|
|
|
Netflix price hike angers users, some drop plan
Stock Market News |
2011/07/13 11:43
|
Some Netflix customers called it a slap in the face. Others a betrayal. Many threatened to drop the movie service.
On Wednesday, many of them vented on Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere, seething over Netflix Inc.'s decision to raise its prices by up to 60 percent for the millions of subscribers who want to rent DVDs by mail and watch movies online.
"I can definitely afford it but I dropped them on principle," said Joe Turick, a technology engineer in Monroe, N.C., who has been with Netflix for about a decade, cancelled his subscription within an hour of learning of Tuesday's price changes and plans to try competitors.
By Wednesday afternoon, more than 40,000 people had responded to a post on Netflix's Facebook page announcing the change, with some saying they would switch to rivals such as Hulu.com's paid service and to Redbox's DVD-rental kiosks.
Outrage bubbled on Twitter, and on Netflix's blog a posting about the new plans had garnered 5,000 comments -- the limit allowed by the site's host, Google Inc.-owned Blogger -- which included many seething customers.
Netflix said company executives expected the intense reaction.
"Everything Netflix does is with extensive research and testing and analysis, so we expected some people to be disappointed," spokesman Steve Swasey said.
While thousands complained on Facebook, Twitter and other websites, with 22.8 million customers in the U.S., it's clear that plenty of them are not upset about the change.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Illinois Supreme Court upholds public works plan
Headline Legal News |
2011/07/12 09:27
|
The Illinois Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a law that created a $31 billion statewide construction program, averting a threat to the thousands of jobs the projects created.
The decision also removes a roadblock to allowing video gambling at bars, restaurants and truck stops across Illinois.
The court on Monday unanimously rejected arguments that lawmakers improperly mixed different issues in a single law.
Lawmakers approved the public works program in 2009, deciding to fund the construction by raising taxes on liquor and candy, as well as legalizing video gambling.
Chicago Blackhawks owner and liquor distributor Rocky Wirtz challenged the law. An appeals court agreed with him that it violated a requirement that laws be limited to one topic. The Supreme Court said it all was connected to the construction program.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Legal questions raised on NY's gas-drilling rules
Headline Legal News |
2011/07/12 09:26
|
While an energy industry economist says New York's proposal to place large areas off-limits to gas drilling is overly restrictive, an environmental lawyer says the proposed watershed protections don't go far enough.
The Department of Environmental Conservation posted its 700-plus-page blueprint for hydraulic fracturing in the lucrative Marcellus Shale region on its website on Friday, allowing industry and environmental groups to start dissecting the proposed plan to allow gas drilling in an area where it's been on hold since 2008.
More than 3,300 gas wells have been drilled since 2005 across the border in Pennsylvania, bringing new jobs and economic benefits as well as environmental problems such as accidental chemical spills, gas-tainted well water and river pollution. New York state regulators have upheld permitting for three years while they conduct an environmental review and draft new regulations.
The proposed New York rules include a section describing several gas-drilling operation accidents in Pennsylvania and outlining New York's measures designed to mitigate such incidents.
"Our biggest concern is the restrictions that have been added," said John Felmy, chief economist for the American Petroleum Institute. "In particular, the New York City and Syracuse watersheds, and taking state lands off the table. Those are big areas."
Felmy said natural gas development in New York's economically depressed Southern Tier would bring billions of dollars in economic activity, thousands of jobs, and new tax revenues. But a coalition of 47 health and environmental groups has called for a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, saying it poses unacceptable risks. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ballard Spahr says Stewart new chair of national law firm
Law Firm News |
2011/07/06 08:46
|
Law firm Ballard Spahr LLP says that Mark Stewart, who helped the firm open six new offices, has been named its chair.
The law firm — its headquarters are in Philadelphia — said Stewart became chair on Friday, succeeding Arthur Makadon who took the position in 2002. He is returning to active practice with the firm.
Stewart joined the firm as a summer associate in 1981.
Ballard Spahr has more than 475 lawyers in 13 offices across the U.S. and offers litigatition, business and finance, real estate, intellectual propery and public finance services.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orange County judge to restrict Costa Mesa layoffs
Court News |
2011/07/06 08:45
|
An Orange County judge said Tuesday that she will issue a court order to restrict Costa Mesa from laying off nearly half of the city's workforce and outsourcing jobs.
Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto Schumann said she would grant the Orange County Employees Association's request for a preliminary injunction. But the city has until Friday to file objections before she issues her ruling.
The union filed suit in May, arguing that the city's plan to outsource municipal jobs violates state law and the union contract.
In March, the Costa Mesa City Council majority voted to outsource jobs to mostly private companies in a drastic move to plug a $15 million budget hole.
Soon afterward, 213 of 450 employees got layoff notices that would take effect in September.
Union spokeswoman Jennifer Muir said the court order would protect employees' jobs until the case against the city goes to trial.
Schumann said the city must follow proper procedures when laying off workers, but she didn't explain what those procedures are.
Assistant City Attorney Harold Potter contends the city has been following procedures while pursuing austerity measures.
The judge's ruling won't stop the city from exploring outsourcing options, he said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Investment Fraud Litigation |
|
|
|
|
Securities fraud, also known as stock fraud and investment fraud, is a practice that induces investors to make purchase or sale decisions on the basis of false information, frequently resulting in losses, in violation of the securities laws. Securities Arbitration. Generally speaking, securities fraud consists of deceptive practices in the stock and commodity markets, and occurs when investors are enticed to part with their money based on untrue statements.
|
|
|
| |
| |
| |
|
The content contained on the web site has been prepared by Securities Law News as a service to the internet community and is not intended to constitute legal advice or a substitute for consultation with a licensed legal professional in a particular case. | Affordable Law Firm Website Design by Law Promo |
|
Legal News RSS Feed
