Federal Court Halts California’s Cancer Warnings for Glyphosate, the Herbicide Found in Roundup
February 27, 2018, Los Angeles Times
A federal judge on Monday temporarily barred California environmental officials from requiring cancer warnings on food products that contain traces of the herbicide glyphosate. The injunction by U.S. District Judge William Shubb leaves glyphosate on the state’s so-called Proposition 65 list as a “chemical known to the state of California to cause cancer,” but bars anyone from enforcing a requirement to warn consumers about the presence of the herbicide.
It’s time for common sense to return to the Consumer Product Safety Commission
March 3, 2018, The Hill
More than a year into the Trump administration there is one government agency that is continuing to push the Obama administration’s excessive regulatory agenda: The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). CPSC, which regulates over 15,000 products worth billions of dollars to the American economy each year, continues to be controlled by three Democratic commissioners because the Senate has been slow to approve two new Republican nominees.
Are the injuries connected to this stroller the fault of the strollers or the users?
March 1, 2018, Palm Beach Post
Nearly 100 injuries including kid concussions and adult broken bones from a front-wheel detachment means there’s a problem with 493,000 BOB jogging strollers, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.Stroller seller Britax says the strollers use proven devices and malfunctions are at the user end. That’s the synopsis of why the federal agency took the rare step of filing a legal complaint recently to force a recall by Britax. An administrative law judge will rule on the complaint.
United Kingdom retailers Toys-R-Us and Maplin go into administration
March 2, 2018, The Africom
Two major retailers – Maplin and Toys R Us – have entered administration in the UK. The toy retailer’s United Kingdom unit and electronics chain Maplin collapsed into the British equivalent of bankruptcy protection, deepening a retail crisis prompted by the rise of online shopping and worsened by the pound’s plunge after the vote to leave the European Union.
Finding Reason In The ‘Reasonable Consumer’
March 1, 2018, Lexology (Steptoe & Johnson)
It was a victory for reasonable consumers when a California judge granted summary judgment to Starbucks in a case where the plaintiff claimed to have been defrauded because his latte contained foam. The plaintiff contended that Starbucks was using foam to fill cups in order to deprive consumers of hot liquid. Of course, most consumers buy lattes because they contain foam, and usually have a pretty good idea how much beverage they will get when they order a tall, grande or venti.
U.S. government will not, cannot recall even a dangerously defective gun
February 28, 2018, Daily Kos
If a type of gun is known to be defective—defective in a way that could kill you, like firing with the safety on or blowing apart in your hands—and the manufacturer doesn’t feel like telling you about it, you might never hear about it even as you walked into a store and bought that gun. The manufacturer doesn’t have to tell you. The government won’t tell you. The NRA won’t tell you. To understand how firearms makers escaped government oversight of the safety of their pistols, revolvers, and rifles, you need to go back to 1972, when Congress created the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Commission Recommendation on measures to effectively tackle illegal content online
March 1, 2018, European Commission
In its Communication of September 2017 on tackling illegal content online, the European Commission promised to monitor progress in tackling illegal content online and assess whether additional measures are needed to ensure the swift and proactive detection and removal of illegal content online, including possible legislative measures to complement the existing regulatory framework.
Silicon Valley faces make or break moment amid big tech backlash
February 27, 2018, NBC News
For years, tech giants and their CEOs could count on glowing praise and friendly media coverage that hyped up just how much their products would change the world. Those changes are now the subject of growing skepticism from politicians, academics and that same media. Election meddling, concerns about privacy and questions about technology’s role in our daily lives have muddied the waters for the Silicon Valley giants, which now face tough questions and scrutiny like they’ve never seen before.
EU Commissioner Mariya Gabriel calls for a human in command approach to digital transformation
March 3, 2018, Euro News
The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is the place where tech trends for the year ahead are set. The world’s biggest companies come to display their latest gadgets. Samsung with its new flagship Galaxy S9 and LG with a new generation of phones powered by artificial intelligence. The Congress programme is built around 8 core themes and Euronews met up with Mariya Gabriel, the European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, to discuss some of them.
The Iconic Barcode To Become Internet-Ready
March 2, 2018, Daily Telescope
EVRYTHNG, the leading digital identity and data management platform for consumer products and GS1 US Solution Partner, launched a QuickStart Online Tool for manufacturers and retailers to connect their products to the Web at mass scale using GS1 identifiers. The web-enablement of GS1 identifiers, used on trillions of consumer products every year, will enhance the role of the ubiquitous barcode with expanded functionality, connecting every consumer product to the World Wide Web and allowing one code or tag to support multiple applications, including smartphone interaction by consumers.
