CEI Daily Update

Issues in the News

1. TECHNOLOGY

Regulators in the UK lift the ban on a video game initially forbidden for graphic content.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Technology Policy Analyst Cord Blomquist and Senior Fellow Eli Lehrer on the best strategy for media ratings:

“The United States, alone among major industrial nations, relies almost entirely on the

market for the distribution and rating of entertainment media…the market-based ratings system works.”

2. ENVIRONMENT

Members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee examine the environmental impact of bottled water.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Risk and Environmental Policy Angela Logomasini on the advantages of bottled water for consumers:

“Another overlooked benefit of bottled water is that it offers a consistent quality product. It is in a sense just like McDonalds. If you get a Big Mac in New Jersey, it’s pretty much the same thing as one you get California. Likewise, a bottle of Dasani from California tastes the same as one from Maine. Not so with tap water — different localities produce water of different quality. Tap water flavors come from many sources, ranging from minerals common in one area to different kinds of piping.”

3. LEGAL

Madison Square Gardens settles a sexual harassment suit with Anucha Browne Sanders for $11.5 million.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Special Projects Counsel Hans Bader on legal guidelines for damage awards:

“[The] huge award of damages would almost certainly have been cut on appeal. Under Supreme Court precedent, punitive damages are not supposed to exceed compensatory damages by a large ratio. And the jury had not even awarded compensatory damages at the time it issued its giant punitive damages award. It is hard to see Sanders claiming more than a million dollars in compensatory damages, taking into account any lost wages or emotional distress damages.”

Blog feature: For more news and analysis, updated throughout the day, visit CEI’s blog, Open Market.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

To contact a CEI expert for comment or interviews, please call the CEI communications department at 202-331-2273 or email to [email protected].