But for a quick moment of pure unmitigated cheer, a seasonal favorite has to be pulling out your heavy coat in anticipation of another dreary winter, and finding some long-forgotten cash in the pocket. But wouldn’t it be even better if that crumpled-up $20 bill was a check for $1,500? The Internal Revenue Service recently announced that more than $150 million in federal tax refunds have gone undelivered this year , usually due to outdated mailing addresses. If you’re one of the 99,123 taxpayers who is still waiting for a refund check, visit the IRS status lookup page Where’s My Refund? You’ll need to provide your Social Security Number, filing status and the exact amount of the refund. With the average unclaimed refund totaling $1,547, the site is certainly worth a visit. The IRS isn’t the only place which may be holdin...

July was a rough month for Netflix , all things considered. First the film-subscription service announced a radical change to its pricing structure , which by September could hike some subscribers’ monthly payments by nearly 60 percent. The company’s July 12 blog post sparked enough bourgeois Internet outrage that FunnyOrDie.com created a parody “Relief Fund” with celebrity spokesman Jason Alexander . Then came the corporation’s July 25 quarterly letter to its shareholders ( PDF ), which described plans for a “Facebook integration” tool which will soon launch in Canada and Latin America. But what’s the holdup in Netflix’s home country? The shareholder report explains: At this point, we plan to launch this initiative only in Canada and Latin America, as the VPPA (Video Privacy Protection Act) discourages us from launching our Facebook integration domestically . Under the VPPA, it is ambiguous when and how a user can give permission for his or her video viewing data to be shared. A bipar...

Today, CNN and the Consumerist blog reported the story of a Pennsylvania couple, Jenn Friberg and Ron Quigley, who were dismayed to discover that their new home had previously been a meth lab. Lingering drug residue made the new owners physically ill just days after moving in, and professional cleaning will cost the couple an additional $25,000 over their purchase price. Friberg and Quigley have started a blog, Our Meth House , to solicit donations for the cleanup, as well as to help raise awareness of the warning signs for other potential home-buyers. Goodson Blogson readers who have survived the labor-intensive process of purchasing a home may be shocked to hear that no laws were broken by the inspectors or sellers who failed to disclose the property’s colorful history. Disclosure laws vary widely by state, and in Pennsylvania the burden is on the homeowner to request a “meth lab test” by the inspector and/or to conduct independent research on the property. Friberg and Quigley lea...

The Goodson Blogson can't stop thinking about an absorbing New York Times Magazine article from earlier this month, China’s Cyberposse . The article describes popular online communities which mobilize to expose and publicly shame individuals who have committed various transgressions (such as adultery, animal cruelty, or government corruption). In some cases, the targets of a human-flesh search have lost their jobs; others now live in hiding, fearful of vigilante justice for their wrongdoings. Comparable online forums exist in the United States, although they are far less mainstream than their Chinese counterparts. Similar tactics can also be found on a milder scale in the U.S. on social networking websites (such as a Twitter feed in Alaska which posts the license plates of bad drivers or Don’t Date Him Girl , an online community which posts personal information about alleged cheaters or otherwise-lousy boyfriends). Those who have never attempted to track someone down online might ...

Over the holiday weekend, a CNN affiliate investigated growing consumer complaints about At The Beach, Inc., an area tanning salon chain with some pretty stringent member agreements. Customers claim that they were duped into signing virtually-unbreakable two-year contracts, and then burned by the fine print when attempting to cancel their accounts. Although most—including the news station’s undercover reporter—were assured by friendly employees that the contracts could be canceled “at any time,” consumers say they were not informed of the requirement to either “buy out” 50% of the remaining time on their contracts, or to prove that they had moved at least 25 miles away from the closest location in order to stop the automatic monthly billing. Is your inner lawyer feeling a distinct lack of sympathy for those who signed without reading? As the news video (5:49) shows, even seasoned attorneys can get caught in a contract trap: interview subject Kevin Lanoha is corporate counsel at Qwest...