CPSC Recalls Millions Of Furniture Tip-Over Kits Made In Vietnam
January 11, 2024, USA Today
Millions of kits designed to prevent furniture from tipping over were recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission over potential child safety risks. Tthe plastic zip tie in the kits, made by New Age Industries of Vietnam, “can become brittle or weak.” The furniture that they’re supposed to anchor to the wall can detach, posing a potentially fatal fall risk to children, according to the commission. There have been no reported injuries since the recall notice was issued, only reports of the product breaking, the commission said. New Age furniture tip kits have been sold in furniture stores nationwide and online since at least November 2019. The kits include a plastic zip-tie, two brackets and two screws. They were sold with dressers and other similar furniture pieces manufactured in Vietnam, the commission reported.
Requirements For Consumer Products Containing Coin And Button Cells Expected To Phase In Soon
January 11, 2024, JD Supra
Deadlines for compliance with central elements of Reese’s Law are fast approaching. Many consumer products that use coin or button cell batteries will have to comply with the UL 4200A-2023 standard (and be tested to confirm compliance) by March 19, 2024. In August 2022, Congress overwhelmingly passed and President Biden signed, Reese’s Law. The law is intended to prevent accidental ingestions of coin and button cell batteries by children. Now codified at 15 U.S.C. § 2056e, the law requires changes to coin and button cell battery packaging and has resulted in a new mandatory standard for consumer products containing coin and button cells.
What Is Active Listening?
January 2, 2024, Harvard Business Review
Active listening requires mastering many skills. This includes reading body language and tone of voice, maintaining your attention and being aware of and controlling your emotional response. In this article, the author explains what active listening is and how to improve this essential communication skill.
Opinion: Rethinking Firearms Regulation
January 11, 2024, The Regulatory Review
What if the United States regulated real firearms as stringently as they regulated toy guns for children? In this article, Benjamin Cavataro, a professor at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, proposes that Congress empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) to regulate guns in the same way that it regulates other consumer products, such as toys. Cavataro argues that empowering the CPSC to regulate guns would increase their safety without encroaching on politically charged issues such as gun access and prevalence.
Beyond The Imitation Game: The World Begins Construction On A Global Legal Framework For AI
January 5, 2024, Reuters
Nearly a decade after cracking Nazi Germany’s Enigma code and hastening the end of World War II, British computer scientist Alan Turing posed a question. This was long before we relied on computers to answer much of anything: “Can machines think?” The significance of his question, “Can machines think?” was brought to life by Benedict Cumberbatch in the 2014 film “The Imitation Game.” The movie presaged a time when artificial intelligence would become a ubiquitous and integral part of our daily lives, far surpassing its initial spectacle.
2023 Was A Year Of Reform In Europe – What’s Next In 2024?
January 10, 2024, Cooley Productwise
2023 was a year of reform – a most active year of regulatory change in the products law space, with impacts that will be felt by product stakeholders for years to come. New requirements will need to be understood, and any required changes to products and processes will need to be planned and implemented. Here is a roundup of some of the highlights.
CPSC Business Education Webinar/ Infant Sleep Products, Inclined Sleepers And Crib Bumpers
January 9, 2024, YouTube
Study Finds Scooter-Related Injuries And Surgeries Drastically Increased Over 4 Years
January 9, 2024, Forbes
Scooter-related hospitalizations outnumbered bike-related hospitalizations in 2020, and over 50% resulted in surgery, a new study found. Hospitalizations for scooter-related injuries increased nearly threefold between 2016 and 2020, and over half of the patients hospitalized underwent some form of surgery, according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. Patients hospitalized with scooter-related injuries were more likely to be under the age of 18 compared to those with bicycle injuries (26.7% compared to 16.4%), and more likely to undergo surgery (55.8% vs. 48.1%). The study grouped electric scooter (or e-scooter) and regular scooter injuries together.
J&J To Pay $700 Million To Settle States’ Talc-Marketing Probe
January 8, 2024, Reuters
Johnson & Johnson has come to a tentative agreement to pay about $700 million for settling claims by over 40 U.S. states that it wrongfully marketed its talc-based baby powder, Bloomberg News reported. The settlement would avert potential lawsuits alleging J&J hid any links between the talc in its powder and various cancers, the report said citing people familiar with the deal. J&J and representatives for state attorneys general are still working out the specific terms of the deal but have agreed on the total amount, Bloomberg News reported.
EU Prepares To Push Back On Private Sector Carve-Out From International AI Treaty
January 10, 2024, Euractiv
The European Commission is preparing to push back on a US-led attempt to exempt the private sector from the world’s first international treaty on Artificial Intelligence while pushing for as much alignment as possible with the EU’s AI Act. The Council of Europe, an international human rights body with 46 member countries, set up the Committee on Artificial Intelligence at the beginning of 2022 to develop the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. The binding international treaty, the first of its kind on AI, is facing crunch time: the current plan is to finalize it by March, with the view of adopting it at the ministerial level in May. Thus, many open questions must be solved at a plenary meeting on 23-26 January.
