Whispers and Warnings for 07/20/2017

Are Amazon’s “discounts” too good to be true???
FTC probing allegations of Amazon’s deceptive discounting
“The FTC’s ‘Guide Against Deceptive Pricing’ warns against using a ‘fictitious’ or ‘inflated’ list price for the purpose of making the price charged look like a bargain.”

Are “reputation management companies” sending out fake take-down notices to websites…disguised as court orders?
The Volokh Conspiracy Opinion Court vacates apparent fake-defendant libel takedown order in Patel v. Chan
“…this led Paul Alan Levy and me to investigate what seems to be a pattern of such fake-defendant libel takedown orders — at least about two dozen seem to fit that mold, and several of them have been linked to reputation management companies…”

Her post was obviously an opinion. Would you do business with this firm after what they put their customer through??
Yelp! Negative Online Consumer Review Protected as Opinion, Not Actionable Libel
“Crescendo Designs, a custom home theater system installation business, installed an expensive system in Reses’ beach home. Dissatisfied with the results when she claimed the system failed and Crescendo didn’t come back quickly enough to resolve the problem, Reses posted a negative review of the system and the services she received on Yelp.com. In her review, she described what went wrong and commented ‘Terrible service if something goes wrong!’. Crescendo Designs filed a lawsuit claiming…”

The book “focuses on goal setting and performance practices.” Uh huh…
Penguin Holds Book by John Doerr and Startup CEO Amid Harassment Suit
“Penguin Random House pulled plans to publish a book co-written by venture capitalist John Doerr and BetterWorks Systems
Inc. Chief Executive Officer Kris Duggan following a sexual harassment and assault suit against Duggan.”

Do NOT Write for Ebony Magazine!
Journo Association Blast ‘Ebony’ Over Failure To Pay
“On July 13, Ebony magazine received the distinct dishonor of a ‘Thumbs Down Award’ from the National Association of Black Journalists, who blasted the publisher for its continuing failure to pay scores of freelancers. If that’s not bad enough, the magazine is also the target of a lawsuit brought on behalf of its aggrieved, unpaid contributors.”