FCC Clears Google Of Wrongdoing Over Spying On Americans, Contradicts Federal Judge

April 18, 2012

Activist Post

By Madison Ruppert

“Big brother is out of control – here is just one more example.”  –KTRN

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has officially cleared Google of any and all wrongdoing in connection to their practice of covertly intercepting data from unencrypted Wi-Fi routers in the United States.

With Google set to start monitoring environmental information for targeted advertisements, gain Regina Dugan of DARPA, and even further expand their Big Brother policies all while maintaining a tight relationship with the government, this decision is somewhat par for the course.

That being said, this finding was still somewhat surprising since a federal judge previously ruled that Google could, in fact, be held liable for violating federal wiretapping legislation, which would thus potentially open Google up to lawsuits from individuals seeking damages.

It was not only a judge who found Google’s claims to be laughable, in fact Joel Burin, the Bureau of Consumer and Governmental Affairs chief, wrote in 2010, “Google’s behavior also raises important concerns. Whether intentional or not, collecting information sent over Wi-Fi networks clearly infringes on consumer privacy.”

In an order made public on Monday (which you can read below with a great deal of redacted information, unfortunately), reflecting a decision made by the commission on Friday, it is said that Google did not violate any wiretapping laws when they snooped on open wireless networks with their Google Street View mapping vehicles.

The FCC said that between 2008 and 2010, “Google’s Street View cars collected names, addresses, telephone numbers, URL’s, passwords, e-mail, text messages, medical records, video and audio files, and other information from internet users in the United States.”

Click here for the full report.

USDA To Allow Monsanto To Perform Own GMO Studies

May 3, 2011

Natural News

By Neev M. Arnell

 
In the case brought last August by environmentalists and the Center for Food Safety, Federal Judge Jeffrey White ruled that the USDA violated the National Environmental Policy Act in deregulating Monsanto’s Roundup Ready sugar beet seeds in 2005 and banned planting of the crop until the environmental impact study was complete. The USDA ignored the ban, according to Popular Science (http://bit.ly/kc8H9M), and ignored White’s subsequent order to destroy the crops once they had been planted.

The USDA ignored the directives because, according to a recent Grist article (http://bit.ly/fniqCr) it worried a GMO sugar beet ban would cause sweetener prices to rise. “Thus the USDA places the food industry’s right to cheap sweetener for its junk food over the dictates of a federal court” Grist says.

Roundup Ready sugar beets would likely not stand up to an independent environmental impact assessment, the Grist article noted. Sugar beets are largely grown in an area of Oregon the produces crops closely related to sugar beets, such as chard. The GM beets could damage the organic and non-GMO crops through cross-pollination.

Click here to read the full report from Natural News.

U.S. Takes Over Three Tylenol Plants

March 11th, 2011

CNNMoney.com

By: Parija Kavilanz

The government is taking over three Tylenol plants following a blizzard of drug recalls and a Food and Drug Administration criminal investigation into safety issues at the factories.

The FDA and the Justice Department on Thursday took action against McNeil PPC and two of its executives — its vice president of quality and its vice president of operations for over-the-counter products — for failing to comply with federally-mandated manufacturing practice.

McNeil, a division of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ, Fortune 500), said it had agreed to put its plants — one in Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, one in Fort Washington, Pa. and one in Lancaster, Pa., under FDA supervision.

The agreement, known as a “consent decree,” is subject to approval by a federal judge in Pennsylvania.

The decree requires McNeil to adhere to a strict timetable to bring those facilities into compliance.

McNeil also must retain an independent expert to inspect the three plants to determine whether the violations have been corrected, and to ensure that adequate manufacturing processes are in place. After expert certification, the FDA will determine if the facilities are in compliance.

“This is a strong, but necessary, step to ensure that the products manufactured by this company meet federal standards for quality, safety and purity,” said Deborah Autor, director of the Office of Compliance with the FDA.

If McNeil and the executives violate the decree, the FDA may order McNeil to cease manufacturing, recall products and take other corrective action, including levying fines of $15,000 for each day and an additional $15,000 for each violation of the law.

The fines can total up to $10 million annually.

“We are a company that strives to do the right thing, and we succeed far more often than not. When we don’t succeed, it’s painful,” Johnson & Johnson CEO William Weldon, wrote in a statement Thursday which was posted on the company’s blog.

“By moving to resolve the FDA’s concerns about McNeil Consumer Healthcare US manufacturing facilities, we are able to look to the future and focus on what is most important to us: serving the millions of people around the world who rely on our products every day to meet their health care needs,” he said.

While a consent decree isn’t an unprecedented step, that action is also not taken frequently, said Douglas Stearn, assistant director with FDA’s Office of Compliance.

“It is a significant step,” he said.

Stearn said the agency informed McNeil Thursday that it would proceed with a civil lawsuit against the company, citing its Tylenol and other drug recalls for violations of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

However, McNeil agreed to terms of a consent decree, which effectively warded off the FDA’s lawsuit.

McNeil’s plants in Puerto Rico and Lancaster will continue to operate, McNeil spokeswoman Bonnie Jacobs said. But “there is the potential for some impact [in production] initially as we implement the additional steps.”

Stearn said McNeil can continue to manufacture and ship drugs from the Las Piedras and Lancaster plants, but not from the Fort Washington facility.

The agreement also requires McNeil to destroy all drugs under its control that have been recalled from the three facilities since December 2009.

Stearn declined to comment on the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation into McNeil’s recall activities.

McNeil also operates a facility in Guelph, Canada, Stearn said that plant was not affected by the agreement.

McNeil’s drugmaking plants have come under intense scrutiny over the past year after successive recalls in 2010 of over-the-counter pain and cold medicines such as Tylenol, Benadryl and Motrin produced at those facilities.

The company shut its Fort Washington plant following a scathing FDA inspection report of the factory last May that cited 20 manufacturing violations.

That facility makes all of McNeil pediatric over-the-counter Tylenol, Benadryl and Motrin medicines. The other two facilities make adult medicines, including Tylenol.

In July 2010, McNeil submitted its plan to the FDA outlining steps to improve quality at its facilities.

David Rosen, a former FDA official, called Thursday’s developments “very serious” for McNeil and its parent Johnson & Johnson.

“If McNeil violates the agreement, regulators can shut down all the production at the plants,” said Rosen.

Consent decrees are also very expensive for companies, he said. “McNeil will have to pay for the outside expert and the new inspections. And there’s millions of dollars in lost sales from drug products that can’t be marketed.”

Click here for the full report from CNNMoney.com

Senate Removes Federal Judge For Kickbacks and Lying

December 8th, 2010

CNN

The U.S. Senate found Federal Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana guilty on four articles of impeachment on Wednesday, which will remove him from the federal bench.

He had been accused of accepting kick-backs and lying to the Senate and FBI.

The vote makes Porteous, 63, only the eighth federal judge in the nation’s history to be impeached and convicted.

Porteous is also “forever disqualified to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States,” Sen. Daniel Inouye said during Wednesday’s Senate hearing.

The Senate adopted the motion barring Porteous from holding a future federal office by a vote of 94 to 2.

In March, the House of Representatives voted unanimously to impeach Porteous on corruption charges.

“Our investigation found that Judge Porteous participated in a pattern of corrupt conduct for years,” U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Task Force on Judicial Impeachment.

In a statement at the time, Porteous’ lawyer, Richard W. Westling, said the Justice Department had decided not to prosecute because it did not have credible evidence.

“Unfortunately, the House has decided to disregard the Justice Department’s decision and to move forward with impeachment,” he said. “As a result, we will now turn to the Senate to seek a full and fair hearing of all of the evidence.”

Porteous, who turns 64 this year, was appointed to the federal bench in 1994. He has not worked as a judge since he was suspended with pay in the fall of 2008, Westling said.

The most recent previous impeachment of a federal judge by the House was last year.

Judge Samuel B. Kent of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas resigned after being impeached on charges of sexual assault, obstructing and impeding an official proceeding and making false and misleading statements, according to the website of the Federal Judicial Center.

Before then, Judge Walter L. Nixon of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi was impeached in 1989 on charges of perjury before a federal grand jury. The Senate convicted him and removed him from office that year.

Click here for the full report from CNN

Info Pitchman Trudeau Avoids Jail

May 20, 2010

SouthtownStar.com

An appeals court in Chicago says infomercial pitchman and author Kevin Trudeau won’t have to serve a 30-day jail sentence for getting his supporters to flood a federal judge’s computer with e-mails.

The appeals court Thursday dismissed Trudeau’s contempt of court conviction, saying an act of contempt must occur in the presence of the judge.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman had found Trudeau in contempt after his computer and BlackBerry were both jammed with e-mails from Trudeau’s supporters.

The appeals court disagreed with Gettleman’s finding that Trudeau had in effect committed contempt in the presence of the judge because the computer was a part of his court.

Trudeau has been fighting a battle with the Federal Trade Commission before Gettleman.

Click here to read the full report

Spam a Judge, Go To Jail?

April 9, 2010

Wired

By: David Kravets

A litigant in a civil lawsuit asked an appeals court Wednesday to overturn his 30-day contempt sentence for urging people to send e-mail to a federal judge.

Lots of e-mail.

The brouhaha began in February, when TV pitchman Kevin Trudeau urged his radio and web followers to deluge U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman with e-mail so he would side with him in a civil lawsuit pending before the Chicago judge.

The judge’s inbox was flooded with hundreds of messages, and his Blackberry froze up. He promptly found Trudeau in contempt of court and sentenced him to jail.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the sentence, pending a decision on appeal. A three-judge panel of the circuit court heard oral arguments in the case Wednesday, focusing on whether contempt of court can occur in a court’s “virtual presence” — meaning outside of the courthouse. A decision could come anytime in the case, which tests the reach of judicial authority in the digital age. (.pdf)

Gary Feinerman, the judge’s attorney, told the appellate court that computers are part and parcel to a judge’s courtroom.

“The court, at that point, was under attack,” Feinerman argued, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He said U.S. Marshals are examining the messages to see if any are threatening.

Kimball Anderson, Trudeau’s lawyer, argued his client could only be sanctioned for courtroom behavior, and only if it affects the “administration of justice,” the paper reported.

Click here for the full report.

TV pitchman held in contempt for e-mail deluge on judge

February 11, 2010

WGN/Tribune

By Jeff Coen

Tanned infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau has pushed cures for everything from obesity to cancer, but he appears unlikely to have a magic potion to soothe the anger of a federal judge whose e-mail account he flooded with unwanted messages from supporters.

A furious U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman gave Trudeau three hours’ notice to show up in his federal courtroom Thursday and then found the Internet host in criminal contempt of court for the e-mail attack.

Trudeau sat with a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face as the normally mild-mannered Gettleman lectured his lawyer about the e-mail onslaught — all the while being interrupted on the bench as new messages continued to hit his inbox.

“Just got another one,” said the judge, who earlier had turned his computer screen so attorneys in the case could see the incoming barrage for themselves. “Every time you hear that little bell.”

On his Web site Wednesday, Trudeau had asked followers to write Gettleman in an attempt to convince the judge that he’s not selling snake oil. Gettleman, who is presiding over a civil lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission, previously held Trudeau in contempt of an earlier court order for using deceptive practices in some of his advertising and ordered him to pay a fine of more than $37 million.

Gettleman said that next week he’s likely to impose time in custody for Trudeau and another fine as punishment for the e-mails. In the meantime, he ordered Trudeau to come up with $50,000 for bail by Friday and surrender his passport.

“Unlike Mr. Trudeau, I do not wish to act hastily or improvidently,” said the judge, who has the authority to impose a prison term of up to six months. “I want to think about what an appropriate sanction would be.”

Trudeau, a convicted felon who spent two years in prison for credit card fraud, had little obvious reaction to the prospect of having to spend more time behind bars. As he left court wearing a distinguished gray fedora, Trudeau said he would say nothing “until the proceedings are done.”

Gettleman said the deluge of hundreds of e-mails began late Wednesday after Trudeau posted a message on his Web site saying “Kevin needs your voice.” The posting went on to ask supporters to e-mail Gettleman, listed the judge’s e-mail address and asked that followers tell the judge how Trudeau had improved their lives.

The judge said the result was his e-mail and BlackBerry were “literally clogged” with a collection of messages — some from people who were angry and others who “said they are watching,” a vaguely threatening note that prompted Gettleman to ask the U.S. Marshal Service in Chicago to assess if any of the messages amounted to a threat.

Judicial security has taken on heightened levels in Chicago since an enraged litigant killed the husband and mother of U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow five years ago. In the wake of the Lefkow tragedy, marshals set up a working group to respond quickly to any inappropriate communication or threat to a judge, said John O’Malley, chief deputy marshal in Chicago.

Gettleman had previously found that Trudeau, known for his seeming omnipresence on late-night TV infomercials, had used deceptive advertising as he marketed his book “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” The FTC noted in one court filing that infomercials for the book were broadcast 32,000 times in the U.S.

The judge said Thursday that he had considered referring the case to federal prosecutors for criminal investigation even before the e-mail avalanche.

Trudeau had appealed Gettleman’s $37.6 million fine, and last fall the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the contempt finding but directed Gettleman to do more fact-finding to justify the hefty fine, lawyers in the case said.

Gettleman was to make those findings in the coming weeks but had closed discovery — the sharing of evidence. The e-mail onslaught amounted to Trudeau encouraging improper communications from others, the judge said in finding that as a basis for the criminal contempt.

Gettleman said Trudeau’s method was meant to “harass the court and interfere with my processes.”

Experts said it doesn’t appear that the judge’s decision raises significant First Amendment issues.

Donald Craven, counsel for the Illinois Press Association, said free-speech rights have limits, including time, place and manner, pointing to the famous example of shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. A judge has the authority to limit what he or she considers in the context of a case.

“I have never known anybody to win that fight, especially in U.S. District Court,” Craven said. “If a judge says, ‘I don’t want to see it or hear it,’ you’d best stop. Judges are absolutely entitled to control the development of a court record in matters that are in front of them.”

DePaul University law professor Jeffrey Shaman said he wouldn’t be surprised if Trudeau claims the e-mailers were engaged in a “speech activity.” It may be that Trudeau, not being a lawyer, wouldn’t necessarily know about a ban on “ex-parte communication” — when only one party in a case communicates with a judge, Shaman said.

“I would think the proper remedy for when a party does (make such a misstep) is for the judge to let them know he will not accept the communication and not read it and give notice to the party that he’s doing something wrong,” Shaman said. “Trudeau might not know about the rule against ex-parte communication.”

As for a quick fix to try to keep Gettleman’s e-mail account from being buried in missives from supporters who think Trudeau is a force for good, the pitchman’s lawyer told the judge another message had been posted on his Web site Thursday saying the call for the e-mails was in error.

“Please do not under any circumstances communicate with the court or Judge Gettleman,” the message on the site read. “I apologize for this mistake. Yours in Health, Kevin.”

Click here for the full report.

Infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau found in contempt for harassing federal judge

February 11, 2010

TwinCities.com

Best-selling author and infomercial pitchman Kevin Trudeau was held in criminal contempt Thursday and threatened with jail after he urged visitors to his Web site to unleash a massive barrage of e-mails that crashed a federal judge’s computer in Chicago.

U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman’s computer became hopelessly clogged with e-mails from admirers of Trudeau’s diet book and other volumes, the judge told a hearing. Court technicians had to be called in to make his inbox usable again. Something similar happened to his BlackBerry, Gettleman said.

Gettleman has overseen Trudeau’s long-running legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission, which claims ads for Trudeau’s books offering cures for dozens of ailments — from faltering memory to hair loss — misrepresent the facts.

The judge said Trudeau urging the deluge of e-mails was harassment.

“The penalty I will impose will probably include some custody and a fine,” the calm, soft-spoken Gettleman said after holding Trudeau in direct criminal contempt. He ordered Trudeau to post a $50,000 bond and surrender his passport.

Gettleman said the glut of e-mails delayed court business and will force the U.S. Marshals Service to do a threat assessment.

Trudeau arrived in court voluntarily after Gettleman threatened to send marshals to bring him in. He sat silently through the hearing before being led away for fingerprinting and a mug shot.

Chief defense counsel Kimball R. Anderson told Gettleman that Trudeau had posted an apology on his Web site and urged visitors not to attempt further contact.

“I am confident this incident will not occur again,” Anderson said.

The apology message posted on Trudeau’s Web site admitted asking visitors to the site Wednesday to communicate with Gettleman but added “that was a mistake.”

“It was wrong to make that request,” Trudeau’s posting said. “Please do not under any circumstances communicate with the court or the judge. I apologize for the mistake.”

In 2004, Gettleman ordered Trudeau to end the claims cited by the FTC.

Three years later, the judge held Trudeau in civil contempt for misrepresenting some of the facts in an ad for his book “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.” Gettleman fined him $37.6 million and banned him from appearing in infomercials for the next three years.

A federal appeals court upheld the finding of contempt last August, but ordered Gettleman to recalculate the fine and reconsider the infomercial ban.

Weeks ago, Gettleman said there would be no fresh process of “discovery” — fact finding — as the court goes forward with the case. He said the previous discovery process was adequate. That apparently prompted Trudeau’s request to those who visited his Web site to tell Gettleman how much they liked his books.

Click here for the full report.

Kevin Trudeau SENTENCED: Infomercial King To Jail For Contempt Of Court

February 17, 2010

Huffington Post

Infomercial king Kevin Trudeau has been sentenced to 30 days in jail for contempt of court. The sentence comes after Trudeau persuaded visitors to his website to help him launch an e-attack on a federal judge’s computer — so many people emailed the judge that his computer in Chicago crashed. AP has more details of the attack and subsequent charges:

U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman’s computer became hopelessly clogged with e-mails from admirers of Trudeau’s diet book and other volumes, the judge told a hearing. Court technicians had to be called in to make his inbox usable again. Something similar happened to his BlackBerry, Gettleman said.

Gettleman has overseen Trudeau’s long-running legal battle with the Federal Trade Commission, which claims ads for Trudeau’s books offering cures for dozens of ailments — from faltering memory to hair loss — misrepresent the facts.

The judge said Trudeau urging the deluge of e-mails was harassment.

“The penalty I will impose will probably include some custody and a fine,” the calm, soft-spoken Gettleman said after holding Trudeau in direct criminal contempt. He ordered Trudeau to post a $50,000 bond and surrender his passport.

Gettleman said the glut of e-mails delayed court business and will force the U.S. Marshals Service to do a threat assessment.

Trudeau arrived in court voluntarily after Gettleman threatened to send marshals to bring him in. He sat silently through the hearing before being led away for fingerprinting and a mug shot.

Chief defense counsel Kimball R. Anderson told Gettleman that Trudeau had posted an apology on his Web site and urged visitors not to attempt further contact.
Story continues below

“I am confident this incident will not occur again,” Anderson said.

The apology message posted on Trudeau’s Web site admitted asking visitors to the site Wednesday to communicate with Gettleman but added “that was a mistake.”

“It was wrong to make that request,” Trudeau’s posting said. “Please do not under any circumstances communicate with the court or the judge. I apologize for the mistake.”

Click here for the full report.

TV pitchman Trudeau gets 30-day jail sentence

February 17, 2010

Reuters

A federal judge sentenced Kevin Trudeau to 30 days in jail on Wednesday after scolding the TV pitchman for inciting his fans to flood the judge’s e-mail with testimonials in his favor.

Trudeau has long battled federal regulators over his marketing of alternative “cures” for obesity, memory loss, disease and financial ruin.

U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman chastised Trudeau last week when he learned the pitchman had urged buyers of his books to write to the judge’s e-mail address with letters of support.

Gettleman saw it as a threat to his safety. Trudeau apologized and posted a message on his Web site to stop the campaign.

Trudeau was in court because an appeals court had thrown out a $37.6 million fine and a three-year infomercial ban against him for violating the terms of a 2004 Federal Trade Commission settlement with his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About.”

Gettleman has yet to decide on a revised punishment.

The 30-day jail sentence was stayed for a day to allow Trudeau to appeal, but he was ordered to forfeit a $50,000 bond.

Trudeau’s attorney Kimball Anderson said he was preparing the appeal to try to keep his client out of jail.

The case is Federal Trade Commission v. Trudeau, No. 03-cv-03904.

Click here for the full report.

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