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In November 2022, the FTC and seven state attorneys general sued Google LLC and iHeartMedia, Inc. for airing nearly 29,000 deceptive endorsements by radio personalities promoting their use of and experience with Google’s Pixel 4 phone in 2019 and 2020. The proposed FTC orders and the state judgments settling the allegations bar Google and iHeartMedia from similar misrepresentations, and the state judgments also require them to pay $9.4 million in penalties.
Every year the FTC brings hundreds of cases against individuals and companies for violating consumer protection and competition laws that the agency enforces. These cases can involve fraud, scams, identity theft, false advertising, privacy violations, anti-competitive behavior and more. The Legal Library has detailed information about cases we have brought in federal court or through our internal administrative process, called an adjudicative proceeding.
The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint and authorized a federal court lawsuit to block Illumina’s $7.1 billion proposed acquisition of Grail—a maker of a non-invasive, early detection liquid biopsy test that can screen for multiple types of cancer in asymptomatic patients at very early stages using DNA sequencing. Illumina is the only provider of DNA sequencing that is a viable option for these multi-cancer early detection, or MCED, tests in the United States.
The complaint alleges the proposed acquisition will diminish innovation in the U.S. market for MCED tests, which could be used to detect up to 50 types of cancer. Most of these types of cancer are not screened for at all today, and the MCED test could save millions of lives around the world. The trial began on Aug. 24, 2021. On May 20, 2021, the FTC authorized staff to dismiss its federal court complaint for Preliminary Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order.
The U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission, and the Wisconsin Attorney General, filed suit against Consumer Law Protection and related companies, along with their owners and operators, Christopher Carroll, George Reed, Louann Reed, Scott Jackson, and Eduardo Balderas for scamming consumers—mostly older adults—out of more than $90 million in a massive timeshare exit scam.
In 2019, following a public comment period, the FTC has approved a modified final order requiring industrial gas suppliers Praxair, Inc. and Linde AG to sell assets in nine industrial gases product markets in numerous U.S. geographic markets to four divestiture buyers. The nine product markets in which the Commission alleged harm in its October 2018 complaint are bulk liquid oxygen, bulk liquid nitrogen, bulk liquid argon, bulk liquid carbon dioxide, bulk liquid hydrogen, bulk refined helium, on-site hydrogen, on-site carbon monoxide, and excimer laser gases. In November 2022, the FTC announced the approval of a petition to modify the final order in this case.
Statement of Chair Lina M. Khan Regarding the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Business Opportunity Rule Commission
The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against DK Automation and its owners, Kevin David Hulse and David Shawn Arnett for using unfounded claims of big returns to entice consumers into moneymaking schemes involving Amazon business packages, business coaching, and cryptocurrency. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the defendants promised consumers that they could “generate passive income on autopilot” when the truth was that few consumers ever made money from these schemes.
A proposed court order would require the defendants to turn over $2.6 million to be used to refund consumers harmed by their deception, as well as requiring them to stop their deceptive earnings pitches and follow the law.
Concurring Statement of Commissioner Wilson Regarding the Effective Date of Certain Provisions of the Recently Amended Safeguards Rule
Dissenting Statement of Commissioner Christine S. Wilson Regarding the “Policy Statement Regarding the Scope of Unfair Methods of Competition Under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act”
Statement of Chair Lina M. Khan, Joined by Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya, On the Adoption of the Statement of Enforcement Policy Regarding Unfair Methods of Competition Under Section 5 of the FTC Act
Statement of Commissioner Alvaro M. Bedoya, Joined by Chair Lina M. Khan and Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, on the Adoption of the Statement of Enforcement Policy Regarding Unfair Methods of Competition under Section 5 of the FTC Act
The Federal Trade Commission filed an administrative complaint alleging that Altria Group, Inc. and JUUL Labs, Inc. entered a series of agreements, including Altria’s acquisition of a 35% stake in JUUL, that eliminated competition in violation of federal antitrust laws. According to the complaint, this series of agreements involved Altria ceasing to compete in the U.S. market for closed-system electronic cigarettes in return for a substantial ownership interest in JUUL, by far the dominant player in that market. In an initial decision announced on Feb. 24, 2022, Chief Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell dismissed the antitrust charges in the complaint.
In November 2022, the FTC announced it stopped internet phone service provider Vonage from taking consumers’ money without their consent and creating obstacles to those who try to cancel their service. Under a proposed court order agreed to by Vonage, the company will be required to pay $100 million to refund consumers harmed by its actions, make its cancellation process simple and transparent, and stop charging consumers without their consent.
The FTC taking action against education technology provider Chegg Inc. for its lax data security practices that exposed sensitive information about millions of its customers and employees, including Social Security numbers, email addresses and passwords.
The Federal Trade Commission and State of California are taking action against home improvement financing provider Ygrene Energy Fund Inc. for deceiving consumers about the potential financial impact of its financing, and for unfairly recording liens on consumers’ homes without their consent. The FTC and California allege that Ygrene and its contractors falsely told consumers that the financing wouldn’t interfere with the sale or refinancing of their homes, in many instances relying on high-pressure sales tactics or outright forgery to sign consumers up.
A proposed court order would require Ygrene to stop its deceptive practices and meaningfully oversee the contractors who have served as its salesforce. As part of the settlement, Ygrene will be required to dedicate $3 million to provide relief to certain consumers whose homes are subject to the company’s liens.
The Federal Trade Commission sued Electrowarmth Products, LLC and its owner, Daniel W. Grindle, alleging that they falsely claimed the heated fabric mattress pads they sell for truck bunks were made in the USA. The FTC charged Grindle and Electrowarmth with violating the Textile Act and the Federal Trade Commission Act. According to the complaint, Grindle and Electrowarmth violated these acts by labeling and advertising the origin of the textiles used in their products as the United States, when these textile fiber products were wholly imported from China. The proposed order prohibits Grindle and Electrowarmth from making any country-of-origin claim about a product or service unless the claim is not misleading and they have a reasonable basis that substantiates their claim. It also requires Grindle and Electrowarmth to make certain disclosures about the country of origin of any product subject to the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, and to provide compliance reports. The FTC announced approval of the final order in October 2022.


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"We need to seek co-operation with a US publisher--we need local content," Sasaki told the Financial Times at the Tokyo Game Show. "Our strength is in role-playing games and fantasy titles, so it is a bit difficult to appeal to the US market."
The agreement may be similar to the 1998 agreement between pre-Enix merger Squaresoft and Electronic Arts. Forming Square Electronic Arts in America and Electronic Arts Square in Japan, the agreement allowed the companies to share revenues off of publishing the other's titles in their respective territories.
Though worried about the low global sales of the PlayStation 3, Sasaki said Square Enix was also interested in pursuing more online titles like the company's massively multiplayer Final Fantasy XI.

domain: news


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Lock down those databases, watch for updates from Sennheiser and Zoom
Welcome to Cyber Security Today. It’s Monday December 3rd. To hear the podcast, click on the arrow below:
On Friday Marriott Hotels admitted that for four years someone had access to the customer database of many of its Starwood brands, including Sheraton and W Hotels, and copied personal information on 500 million customers. If you’ve stayed at one of these hotels by now you should have got an email notice and are watching your credit card statements.
But thieves don’t always have to break into a company to steal data. Sometimes it’s sitting on the Internet in plain view because it hasn’t been protected. Another example was discovered last week when security researchers at HackenProof found a company’s database of more than 56 million U.S. citizens listing their names, employers, job title, email, address, phone number and Internet address. They did it by searching the Internet for open servers. This particular database had been assembled using a tool called ElasticSearch, which companies use to search through their data. However, the resulting file or files have to be locked down or anyone can find them if the server they’re on is open to the Internet. That means IT staff need to train employees using ElasticSearch on security principles, and the server has to be password protected. As this example shows, sometimes the message doesn’t get through.
Here’s another example: Also last week, a security researcher discovered another ElasticSearch database open, this one owned by a British company called Urban Massage, whose app is used to book massage appointments. Left exposed were about 300,000 user and therapist records and comments, including serious allegations of impropriety. Again, some staffer didn’t get the message about security.
Sennheiser is one of the most respected makers of headphones, but there’s a problem with the HeadSetup software used with its computer-connected headphone and speakerphones. Quite simply, one of the security features was poorly implemented. According to the security company Secorvo, which found the problem, the bug could allow an attacker to get into a user’s computer. Sennheiser said a fix would be available by the end of November.
Finally, if you use the Zoom desktop conferencing application make sure you’ve installed the latest update. A bug has been found that allows an attacker to hijack screen controls, spoof chat messages or kick and lock attendees out of meetings. The upade is available for Windows and MacOS.
That’s it for Cyber Security Today. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or add us to your Flash Briefing on your smart speaker. Thanks for listening.


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Eli Manning’s helmet from the 2008 Super Bowl is up for auction right now with bidding pushing toward $70,000 and several days still left in the bidding.
Remember when he was a San Diego Charger?
You’re excused if not, because his tenure lasted only about 45 minutes.
Manning had told San Diego he had no interest in playing for them but the team took him first overall in the 2004 draft before working out the final details on a deal that sent him to the New York Giants, where he’s played ever since.
Eli, his father Archie and mom Olivia posed with commissioner Paul Tagliabue immediately after the announcement–a very awkward moment. On the Dan Patrick Show, Eli was asked about that jersey.
Collectable.com has launched a mobile historical auction price guide research tool and is giving away a big prize to celebrate. The app allows collectors and dealers to search a database of over 500,000 auction prices dating back to 2004—right from their phones. The tool is free for all iPhone, iPad and Android users.
Collectable is giving away $500 in auction credit on the last day of the National Sports Collectors Convention. To be eligible, download and sign up in the app between now and Sunday, August 5. New and current app users can submit additional entries by participating through the giveaway link.
The Cy Young Days Festival in Newcomerstown is in need of a boost and Lewis is donating 125 pieces to a special auction aimed at raising money for the cause.
One of the pieces is a 30×40” original mixed-media portrait painting of Young with a minimum bid of $25,000. Lewis is also selling framed prints and canvas art prints in the auction at a much lower price level.


text: Checked our local Costco this week and found NO VTABs on display. They are also gone from Walmart.com and many local stores. Amazon has several partners selling them for close to $300 but none from Amazon itself. If you Google the tablet you will find higher prices from the few retailers who have them. Here is the clincher - Vizio has posted that the tablet is currently out of stock. IMHO this probably means one of three things: 1 The VTAB has been much more successful than Vizio expected and they simply ran out. 2 Vizio is bringing out a new model as soon as the current stock is exhausted. 3 Vizio is getting out of the tablet business. Anyone have an informed guess?


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The Grumpy Cat is getting some additional publicity, but not for a new meme, commercial, or t-shirt design. This time, it’s because Tardar Sauce (the cat’s real name), has been awarded $710,000 in a case by a California federal court. According to Grumpy Cat’s lawyer David Jonelis, it was the first time an internet meme had won a court case. And now you know why this story interests us.
According to the case, Grumpy Cat Limited sued the owners of US coffee company Grenade for exceeding an agreement over the cat’s image. Grenade only had rights to use the cat’s image to sell an ice drink called “Grumppuccino”. Instead, they sold other Grumpy products by selling roasted coffee and Grumppucino t-shirts.
Grumpy cat is famous, mostly online, for its permanent scowl caused by feline dwarfism and an under-bite that makes her lower jaw extend forward. Tardar Sauce’s career first took off in 2012 when the cat owner’s brother began posting memes with funny text captions.
In 2013 a $150,000 deal was stuck by Grenade Beverage, owned by father and son Nick and Paul Sandford an ice coffee beverage featuring the Grumpy Cat. They were sued in 2015 for breach of contract and countersued that Grumpy Cat had failed to mention its brand enough on social media and tv.
According to the complaint in court papers: “Ironically, while the world-famous feline Grumpy Cat and her valuable brand are most often invoked in a tongue-and-cheek fashion, the defendants’ despicable misconduct here has actually given Grumpy Cat and her owners something to be grumpy about.” Awww…poor Tardar Sauce!
The California Federal Judge sided with Tabatha Bundesen, Grumpy Cat’s owner, ordering the payment of $710,000 in damages for copyright and trademark infringement, as well as a $1 nominal damage fee for breach of contract. According to Courthouse News, the kitty made an appearance in court but wasn’t present for the verdict.
Are you thinking that this is all a bit over the top. Maybe not. Tarder Sauce is six-years old and has a company in her name, clothing, calendars, soft toys, coffee (obviously), a Christmas film, and also has 1.42 million followers on Twitter, 2.4 million on Instagram, and almost nine million likes on Facebook. Oh yes, she also has a book deal, and has had an appearance in a Friskies commercial.
It’s all been enough for Bundesen to quit her waitress gig and manage her cat’s career full-time. We see no reason to be grumpy about that!


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Shutterstock is a leader in streamlining the creative process for everyone by developing responsibly made AI tools for designers and marketers.
Through its contributor fund, Shutterstock will compensate artists for their contributions to the development of this new AI technology.
NEW YORK, November 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Building on our commitment to empowering our users with great content and innovative tools to create their best work, Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK) today announced a long-term partnership with LG to develop AI-powered technology. AI research. By combining Shutterstock’s metadata and world-class content with LG AI Research’s R&D capabilities, companies will bring EXAONE Atelier, a creative AI toolkit, to LG’s AI image generation model., and AI-based image captioning to the global market. This is Shutterstock’s latest initiative to provide partners, customers and contributors with ethical AI technology at every stage of the creative workflow, as it continues to work with industry leaders to responsibly shape the future of generative AI.
“LG AI Research is working closely with Shutterstock as the most reliable and strategic partner to develop EXAONE, a super-giant artificial intelligence capable of creating creative illustrations and descriptions based on a unique multi-model architecture and a huge amount of images and text.” said Dr. Kyung-gun BaeHead of LG AI Research. “LG AI Research has partnered with Shutterstock to create EXAONE’s successful business cases and explore brand new opportunities based on EXAONE Atelier, which aims to inspire designers and creators with AI. We are ready to work with all businesses. Artificial Intelligence to draw inspiration from the mind and make the human-made world more creative.”
“Since its inception nearly 20 years ago, Shutterstock has been dedicated to empowering creativity and providing our users with the ingredients to create the perfect artistic experience,” he said. Paul HennessyCEO of Shutterstock. “Our collaboration with LG AI Research continues to deliver on this goal by bringing AI tools to our customers that automate the non-creative part of the process through AI image interpretation and instantly turn visions into reality through AI models. Whether you’re a CMO or a CMO, Freelance Creative Director and the AI-powered tools we’re building remove key bottlenecks in the creative process and open up more space for creativity to flow.”
Expanding our AI footprint
Shutterstock has chosen to partner with LG AI Research, a global pioneer in generative research that is equally invested in taking an ethical approach to creating artificial intelligence technology. LG AI Research’s sophisticated artificial intelligence model, which will be integrated into Shutterstock’s platform, is trained on millions of Shutterstock’s high-resolution images and metadata to turn text-based notifications into images. Contributors used to train the model will be compensated through Shutterstock’s Contributor Fund, and will be compensated when new creator content using their IP is created and licensed to clients.
AI Drawing Caption: A Game Changer for Creative Workflows
LG AI Research’s EXAONE technology can also convert images into high-quality descriptions and keywords to describe and tag content, helping customers find assets faster. This artificial intelligence annotation integration will allow users to automatically add tags and descriptions to the content they upload and store with Shutterstock, keeping it organized and making it easier for users to find the assets they need when they need them.
Collaborative Approach to Industrial Education
according to a Research by Shutterstock, two-thirds of customers and contributors are interested in learning about AI-generated content from the company. To meet this growing interest and share best practices and lessons learned with the industry, Shutterstock and LG AI Research will participate in industry presentations such as the IEEE/CVF Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. Vancouver in June 2023Co-organize an event to lead a global discussion on the development of new and ethical AI models.
Customers and contributors can expect to see such features integrated into Shutterstock’s platform in 2023.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the context of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than historical facts are forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding guidance, industry outlook, future business, future results of operations or financial condition, future dividends, completion of acquisitions, and our ability to integrate businesses we acquire or may acquire. existing operations, new or planned features, products and services, management strategies, our competitive position, and the COVID-19 pandemic. You can define forward-looking statements by words such as “may,” “will,” “will,” “will,” “will,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” and the like. “”goals”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “projects”, “seeks”, “possibility”, “possibility” and other similar expressions and negative aspects of these expressions. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. report and the risks discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed at the end of the quarter. June 30, 2022, as well as other documents that the Company may file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. As a result of such risks, uncertainties and factors, Shutterstock’s actual results could differ materially from the future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements contained herein. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Shutterstock undertakes no obligation to update the information contained in this press release or to correct forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future developments or results. except as provided by law.
Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK), is the world’s leading creative platform for transformative brands and media companies. Shutterstock’s full collection is available directly and through its subsidiaries high quality licensed photography, vectors, decoration, 3D models, videos and music. Working with over 2 million contributors and growing, Shutterstock adds hundreds of thousands of images every week and currently has over 424 million images and over 27 million video clips.
Headquartered in New York City, Shutterstock has offices worldwide and customers in more than 150 countries. The company also owns Splash News, the world’s leading entertainment news agency for editorial and media companies worldwide, Pond5, the world’s largest video content marketplaceTurboSquid, the world’s largest 3D content marketplace; PicMonkey, a the leading online graphic design and photo editing platform; Offset, a collection of superior images; Shutterstock Studio, the ultimate custom creative shop; PremiumBeat, selected royalty free music library; Shutterstock Editorial is an excellent resource editorial photos and videos in the world’s media; Amp musichunting An AI-powered music platform; and Bigstockvalue-oriented stock media proposition.
Find out more here www.shutterstock.com and follow Shutterstock Twitter etc Facebook.
ABOUT LG AI RESEARCH
Entered December 2020 As a subsidiary of South Korean conglomerate LG Group, LG AI Research aims to create an optimal research environment and lead the next era of artificial intelligence (AI) to create a promising future using the latest artificial intelligence technology.
LG AI Research has been making continuous efforts to develop EXAONE, a super giant artificial intelligence. EXAONE stands for Expert Artificial Intelligence for Everyone with LG’s various features. EXAONE differs from previous models in that it is a model with a variety of super-giant artificial intelligence capable of processing both language and visual data. Using the world’s largest training dataset, this massive data learning enabled the easy generation of bidirectional images and text.
Please visit for more information www.lgesearch.ai.
Source: Shutterstock, Inc.


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RetailTechNews’ weekly Amazon Watch brings you some of the company’s biggest moves from the past seven days, analysing how the giant is revolutionising the retail space. In this week’s edition: Instacart Fighting Amazon in the Grocery Delivery Space; Amazon Laying Off Hundreds Across Retail Division; and New AI Chip to Tighten Grip on Voice-Assistant Market.
Instacart Fighting Amazon in the Grocery Delivery Space
There’s no doubt about Amazon’s ambitions in grocery delivery, but Instacart, Amazon’s most popular competitor, isn’t giving up without a fight.
In the face of Amazon’s moves, including their testing of free two-hour delivery of Whole Foods products, Instacart has raised USD$200m (£142m). This funding values Instacart at USD$4.2bn (£3bn) (compared to Amazon’s USD$649bn/£461bn).
So, what does this mean for the future of the five-year old startup? Despite the disparity in company size, Instacart is adamant they can continue to compete by forming alliances with grocery stores that are concerned about the online shopping giant’s dominance. Given the superior scale of Amazon’s operations, and their ability to price the majority of competition out of the market, this could be a big challenge for Instacart.
Shoppers will naturally gravitate towards lower-priced products, and if grocers can lower the cost of their products by partnering with the cheaper delivery option (Amazon), then Instacart could be in trouble.
Amazon Laying Off Hundreds Across Retail Division
Amazon is cutting hundreds of employees to shift resources around the business. Most of the losses are taking place across its consumer retail operations, including areas like toys, books, and groceries. Instead, more emphasis will be put on growing areas such as Alexa and AWS.
Could this mean a potential opening for competitors across the areas Amazon is making cuts? Unlikely, as the cuts are being made in order to make the unit more profitable, rather than to cut losses, with the company seeing a massive sales rise of 38% in the last quarter.
Instead, the news is probably a sign of a shifting strategy, as Amazon looks to invest more in Alexa, with 19% of consumers making a purchase via a voice-controlled device in the 12 months from July 2016 to July 2017. If this trend continues, shoppers will be making purchases for toys, books, and groceries through voice-controlled devices, meaning these verticals will continue to be profitable for Amazon, despite the job cuts.
New AI Chip to Tighten Grip on Voice-Assistant Market
Amazon is following Apple and Google by designing custom AI chips for Alexa. These will help drive faster, more efficient responses than relying solely on the cloud.
Apple and Google, Amazon’s competitors in the smart-home market, have already developed similar technologies. With the full launch of the Apple HomePod (which already has similar technology in built) earlier this month, Amazon’s dominance of the voice-assistant market is being challenged.
It’s no wonder keeping a tight grip on this market is so important to Amazon. As shoppers continue to do their shopping through their voice-activated assistants, rather than in-store, retailers will rely on the owners of this technology to ensure they continue to have a sustainable audience base. With Google and Apple also vying for a larger share of the voice-assistant market for precisely this reason, introducing AI chips which will help Alexa outperform Google Home and Apple HomePod will help Amazon maintain market dominance.


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Local And National Cattle Producers Face Uncertainty From Coronavirus Concerns
Shoppers may have noticed higher beef prices and empty shelves at the grocery store last month. At the same time cattle producers saw a significant drop in what they were getting paid. Panic buying, allegations of price-fixing and uncertainty in the face of a global economic fallout have all been effecting the cattle industry.
NO: Over the last month, beef prices in grocery stores across the country have hit historic highs. Tell us more about what that looks like.
RC: Right, so the boxed beef cutout -- basically the price of all the meat products like sirloin steak, brisket, ground beef, etc. that you get from an individual steer -- jumped up 25 percent from March 12 to the 19th. An economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation says the last time the U.S. experienced nearly the same increase was in 2017, but it was spread out over nearly a month, not one week.
Prices are starting to come back down, but they’re still higher than normal.
NO: Did the price jump slow down grocery store shoppers?
RC: Well, no. Americans bought about 77 percent more meat in mid-March than previous years. I talked to Bill Kennedy, the meat coordinator for Town & Country Foods, which has grocery stores in Bozeman, Belgrade and Livingston.
He says T&C absorbed about two-thirds of the price increase on meat to soften the costs for customers. He says shoppers bought double the amount of ground beef and chicken breasts than they normally buy this time of year.
“We can’t keep up. You know I told my guys one day, ‘We’re just done. We can’t do anymore,’” Kennedy says.
Experts say the U.S. doesn’t have a food shortage right now. The empty shelves people have seen are the effect of shoppers buying more than they need and stores struggling to keep up. Beef production during the last week of March was actually about 14 percent higher than the same time a year ago.
NO: You’d think ranchers and feedyards would be benefiting from higher retail prices and higher demand, but prices for cattle actually dropped around 30 percent in March. What’s going on here?
RC: Yeah, I mean, a lot of people are frustrated that there seems to be this mismatch. Groups like the Montana Stockgrowers Association, Montana Farm Bureau and Montana Farmers Union, along with Montana’s Attorney General Tim Fox and Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines are urging the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Justice to investigate possible market manipulation and a breach of antitrust laws.
“In the last month, coronavirus put a microscope on the livestock cattle market, and it's broken,” says Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer.
Four multinational companies -- Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargill and National Beef Packing -- control 80 percent of all the cattle slaughtered in the U.S.
Before COVID-19, the beef packers already faced litigation and a Department of Agriculture investigation for alleged collusion, price manipulation, restrictions of competition and other unfair practices. The USDA’s investigation is still ongoing.
“Companies are subject to antitrust laws and we hope that agencies like the USDA will go to bat for Montana farmers and American farmers and ranchers and make sure that all players in these markets are playing by the rules,” says Montana Farm Bureau Federation Director of National Affairs Nicole Rolf.
Secretary of Ag Sonny Perdue said on Twitter two weeks ago that the agency is, “paying special attention to the difference in prices from the farm gate to the grocery shelf.”
NO: So it sounds like this could be intentional. Are there other possible explanations for the high beef prices and low cattle prices?
RC: Michael Nepveux, a Farm Bureau economist, thinks it has more to do with ‘cattle futures’ on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
NO: What’s a cattle future?
RC: Basically someone offers a price now for cattle that will be sent to a feed yard or packing plant later.
Nepveux says people expect a recession is going to hit a couple months down the road, which means people won’t buy as much beef because it’s considered more of a luxury. So cattle futures are lower now even though current demand and retail values are high.
“It doesn’t always work the way people think it should, and I think that’s a lot of frustration for producers sometimes because it does have a direct impact on their bottom line,” Nepveux says.
Nepveux says something else that's causing uncertainty with the beef market are isolated cases of meat packing plants shutting down for a few weeks or running below capacity because of COVID-19.
The JBS meat packing plant in Greeley, Colorado is one of the largest in the country with more than 4,000 employees. But after reports of workers testing positive for the coronavirus, hundreds of employees stayed home last week.
“How long are these packing plants going to be continued to run if they keep having workers not able to show up either because they get sick, they have kids who are forced to stay home from school, and they have no where to take them so they can’t leave their kids and go to work. It’s a lot of this going on. It’s just created this mountain of uncertainty that’s really hard for the markets to work through right now,” Nepveux says.
The U.S. beef market has seen big fluctuations in the past decade, but the impact of COVID-19 has pushed the industry onto a thrill-level-five roller coaster with no end in sight.
NO: That sounds really dire. What do Montana ranchers have to say about all of this?
RC: Wyatt Donald is part of a multi-generational, family owned cow-calf and stocker operation in Melville, north of Big Timber. Like many ranchers in Montana, the Donald family sells their weaned cattle in the fall so COVID-19 isn’t affecting his family’s operation yet, but he added:
“We anticipate it to. We obviously don’t don’t know what cattle prices will be in September. But there’s just so many crazy things going on right now.”
Donald says they can’t control a global pandemic or cattle prices so they’re trying to focus on what’s in front of them -- the upcoming calving season, the health of their rangelands, the relationships they have with vendors and other people in the supply chain, and succession planning.
“I was just talking to my brother today, and we were saying it’s nice working with livestock because it just keeps going. You know, they need to be moved or some of them need to be fed each day, and that allows us some sense of normalcy whereas a lot of other people, their worlds are turned upside down, and our hearts go out to those people,” Donald says.


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Noam Wolf has created a brand new app called MarketMan. The MarketMan app is designed to help small restaurants manage inventory and order food when needed. This new app has helped small restaurants save time, money, and has cut down on food waste. The app has streamlined processes for smaller restaurants and has brought them up to date much like their larger counterparts. Finally, the MarketMan app has teamed up with a non-profit organization that is working to combat hunger in the community. All around, the new MarketMan app brings great solutions to several problems; it is a win-win for everyone involved
- The ever-present issue of food waste is often solved by big name companies with a customized inventory solution, but such is often not viable for smaller venues.
- It’s been a dirty secret that front-of-the house operations and customer relations issues get the technological muscle and advancements, while back-of-the house issues tend to stagnate, unresolved.
- Mobile app pioneer, Noam wolf, knew there had to be a better way than manually composing orders, frequently resulting in over-ordering and wasted monies.
“By seamlessly connecting the silos between operator and vendor through streamlined software, MarketMan allows restaurant operators to reduce both food costs and inventory management time, all through an easy-to-use cloud-based platform.”


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F.W. Webb Co., a plumbing and heating distributor headquartered in Bedford, said it will open a new 50,000-square-foot wholesale supply store and retail bath showroom in Boston, its first within city limits.
The store, near Interstate 93 at 307 Dorchester Ave., should be fully operational by the end of the year, said the company, which has renovated an old warehouse with a green redesign that limits its carbon footprint. The redesign includes an array of solar panels on the roof and a geothermal unit for its heating and cooling needs.
The store will cater to both professionals and consumers, F.W. Webb said in a press release. Plans call for the wholesale supply store to open Nov. 21, and for the Frank Webb’s Bath Center to open by the end of the year.
The company operates more than 30 showrooms in New England and New York.


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With a Holidays Act 2003 review already underway, yesterday we had further evidence (if any were needed) of how complicated it is currently to calculate holiday pay.
NZ Police has already recognised it has incorrectly calculated holiday pay.
Then yesterday, as has already been widely published, Bunnings announced that it too has had issues with calculating holiday pay and that it has started making back payments to current team members who have been affected.
The payment issues affect 12,235 current and former team members, with the total amount owed amounting to $11 million plus inflation.
Past team members are being contacted, however Bunnings is encouraging anyone who thinks they may be affected to submit a claim via a form on the Bunnings NZ website.
Bunnings NZ General Manager, Toby Lawrance, says Bunnings will ensure team members are paid correctly moving forward until a permanent solution can be implemented.
“Like many other private and government organisations, we have found interpreting and applying the Holiday Act to be a challenge.
"Clearly this is disappointing for us and for our team and we will continue to work to ensure that we have the right systems and processes to support our team”, he says.
In terms of the official review that's underway, Toby Lawrance adds: "I think the formulation of a working party is a great initial step in trying to make something ‘complicated, uncomplicated’.
"At the end of the day, anything that ensures our team are getting what’s best is a positive."
The official review, by the way, will not address the issue of remediation of historical underpayments of holiday and leave pay and any new regime as a result of the review is "likely to be two to three years away".
In the meantime, the Labour Inspectorate offers this helpful advice about non-compliance on its website.


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Kenyan supermarket chain Uchumi is seeking investors for expansion and plans to be listed soon on the Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda stock exchanges, according to a report in VenturesAfrica.
The company has applied to authorities in theses countries to trade stocks there, the report said. Listing in the three exchanges in East Africa could give the company exposure to its 13o-million-population.
Jonathan Ciano, the CEO of Uchumi Supermarkets, confirmed that the retailer had applied to the Uganda Securities Exchange, Rwanda Stock Exchange and Dar-es-Salaam Stock Exchange.
Rwanda runs an over-the-counter market. Stocks trade via a dealer network as opposed to a centralized exchange. Debt securities and other financial instruments such as derivatives are traded through the dealer network.
“We have applied in Kampala, Dar es Salaam and Kigali for the cross-listing. This is something we are now implementing. So we are awaiting approvals,” Ciano said.
In recent years, the chain has been in expansion mode in the region and at home after recovering from slow growth seven years ago.
It hopes to launch a new network of stores in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and to set up shop in South Sudan and Rwanda.


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Punters keep grip as missiles strike
SOME brave investors poked their head above the parapet towards the close when they saw Wall Street respond positively to the long-awaited retaliatory assault on Afghanistan.
Marked down 107 points at the outset, the Dow Jones rallied to trade higher just before the London close. Its resilience inspired the Footsie, which clawed back an opening 133.3-point deficit to trade 15 higher at best. It closed only 3.3 points off at 5032.7 on modest turnover of 1.6bn.
The gutsy performance was even more impressive when you consider that the attack on the Taliban coincided with the shock collapse of former Footsie company Railtrack.
Nevertheless, fund managers remain extremely cautious. There is still huge uncertainty over corporate profits, while any retaliation for the military strikes could worsen the global slowdown.
Already facing hefty claims following the World Trade Centre carnage, insurers came under pressure amid fears that Osama Bin Laden's fanatics will launch reprisal attacks against the UK.
Britain's biggest insurer, CGNU, which took a £35m hit on 11 September, fell 54p before closing 27p cheaper at 871p. Royal Sun Alliance (hit for £150m) eased only 4p to 356p.
The Lloyd's market faces a £3bn tab. The sector has been heavily sold, but edged higher on the perception that it is now oversold.
SVB, which still has shareholders' funds after US losses of 75p a share, jumped 3 3/4p to 26 3/4p. Directors were recent buyers at 37p and a large seller has been cleared. Dealers believe it looks a good two-way play on recovery or a management buyout.
Reflecting their substantial exposure to not only the struggling telecoms and airline industries, but also Railtrack, banks were friendless. Barclays fell 25p to 1940p, HBOS 19p to 751p, HSBC 9p to 738p and Royal Bank of Scotland 45p to 1545p.
Still reeling from the decision to axe the dividend, British Airways was sold down to a new low of 138 1/2p before regaining altitude to end 7p better at 162p. Capital Group has 99.5m shares, or 9.2%.
Hoping to squeeze some cash out of 37% shareholder National Grid (2p better at 440p), telecoms carrier Energis buzzed a further 9 3/4p higher to 64p.
Computer games company Eidos gained 8 1/2p to 197p on a Merrill Lynch recommendation. It says dependence on Tomb Raider is lessening (under 20% of likely 2002 sales). The games market should grow 20% in 2002 and 2003.
Mail order giant GUS lost 25 1/2p to 531 1/2p after SG Securities downgraded ahead of the first-half trading statement on Thursday. Analyst Nick Bubb shaved his 2002-3 pretax profit forecast £13m to £572m and his target price from 685p to 541p.
Menswear retailer Moss Bros eased 1 1/2p to 29 1/2p, but looks ripe for a rally. A sale of 350,000 shares at 26p cleared a big seller who has been dragging the price down. The business is on a sound footing and buyers are sniffing around.
Shami Ahmed, millionaire founder of the Joe Bloggs clothing empire, earlier this year bought a 3%-plus stake via his Aim-listed Legendary Investments, unchanged at 1 3/4p. He last paid 39p for stock and could decide to buy more to put pressure on the management, which recently announced first-half losses of £3.9m.
Hard on the heels of last week's heavy buying of Manchester United by Irish investors JP McManus and John Magnier, who lifted their stake to 8.6%, directors of the current Premier League champions dipped their toes into the market.
Chief executive Peter Kenyon bought 17,511 at 121 3/4p and managing director David Gill 18,970 at 121 3/4p. ManU touched 125p and closed 1p easier at 120p.
Confirmation of a bid approach hit the right note at musical instrument maker Boosey & Hawkes. It jumped 50p to 153 1/2p amid talk of an offer soon from private equity firm Graphite Capital.
• RETAIL Decisions, the credit card fraud prevention specialist, looks oversold at 13p, down 11 /4p. New contracts have been won. Video giant Blockbuster has opened unattended vending machines, where members may choose videos and pay by credit or debit card, 24 hours a day. RD's card fraud screening services will eliminate bad customers. Supermarket group Safeway has signed RD up for a further two years.
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Are grains helpful or harmful to our health and waistlines? Let's take a closer look at the role grains, and especially gluten, play in weight loss
Are grains a nutritional enemy? According to one increasingly popular line of thinking, grain-based foods trigger undesirable blood sugar fluctuations
OkCupid, a top U.S. matchmaking website, intentionally mismatched users to test its technology, the IAC/InterActive Corp service said on Monday
The phone offers new ways to navigate, discover and, of course, shop — all enabled by new features from the world’s largest online retailer
Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi 4 smartphone at a glitzy event in Beijing, where the Chinese budget handset maker’s chief executive sought to challenge larger U.S. rival Apple Inc.


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Concerns about alternatives to petro-based single-use plastics dominated much of the discussion, as the conversation surrounding the ban continued during the town hall meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre last night.
And, after hearing that there were concerns that the chemicals contained in some of the alternatives could be a danger to human health, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy, Kirk Humphrey, has called for there to be continued dialogue with stakeholders.
He was at the time responding to concerns raised by President of the Barbados Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs Association (BARVEN), Allister Alexander, and Sales Manager of VF Packaging in Trinidad and Tobago, Barry Fakorry.
“We don’t have all the answers, no one in the room does. The international opinion is divided,” he said.
However, the minister pointed out that fluorine was not only introduced to alternative products, because food containers from fast food restaurants were “loaded” with fluorine. “It has been here, and it has been here for years,” he said.
He extended an invitation to Mr. Fakorry to return to Barbados at a later date to engage in a further conversation with ministry officials to explore the matter further.
“Come back and let us sit down and have a conversation because you made points that I did not know. Let us see what we can do to make it safer here in Barbados. I don’t want you to think that we are going to dismiss you because you made some interesting points,” Mr. Humphrey said.
During the meeting, Mr. Alexander, commended government’s initiative to remove plastics from the environment, but pointed out that the association had some concerns surrounding chemicals in some of the alternative products.
“It was drawn to my attention by a guy from Trinidad that we may be importing to the Caribbean alternatives that may be hazardous to our health. This gentleman is here with us, and he flew in from Trinidad…at the invitation of the association,” he said.
He noted that BARVEN wanted the process of shifting to alternative products to be one that is “sensible, suitable and safe”.
Mr. Fakorry told the audience that his research showed that bagasse contained a number of toxic chemicals from a fluorine-based compound. “It is a very troublesome chemical, and the fear is that bagasse is unsuitable for food packaging,” he said.
His recommendation was for a change in habits. “It is not about bio-degradability; it is about recyclability. If you recycle plastic products, you turn your product back into a resource,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Industrial Designer, Mark Hill, pointed out that of the eight categories of alternatives put forward, there was only one category containing fluorine.
He also maintained that government was being responsible in its undertaking in managing the process.


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Universal Music Group Names Tuhin Roy VP of New Digital Business
Universal Music Group announced today (June 8) that Tuhin Roy has been appointed to the newly created position of vice president of new digital business. Roy will work with start-ups towards developing strategic digital business partnerships and effective immediately will report to Michael Nash, evp of digital strategy out of UMG's Santa Monica offices.
Roy has 20 years of experience as a founder, board member, legal counsel and advisor helping companies grow their businesses both organically and through M&As. In 2003 he founded the Digital Rights Agency, a digital music and TV content aggregation company that merged with the Orchard (now part of Sony Music). In addition, Roy has served as an adviser to SXSW On, 8tracks and MediaLink and recently co-founded Fanzy, a digital platform that works with brands, music artists and social media platforms.
Roy previously served as general counsel of Echo Networks where he was responsible for music industry relations an practiced corporate and intellectual property law at Perkins Coie LLP in Menlo Park, Calif., where he represented technology companies in licensing and corporate finance matters. Before practicing law, Roy was a songwriter and producer.
“Tuhin brings an entrepreneurial orientation and an incredible wealth of experience to this role," Nash said in a statement. "I’m confident his deep knowledge of the start-up environment and investment community dynamics will magnify UMG’s efforts to cultivate the digital ecosystem, promote innovation and establish new revenue streams.”
“Universal Music’s amazing track record of empowering entrepreneurs and embracing digital innovation, from early-stage start-ups to industry-leading companies, has enabled the music industry’s return to growth,” Roy stated. “I’m thrilled to join Michael Nash’s incredible team and I’m looking forward to advancing UMG’s mission of working with entrepreneurs to develop exciting new digital services for music fans and artists around the world.”


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As many of us have discovered over the last month or so, the British countryside abounds with gorgeous scenery, honey-hued villages and beaches that could be mistaken for the sandy shores of more exotic climes.
In fact, there isn't much we don't love about a UK staycation, aside from the fact they mean playing constant Russian roulette with the weather. This is particularly a concern as we come to the end of the summer. Where's best to book for some autumn sunshine?
Luckily, Pound Toy has done the hard work for us, delving into a plethora of UK hotspots – and crunching the temperatures – to determine which ones came out on top weather-wise.
So, if you don't fancy trudging around in wellies and a raincoat, then you'll want to start looking for hotels or holiday cottages in the Isle of Wight.
The island, just off the coast of Portsmouth, was found to have the highest summer temperatures on average — something that will likely carry on through to the colder months too.
Carmarthenshire and Norfolk (a family staycation hotspot and home to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) also came up trumps, recording higher-than-average temperatures for the UK this year.
So, while we can't promise swimwear and sunglasses-weather through until December, we do know that a holiday here is probably a safe bet if you're a family of sun-seekers!
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Bhubaneswar: Hockey India on Sunday announced that the physical sale of tickets at the Box Office at Kalinga Stadium and at various outlets in Bhubaneswar for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup will commence from today onwards.
With less than a month to go for the prestigious tournament, organizers have decided to open the sale of tickets at various outlets, making it easier for the local public to book their spots to witness world-class hockey players vie to win the biggest hockey competition, which is to be held from 28th November 2018 – 16th December 2018.
The physical sale of tickets at the Box Office at Gate No. 9 and all the various outlets will only be available from 10.00hrs – 17.00hrs IST everyday.
General tickets for the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 are reasonably priced at Rs 200 (East Stand), Rs 100 (North Stand) and Rs 100 (South Stand) for the Pool and Crossover matches while tickets for the Knockout, Semi-Finals and Final matches are priced at Rs 250 (East Stand), Rs 150 (North Stand and Rs 150 (South Stand).


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With a new menu, design, and direction, the fast casual is poised for a breakout year.
This past year has been one to remember for the fast-food giant.
Sales are still rebounding after a tough third quarter.
A judge is forcing the coffee giant to keep 77 mall locations open.
Here are the restaurant concepts, menu items, and styles you need to watch for.
Mixed reaction to its highly anticipated launch of queso led the brand to revamp the recipe.
McDonald's is returning to value with the bold menu, which includes a new chicken sandwich.
The Yum! Brands chain is beginning the test in Phoenix, with plans to roll out to new markets in 2018.
The legendary burger chain is ready to enter its seventh state.
The quick-service chain is turning to value-based deals, digital innovations, to turn around sagging sales.
Like the seafood segment in general, Captain D's was struggling. But a new design, menu, and commitment to quality turned the brand around in a major way.
The fast casual chain begins its search for a new CEO as Ells turns his focus to restaurant innovation.
The notion is a straightforward one: Our burgers are so good our competitors eat them.
Backed by Roark Capital, fast-food giant Arby's is adding 1,200-unit Buffalo Wild Wings, one of the nation's top casual dining chains, to its company.
The outspoken, political-minded leader of Panera doesn't plan to disappear.
is reporting that private-equit
One of Dunkin’ Brands leaders, president of international Bill Mitchell, is resigning from the company, according to an SEC filing. The move will be effective March 16.
North America’s second-largest sushi brand, Bento Sushi, with more than 600 locations, is being acquired by United Kingdom-based Yo! Sushi for $78 million.
The 19-unit fast casual has a new look, name, and direction as it preps for national expansion.
Last fall, when Noodles & Company embarked on its “comprehensive strategy” to reenergize the brand, the company recognized the immense challenges ahead.
Fast casual Mendocino Farms, a Southern California-based brand with 16 locations, has sold a majority stake to TPG Growth, the middle market and growth equity platform of alternative asset firm TPG
Like many fast casual brands across the country, Zoës Kitchen is discovering that success can’t be measured by unit counts.
Chipotle quickly denied a claim from “Supergirl” actor Jeremy Jordan, but it did little to quell stock market unrest. At least not right away.
Wendy’s delivery tests encouraged the brand to open the floodgates.
The Mexican chain is bringing its concept front-and-center with its Tour de Burrito.
Panera Bread is the buyer this time around, announcing Wednesday it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Au Bon Pain Holding Co., Inc.
As with any strategic renewal plan, patience is perhaps the most valuable commodity.
Co-owner Ryan Chadwick believes Goa Taco has the chops to become a fast casual staple across the country.
Chipotle’s shareholders have traveled a wild course in recent months. Now, they’re trying to revive a lawsuit that alleges the fast casual chain knew about E.


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Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice VR will soon be available on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on Windows PC, developer Ninja Theory has confirmed.
Those who own the game on PC via Steam will be able to grab the VR update for free, Ninja Theory has also confirmed.
The VR Edition of the game has different specs than the original game — potential players will need at least an Nvidia GTX 1080 or AMD Radeon RX 580 GPU to run the VR version of the game at 90 frames per second.
Because of those high requirements, it’s unlikely that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice will ever offer VR on PS4.
“The VR Edition has been created for very high-end PC VR set ups,” Ninja Theory confirmed on Twitter.
To answer the question: Hellblade VR won't be coming to PSVR, purely because the VR Edition has been created for very high-end PC VR set ups. You can see more on this in our dev diary:https://t.co/s2uQp4eNbo
— NinjaTheory (@NinjaTheory) July 25, 2018
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice VR heads to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on 31 July. The standard version is available on Windows PC, Xbox One and PS4. We gave the standard version our Indie GOTY award in 2017.


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Duravit introduced a new designer to its brand, two complete bathroom collections as well as, reportedly, a world first in flushing to “upgrade everyday life” at its Design Days digital event.
CEO of Duravit Stephan Tahy said he believed the interplay of design, excellence, responsibility and wellbeing help upgrade the bathroom.
Tahy commented at the Design Days event: “We have one common goal to understand the bathroom as an intimate living place, to upgrade your everyday life.
“The means may change in the coming years, but our mission remains constant – Duravit bathrooms upgrade your everyday life.”
To help achieve its goal, Stephan Tahy said the company would be offering a lifetime warranty on its products in Germany and would roll this out into other markets.
Duravit also announced its first collaboration with Belgium designer Bertrand Lejoy on the D.Neo collection, as well as Philippe Starck on the White Tulip series.
Bertrand Lejoy explained Duravit had set a “challenging” brief, stating: “The collection had to be timeless. It had to be universal. It had to be non-polarising, smart and clever.
“It’s the most difficult briefing you could have. It’s the most challenging because creating a timeless piece is almost creating a masterpiece.”
He explained the collection had to make the bathroom warm and welcoming, such as in the evening, as well as create a refreshing environment for the morning: “You have to create these two atmospheres in the bathroom and this was something we wanted to achieve with D.Neo”
To showcase highlight individual products and showcase the design versatility of the collection, Duravit featured four design ‘worlds’ – Pop, Boho, Monochrome and Minimal.
These were demonstrated around the globe with presentations from Duravit employees in Shanghai, South Africa, Egypt and Belgium.
The international reach was further illustrated with Duravit colleagues including UK MD Martin Carroll highlighting design features of the latest White Tulip by Starck series.
Based on the shape of a tulip, Philippe Starck said his previous collection were “extremely purist” and added “this perfection was perhaps missing a parameter – a positive nostalgia.”
Completing the presentations, employees in America and Germany showcased Hygiene Flush, which featured two rim openings to enhance the cleanliness of the bowl.
It announced all Hygiene Flush WCs will come with Hygiene Ceramic as standard, an antibacterial glaze which claims more than 99.9% of bacteria growth is inhibited within 24 hours.


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Apple Inc has been reportedly thinking of new ways to re-evaluate the upcoming iPhone 15 lineup. As per the sources, the tech giant is a thing of ways to treat the pro and non-pro models for the upcoming smartphone in 2023. ALSO READ:
Apple suppliers to invest Rs 2,800 cr in UP as iPhone maker to move more manufacturing to India
The tech giant has been reported to be worried about the sales performance of the iPhone 14 Plus, which is the non-Pro variant of the iPhone 14 lineup and features a display size of 6.7 inches. As a result, it is thinking of a number of ways to re-strategise its iPhone lineup for next year, reports MacRumors. ALSO READ: Apple iPhone 14 Pro lead times slowly returning to normal in China
There are two expected strategies which the iPhone maker might be considering.
ALSO READ: iPhone 16 to be made in India, Apple and 3 allied companies apply for land
First to differentiate the pro and non-pro iPhones models, which was previously rumoured by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Secondly, the company might reduce the price of the Plus model of the lineup, which starts at $899. A price reduction of the Plus model is likely to reduce the price of the standard iPhone too, which starts at $799.
Meanwhile, last month, it was reported that the tech giant's upcoming smartphone iPhone 15 is likely to feature a titanium chassis with curved rear edges, which will replace the existing squared-off design. The back edges of the iPhone 15 are expected to be rounded to create a new border, similar to the bottom edges on the cases of Apple's 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
Inputs from IANS


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YachtWorld.com announced that its new inventory management system, BoatWizard 2, will be featured at the upcoming Yacht Brokerage Universities in Annapolis, Md., and Providence, R.I.
"While the featured presentation on BoatWizard 2 is a powerful incentive to attend, YachtWorld.com will also focus on how new marketing and social media trends will affect brokers," brand manager John Stewart said in a statement. "In addition, YABA has excellent and informative presentations on 'Broker Transactions - Avoiding Pitfalls' as well as 'Legal Matters for Yacht Brokers.' "
The Yacht Brokerage Universities, hosted by YachtWorld.com and the Yacht Brokers Association of America, will be held Tuesday at the Doubletree Hotel in Annapolis and Thursday at the Marriott Hotel in Providence.
YachtWorld.com and Soundings Trade Only are divisions of Dominion Enterprises.


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Avocado marketer and distributor Calavo Growers Inc. in Santa Paula said in government filings Thursday that it plans to offer for sale up to $200 million in common stock and warrants to buy the shares.
Purchase terms, including types of stock and prices, will be submitted in future filings, the company said.
Calavo said in the regulatory filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it can issue 100 million shares of common stock. The company said 14,787,433 shares of its common stock were outstanding as of Jan. 31.
Calavo also said that at this time, it plans to use the raised capital to reduce debt, buy other businesses, buy back its common stock, make capital purchases and as working capital, unless it states otherwise in subsequent documents.
In its first-quarter 2012 earnings, Calavo reported net income was $2.7 million compared to $2.3 million the same period a year ago. Earnings per share were 18 cents compared to 16 cents a year ago.
Sales primarily from Renaissance Food Group, which Calavo bought in June, boosted net sales 28.6 percent, or $26 million, for the quarter compared to last year's first quarter, the company said. Share prices closed Thursday at $26.65, up 37 cents.
The distributor buys avocados primarily from California, Mexico and Chile. It sells the avocados and other fruit and prepared foods to international food distributors, wholesalers, supermarkets, convenience stores and restaurants.
Need Help? Call us at 1-877-710-6182.
Monday-Friday: 6am-3pm / Saturday: 6:30am-10:30am / Sunday: 7am-11am


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Milwaukee-based Rockwell Automation Inc. will invest $1 billion in Massachusetts-based PTC Inc. as part of a strategic partnership to combine PTC’s Internet of Things and augmented reality offerings with Rockwell’s analytics and industrial automation platforms.
“The result will be an unmatched integrated information solution that will enable customers to achieve increased productivity, heightened plant efficiency, reduced operational risk and better system interoperability,” a joint press release from the two companies said.
The deal will give Rockwell an 8.4 percent ownership stake in PTC after it acquires nearly 10.6 million newly issued shares at $94.50 per share and PTC completes a share repurchase. The deal is expected to close within 60 days.
Blake Moret, chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwell, will also join the PTC board of directors.
The deal also includes a standstill provision that prevents Rockwell from acquiring more than 9 percent of PTC’s stock, proposing any merger with PTC or pushing for certain shareholder votes.
In addition to the equity investment, Rockwell and PTC agreed to a strategic alliance that calls for both companies to have the right to distribute some of the other party’s products on an OEM basis and resell those same products on a standalone basis.
Rockwell is also committing to sell an undisclosed minimum amount of PTC’s products during the term of the strategic alliance, which initially runs through Sept. 30, 2021.
Moret, speaking onstage today with PTC CEO Jim Heppelmann at Rockwell’s TechEd event in San Diego, said customers have asked the two companies to work together in the past.
“It’s a natural alignment for our companies to get together in this way,” Moret said.
PTC reported $1.16 billion in revenue in fiscal 2017 and sales were up 8.5 percent in the first half of fiscal 2018. The company has more than 6,000 employees worldwide, including nearly 2,200 in the U.S.
At the San Diego event, Heppelmann jokingly asked Moret if his presence on the PTC board means he should start calling him “boss.”
“Not yet,” Moret responded.


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Video piracy is rife one admits
May 30, 2012 8:45 pm
Video piracy is rife in the country, a booming industry which continues to evade the law.
On Tuesday FBC News exposed one shop in Nadi and yesterday other operators were confronted.
One openly admitted, he was selling copies of the Fiji FACT.
At least three DVD outlets in Ba are selling FBC TV footage of the Fiji FACT and this was confirmed after a week of research.
Last Wednesday a complaint was lodged with Ba Police but they can’t raid the shops.
FBC News was told that this was a directive from headquarters and there has to be proof of exclusive rights before police can act.


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ROANOKE, Va. – This is the final weekend for Williamson Road Restaurant week as more than 20 businesses in the area are featuring specials.
It's a chance to try out a new dish at your favorite restaurant or visit one you have never tried before.
In years past, Williamson Road Restaurant week has been offered twice a year, but this year the Williamson Road Area Business Association says it will only happen once.
It's a time of year when many people would rather stay home than venture out in the cold, but the chance to check out some of these specials has people braving the weather.
"People are starting to come out and experience things again, setting their patterns for the next season," says Wendy Jones, the executive director of the WRABA. "They're coming out, experiencing these restaurants and having a good time, that's why we do this in March."
For more information on restaurant week and a look at the specials, click here.


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Greetings from Taipei! This is Lauly Li, covering the tech industry's supply chains, from chips to smartphones to EVs. This week in Asia, all eyes were on U.S. President Joe Biden's first trip to the region since taking office in early 2021. His itinerary, however, did not include China, the world's second-largest economy.
Apple's Shanghai headache and a battle for batteries
The inside story on the Asia tech trends that matter, from Nikkei Asia and the Financial Times


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At 115. birthday Harley Davidson handled 150,000 visitors.
When Harley Davidson celebrated its 115th anniversary in 2018. birthday, over 60,000 motorcycles and 150,000 visitors gathered at the Prague Exhibition Centre. Clearing all the tickets for such a mass of bikers
was a huge challenge for the organisers, which was helped by the Samsung Knox mobile apps and mobile device management technology implemented by System4u.
The event was preceded by 2 years of preparation
The main organizers Jaroslav Vavřina, Michal Šesták and Martin Cieslar had a lot of experience with events for motorcyclists, as they have been organizing the annual Prague Harley Days since 2013. However, this event did not match what they expected at 115. the brand’s birthday, there was no comparison.
“At Prague Harley Days we managed to check in visitors manually – the bikers took out a paper ticket, we checked it and let them into the area. But we knew that many times more people would come to the anniversary celebrations where a similar approach could not work.”
“It can take a few minutes before a biker parks, turns off the engine, finds a paper ticket in his leather jacket, says hello to his friends at the gate, starts the engine and drives into the area. We calculated that there would be such a queue of people and motorbikes at the gates of the exhibition centre that we would probably block traffic in Prague.”
Therefore, the organizers had already been touring similar events abroad for 2 years before the anniversary, looking for inspiration. Nakonec se rozhodli, že odbavování vstupenek vyřeší pomocí mobilní technologie.
The solution was a QR code on the tickets
“We wanted visitors to not have to get off the bike at the gate at all. They just had to get a visitor’s wristband to quickly legitimize themselves and move on. That’s why we decided to put a QR code on the tickets, which the operator will read with a mobile phone, immediately put a wristband on the biker for visitors and let him into the area.”
Harley Davidson’s target audience is men aged 50 and over, so Cieslar and Šesták anticipated that party-goers would need to be prepared for this technological change in advance. Therefore, with plenty of time to spare, they launched an e-shop with tickets, wrote an informative ten for visitors and sent a series of emails explaining how the electronic check-in would work.
“It was clear to us that not all bikers have a smartphone to just show the ticket on the display. We were counting on someone showing a phone and someone else showing a printed ticket. In both cases, however, the QR code check-in was supposed to be faster than manually checking each ticket.”
Two apps and phones from Samsung
To give motorcyclists the greatest incentive to come to the event with an electronic ticket on their smartphone, Harley Davidson developed a mobile app in collaboration with Juicymo that visitors could download for free. In this app, they could upload their ticket, find the event programme, a map of the venue or tips for motorcycle tours in the area. At the same time, a second mobile app was created to help the organisers verify the QR code on the tickets.
It was also necessary to equip the organizers with mobile phones. Samsung has taken it upon itself to loan Harley Davidson 100 smartphones. Their management was then handled by System4u – the only certified partner of Samsung Knox, a system for mass management of mobile phones, in the Czech Republic.
“By using Samsung Knox, we didn’t even have to see the phones. Samsung just sent us the IMEI codes of the devices and we set them up remotely. After turning the phone on, the organizers were shown the Harley Davidson logo with the 115th anniversary written on it. We set up a motorcycle-themed wallpaper for them, as well as a mobile app for check-in that we updated remotely on a regular basis. So the organizers just turned on their phones and were all set.” Petra Holubcová, marketing manager of System4u
Convenient management of all phones
The Samsung Knox mobile phone management system also came in handy for Cieslar and Šesták. The two organizers could see in a simple console exactly where each organizer was standing or how busy they were, so they could position their people appropriately to avoid queues.
“We brought a power bank for the busiest organisers so that their phones don’t run out. We could stand in one place and keep track of all our people all over the area. 60 organizers were directly at the exhibition grounds, we had others at OMV petrol stations and a few more at the airport. We managed to coordinate the people so that there were no queues anywhere, and at the moments of the biggest rush the motorcyclists waited for a few minutes at most.”
In addition, just before the official start of the event, System4u demonstrated its responsiveness in customer support.
“On Friday night we discovered that the ticketing app had disappeared from some of our phones and damaged the hardware of the devices – the security protection chips for the Samsung Knox system were damaged. Luckily we had spare phones and the guys from System4 worked on it at night, so everything was working again on Saturday morning.”


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Groupe PSA’s 2019 sales fell 6.6 percent at 3,488,930 units (2018: 3,733,692 unit). The sales have been in the red globally across regions. Though 2019 was more of a consolidation year for the global automaker, it managed to maintain its market share in Europe at 16.8 percent. China and Middle East market saw maximum slippages globally.
However, the Group's working towards its objectives to meet, from day one, the requirements of European 2020 standards for carbon di-oxide emissions. It is targetting a 100 percent electrified offering by 2025 and the company says that it has achieved the first milestone by launching 10 new rechargeable or all-electric hybrid models. It aims to make 50 percent of its launches electrified by the end of 2021, with 13 complementary models.
Since 2019, all the new models launched by the Group have been offered in a rechargeable hybrid or fully electric version. Carlos Tavares, Chairman of the Groupe PSA Managing Board said, “In all regions, our teams are driven by a strong commitment to performance, profitable sales and customer satisfaction in a highly changing environment. This commitment is supported by our Group’s core model and core technology strategies and, in the long term, feeds our ambition to provide clean, safe and affordable solutions for people and goods, to counter the global warming effect.”
2020 will be the first year of Groupe PSA’s NEV offensive in China, with five NEV models to be launched and sold in China. Meanwhile its recurring success in Japan continued with sales up 20%. Groupe PSA started the production of transmissions in India (Hosur plant), with its partner AVTEC Ltd (a CK Birla Group company) and is on track to launch the C5 Aircross SUV in India in 2020, to be followed in 2021 by new and disruptive Citroën models designed locally.


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Like it or not, the bear market is upon us. Still, the NFT community has continued to weather one of the worst crypto winters we’ve seen since 2017. In response, various community members have taken to building all sorts of zany projects to lighten the collective mood. Whether it’s goblins or people threatening to ‘do it,’ the prevailing school of thought seems to be that now more than ever, the community must continue to build.
Long-time internet entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk would have to agree. When we visited VeeCon last May, we got the chance to speak with various members of the VeeCon team, such as VaynerNFT president Avery Akkineni, and of course, Gary Vee himself on what the future holds for the NFT community.
Despite touting his growing VeeFriends empire as a crucial step in “building the most important intellectual property in the history of mankind,” Vaynerchuk’s vision for NFTs as a whole is a lot more modest. “I think the next big thing is actually boring,” he said. Clarifying this point, Vaynerchuk explained, “The next big thing is 24, 26 months of good, solid, mundane technology building to eliminate [the] friction [that makes this technology] impossibly challenging for the masses.”
Ultimately, Vaynerchuk stated that “VeeCon and VeeFriends’ ambition from day one was to educate through execution.” In the eyes of Akkineni, bigger brands and enterprises would have the most to benefit from the web3 education and onboarding Vaynerchuk and co have been providing.
“I think enterprises should think about NFTs as a way to connect with their consumers in a new fashion. […] Thinking about NFTs is a long-term thing. Thinking about Web3 — they need to be strategic about their moves because this isn’t something that’s going away,” Akkineni said.
Moving forward, Akkineni believes the space is going to become even more community-oriented. “People are about to see a huge wave of builders that are doing things that are de-commercialized,” she said. “Now is an incredible time for people who are committed to this space to do free mints, do low-cost NFTs that allow the community to see really cool things being built without these hyper-inflated prices.”


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Serial entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou raises lower-than-hoped £30m for assault on Europe by his 'super budget' hotel group
Serial entrepreneur Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has raised a lower-than-hoped £30m for an assault on Europe by his ‘super budget’ hotel group.
EasyHotel placed new shares worth £30m, having earlier set itself a target of up to £60m, amid investor weariness in the face of a flood of stock market listings this year.
It will use the money to open easyHotels in European capitals, taking on budget hotel chains such as Premier Inn and Travelodge with an offering it says will be even cheaper.
Serial entrepreneur: Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has raised a lower-than-hoped £30m for an assault on Europe by his 'super budget' hotel group
Stelio’s easyGroup has invested £7.8m in the float on junior market AIM, converting a £4.8m loan into equity and pouring in another £3.1m.
The investment will give easyGroup a near 56 per cent stake, but its voting power on company resolutions will be limited to 49 per cent.
Stelios said taking the company public would allow him to focus on ‘other business and philanthropic activities’ but that he hopes to remain ‘a significant and supportive shareholder for a very long time’.
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With Some Progress in 2017, Where Does TCCWNA Head in 2018?
- State and federal courts in New Jersey continue to review carefully how far the Truth-in-Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA) should be extrapolated in order to sustain claims with no adverse impact or affect.
- The New Jersey Supreme Court is now evaluating several critical TCCWNA legal issues which will likely impact these claims materially going forward.
- Retailers must continue to analyze consumer communications (notices, warranties, contracts, terms and conditions, and the like), including their entire website content, to ensure that they are compliant with existing TCCWNA law.
In recent years, the New Jersey Truth-in-Consumer Contract Warranty and Notice Act (TCCWNA), N.J.S.A. 56:12-14 et seq., has been employed by plaintiffs in putative class actions to avoid the ascertainable loss and causation requirements attached to the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act in order to recover significant windfall claims from local, regional, and national retailers in matters where the consumer has not been damaged much less adversely impacted or affected. Retailers, however, have fought back. The state and federal courts in New Jersey continue to review carefully how far TCCWNA should be extrapolated in order to sustain claims with no adverse impact or affect. And, the New Jersey Supreme Court is now evaluating several critical TCCWNA legal issues which will likely impact these claims materially going forward.
Favorable Trends Limiting the Scope of TCCWNA Continued to Emerge in 2016 and 2017
By late 2015, New Jersey federal courts had commenced a more critical review of TCCWNA claims whereby consumers were required to plead more in order to sustain a claim. State courts, however, remained less critical of plaintiff's allegations in the TCCWNA context. In 2016 and 2017, federal courts continued their aggressive review of TCCWNA claims such that more and more TCCWNA claims, where no adverse impact was sustained by the consumer, were dismissed. And, an emerging trend occurred in state courts, which equally reviewed TCCWNA claims with a far more critical eye resulting in more dismissals at the state level.
In January 2016, the New Jersey Superior Court, Law Division, continued a trend of limiting the scope of TCCWNA when consumers failed to establish evidence of deception. In early January, the Court stated that the purpose of TCCWNA is to prevent deceptive practices in consumer contracts by prohibiting the use of illegal terms or warranties.1 The Court held that provisions containing flexible language such as "unless prohibited by law" do not deceive or create confusion as to the rights and responsibilities of the consumer.2 In late January, the Court further clarified that consumers must set forth some proof that the provisions of a consumer contract may mislead the consumer.3 The Court found that the key to determining whether TCCWNA applies is the presence of deception or the lack thereof. The Court held that "facts demonstrating potential for the consumer to be misled or deceived must be in place for the TCCWNA to be relevant."
In March 2016, the Law Division further limited the scope of TCCWNA by requiring a consumer to demonstrate that contractual provisions at issue violated a clearly established right.4 The Court held that the existence of limiting phrases such as "where permitted by law" or "unless prohibited by law" do not constitute proof of intent to deceive the consumer or obscure the consumer's rights, responsibilities or remedies, which is necessary to sustain a TCCWNA claim.
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, consistent with earlier opinions from the Court, continued to limit the scope of TCCWNA by requiring that a plaintiff be an "aggrieved" consumer in order to sustain a claim.5 The Court dismissed a TCCWNA claim because the consumer failed to allege that he utilized the vendor's services at issue, and thus, he was not considered an aggrieved consumer under TCCWNA.
New Jersey Supreme Court Provides Limits on TCCWNA's Reach in Dugan v. TGI Friday's, Inc.7
In October 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court handed down a decision which further confirmed two requirements for consumers seeking relief under TCCWNA. In Dugan, the consumers brought class action claims to recover damages under TCCWNA for alleged unlawful practices related to the disclosure of prices for beverages. Specifically, the consumers alleged that the defendant restaurants offered menus that failed to list the price of the beverages and that the defendant restaurants charged the consumers different prices for the same type, volume and brand of beverage. The Court, in denying class certification, held that a consumer seeking a remedy under TCCWNA must be an "aggrieved consumer" and the defendant must violate a "clearly established legal right."
The Court held that the "aggrieved consumer" requirement mandated that the consumer receive the menus in question. This is significant because it further enforced the requirement that a defendant must provide the consumer with a writing before TCCWNA can apply. Consumers could not point merely to the existence of an allegedly violative writing. Instead, the consumer must affirmatively set forth facts establishing that the defendant presented the writing to the consumer seeking relief to satisfy the "aggrieved consumer" requirement.
The Court also took a hard look at whether the defendant restaurants violated a "clearly established legal right" and concluded that no New Jersey law that prohibited restaurants from offering food or beverages without listing the prices of such items in their menus. The Court's holding is significant because it plainly limits the reach of TCCWNA to consumer rights and vendor responsibilities that have been clearly established, either by prior case law or enforcement actions taken by the Attorney General.
In recognition of the grossly unfair impacts TCCWNA claims could pose for retailers, the New Jersey Supreme Court stated that "[n]othing in the legislative history of the TCCWNA, which focuses on sellers' inclusion of legally invalid or unenforceable provisions in consumer contracts, suggests that when the Legislature enacted the statute, it intended to impose billion-dollar penalties..." This comment and the Dugan decision in general strengthens a retailer's ability to defend against claims where no adverse impact is felt.
Critical New Jersey Supreme Court Ruling on TCCWNA Is Pending
In February 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissed two separate purported class actions involving alleged TCCWNA violations against Bob's Discount Furniture and Select Comfort.8 The District Court confirmed that, in order to sustain a TCCWNA claim, a prospective plaintiff must be "aggrieved" such that he or she has suffered the "effects of a violation" of the TCCWNA, or that the plaintiff's "personal, pecuniary, or property rights have been adversely affected by another person's actions." The District Court rejected the plaintiffs' arguments that technical violations, without any aggrievement, can result in automatic liability. The plaintiffs in both actions appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, where the matters were fully briefed.
In late 2016, the Third Circuit certified two unresolved questions of law concerning TCCWNA to the New Jersey Supreme Court. And, on April 4, 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court granted the petition for certification of the following questions: 1) "[i]s a consumer who receives a contract that does not comply with the Delivery of Household Furniture and Furnishing Regulation . . . but has not suffered any adverse consequences from the noncompliance, an "aggrieved consumer" under [TCCWNA]?" and 2) "[d]oes a violation of the Furniture Delivery Regulations alone constitute a violation of a clearly established right or responsibility of the seller under TCCWNA and thus provide a basis for relief under TCCWNA?"
Briefing finished in mid-2017 with the New Jersey Supreme Court hearing nearly three hours of oral argument in early November.9 The appellee/retailers argued, among other arguments, that: 1) TCCWNA's express language requires that a plaintiff be "aggrieved," and 2) "aggrieved" means more than just incurring an alleged facial violation of the Act, rather, the consumer must be adversely affected, impacted and/or deceived. Indeed, the retailers asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to answer both certified questions in the negative because TCCWNA was simply not designed to compensate nonaggrieved consumers based on alleged hyper-technical violations. As the Court concluded in Dugan, TCCWNA should not be employed to fuel the recent spate of class action claims, where consumers seek to extract tens of millions of dollars (if not more) from retailers, based upon technical "gotcha" violations without any allegations of adverse effect or impact.
Where TCCWNA Is Headed in 2018
It is believed that more than 25 TCCWNA cases in both state and federal courts are currently stayed or in "inactive status" as a result of the New Jersey Supreme Court's review of the certified questions. The impact of the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision is obvious. The result will not only greatly inform the cases currently on hold, it will have a far broader impact to confirm how far TCCWNA can be stretched to embolden class claims without any real impact felt by the consumers or, more importantly, to limit TCCWNA's intended reach to claims where actual adverse effect, impact or deception occurs.
Now aware of the unintended purposes that TCCWNA has been used by aggressive class counsel, where no impact has been suffered by consumers, the New Jersey Legislature is taking a second look at the statute. This effort confirms a recognition of the unintended consequences for which TCCWNA has been employed – as a weapon to otherwise hurt retailers who act in good faith and work diligently to comply with the law. To this end, the Legislature is considering an amendment that would disallow class certification of TCCWNA claims where there is no ascertainable loss incurred. This requirement is consistent with other consumer statutes in New Jersey, including the Consumer Fraud Act and Plain Language Act that place limitations on a consumer's recovery.10 Further, the proposed amendment contemplates that the consumer not only be "aggrieved" but that, if aggrieved, and, if the loss is less than $250, the consumer must first request reimbursement from the seller in writing and wait 35 days before a TCCWNA action is allowed.
Action Steps While Awaiting the Court's Decision
Retailers must continue to analyze consumer communications (notices, warranties, contracts, terms and conditions, and the like), including their entire website content, to ensure that they are compliant with existing TCCWNA law. To the extent that a demand is received, counsel should be consulted to ensure the best approach is taken to defend these expensive claims (including whether to respond in the first place given that several plaintiff's firms send hundreds of demands at a time). In addition, consumers can lend their vocal support to ongoing legislative efforts in New Jersey to incorporate critical amendments to TCCWNA to help curtail the overzealous and inappropriate expansion of TCCWNA. Holland & Knight has direct experience representing retailers in both state and federal courts in New Jersey, and has provided compliance assistance for several national clients regarding their consumer-facing communications and websites.
1 Greenberg v. Mahwah Sales & Serv., Inc., No. BER-L-6105-15, 2016 WL 193485 at *3 (N.J. Super L. Jan. 8, 2016).
2 Id. at *7
3 Wright v. Bank of America, N.A., No. L-433-15, 2016 WL 631910 at *7 (N.J. Super. L. Jan. 29, 2016).
4 Walters v. Dream Cars Nat'l, LLC, No. BER-L-9571-14, 2016 WL 890783 at *6 (N.J. Super. L. Mar. 7, 2016).
5 Friest v. Luxiottica Group S.p.A., No. 2:16-cv-03327-SDW-LDW, 2016 WL 7668453 at *8 (D.N.J. Dec. 16, 2016).
6 Hite v. Lush Internet, Inc., 244 F.Supp.3d 444, 455 (D.N.J. 2017).
7 171 A.3d 620 (2017)
8 Wenger v. Bob's Discount Furniture LLC, No. 3:14-CV-07707-FLW-LHG (D.N.J. Feb. 29, 2016); Spade v. Select Comfort, No. 3:15-CV-01826 (D.N.J. Feb. 29, 2016).
9 Amicus briefs in favor of retailers were filed by the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, Tailor Brands Inc., the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute, the Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, the Retail Litigation Center Inc. and the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association. Amicus briefs in favor of the plaintiffs were filed by the Consumers League of New Jersey and the New Jersey Association for Justice. Holland & Knight argued on behalf of one of the appellee retailers.
10 See N.J. Stat. Ann. 56:8-1 et seq. (Consumer Fraud Act provides that consumer recovery is not available unless an "ascertainable loss" is established); see also N.J. State. Ann. 56:12-1 et seq. (Plain Language Act) (class recovery for punitive damages is limited to $10,000).
Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult competent legal counsel.


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Softbank eyes Indian solar manufacturing in boost to Narendra Modi’s energy goal
Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp. is considering a manufacturing joint venture in India that could produce the solar panels needed to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s energy targets.
“SoftBank’s strategy for India includes solar panel manufacturing,” Manoj Kohli, executive chairman of SB Energy said in an interview in New Delhi. He ruled out making the panels through the company’s existing joint venture, formed last year with Foxconn Technology Group and Bharti Enterprises Pvt. to generate about 20 gigawatts of solar power.
While Modi seeks 100 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2022—a target second only to China—the country’s manufacturers will need to ramp-up production in order to tap into the growth. Only about 40% of India’s 1.2 gigawatts of annual solar-cell manufacturing capacity is operational, according to estimates by Bridge to India. Module manufacturing capacity is about 5.6 gigawatts, of which 60% capacity is operational.


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The Forest County Chamber of Commerce Retail Council has set a date of Saturday, June 13 for the Forest County-Wide Rummage Sale. The goal is to bring people from outside the area, as well as local residents, to spend the entire day in Forest County. This means a larger number of shoppers to the area, to your sale, and more opportunity for area businesses to benefit.
There is no cost to participate; just email or call in your name and address to the Chamber office (firstname.lastname@example.org or 715-478-3450). The Chamber will compile the list of participants into a flyer that will be distributed through chamber member businesses. Your listing will be placed under your town’s heading so shoppers can find you and the flyer will be available for distribution on June 8.
The Forest County-Wide Rummage Sale will also be placed on social media to spread the word and banners will be placed throughout the county to advertise the date. The Chamber also encourages utilizing any of the fine newspaper that service Forest County by placing an ad, especially if group advertising is available.
This event will be a great kick-off to the rummage sale season including the community rummage events planned in Forest County. If your community has set a date for a sale event this would be a great opportunity to get the word out so folks can come back and shop. The deadline for getting your sale on the list is June 5, so get your rummage sale plans going and contact the Chamber office today!


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READ IN: Español
Despite the aftermath of Covid-19 which caused a lack of supply flow in all types of industries, demand for Rolex watches has increased over the past year and thus price speculation.
There is no doubt that for many, Rolex watches are a symbol of status and distinction. Sales of high-end watches fell during the pandemic, and the Swiss brand in particular experienced a complex situation. However, demand has picked up again while supply has been constrained by the pandemic, causing prices to rise as a result.
Professional Watches reported that the prices of some of the items rose by an average of 3.4%. Its “Classic Watches” collection, which includes the Oyster Perpetual and Day-Date, saw a smaller increase, while Rolex‘s “Professional Watches” collection, which includes the Daytona, GMT-Master II and Submariner models, received the largest price increase.
One example is the stainless steel Rolex Oyster Perpetual 41mm 124300 which retailed for $5,900 in 2021, but from 2022 it will be $6,150, i.e. the luxury item went up by 4.2 per cent. By comparison, the stainless steel Rolex Submariner 124060 went from $8,100 in 2021 to $8,950 in 2022, a 10.5% increase in average retail price.