This case involves the balance the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (“the Act”) strikes between providing newer competitors access to previously monopolistic telecommunications markets, on the one hand, and encouraging and protecting infrastructure investments of older, incumbent telecommunications providers on the other. We must interpret two provisions of the Act that impose requirements on ol... More...   $0 (03-05-2010 - CA)

Congress enacted the Telecommunications Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 152 et seq., to mandate “that local service, which was previously operated as a monopoly overseen by the several states, be opened to competition.” MCI Telecom. Corp. v. Bell Atl., 271 F.3d 491, 497 (3d Cir. 2001). Congress required the incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs) to cooperate with competitive local exchange carrie... More...   $0 (02-23-2010 - MI)

The dispute in this telecommunications case stems from Appellant North County Communication’s (North County) contention that it has a private right of action to enforce various compensation arrangements pursuant to the Federal Communications Act. In its complaint, North County, a NORTH COUNTY COMM. v. CELLCO. 2425 competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), alleged that Appellees, as commercial m... More...   $0 (02-10-2010 - CA)

In the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the President authorized the National Security Agency (“NSA”) to conduct a warrantless, electronic surveillance program on millions of American telephones. Numerous lawsuits have claimed the program was illegal and unconstitutional, e.g., Al- Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. v. Bush, 507 F.3d 1190, 1192-93 (9th Cir. 2007), including a c... More...   $0 (02-10-2010 - CA)

In July 2006, plaintiff Wen Y. Chiang sued his telecommunications company, Verizon New England Inc. (Verizon NE), in state court, alleging in part that the company had billed his account for telephone service he had not ordered. Chiang filed a second state court suit against Verizon NE in February 2007 over a billing dispute triggered by Chiang's conceded failure to pay telephone bills on two acc... More...   $0 (02-09-2010 - MA)

The question presented here is whether the district court
erred in dismissing the claims of Coto Settlement (Coto) as
barred by the statute of limitations. Coto claims that it is entitled
to part of $1.4 million refunded by the Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) following a judgment against Coto, Ian
Eisenberg and other entities. Eisenberg and Olympic Telecommunications,
Inc. (... More...   $0 (01-29-2010 - )

This case asks our court to decide whether Washington will

become a locus of nationwide class action litigation. In the context of this case, we

believe the trial court did not abuse its discretion by declining to certify such a class. To

the extent a class action is feasible here, the only appropriately certified class for

plaintiffs' contract claims is ... More...   $0 (01-21-2010 - WA)

Federal law prohibits corporations and unions from using their general treasury funds to make independentexpenditures for speech defined as an “electioneering communication” or for speech expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate. 2 U. S. C. §441b. Limits on electioneering communications were upheld in McCon-nell v. Federal Election Comm’n, 540 U. S. 93, 203–209 (2003). ... More...   $0 (01-21-2010 - DC)

Rex Carr, a successful class action lawyer in southern Illinois, is locked in mortal combat with his former law partners, the defendants in a RICO case (with a supplemental state-law claim, 28 U.S.C. § 1367) that he brought in federal district court.

The dispute is over the division of legal fees in cases handled by the law firm (Carr Korein Tillery, LLC) before it broke up; Carr is seekin... More...   $0 (01-19-2010 - IL)

This appeal centers on communications between the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and a telecommunications company, in which the company allegedly lobbied DOJ to take its side in litigation with a client of law firm Hunton and Williams, LLC ("Hunton"). The district court upheld DOJ’s decision to deny Hunton’s request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552 (2006), ("FOIA") for... More...   $0 (01-04-2010 - wv)

¶1 The issue in this cause is whether a person, who signed an agreement on behalf of a corporation as its agent, which contained an arbitration clause, can be treated by the arbitration authority as an individual party to the arbitration. We hold that under these facts, he cannot be considered as a party to the agreement to arbitrate.

I. Facts and Procedure

¶2 Dr. Mary J. Carte... More...   $0 (12-15-2009 - OK)

This appeal presents issues concerning whether a non-signatory may enforce an arbitration clause in a contract signed by its subsidiary corporation, the scope of that arbitration agreement, and whether, even if included therein, the Legislature nevertheless intended statutory antitrust claims to be non-arbitrable. Defendants National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburg, PA (National ... More...   $0 (11-17-2009 - NJ)

In this diversity action, John Gates alleges that the presence of Sprint Spectrum’s telecommunications equipment on his property constitutes a trespass. The district court granted summary judgment to Sprint on the basis that the alleged injury took place prior to Mr. Gates’s acquisition of the property and that, absent an assignment, a cause of action for trespass belongs only to the property ... More...   $0 (10-14-2009 - ks)

USCOC of Greater Missouri commenced this action against the City of Ferguson, alleging that the City violated its rights under the Telecommunications Act (TCA), 47 U.S.C. § 332(c)(7), by failing to act on its applications for zoning variances and a special use permit within a reasonable period of time and by denying them without substantial evidence in a written record. The district court1 grante... More...   $0 (10-09-2009 - MO)

Plaintiff travel agencies appeal the district court’s dismissal of their Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim under § 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Plaintiffs allege that defendants conspired to reduce, cap, and eventually eliminate the payment of base commissions in a concerted effort to drive plaintiffs out of business in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1. We affirm. In doing so, we hol... More...   $0 (10-02-2009 - OH)

Defendants and appellants Darrell Kruse (Kruse) and Claremont All Natural Nutrition Aids Buyers Information Service (also known as CANNABIS)1 appeal from the judgment entered in favor of plaintiff and respondent City of Claremont (the City) after the trial court issued a permanent injunction preventing defendants from operating a medical marijuana dispensary anywhere within the City. We affirm the... More...   $0 (09-22-2009 - )

This case presents the question of how a district court should apply the abuse of discretion standard when reviewing a decision by the administrator of an employee benefits plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 829, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461, when that administrator has a conflict of interest. We conclude that a reviewing court must take ... More...   $0 (09-14-2009 - CA)

Comic-strip writer Bob Thaves famously quipped, “A fool and his money are soon parted. It takes creative tax laws for the rest.” In this case it took the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS” or “the Service”) aggressive interpretation of the tax code to part millions of Americans with billions of dollars in excise tax collections. Even this remarkable feat did not end the IRS’s creati... More...   $0 (09-03-2009 - D.)

Respondent Cingular Wireless, LLC (Cingular) advertised a cellular phone for sale at half the retail price if the purchaser also enrolled in a calling plan package. The California Code of Regulations requires that sales tax be computed on the non-sale price of the product. The regulation permits, but does not require, that the charge be passed on to the customer. Cingular did so without informing ... More...   $0 (08-20-2009 - CA)

Sprint Spectrum, L.P. (“Sprint”), sued Platte County, Missouri, alleging that the County’s Planning and Zoning Commission (“Commission”) violated the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (“TCA”) by denying Sprint’s application for a special use permit to construct a telecommunications tower. Sprint argued that the Commission’s decision was neither “in writing” nor “supported by s... More...   $0 (08-15-2009 - MO)

This case addresses unsolicited commercial e-mail, more commonly referred to as “spam.”1 While ignored by most and reviled by some, spam is largely considered a nuisance and a source of frustration to e-mail users who, at times, must wade through inboxes clogged with messages peddling assorted, and often unwanted, products and services. The rising tide of spam poses an even greater problem to ... More...   $0 (08-08-2009 - WA)

Appellants Joe M. Garza, Pay Phone Owners Legal Fund, and Ernest R. Bustos appeal a venue transfer order and the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on all of their claims against appellees Jack P. Reed and Houston Surplus Lines, Inc. We affirm. Appellants are apparently victims of a Ponzi scheme involving the purchase of pay phones. They purchased pay phones from American Telecommunications... More...   $0 (07-07-2009 - TX)

Real party in interest David Williams is a qualified medical marijuana patient who uses marijuana upon the recommendation of his physician. Williams belonged to a seven-member collective of medical marijuana patients who agreed to contribute comparable amounts of money, property, and labor to the collective cultivation of marijuana; each then would receive an approximately equal share of the marij... More...   $0 (07-01-2009 - CA)

The goal of a mortgage flipping scam is to deceive a potential lender about the value of the collateral. Go-between G finds a building for sale and arranges its sale to Buyer B for more than its market value. B borrows the money for the purchase, assisted by Appraiser A, who certifies to the lender that the property is worth more than the actual purchase price. Someone else (if not G himself) cert... More...   $0 (06-24-2009 - IL)

The town of Falmouth (Town), in which the mainland port of Woods Hole is located, serves as the departure point for the ferry to Martha's Vineyard operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority (Authority). The Town is host to a number of open-air parking lots owned by the Authority which provide parking for the ferry's passengers. In 2004, the Town adopted what it... More...   $0 (06-18-2009 - MA)