Month: September 2023

The Federal Trade Commission and 17 state attorney generals filed an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon on Tuesday, alleging that the company has used its power in the marketplace to inflate prices on other platforms, overcharge sellers and stifle competition. The FTC filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington state, backed by the attorneys general of 17 states; Amazon is based in Washington state.

According to a news release, the FTC and states that joined the lawsuit are asking the court to issue a permanent injunction court that they say would prohibit Amazon from engaging in its unlawful conduct.   FTC chairman Lina Khan said in a statement: “Sellers are paying one of every $2 to Amazon. Shoppers are paying higher prices as a result, not just on Amazon but across the internet. And the public as a whole has been deprived of the benefits of open and fair and free competition. And so that’s what this case is really about, and those are the harms that we’re looking to fix .. The complaint sets forth detailed allegations noting how Amazon is now exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices and degrading service for the tens of millions of American families who shop on its platform and the hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on Amazon to reach them.” 

The FTC alleges that Amazon deters sellers from discounting goods and lowering prices below what is available on Amazon, pushing prices higher across the internet. Kahn also stressed that it showed Amazon had established an unfair advantage: “Each element of Amazon’s monopolistic strategy here is working in tandem, and so the cumulative impact of Amazon’s unlawful conduct is greater than the harm caused by any particular element. So you have a feedback loop between these different practices in a way that amplifies the overall exclusionary effects.”

David Zapolsky, Amazon’s senior vice president for global public policy, posted to Amazon’s website: “The practices the FTC is challenging have helped to spur competition and innovation across the retail industry, and have produced greater selection, lower prices, and faster delivery speeds for Amazon customers and greater opportunity for the many businesses that sell in Amazon’s store.”

Editorial credit: Ascannio / Shutterstock.com

Hunter Biden filed a civil lawsuit Tuesday against former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and his former attorney Bob Costello, claiming they caused “total annihilation” of his digital privacy and violated federal and state computer privacy laws through their alleged efforts to hack his devices.

The lawsuit alleges that Giuliani and Costello violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in obtaining and sharing the personal information from the laptop, and accuses Giuliani and Robert Costello of spending years “hacking into, tampering with, manipulating, copying, disseminating, and generally obsessing over data that they were given that was taken or stolen from” his devices.

Attorneys for Hunter Biden wrote in the lawsuit: “Plaintiff has demanded Defendants Giuliani and Costello cease their unlawful activities with respect to Plaintiff’s data and return any data in their possession belonging to Plaintiff, but they have refused to do so. Defendants’ statements suggest that their unlawful hacking activities are ongoing today and that, unless stopped, will continue into the future, thereby necessitating this action.”  They also allege that Giuliani has “not only admitted but bragged about downloading data from Plaintiff’s ‘laptop’ (even though he only had a hard drive) onto his own computer; about using his own computer to access, tamper with and manipulate the downloaded data; and about maintaining multiple copies of the data for his and Defendant Costello’s personal use.” The suit accuses Giuliani and Costello of breaking both federal and California state computer privacy laws and asks for a jury trial in the matter.

Ted Goodman, an adviser to Giuliani, denied allegations that the former New York mayor “manipulated” an electronic device belonging to the president’s son: “Hunter Biden has previously refused to admit ownership of the laptop. I’m not surprised he’s now falsely claiming his laptop hard drive was manipulated by Mayor Giuliani, considering the sordid material and potential evidence of crimes on that thing.”.

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Seven customers and one crew member were hospitzliaed after a JetBlue Airlines flight encountered “sudden severe turbulence” early Monday as it neared Florida, the airline said.

JetBlue said in a statement that JetBlue flight 1256 was flying into Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from Guayaquil, Ecuador when it suddenly experienced turbulence. The plane still landed safely and was met by medical personnel on the ground. Seven customers and one inflight crewmember were transported to the hospital for evaluation and treatment. A statement read: “JetBlue will work to support our customers and crewmembers. The aircraft for this flight has been taken out of service for inspection.” According to FlightAware, the aircraft landed at around 5.30am on Monday.

The airline said it could not comment on the severity of the injuries, and it was not immediately known if the injured were wearing seatbelts. The airline said the Airbus 320 twin-engine plane was taken out of service for inspection.

Editorial credit: Markus Mainka / Shutterstock.com

During a press conference on Monday, New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said he would not resign following his indictment on federal bribery charges. Menendez, D-N.J., and his wife, Nadine, were indicted on Friday on allegations of accepting bribes, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, as well as using his position to benefit three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.

In his first public comments since the three-count federal indictment against him, the 69-year-old Menendez called for the public to wait for more information, dismissing the allegations and defending his record on fighting human rights abuses in Egypt. Menendez said Monday in Union City, where he started his political career: “I recognize this will be the biggest fight yet. But as I have stated throughout this whole process, I firmly believe that when all the facts are presented, not only will I be exonerated, but I still will be New Jersey’s senior senator.”

Federal prosecutors in New York alleged the couple received hundreds of thousands of dollars and lavish luxury gifts in exchange for the senator using his influence to benefit three New Jersey business associates and the government of Egypt (the businessmen are also facing charges). Menendez argues that he has “remained steadfast on the side of civil society and human rights defenders in Egypt and everywhere else in the world … If you look at my actions related to Egypt during the period described in this indictment and throughout my whole career, my record is clear and consistent in holding Egypt accountable for its unjust detention of American citizens and others, its human rights abuses, its deepening relationship with Russia and efforts that have eroded the independence of the nation’s judiciary,.”

The indictment also said the FBI found $500,000 of cash kept in envelopes and jacket pockets throughout Menendez’s home during a search last year. The senator said he has withdrawn “thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings” over the last 30 years, “which I have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba. This may seem old-fashioned, but these were monies drawn from my personal saving account, based on the income that I had lawfully derived over those 30 years.”

Menendez stepped down from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Friday, with colleagues on both sides of the aisle have called for him to resign from the Senate, including Democrats Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.  However, Menendez said during his press conference: “Instead of waiting for all the facts to be presented, others have rushed to judgment seeking a political opportunity for themselves and those around them. All I ask for in this moment — is to pause and allow for all the facts to be presented.”

Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

For the first time in NASA history an asteroid sample collected by the agency has touched down on Earth, seven years after launching the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft into space. The capsule flew by Earth Sunday to deliver the pristine sample from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu. which will allow scientists the opportunity to learn more about the origins of the solar system.

OSIRIS-REx, which stands for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer, lifted off in 2016 and began orbiting Bennu in 2018. The spacecraft collected the sample in 2020 and set off on its lengthy return trip to Earth in May 2021. The mission traveled 3.86 billion miles total to Bennu and back.

OSIRIS-REx dropped the sample capsule — containing an estimated 8.8 ounces of asteroid rocks and soil — from a distance of 63,000 miles (102,000 kilometers) above Earth’s surface early Sunday, and entered the planet’s atmosphere at 10:42 a.m. ET while traveling at a speed of about 27,650 miles per hour (44,498 kilometers per hour).

The sample landed in the Defense Department’s Utah Test and Training Range about 10 minutes after entering the atmosphere. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said: “Congratulations to the OSIRIS-REx team. You did it.  It brought something extraordinary, the largest asteroid sample ever received on Earth. This mission proves that NASA does big things, things that inspire us, things that unite us. It wasn’t mission impossible. It was the impossible that became possible.” OSIRIS-REx will continue its tour of the solar system, with the spacecraft set to capture a detailed look at a different asteroid named Apophis.  That mission now has a new name: OSIRIS-APEX (for Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-APophis EXplorer).

Details about the sample will be revealed through a NASA broadcast from Johnson Space Center on October 11.  NASA said the science team will not have had time to fully assess the sample, but researchers expect to collect some fine-grained material at the top of canister for a quick analysis that can be shared in October.

Editorial credit: Droneandy / Shutterstock.com

According to a news release, six people, including three children, are dead after a train crashed into their SUV sitting on the tracks at a railroad crossing near Tampa, Fla. on Saturday evening. Hillsborough County Sherif Chad Chronister shared during a press conference that seven people were inside a Cadillac Escalade when the crash happened, with five of the passengers being “violenting ejected” from the vehicle upon impact.

Video on the front of the freight train showed the driver approaching the crossing in the area of Highway 92 and Jim Lefler Circle in Plant City, which reportedly wasn’t signalized. However, instead of yielding at the posted stop sign, Chronister said the driver slowly crawled across the tracks. Sheriff Chronister said: “the conductor of the train did everything he could to try to slow this train down. He signaled these loud train horns that they’re equipped with along with the flashing lights. We know that even from the witness that was parked by the tracks that he also was hitting the horn of his vehicle – all trying to get the driver’s attention and get [them] to stop and look both ways.” Once the train collided with the SUV, the vehicle reportedly catapulted and flipped multiple times before landing a distance away from its origin.

The driver and front passenger were rescued from within the car, according to Chronister, and were taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. It was later announced Sunday morning that the driver died from his injuries and was identified as 52-year-old Jose G. Hernandez. The other victims of the crash were also identified: Enedelia Hernandez, 51; Jakub A. Lopez, 17; Alyssa Hernandez, 17; Anaelia Hernandez, 22; and Julian Hernandez, 9. One passenger remains hospitalized in critical condition and was identified as 23-year-old Guillermo Gama.

Editorial credit: Chad Robertson Media / Shutterstock.com