| Brandy's mom: Kim Kardashian, siblings had chance to avoid litigation
The mother and manager of former America's Got Talent judge Brandy Norwood filed a lawsuit on Monday alleging Kardashian and three of her siblings charged $120,636 worth of purchases to her credit card without her permission. Kim and her sister Khloe had previously worked for Brandy, while Kim also dated Sonja's son William "Ray J" Norwood Jr.. "I did not want to commence litigation against the Kardashian family without conducting an exhaustive investigation into the charges, and discussing all options, including criminal prosecution, with my family," Sonja told OK! Weekly in a statement released Tuesday. "After Ray-J and Brandy urged me not to file criminal charges because of their prior friendship, I decided to afford the Kardashians an opportunity to resolve this matter without a lawsuit." Sonja told OK! that once "the fraudulent charges" were brought to the Kardashian's attention, "they apologized profusely." "[They] advised us, through their attorneys, that they would pay the debt in full," Sonja told OK!. "However, they have since reneged on that promise." According to the lawsuit, Kim used Sonja's American Express credit card to make the unauthorized purchases when she was employed as Brandy's stylist in 2006 and 2007. The lawsuit also accuses Kim of sharing Norwood's credit card information with siblings Kourtney, Robert Jr.
Dear Abby: Keeping track of passwords is word to the wise online
Dear Abby: Allow me to draw your readers' attention to the importance of keeping track of their online log-in information. We all know it's smart to keep photocopies of our driver's license, credit cards, etc. With as much time as some of us spend online, in addition to the billions of dollars we spend there as a nation, it's wise to keep track of sundry log-in details as well. I keep track of the various Web sites from which I make purchases — the Web site name, user name and my password — because various Web sites require different information. Please suggest that your readers compile this information in a single document and print it out from time to time. Keep a hard copy in a safe place with other important papers. That way, if anything should happen to them, family members will be able to access these Web sites, delete saved credit card information and close the accounts.
Unsecured Internet purchases could prove disastrous
Students who regularly make online purchases from campus computers or from the university's wireless network might want to take some precautionary steps before punching in their credit card numbers. “If [students] are using the encrypted wireless [network], I think that's fine," said James Shook of Technology Support Services. “[But] I don't think I'd be doing that on the visitor's [network], which anyone can get on."Students can obtain a password for the secured wireless network at www.nss.appstate.edu. Appalachian State also offers free anti-virus software with built-in firewall and anti-spyware protection at www.antivirus.appstate.edu. Students transferring data should do so from secure Web sites, which are signified by “https" in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or a secure lock graphic, said Director of Technology Support Tom M.
MasterCard spent $1.8M lobbying
MasterCard International Inc. spent $1.8 million in 2007 to lobby on Internet-related issues and on fees merchants pay when customers use credit cards. The Purchase, N.Y.-based company spent $880,000 in the second half of 2007 to lobby Congress, according to a disclosure form posted online Feb. 13 by the Senate's public records office. It lobbied on gambling regulations and the use of credit cards to purchase illegal material on the Internet. The company spent $880,000 lobbying in the first half of the year on financial literacy, data security, microchip technology and fees banks pay to credit card networks. Congress is weighing tighter regulations on the credit card industry. The industry came under fire in December, when a Senate subcommitee issued a report denouncing practices that include raising interest rates for customers whose credit ratings decline, even if they make their card payments on time.
Keeping track of online passwords is wise to do
Dear Abby: Allow me to draw your readers' attention to the importance of keeping track of their online log-in information. We all know it's smart to keep photocopies of our driver's license, credit cards, etc. With as much time as some of us spend online, in addition to the billions of dollars we spend there as a nation, it's wise to keep track of sundry log-in details as well. I keep track of the various Web sites from which I make purchases -- the Web site name, user name and my password -- because various Web sites require different information. Please suggest that your readers compile this information in a single document and print it out from time to time. Keep a hard copy in a safe place with other important papers. That way, if anything should happen to them, family members will be able to access these Web sites, delete saved credit card information and close the accounts.
Vesdia Launches Innovative Rewards Credit Cards
ATLANTA, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Vesdia Corporation, a leading provider of loyalty marketing services, announced today the launch of four new Visa(R) credit cards to support its leading reward programs BabyMint(TM), NestEggz(R), Stockback(R) and FundraiserRewards(R). The card launch in partnership with MXT Card Services provides consumers with additional earning opportunities in the rewards currencies that matter most to them. Consumers can apply for the Platinum Visa cards on the program websites through an easy to use web application, and earn rebates of 1% on any purchase made using the card. The new rewards credit cards offer competitive benefits and no annual fee. Cardholders can earn additional rebates of up to 26% of their purchases at hundreds of retailers in Vesdia's merchant network, including top brands like Eddie Bauer, Illuminations, Best Buy, Gap.com, Lands' End(R) and Banana Republic - representing over 100,000 store locations and service providers, hundreds of catalogs and gift cards, and more than 600 leading online retailers.
Coming, coming, come...
Even as city franchisees were announcing the names of the teams with great fanfare, IPL officials, player agents and their lawyers were frantically trying to reach a consensus on the terms and conditions of the contract. By late Tuesday evening, IPL chairman Lalit Modi promised that there wouldnt be any lack of star value when 78 players, including all the 33 BCCI-contracted players, go under the hammer at a five-star hotel on Wednesday. Even as GMR, the Delhi franchisee, announced that it had managed to secure Virender Sehwag as an icon player, Modi admitted that the Indian players Down Under were inking their contracts as he spoke. There was an issue, more of a language problem in the contract, of who would be the guarantor. It was whether the contract would have a franchisee guarantee or a BCCI guarantee.
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