commercial contract

Fine Print Friday: Virgin Mobile’s MiFi

September 3, 2010

Virgin Mobile’s new MiFi costs $150, and for $40 per month you receive unlimited internet service on Sprint’s 3G network, with no contract or minimum usage period. Considering this new development, I thought that going through the fine print on Virgin Mobile’s terms of service with regard to their services generally and BroadBand2Go specifically would be important, to make sure that this too-good-to-be-true product isn’t just that.

Read the full article →

Undue Influence an Issue in the DC Mayoral Race?

August 30, 2010

The Washington Post recently published an editorial regarding the current accusations being flung at incumbent Washington DC mayor Adrian M. Fenty, many of which have to do with allegations of rigged contracts. The author picks up on an interesting contractual concept early in the editorial that is something with which we are all familiar, but very few of us could define: Undue Influence.

Read the full article →

Fine Print Friday: Comcast Cable

August 20, 2010

As by far the largest provider of digital media services in the country (including cable television, internet, and digital phone), Comcast has many Fine Print Friday readers as customers. Since we always just sign off on the agreement so we can watch our favorite shows and surf our favorite web sites, the question is: What did we agree to? This week’s Fine Print Friday will illuminate some of the more interesting provisions of your agreement with Comcast.

Read the full article →

Paris Hilton $35m Breach of Contract: A Short Analysis

August 16, 2010

Paris Hilton was in the news again last week–this time because she is being sued by Hairtech International for not fulfilling her endorsement contract. As such a high-profile breach of contract situation, I thought I would use this opportunity to explore contract breaches, whether damages are appropriate, and what the result might be.

Read the full article →

Fine Print Friday: Netflix Watch Instantly

August 13, 2010

Netflix made headlines this week when it announced that it made a deal with Epix (a pay-TV service that is a joint venture between MGM, Lionsgate and Viacom Inc.’s Paramount) to stream movies from those studios, greatly increasing the size of their Watch Instantly library. This is great news for Netflix subscribers (including me), and likely means that Netflix will have a lot of new subscribers in the coming months. This development makes Netflix’s Watch Instantly policies ripe for Fine Print Friday.

Read the full article →

Do I Have to Read This Contract? It’s So Long….

February 23, 2010

Contracts generally only require that you actually intend to enter into a contract with another party, not that you intend to enter into this specific contract. Once you understand that whatever you are signing is supposed to be legally binding and enforceable by the courts, you are likely stuck with that agreement, even if you [...]

Read the full article →