On 26 November 2019 the FCA announced that it was using its product intervention powers to ban the promotion of so-called “speculative mini bonds” to retail consumers. The ban will come into force on 1 January and will last for 12 months...

Eversheds Sutherland has announced 38 partner promotions across its global network. A total of 16 of these promotions are female which is in line with its goal to achieve 30% female representation at partner level by 2021.  In Asia, we are plea...

Eversheds Sutherland announces that it has made 38 partner promotions across its International and Europe network. A total of 16 of these promotions are female which is in line with its goal to achieve 30% female representation at partner level by 2...

The 2019/20 Eredivisie season has been cancelled, meaning Duch league leaders Ajax will miss out on the title.

SC Cambuur head coach Henk de Jong has blasted the decision to declare the Dutch league void, branding it the "biggest scandal" in the country's sporting history.

Football League chief Rick Parry has threatened legal action on behalf of his clubs if promotion and relegation between the Premier League and Championship is not upheld.

C.D. Nacional and Farense will officially return to Portugal's Primeira Liga next term after the 2019-20 season was declared over for teams in the country's second division.

The Department filed a lawsuit against the state of New Jersey and the New Jersey Civil Service Commission alleging a pattern or practice of employment discrimination against African-Americans and Hispanics, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

American pharmaceutical manufacturer Alpharma Inc. has agreed to pay $42.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations in connection with the marketing of the morphine-based drug, Kadian.

American pharmaceutical manufacturers Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical LLC and Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., both subsidiaries of Johnson & Johnson, have agreed to pay more than $81 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Topamax.

American pharmaceutical manufacturer Allergan Inc. has agreed to plead guilty and pay $600 million to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of its biological product, Botox® Therapeutic, for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today.

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation has agreed to pay $422.5 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal marketing of certain pharmaceutical products.

Kos Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Abbott Laboratories, has agreed to pay more than $41 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from conduct relating to its drugs Advicor and Niaspan.

Irish pharmaceutical manufacturer Elan Corporation PLC and its U.S. subsidiary Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc. have agreed to pay more than $203 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of the epilepsy drug Zonegran

The United States has sued two Southern California attorneys and a Kentucky financial professional to bar them from promoting an allegedly abusive tax shelter known as an “intermediary transaction.”

The U.S. subsidiary of Belgian pharmaceutical manufacturer UCB SA. pleaded guilty today to the off-label promotion of its epilepsy drug Keppra and will pay more than $34 million to resolve criminal and civil liability arising out of its illegal conduct.

Novo Nordisk Inc., a Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer, has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve its civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of its hemostasis management drug, NovoSeven.

The Department of Justice announced today that it has entered into a settlement that, if approved by the court, will resolve the department’s allegations that the state of New Jersey and the New Jersey Civil Service Commission (collectively “New Jersey”) violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against African-Americans and Hispanics in the promotion of police sergeants throughout the state.

The United States has sued Sharon Angulo and Claudia Zuloaga to bar them from promoting an alleged tax fraud scheme and from preparing federal tax returns for others.

American pharmaceutical company Merck, Sharp & Dohme was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Patti B. Saris in Boston to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $321,636,000 in connection with its guilty plea related to its promotion and marketing of the painkiller Vioxx (rofecoxib), the Justice Department announced today.

Global Health Care Company Abbott Laboratories Inc. has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $1.5 billion to resolve its criminal and civil liability arising from the company’s unlawful promotion of the prescription drug Depakote for uses not approved as safe and effective by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Justice Department announced today. The resolution – the second largest payment by a drug company – includes a criminal fine and forfeiture totaling $700 million and civil settlements with the federal government and the states totaling $800 million. Abbott also will be subject to court-supervised probation and reporting obligations for Abbott’s CEO and Board of Directors.

The United States has sued a Las Vegas-based CPA and two others to stop an alleged tax-fraud scheme, the Justice Department announced today. Named as defendants in the civil injunction suit were CPA Wayne Reeves, Reeves’ wife, Diane Vaoga, and their alleged co-promoter, James Stoll. The government complaint was filed last month in Las Vegas with the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada. Announcement of the court filing was delayed until Reeves was served with court papers this week.

Victory Pharma Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in San Diego, has agreed to pay $11,420,743 to resolve federal civil and criminal liability arising from its marketing of the pharmaceutical products Naprelan, Xodol, Fexmid and Dolgic, the Justice Department announced today. Under the agreement announced today, Victory entered into a deferred prosecution agreement and paid a criminal forfeiture of $1.4 million to resolve federal Ant-Kickback Statute allegations, and paid $9,938,310 to resolve False Claims Act allegations.

The Justice Department announced today that a federal court has permanently barred Cash Management Systems, a Virginia corporation, from promoting two tax schemes that allegedly involve disguising wages as tool-reimbursement or tool-rental payments.

The Department of Justice announced today that it filed a motion to show cause why Bayer Corporation should not be held in civil contempt for violating a court order in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

APEC economies, data privacy regulators, and other stakeholders are exploring ways to bolster the Cross-Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) system.

May 4, 2020 – An important part of protecting the public health during the COVID-19 pandemic is making sure that the marketing of treatments or remedies that are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat the virus is stopped before consumers waste their money or potentially are harmed by these products. […]

Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®

Two issues involving Audible's ACX have come across my desk recently.

Rights Fraud

I've heard from several self- and small press-pubbed authors who report that they've found their books listed on ACX as open to narrator auditions...except that they, or their publishers, didn't put them there. This appears to be an attempt to steal authors' audio rights.

Below is one listing. Here's another and another and another. (All of these listings have been invalidated by ACX.)


See "Comments from the Rights Holder" at the bottom. The purported company, Publishing D LLC, does not show up on any searches.

The fraud seems pretty elaborate. Here's what one of the authors who contacted me told me:


These comments from a freelance audiobook narrator illustrate that "Publishing D" is not an isolated incidence.

Promotional Code Shenanigans

Multiple authors have contacted me to report that they've received an email from ACX withdrawing their promotional codes. The cited reason: "unusual activity," with no explanation of what that means.

The authors say that they have not used the codes improperly or violated ACX guidelines; in some cases, they've used the codes only a handful of times or not at all. See, for instance, blog posts by authors G. Michael Vasey and Adam Piggott. Per discussions on the KBoards and Reddit, a lot of authors seem to be affected.

Is this one of Amazon's (Audible's parent company) periodic crackdowns on misuse or fraud that has inadvertently ensnared innocent authors? According to author and self-publishing expert David Gaughran, ACX promo code scamming is a major problem, and Amazon's anti-abuse sweeps often involve a lot of collateral damage. Or could it be an error--a glitch or rogue algorithm?

So far, authors' efforts to get a fuller explanation have run up against the black box that is Amazon:


If I hear anything further, I'll update this post.

UPDATE 11/27/19: One of the authors who alerted me to the promo code withdrawal has received a notice saying that their codes are reinstated--however, they say that the promo code tab has yet to appear in their dashboard.


UPDATE 2/25/29: More about ACX scams, from a comment left by a narrator:

About the ACX thing...I was contacted by ACX to narrate three books, however, the person who offered the contracts kept emailing and frantically telling me to send them my book codes. I got leary and called ACX. They said unfortunately there are many scams taking place where if a book is "unclaimed" in their system, someone may grab it and offer it as an audiobook contract. Then they keep the codes and blackmarket sell them. They do not pay the narrators. Many other authors are experiencing it, they said, but they have no way to regulate it.

I declined the offers and got a nasty note from the contract holder. I was also told that since I corresponded with them, they had my email that is associated with Amazon..the same one. So, ACX said I had to go change my email on Amazon or they would have access there too. Geez.

In view of the financial hit the state is likely to take owing to the pandemic, the state government has taken several austerity measures.

New schemes, construction, purchases by the state have been barred while new jobs will not be created. Employees will not be transferred and promoted this financial year.

A resolution issued by the chief secretary on Monday said that the current schemes will have to run on 33 per cent grant instead of 100 per cent. Health, medical education, relief and rehabilitation, food and civil supplies departments will get priority in state funding.

'Review schemes'
The departments have been asked to review current schemes and work on them with a limited budget.

However, there will be no cut in essential spendings like salaries and pension payments.

Pending bills to be paid
Buying gizmos, furniture and hiring offices have not been allowed. The expenses on event management have been curtailed. The pending bills will be paid using whatever the finances are available.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.

Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news

Company: Nanu India Recruitment Co
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Company: TFG Digital India
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Company: TFG Digital India
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Company: TFG Digital India
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location: Chennai, Navi Mumbai
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Summary: Online Marketing of digital services Part Time

Company: TFG Digital India
Experience: 0 to 3
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location: Bengaluru / Bangalore, Mumbai
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Company: TFG Digital India
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Company: TFG Digital India
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Summary: Online Promotion Of Digital Services Part Time Work From Home.

Company: TFG Digital India
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location: Bengaluru / Bangalore, Delhi
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Ref: 24817317
Summary: TFG Digital India is providing home based part time work opportunity. We need committed & result-oriented" COMPUTER OPERATORS / LITERATES” who can join hands with us to do online....

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An Amazon promotion offering cheap gas at a station in California had to be suspended due to high demand from motorists. The event took place to celebrate the show 'Marvellous Ms. Maisel.'

ROSS HEPPENSTALL AT ST ANDREW'S: Marcelo Bielsa was asked afterwards how his heart had coped with such an extraordinarily thrilling encounter.

ADAM SHERGOLD AT ASHTON GATE: Andreas Weimann spent eight years with Aston Villa so it would have stung to help gift bitter rivals Birmingham City three points in this manner.

ALAN BIGGS AT EWOOD PARK: Middlesbrough have strengthened their hold on a Championship play-off spot, climbing above Bristol City into fifth place with victory against Blackburn.

TOM FARMERY AT CARROW ROAD: If Norwich fans knew it would end like this then there would never have been any early season angst when it didn’t seem to be going their way.

ReutersAmazon CEO Jeff Bezos.Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos published his annual shareholder letter on Thursday.Bezos's letter has become a must-read among business leaders for its ingenuity and thought-provoking advice.This year's letter, however, mostly focused on Amazon's work in helping its employees and other businesses amid COVID-19 - a departure from previous years' letters that were full of inspiring anecdotes and business guidance.Some people say Bezos' annual shareholder letter is losing its luster as the company is more cautious about what it says publicly in light of increased regulatory and press scrutiny.Do you work at Amazon? Contact this reporter via encrypted messaging app Signal (+1 415 926 2066) or email (ekim@businessinsider.com).Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.Jeff

In a dramatic decision which would likely reverberate down to grassroots level, Liverpool would be denied the top-flight title and struggling teams would be saved from dropping down.

Wayne Rooney is convinced he has still got what it takes to prosper in the Premier League as he targets a return with Derby. The former Man United man will resume his career in England next month.

The winger has been a key man for Albion since joining on a season-long loan last summer, scoring five times and registering five assists in 16 starts, to help them to the top of the Championship.