As we live more of our lives online, the companies we trust with our digital secrets are increasingly clashing with authorities who want access to the messages, pictures, financial records and other data we accumulate in electronic form. Microsoft opened ...
Read More »House OKs bill on high-speed Internet service rates
Republicans snubbed a White House veto threat and pushed legislation through the House Friday that would bar the government from regulating rates that high-speed Internet service providers charge consumers. House approval came on a near party-line 241-173 vote. With the ...
Read More »St. Louis judge weighs settlement in ‘junk faxes’ lawsuit
A federal judge in St. Louis is weighing whether to sign off on a $1.6 million settlement to a class-action lawsuit involving tens of thousands of unsolicited faxes. The proposed settlement could amount to up to $180 per copy for ...
Read More »US factory output falls again, but signs of stability appear
U.S. factory output dropped in March for the second straight month as manufacturers churned out fewer cars, metal parts and machinery. Yet other recent data suggests that the sector’s long-running malaise could brighten in the coming months. Factory production fell ...
Read More »Obama backs effort to give consumers options on cable boxes
President Barack Obama threw his weight Friday behind an effort to give consumers more choice when it comes to the cable boxes that control which television channels they watch. Most TV subscribers lease boxes from their cable service provider. The ...
Read More »Fleissig honored as Woman of the Year
The 18th annual Women’s Justice Awards held Thursday honored 44 female attorneys, legal scholars and community leaders. The awards, hosted by Missouri Lawyers Weekly and held at the Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis, recognized women across the state that have ...
Read More »Women-only car services fill a niche, but are they legal?
Ride-hailing companies catering exclusively to women are cropping up and raising thorny legal questions, namely: Are they discriminatory? In Massachusetts, Chariot for Women is promising to launch a service featuring female drivers picking up only women and children. Drivers will ...
Read More »Peabody Chapter 11, helps draw attention to coal reclamation
The bankruptcy of yet another major coal company helps draws attention to plans for financially troubled coal companies to cover the potentially huge costs of filling and restoring to a natural state mines that sooner or later might permanently close ...
Read More »Average US rate on 30-year mortgage slips to 3.58 percent
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged down this week to their lowest levels of the year, offering a continued incentive for purchasing during the spring home-buying season. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate loan touched its lowest point in nearly three years, ...
Read More »Report: US medicine spending up 8.5 percent 2015
U.S. spending on prescription drugs rose 8.5 percent last year, slightly less than in 2014, driven mainly by growing use of ultra-expensive new drugs and price hikes on other medicines. A report from data firm IMS Health estimates patients, insurers, ...
Read More »Conservative lawmakers drive backlash against LGBT rights
Year after year, South Carolina Sen. Lee Bright has watched as gays won more rights through legislation and the courts. And as he sees proposals elsewhere in the U.S. aimed at allowing transgender people to use the bathroom that conforms ...
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