Danielle Forrester

A judge has ordered credit card giant American Express to pay $8 million in ASIC’s first-ever case over design and distribution obligations, but has criticised the recently enacted provisions as being “poorly drafted”. 

Sky News has taken its fight with Isentia to the Full Federal Court, after a judge found the the media monitor was not liable for copyright infringement despite the “wholesale copying” of content distributed to government clients.

A judge has ruled that media monitor Isentia did not infringe the copyright of Sky News, despite the “wholesale copying” of content for its government clients, because its actions were done for the “services of the Commonwealth or State”.

Collapsed vocational education provider Phoenix Institute and its marketing arm have been hit with a record $438 million penalty after a judge found they acted unconscionably and with “callous indifference” by enticing vulnerable consumers to enrol in unsuitable courses with promises of free laptops.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has won its appeal against Employsure over alleged misleading Google advertisements, with the Full Federal Court upping the penalty against the specialist workplace relations consultancy from $1 million to $3 million.

Payday lenders BHF Solutions and Cigno are fighting ASIC’s bid for an injunction barring them from breaching consumer credit laws, with BHF claiming it should not be exposed to contempt.

Apple has foreshadowed a challenge in the event two law firms seek to work together on a consolidated class action that alleges both Apple and Google engaged in anti-competitive conduct in operating their app stores.

The corporate regulator will challenge a bid by payday lenders Cigno and BHF to stay its case pending their appeal to the High Court.

Another law firm is planning competition class actions against Apple and Google over their app stores, just over a month after Phi Finney McDonald filed group proceedings against the tech giants, setting up a beauty parade that adds a wrinkle to similar cases brought by Epic Games.

The ACCC will seek a higher penalty against Employsure over misleading Google advertisements, after a judge found the consumer regulator’s proposed $5 million penalty was inappropriate and instead ordered the specialist workplace relations consultancy to pay $1 million.