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Companies Ozone Networks Inc FollowNEW YORK, May 1 (Reuters) - A former employee of OpenSea, the world's largest marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), used inside knowledge of which assets would be featured on its homepage to make "free money," a prosecutor said on Monday as an insider trading trial wound to a close. Prosecutors have called it the first criminal insider trading case involving such assets. Prosecutor Thomas Burnett said in his closing argument that Chastain chose which NFTs to feature, and then profited illegally by selling his tokens shortly thereafter. They have said that his actions were not insider trading, and that the information he accessed was not OpenSea's property and had no inherent value to the company. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Conor HumphriesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

May 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to the legality of an Indiana requirement that abortion providers bury or cremate embryonic or fetal remains following the procedure, sidestepping another dispute involving a contentious Republican-backed state policy concerning abortion. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the state's requirement after a federal judge had invalidated it. Indiana's ban is currently blocked after decisions by lower court judges. The Supreme Court on April 21 blocked restrictions set by lower courts on a widely used abortion pill while litigation continues in lower courts in a challenge by abortion opponents to the drug's federal regulatory approval. Women themselves "may choose to take custody of the remains and dispose of them as they please," that court added.

The U.S. Treasury Department since 2020 has protected Citgo from creditors with claims against Venezuela, and its change of heart will allow claims to be settled by negotiation or through an auction of shares in Citgo parent PDV Holding. Citgo is PDV Holding's only asset. Houston-based Citgo is the seventh-largest U.S. oil refiner. Other creditors with at least $2.6 billion in claims against Venezuela have received conditional approvals to join the case. Pincus proposed starting the sales process on Sept. 5 with the highest bid reviewed by the court in June 2024.

According to complaints filed on Friday, Energizer agreed "under pressure from Walmart" to inflate wholesale battery prices for other retailers starting around January 2018, and require those retailers not to undercut Walmart on price. Walmart rivals allegedly risked higher wholesale prices or being cut off by Energizer, the largest U.S. disposable battery maker, if they charged less at checkout than Walmart, the world's largest retailer. According to the plaintiffs, Energizer's share of the U.S. disposable battery market has risen to more than 50% from 40% in 2018. The cases in the U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, are: Copeland et al v Energizer Holdings Inc et al, No. 23-02091, and Schuman et al v Energizer Holdings Inc et al, No.

WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. federal judge on Friday denied Google's motion to dismiss a Department of Justice antitrust case focused on advertising technology. "I'm going to deny the defendant's motion to dismiss," Judge Leonie Brinkema said in a federal court in Virginia. It also said that the government's estimate of Google's ad exchange as having "more than 50%" of the market fell short of the 70% needed to allege market power. Google's motion is the company's latest effort to end costly, time-consuming antitrust lawsuits. It also asked a federal court in Washington to dismiss claims in a 2020 lawsuit filed by the government.

April 28 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Denver on Friday rejected a Catholic medical center's bid to block Colorado from banning an unproven treatment meant to reverse the effects of a medication abortion drug. Medication abortion begins with the drug mifepristone, which blocks action of the hormone progesterone, crucial for sustaining pregnancy, and is completed with a second drug, misoprostol. Proponents of medication abortion reversal say that if a woman changes her mind after taking mifepristone but before taking misoprostol, the pregnancy can be continued by administering a high dose of progesterone. Mifepristone is the subject of a heated legal battle as anti-abortion groups seek to pull it from the market. Republican state legislatures have also taken steps to restrict access to the drug, while Democratic legislatures have sought to protect it.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said the law, which instructed the U.S. Circuit said the law "makes clear" that those leases are no longer subject to requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires a thorough look at environmental impacts of proposed major federal actions. Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda, who represented the environmental groups, said in a statement that the decision will harm Gulf communities and ecosystems. A spokesperson for the American Petroleum Institute called the order a “positive step toward more certainty and clarity for energy producers.”The Interior Department, which did not appeal the lower court decision, declined to comment. v. Debra Haaland et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, case No.

[1/6] Photo evidence collected during the investigation into U.S. Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, who is accused of leaking classified documents online, is released in a document by the U.S. Department of Justice. Department of Justice/Handout via REUTERSApril 26 (Reuters) - U.S. Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira, accused of leaking classified documents online, may still have access to classified materials, federal prosecutors said in court documents filed on Wednesday. Teixeira also "took steps to obstruct the government's investigation" into the leaks, prosecutors said, in a motion filed ahead of a hearing into his detention. "His release would heighten the risk that he would make further unauthorized disclosures of classified national defense information," prosecutors said in the documents. The motion said that in February 2022 Teixeira began to access hundreds of classified documents that had no bearing on his job.

Under questioning from her lawyers on Wednesday, Carroll testified in graphic detail about how Trump allegedly assaulted her in a department store dressing room in the mid-1990s. Trump has consistently denied the allegations and claimed that Carroll made them up to sell books and hurt him politically. Lawyers for Carroll are expected to resume their questioning on Thursday, and Trump's team will then get to cross-examine her. He scorned the case in Wednesday posts on his Truth Social platform, saying Carroll was promoting a "fraudulent & false story" and calling her lawyer a "political operative." U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan warned that Trump could face more legal problems if he kept discussing the case outside of court, and twice advised Trump's legal team to speak with the former president about it.

Companies Johnson & Johnson FollowApril 27 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) said on Thursday it has agreed to retain all talc-related liabilities arising from litigation in the United States and Canada and will "indemnify" newly formed consumer health unit Kenvue for all costs. "As unequivocally and unambiguously stated, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to retain all the talc-related liabilities -and indemnify Kenvue for any and all costs - arising from litigation in the United States and Canada. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and misleading," Erik Haas, vice president of litigation, Johnson & Johnson, said in a statement. The news comes as Johnson & Johnson (J&J) seeks a valuation of up to $42.95 billion for Kenvue in its initial public offering. Their lawsuit claims Justin Bergeron contracted mesothelioma, a cancer associated with asbestos exposure, as a result of using J&J talc, FT reported.

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April 26 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump has lost an appeal to block former Vice President Mike Pence from testifying in the special counsel probe into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, CNN reported on Wednesday. Earlier this month, Trump lawyers filed the appeal after a ruling related to the Justice Department investigation of efforts to undermine the election that Trump, a Republican, lost to Democrat Joe Biden. However, Pence disclosed that he would not appeal a judge's ruling that requires him to testify to a federal grand jury about conversations he had with Trump leading up to the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reporting by Sheena K Thomas in Bengaluru; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Meta Platforms Inc FollowWASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Thursday refused to revive a lawsuit filed by states against Meta's (META.O) Facebook that alleged the company had broken antitrust law. Dozens of states led by New York asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last year to reinstate the lawsuit, which U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia rejected, saying they had waited too long to file. The three-judge unanimous appeals court panel said it agreed that "the states unduly delayed in bringing suit." Both were publicized," Circuit Judge A. Raymond Randolph wrote, noting that the FTC had investigated both transactions. Neither the New York attorney general's office nor Facebook immediately responded to a request for comment.

April 26 (Reuters) - A California judge on Wednesday tentatively ordered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to be interviewed under oath about whether he made certain statements regarding the safety and capabilities of the carmaker’s Autopilot features. Plaintiff attorneys sought to depose Musk regarding recorded statements that tout the capabilities of Autopilot. Right now.”Tesla, however, opposed the request in court filings, arguing that Musk cannot recall details about statements. The lawsuit is scheduled to go into trial on July 31, adding to growing legal and regulatory scrutiny over Tesla's Autopilot system. A California state court jury on Friday found Tesla's Autopilot feature did not fail in what appeared to be the first trial related to a crash involving the partially automated driving software.

Circuit Court of Appeals, called the April 7 order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk "abrupt and profoundly disruptive." The 5th Circuit is preparing to hear May 17 arguments on the matter after the U.S. Supreme Court last week put on hold Kacsmaryk's order. Danco Laboratories, which manufactures the brand-name version of the drug, was due to make a separate filing with the 5th Circuit. A panel of three 5th Circuit judges is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to uphold Kacsmaryk's order. The 5th Circuit has a conservative reputation, with 12 of its 16 active judges appointed by Republican presidents.

April 26 (Reuters) - With more and more lawyers at major law firms using fast-advancing generative artificial intelligence tools, legal AI startup Harvey said Wednesday that it raised $21 million in fresh investor cash. Sequoia Capital, which is leading the Series A fundraising round, said more than 15,000 law firms are on a waiting list to start using Harvey. The company says it builds custom large language models for law firms. Technology companies and investors have rushed to embrace large language model-based generative AI since Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT debuted in November. Casetext in March released its AI legal assistant product, CoCounsel, which uses GPT-4 to speed up tasks like legal research, contract analysis and document review.

☆ Bannon associate sentenced to more than 4 years for fraud over Trump border wall
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Kolfage, 41, pleaded guilty last year to misappropriating funds meant for the "We Build the Wall" campaign. Andrew Badolato, 58, another former Bannon associate, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years in prison at the same hearing. "The fraud perpetrated by Mr. Kolfage and Mr. Badolato went well beyond ripping off individual donors," Torres told the hearing. He also pleaded guilty to tax charges. In September, Bannon, 69, was indicted in New York state court in Manhattan on money laundering and conspiracy charges over the planned wall.

☆ Fugees rapper convicted in US over lobbying campaigns with Malaysian financier
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Sarah N. Lynch | Thomson Reuters | Sarah N. Lynch Is The Lead Reporter For Reuters Covering The U.S. Justice Department Out Of Washington | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Nathan HowardWASHINGTON, April 26 (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday convicted Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel "Pras" Michel of The Fugees hip hop group on criminal charges that he conspired with a Malaysian financier to orchestrate a series of foreign lobbying campaigns aimed at influencing the U.S. government under two presidents. Low, who also faces separate federal charges in New York that he embezzled $4.5 billion from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, remains at large. Because federal election law prohibits foreigners from donating to U.S. campaigns, prosecutors said Michel masked the source of the funds. "Once he gave me the money, it was my discretion how I spent the money because it's my money," Michel told the jury, describing the payment as "free money." On whether he failed to register as a foreign agent, Michel told jurors that his attorney George Higgenbotham never told him it was required by law.

The dispute concerns Minnesota's tax regime under which the state takes "absolute title" of a property if an owner fails to pay property taxes for five years. Tyler's attorneys said in a court filing that 13 other states have similar policies that let government or private investors benefit when collecting delinquent property taxes. She owed $15,000, including roughly $2,300 in property taxes, as well as penalties, interests and costs. States have long permitted forfeitures of an entire property for neglecting to pay taxes, which are a reasonable condition of property ownership, the county said. Rulings in this case and any others not yet decided by the Supreme Court are due by the end of June.

She told jurors they would also hear testimony from two other women who say Trump sexually assaulted them, which Trump denies. Trump's lawyer Joe Tacopina countered in his opening statement that the evidence will show the former U.S. president did not assault Carroll. Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts on April 4 at a New York state courthouse, a three-minute walk from Tuesday's trial. Trump did not attend the trial and is not required to, and according to lawyers from both sides is unlikely to testify. Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation after he first denied her rape claim in June 2019, when he was still president.

[1/5] Singer Ed Sheeran arrives at Manhattan Federal Court for his copyright trial in New York City, U.S., April 25, 2023. "We don't allow dancing," U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton instructed the seven-member jury. The trial is the first of three Sheeran could face from lawsuits over similarities between the two hits. Sheeran is expected to testify again later in the trial as part of the defense case. If the jury finds Sheeran liable for copyright infringement, the trial will enter a second phase to determine how much he and his labels owe in damages.

At issue is whether a public official's social media activity can amount to governmental action bound by First Amendment limits on government regulation of speech. The Garniers sued O'Connor-Ratcliff and Zane in federal court, claiming their free speech rights under the First Amendment were violated. Zane and O'Connor-Ratcliff each had public Facebook pages identifying them as government officials, according to the Garniers' court filing. O'Connor-Ratcliff also had a public Twitter profile. Circuit Court of Appeals last July agreed, finding that the school board members had presented their social media accounts as "channels of communication with the public" about school board business.

It is considered the first criminal insider trading case involving such assets. "He abused that position of trust," prosecutors said in an April 4 filing. He added that if prosecutors mention insider trading, "there is a substantial danger of undue prejudice and confusion of the jury." "Is it insider trading of anything?" "If this case sticks, there is precedent that insider trading theory can be applied to any asset class."

That is because algorithms that power generative AI tools like ChatGPT and its successor GPT-4 operate in a somewhat similar way as those that suggest videos to YouTube users, the experts added. While the case does not directly relate to generative AI, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that AI tools that generate "poetry" and "polemics" likely would not enjoy such legal protections. Section 230 protections generally apply to third-party content from users of a technology platform and not to information a company helped to develop. 'CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR OWN ACTIONS'Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, who helped draft that law while in the House of Representatives, said the liability shield should not apply to generative AI tools because such tools "create content." They said tools like ChatGPT operate like search engines, directing users to existing content in response to a query.

[1/2] Police officers guard the Tree of Life synagogue following Saturday's shooting at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 28, 2018. REUTERS/Aaron JosefczykApril 24 (Reuters) - The man accused of opening fire and killing 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history faces a potential death sentence at the end of a federal trial that begins on Monday with jury selection. Robert Bowers, 50, is accused of dozens of charges, including 11 counts of hate crimes resulting in death, in a massacre that unfolded at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018. In seeking the death penalty, federal prosecutors will try to prove aggravating factors in their case against Bowers, including that he substantially planned the attack and that he targeted vulnerable victims. Federal authorities said Bowers entered the synagogue in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood where many residents are Jewish, armed with multiple firearms.

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