Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Diane A. Lebedeff recently upheld the power of the NY Attorney General to protect consumers online. In the case of People v. Lipsitz, the court ruled that advertisements and companies are not exempt from NY state law simply because they are on the Internet.
Attorney General Vacco's office had filed charges against Kevin Lipsitz, of Staten Island, claiming that he used misleading unsolicited e-mails (spam) and posts to newsgroups to solicit business for his magazine subscription service business. Lipsitz allegedly sent letters and placed posts disguised as testimonials from satisfied customers, but which he actually wrote.
The decision by Justice Lebedeff requires Lipsitz to post a bond to guarantee payments to consumers and to provide a detailed accounting of past transactions so that restitution to consumers can be made and civil fines calculated.
"The decision confirms that the Attorney General has clear authority to seek to restrain illegal business practices by a local business in relation to both in-state and out-of-state residents notwithstanding that these practices occur online," Attorney General Vacco said.
For more information about the judgment or case, please read the press release. To contact the New York Attorney General's office, try using their website.
If you have any questions or would like to report and incident, please call NCL's National Fraud Information Center at 1-800-876-7060 or use one of our online forms.
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