News & Events

For media inquiries and other press-related questions, please contact the NAAG Press Center at (202) 326-6027.

Press Room

State News Headlines

October 11, 2007

The following headlines are compiled as an internal service for state Attorney General offices only. This list is not exhaustive and is a snapshot of news from around the country compiled through the use of various search engines.

Suit Accuses Apple, AT&T of Monopoly

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Complaints over Apple Inc.'s use restrictions and recent software update for the iPhone have erupted in two lawsuits alleging Apple and its carrier partner, AT&T Inc., engaged in illegal monopolistic behavior…Two separate lawsuits were filed Friday in San Jose -- one in federal court and the other in state court and both seeking class-action status. Full Article

Pension Fund Sues Mattel on Toy Recalls

A local pension fund in Michigan filed a shareholder suit yesterday against Mattel and its board, asserting that a mishandling of product safety procedures was responsible for three toy recalls during the summer. The suit claims that Mattel’s directors, including the chief executive, Robert A. Eckert, breached their duty to shareholders by allowing the company to delay the reporting of hazardous toys beyond the 24-hour window required by federal regulators. The suit also accuses four directors of selling $33 million shares of Mattel stock from late January to early May and profiting from insider knowledge of coming problems. Full Article

New York Official Faults Student-Loan Marketing

Erie Processing, a student lender in Largo, Fla., has offered cash rewards to loan applicants. Elite Financial Group, a lender in San Diego, has solicited business with letters from its “Federal Loan Division” on stationery with an eagle logo that looks very much like something the federal government might use. The letters warn that “failure to respond could result in higher interest rates and increased payments.” Academic Loan Group, also of San Diego, has sent prospective customers “checks” that look as if they could be cashed, but cannot, unless the recipients take out loans with the company. Full Article

Panel Sees Problems in Ethanol Production

Greater cultivation of crops to produce ethanol could harm water quality and leave some regions of the country with water shortages, a panel of experts is reporting. And corn, the most widely grown fuel crop in the United States, might cause more damage per unit of energy than other plants, especially switchgrass and native grasses, the panel said. Full Article

DNA innocence testing for convicts on back burner

WASHINGTON — Since 2006, the Justice Department has yet to spend any of the $8 million set aside by Congress for DNA tests for convicts to prove their innocence while it has used $214 million to collect DNA from convicted criminals and improve crime labs, records show. Full Article

The United States of Subprime

As America's mortgage markets began unraveling this year, economists seeking explanations pointed to "subprime" mortgages issued to low-income, minority and urban borrowers. But an analysis of more than 130 million home loans made over the past decade reveals that risky mortgages were made in nearly every corner of the nation, from small towns in the middle of nowhere to inner cities to affluent suburbs. Full Article

Leslie R. Kershaw
Communications Assistant
Office: (202) 326-6027
Fax: (202) 408-8061
Email: lnelson@naag.org

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