Apparently jurors are keen to construe the story before them as a search for fault, even if that’s not quite how patent law actually works (IP Law and Business)
CPSIA Blog Day #6: Wrap-up
Links and angles that didn’t fit anywhere else:
- Just in time to be too late? Per activist Kathleen Fasanella, NPR “Marketplace” is said to be planning a show on CPSIA for Feb. 6, by which time shelves will be emptying;
- Community of independent artists squabble amid anguish of “discovering piece by piece they can’t comply” [Electric Boogaloo, strong language]
- Obama’s decorator better hurry and furnish girls’ rooms before Feb. 10 [Vicki Piippo, Calico Closet]
- Consumer Reports sticks to its profoundly benighted view that there’s nothing wrong with the law, and gets an earful from visiting readers. Relatedly, the once-independent blog Consumerist was recently bought by CR’s parent Consumers’ Union, and likewise parrots the organization’s misleading line on thrift shops and other applications of the law;
- My call for past bloggers to revisit CPSIA today was even more successful than I hoped. Posts from Amy Alkon at Advice Goddess, Patrick at Popehat, John Schwenkler, Mark Thompson at the wonderfully named League of Ordinary Gentlemen, and Eve Tushnet at Ladyblog.
Also, I contributed two posts at my other site, Point of Law, on the law’s testing costs and its impact on the amusement park/attractions business. And excellent business/econ blogger Marc Hodak (Hodak Value) posted today as well.
- Darn. This place had some cute stuff, too.
- In today’s New York Post, Jeff Stier (American Council on Science and Health) points out that the law will deal a blow to NYC’s garment trade. Help, Mayor Bloomberg!
- Canadian web-based book seller: we’ll have to decide whether to go on shipping kids’ books to U.S. customers;
- Resources: A great big assemblage of videos on the cause; nice collection of resources on the law from Karen Clark; info and action kit from Etsy (PDF), print it out for reference.
CPSIA Blog Day #5: “Laptop for every child” campaign
You guessed it: hitting a CPSIA snag (Digital Journal).
CPSIA Blog Day #4: Groups that should care
There’s at least one “generic” blog post on CPSIA that has been freely distributed for crafters and other bloggers to use today (example: Chichiboulie). It’s a good one, dividing the topic along the lines of the various groups that each have a lot to lose if the law goes into effect as planned Feb. 10:
- To the Parents of Young Students:
- To the Avid Reader:
- To the Lover of All Things Handmade:
- To the Environmentalist:
- To the Second-Hand Shopper:
- To the Entrepreneur:
- To the Antique Toy Collector:
Do you fall into any of these categories? Many people I know fall into at least half of them. It’s hard to imagine the law’s diehard defenders at places like Consumer Reports, The Pump Handle, and the trial-lawyer-defense Center for Justice and Democracy don’t fall into any. (Graphic credit: Hasenpfeffer).
CPSIA Blog Day #3: Small businesses endangered
The Upscale Baby Blog (“Reviews of Stylish Baby Gear and Inexpensive Alternatives by Real Moms”) has been running a terrific series by Susan Maphis on the law, with many posts examining the law’s real-world impact on small makers of such products as cold-weather baby capes, eco-friendly animal dolls, personalized ceramic wall plaques, made-to-order coordinated mother-daughter outfits, custom quilts, organic-fiber baby sweaters, and toy barns from reclaimed wood. It makes for sad (some of the makers have already resigned themselves to going out of business) but important reading.
CPSIA Blog Day #2: Etsy’s Gallery of Unaffordability
We posted a week and a half ago about the cute baby quilt priced at $3,530 — formerly $58, but with a new higher price to cover the required testing under CPSIA. (In general, items with many colors and components are hardest hit by the law’s onerous testing requirements.) At Etsy, the online crafts market, you can check out a whole gallery with dozens of “CPSIA specials” reflecting the new cost structure that Reps. Henry Waxman, Bobby Rush and their colleagues have succeeded in inflicting on the handcrafted market as of Feb. 10. (If the link doesn’t work, search “CPSIA” and sort by highest-price-first).
The $17,240 travel toy shown above, which has more than 40 different components, is at present among the most costly. (Its pre-CPSIA price: $20). Here is a $3,940 pair of toddler socks:
And if you’re on a limited budget, here’s a $900 “Elsa the Elephant” stuffed toy:
(Note to any consumer-advocacy lawyers in the readership whose first impulse is to cross-examine the crafters who posted these items: yes, it’s true, the cost of the testing can be spread over the entire lot of goods produced in the particular style and size. So the mom who makes the polka-dot socks at her kitchen table and sells them on Etsy doesn’t really have to recoup her $3,940 expected testing bill by selling one $3,940 pair of socks. She could instead break even by selling 10 pairs at $394 each, or even 197 pairs at $20 each. You sure tripped her up on that!)
CPSIA Blog Day #1: Past CPSIA bloggers
Among the bloggers who’ve done excellent posts on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, but who don’t primarily blog on this or nearby topics, are BeliefNet’s Rod Dreher (who was onto the thrift store angle very early), John Schwenkler of Upturned Earth, Mark Thompson @ Publius Endures, economist Tyler Cowen at Marginal Revolution, Advice Goddess columnist Amy Alkon, Iain Murray at CEI “Open Market”, Jeff Nolan at Venture Chronicles, Patrick @ Popehat, Eve Tushnet (scroll a lot to Jan. 15), and leading education blogger Joanne Jacobs.
Do all of them know that today is CPSIA Blog Day, in which hundreds of bloggers will be calling attention to the law’s terrible effects? I hope so, because it would be great to hear their voices again as part of today’s chorus.
P.S. Great response! Posts from Amy Alkon at Advice Goddess, Patrick at Popehat, John Schwenkler, Mark Thompson at the wonderfully named League of Ordinary Gentlemen, and Eve Tushnet at Ladyblog.
Kozinski grudge-match litigant, cont’d
Readers may remember Cyrus Sanai as the litigant with the big grudge against Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski who proceeded to launch a campaign trying to destroy Kozinski’s career (with some help from the Los Angeles Times). Now a California appeals court has issued the latest ruling in Sanai’s decade-long dispute with the owner of a Newport Beach apartment he once rented. Shaun Martin at California Appellate Report has details on the ruling, which sends the fight back to the lower courts. Martin calls it “a tale of litigation run amok. A tale that explains, in part, why some people hate lawyers; and, in particular, engaging in transactions with them.”
P.S. Sanai, in our comments section, says we’re wrong: for one thing, we described him as having sued the owner of the apartment he once rented when in fact “the complaint at issue is against UDR’s successor in interest, First Advantage Corporation, and UDR’s owner, Harvey Saltz”.
Cheerleading is a contact sport
And thus, per the Wisconsin Supreme Court, covered by state-legislated injury-suit immunity barring a suit filed against a teammate and school district [Frisch, Legal Profession Blog, AP; ruling]
No, they’re not “gambling devices”
An appeals court rules against Kentucky’s seizure of 141 offshore-casino domain names [Randazza, Citizen Media Law; earlier here, here, and here] More (via comments): Bill Poser, Language Log.