Overhead view of game controller with purple lit keyboard amidst various wireless devices and drink can on black desk

Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold

Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold

February 12, 2025

Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold

By: Michelle Cohen

Newly installed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) Director Russell Vought directed agency staff to stop work on agency matters and stay home. The future of many of the CFPB-led initiatives looks bleak, including a recent interpretive rule proposal that would treat video game publishers like payment processors. Background Congress created the CFPB, an independent federal agency, in 2011 in response to the financial crisis of 2007-08.  The agency oversees federal financial consumer protection laws and has jurisdiction over a wide range of entities, including mortgage lenders and brokers, student loan issuers, and other financial institutions. In 2024, the CFPB began to focus on an unlikely target – video game companies. The agency started monitoring developments in the video game industry…

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Death of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration

February 11, 2025

Death of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration

By: George Calhoun

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has spent years trying to limit provisions that may be placed into consumer contracts, particularly with regard to class-action waivers, arbitration, and damages limitations. In 2015, the CFPB conducted a study of consumer arbitration clauses.  Notably, the CFPB’s study found that few class action cases proceed to trial, but in those that do, trial lawyers make $1 million per…

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Cancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder

January 15, 2025

Cancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder

By: Jordan Briggs

Drawn in by the appeal of steady revenue, nearly three-quarters of direct-to-consumer companies now include a subscription model.[1] Everything has a subscription these days: video games, groceries, dating apps—you can even subscribe to a service to cancel your other subscriptions.[2] These subscriptions were not deterred from joining their most prominent predecessor (the gym membership) as an age-old punchline about how hard they are to cancel….

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Disappearing Act Fails – Maryland Attorney General and FTC “snap” back at Snapchat

June 24, 2014

Disappearing Act Fails – Maryland Attorney General and FTC “snap” back at Snapchat

By: Ifrah Law

Recently, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office announced that it reached a settlement with Snapchat, Inc. over alleged deceptive trade practices in violation of Maryland law and violations of federal laws that are intended to protect children’s online privacy.  This is another reminder that state attorneys general’s offices will continue to be vigilant in addressing consumer privacy issues under both state and federal laws, when the…

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Weight Loss Claims and Dr. Oz Gain Congressional Interest

June 20, 2014

Weight Loss Claims and Dr. Oz Gain Congressional Interest

By: Michelle Cohen

We’ve all heard the statistics showing obesity rates rising in the U.S. year after year. Most of us are well aware of the billion dollar diet and weight-loss supplement industry to which millions turn with the hope of finding that one “miracle pill” to help them lose that stubborn belly fat or get rid of those unsightly love-handles.  Advertisers should be aware that the Federal…

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Higher Ed False Claims Act Suits – Pass or Fail?

June 10, 2014

Higher Ed False Claims Act Suits – Pass or Fail?

By: Nicole Kardell

Career Education Corporation, like a host of other for-profit education companies, has found itself spinning on the courthouse revolving door. The latest legal challenge for CEC: a False Claims Act suit filed in federal court in New Jersey on May 16. The lawsuit alleges that CEC defrauded the federal government by (1) falsifying job placement statistics to exaggerate the number of graduates working in their…

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Sprint Gets a Wallop of a Reminder – Company-Specific Do Not Call Lists Still Matter – $7.5 Million Record Do Not Call Consent Decree

May 20, 2014

Sprint Gets a Wallop of a Reminder – Company-Specific Do Not Call Lists Still Matter – $7.5 Million Record Do Not Call Consent Decree

By: Michelle Cohen

Yesterday, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) announced a consent decree with Sprint Corporation for federal do not call violations. Specifically, under the terms of the agreement, Sprint will make a $7.5 million “voluntary contribution” to the United States Treasury.  This payment represents the largest do not call settlement reached by the FCC.  Sprint also agreed to various ongoing compliance initiatives, including enhanced training and reporting…

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TCPA Plaintiff Loses—Express Consent Given to Health Insurance Plan Trumps Claim

May 19, 2014

TCPA Plaintiff Loses—Express Consent Given to Health Insurance Plan Trumps Claim

By: Michelle Cohen

In a recent case in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, the district court held that the plaintiff’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) claim should be dismissed. The court ruled that the plaintiff gave prior express consent when she agreed to the terms of her health insurance plan, which stated that the company could share her number with other businesses who…

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Articles and Presentations by Our Firm Attorneys

Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold

Pause Play? CFPB Gaming-Related Rules on Hold
By: Michelle Cohen

Death of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration

Death of the CFPB and Impact on Consumer Arbitration
By: George Calhoun

Cancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder

Cancelling Subscriptions Could be Easier, or Maybe Signing Up Will Get Harder
By: Jordan Briggs

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