FTC and States Sue Amazon Over Alleged Secret Ad Surcharge: What It Means for Independent Ecommerce
September 29, 2026
On August 31, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission and 22 state attorneys general sued Amazon, alleging that for more than seven years the company secretly inflated the prices advertisers paid for Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Display ads. The complaint estimates the scheme likely extracted over $20 billion from roughly 1.2 million U.S. advertisers, including more than 500,000 small and medium-sized businesses.…
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King v. Bon Charge Update: When Are Website Terms Actually Binding?
September 21, 2026
A new ruling in King v. Bon Charge offers an important reminder for ecommerce businesses: simply placing Terms & Conditions on a website may not be enough to make them enforceable. We previously covered King v. Bon Charge in connection with TCPA “quiet hours” litigation, where the court allowed the plaintiff’s Do-Not-Call Registry claim to proceed while dismissing other claims. The case has now produced a separate ruling with implications well beyond the TCPA.…
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Gerald Lane Forced to Acknowledge Under Oath That 145 Show-Cause Orders Have Been Issued in Central District of California; Judges in the District Then Issue Six More
July 31, 2026
Last fall we reported on Gerald D. Lane, Jr. and a handful of missed deadlines in his sprawling "quiet hours" litigation campaign. We noted then that "judges in dozens of other quiet hour cases have also filed Orders to Show Cause." Ten months later, that pattern has not slowed — it has compounded. The Order to Show Cause (OSC) is a court's warning shot: comply with a deadline or a rule, or explain yourself and risk dismissal or sanctions. …
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The AI Disclosure Bill Merchants Should Be Watching: A Look at the QUIET Act Ahead of This Week’s Subcommittee Hearing
July 20, 2026
On Wednesday, July 22nd, the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology will hold a legislative hearing titled "Protecting Communications Networks and Improving Connectivity" in 2123 Rayburn. Chairmen Brett Guthrie (KY-02) and Richard Hudson (NC-09) announced the hearing on July 15, framing it around three goals: protecting Americans from foreign threats like China, cracking down on illegal robocalls and scammers, and expanding broadband access.…
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Broad Business Coalition Urges Supreme Court to Limit Expansion of Video Privacy Law
July 13, 2026
The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering one of the most significant digital privacy cases for online businesses in years. In Salazar v. Paramount Global, a growing coalition of business organizations is urging the Court to avoid expanding a decades-old Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) law in ways that could expose countless websites to new class action lawsuits.…
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Layoffs Hit PLG Damages Attorneys, the Firm Behind a Recent Surge of Quiet-Hours Litigation
Ecommerce Innovation Alliance
June 23, 2026
The firm behind the new quiet-hours filing campaign we have been tracking has gone through a round of layoffs across both its California and Florida operations according to Faythe Gutierrez, the attorney whose California filings first put the firm on our radar. Ms. Gutierrez confirmed to EIA that she was part of the layoffs.…
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