ACC Bank Granted Permission to Serve Legal Papers on Jim Corr

ACC Bank are to bring High Court proceedings against musician Jim Corr and another man arising out of an alleged failure to repay a €1.3 million loan obtained to buy land.

The dispute arises out of loan agreement the Dutch-owned bank claims it entered into with Mr Corr and Mr Liam Marks of the Coach House, Sandymount, Blackrock, Dundalk, Co Louth for the purchase of 91 acres of land at Barrowmount, Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny.

The bank claims that last June it demanded repayment of €1.36 million from both men.

However ACC says that the money has not been repaid, and intends to seek judgment for the full amount against both men. The bank loan was sanctioned in 2004.

Mr Corr (46), along with his three sisters, is a member of the internationally acclaimed Dundalk band the Corrs.

Today, ACC secured an order from the High Court allowing them to serve the musician notice of the proceedings that the bank intends to bring against Mr Corr at his place of residence in Bangor, Co Down by ordinary post.

In documentation put before the court, a lawyer acting for ACC expressed his belief that Mr Corr had been evading being served notice of the bank’s proceedings against him.

Mr Justice John MacMenamin granted ACC an order for substituted service allowing the bank to serve Mr Corr notice of the proceedings by ordinary prepaid post at his normal place of residence at an apartment Sharman House, Old Windmill Road, Crawfordsburn, Bangor, Co Down.

The court further made an order allowing the bank to serve further documentation arising in the course of the proceedings on Mr Corr by ordinary prepaid post. The orders were granted on ex parte basis (one side only.) In seeking the orders, Bernard Dunleavy Bl for ACC told the court that the ACC had been unable to effect service on Mr Corr, who is a well known musician.

Counsel added that it was ACC’s intention to apply to have the proceedings admitted to the commercial Court, the big business division of the High Court.

In an affidavit to the court, solicitor Donnacha O’Donovan for ACC said he believed that Mr Corr was evading being served notice of the proceedings ACC intended to bring.

Mr O’Donovan said that a summons server attempted to serve Mr Corr with the proceedings on four separate dates in late July early August last without success.

Mr O’Donovan said that he also wrote to Mr Corr informing him of the proceedings and asked to meet with him in order to effect service of the proceedings on him.

Those letters were delivered to Mr Corr’s address by both ordinary and registered post. However earlier this month the registered letters were returned to Mr O’Donovan's office marked “Not Called for”. The letters sent by ordinary post were not returned.

Mr O’Donovan said that a solicitor’s firm acting for Mr Corr informed him that they were not in a position to accept service of the proceedings.

However Mr O’Donovan said that a caretaker at the apartment block where Mr Corr resides informed the summons server that the musician continues to reside there.

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Judge Denies 'Hurt Locker' Subpoenas

A federal magistrate judge in South Dakota has denied an attempt by the producers of the Oscar-winning film "The Hurt Locker" to obtain the identities of 143 accused illegal file sharers from their Internet service provider.

The judge's decision last week however likely means only a temporary delay for Voltage Pictures, the independent studio which made "The Hurt Locker."

Voltage is one of more than a dozen indie studios that have hired the Washington, D.C., law firm of Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver to file copyright complaints against as many as 50,000 individuals they accuse of illegally sharing their movies. To file the suits, the law firm first obtains Internet protocol addresses of people sharing files. Then, the firm goes after the identities of those who own the IP addresses by subpoenaing records from Internet service providers.

Last month, Midcontinent Communications said no to Voltage. The ISP, which services areas in South and North Dakota and Minnesota, filed a motion to "quash" the subpoena it received from Voltage requesting information on the Midcontinent customers. The ISP argued that Voltage and Dunlap had not followed proper federal procedure by filing the subpoena with jurisdiction in South Dakota.

On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Simko, for the Southern District of South Dakota, agreed with Midcontinent's argument and granted its motion.

But Thomas Dunlap, one of the attorneys representing Voltage, said today that the holdup was a procedural technicality and his firm plans to obtain a subpoena in South Dakota soon. He said typically an ISP and his firm will talk by phone to work out any issues but Dunlap said Midcontinent didn't do that.

"This seems like an expensive way for [Midcontinent] to handle it but the issue is pretty minor," Dunlap said. "We will reproduce the subpoena in South Dakota and we will end up getting the information."

The litigation that Dunlap, Grubb & Weaver is leading has stunned file sharers all over the country. The practice of filing lawsuits was thought to be dead after the music industry stopped filing such complaints nearly two years ago. Executives from a group of indie studios told CNET this month that they are without a lot of options when it comes to defending their material against piracy and unauthorized file sharing.

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Changes Come to Civil Proccess

With a goal of reducing the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office budget to the best of his abilities, Sheriff Jeff Dawsy is announcing changes in the way his agency will serve civil process, effective Oct. 1.

“Process” is commonly defined as a paper of writing issued by some court in the exercise of its jurisdiction. These documents include divorce papers, liens, restraining orders, evictions, subpoenas, plus other official court documents.

Up until now, deputy sheriffs typically served all enforceable as well as non-enforceable civil process on the intended recipients.

Enforceable civil process includes enforcement of child support, domestic violence injunctions for protection, child custody pickup orders, landlord/tenant actions and seizure of property relating to civil lawsuits. Non-enforceable process includes summonses, complaints and subpoenas.

A recent administrative order signed by Chief Judge Daniel B. Merritt, Sr., of the Fifth Judicial Circuit supplements the service of process by county sheriffs and provides an alternate means of service by private certified civil process servers. An approved list of certified process servers is maintained by the circuit, which includes Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion and Sumter counties.

These individuals are authorized to serve non-enforceable civil process on any person found within the circuit where the process server is certified whenever a civil action has been filed against said person in Florida’s circuit or county courts.

Here in Citrus County, sworn deputies will continue to serve all enforceable process, in addition to any court documents originating from the State Attorney’s and Public Defender’s offices and the Florida Department of Revenue.

Starting Oct. 1, private citizens or attorneys looking to have non-enforceable process served will need to contact a private process server. The approved list of civil process servers in the circuit who are currently certified is viewable on the Sheriff’s Office official Web site at www.sheriffcitrus.org.

Sheriff Dawsy is anticipating these changes will save his agency approximately $140,000. One added advantage is two or three of his civil deputies can be reassigned to positions that are currently vacant.

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Denver Police Department Charges Process Server After Car Hits Him

A Denver process server has been charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief after he was run over and badly injured by a woman he was trying to serve with divorce papers.

Richard Bellizzi, a private investigator and process server told CBS4, "I was in somewhat of a state of shock," after Denver police arrested him and not the driver of the car that hit him following the June 24 incident.

"And I said, 'Process server divorce papers," and she tried to kill me."

Bellizzi was trying to serve divorce papers to Dr. Oksana Bantley, an area anesthesiologist.

Bellizzi said Bantley had avoided another process server and appeared to be trying to avoid him. He spotted her June 24 driving a friend's car. Bellizzi followed her and when she got caught in traffic on Colorado Boulevard Bellizzi jumped out of his car and approached Bantley's car. He held the divorce papers in one hand and a camera in the other hand which recorded what happened next.

The videotape shows Bantley behind the wheel of her car. As Bellizzi stands near the front of her car, he can be heard saying, "Oksana Bantley ... Superior Court …" Bantley shields her face with her hands. But before Bellizzi finishes speaking, she can be seen apparently turning the wheel of her car toward Bellizzi and the car accelerates. The video shows Bellizzi on the hood of the speeding car for a few seconds before the tape cuts off.

"She turned the wheel and gunned the engine, effectively cutting my legs out and forcing me on to the hood of the car," Bellizzi said.

Bellizzi said he hung on for about 260 feet at an estimated 30 to 40 miles per hour before he said Bantley turned sharply, ejecting him from the hood of the car.

"This is not going to end well," Bellizzi remembered thinking as he held on to one of the car's windshield wipers. The incident left him with a broken left ankle and deep bruises and cuts. He hobbled back to his car and drove to the Denver Police Department's District 3 station to report what happened.

"I fully expected to sign a complaint and go to St. Joseph's Hospital and have my injuries attended to," he said.

But Bellizzi said he was immediately met with sarcasm, hostility and aggression by an officer manning the station's front desk. Frustrated by the officer's attitude, Bellizzi asked to speak to a supervisor. He provided Denver police with his videotape of what happened and information on how to track down Bantley, which police did, summoning her to the District 3 station. After several hours he said the same officer who greeted him with hostility and aggression handcuffed him and told him he was being arrested for harassment and criminal mischief.

"I knew I was in the right and not guilty of what they were saying. I knew I was a victim," Bellizzi said. "And I don't often feel I am a victim."

Bellizzi was transported by ambulance to Denver Health Medical Center for treatment and then on to the Denver Jail. He was released 24 hours later. The following day Bellizzi's lawyer, Jennifer Henslee, said she spoke to a sergeant from the Denver Police Department who "apologized for the treatment Mr. Bellizzi received, stated Mr. Bellizzi should never have been charged with a crime."

Henslee has sent a four-page letter to Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman outlining what happened arguing that Bellizzi spent a night in jail "for no justifiable reason whatsoever." She complained of police conduct and wrote, "Given the facts of this incident, the overwhelming amount of evidence establishing at the very least probable cause that Mrs. Bantley committed several felony crimes, it is unbelievable that she has not been charged. The fact that your officers treated Mr. Bellizzi unfairly with hostility and disrespect is outrageous."



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C.A. Upholds Restraining Order Against Attorney

The Court of Appeal has upheld the imposition of an order enjoining Beverly Hills sole practitioner Martin B. Reiner from harassing Los Angeles attorney Susan Kaplan, who was his opposing counsel on a workers’ compensation matter last year.

Div. Three of this district’s Court of Appeal on Thursday rejected as “specious” Reiner’s claim that his conduct was constitutionally protected and chastised the attorney for engaging in behavior that “far exceeded the scope of civility.”

Kaplan, who did not return a call seeking comment, claimed that Reiner and a process server had come to the Graiwer & Kaplan office last September to serve her and her husband with subpoenas after gaining access to the private interior office area by pushing past a secretary as she exited a secured back door.

“Clearly, that laying in wait to commit the crime of trespass in a secured area shows he is capable of criminal activity and is willing to engage in criminal activity in order to intimidate me and others,” Kaplan alleged in her complaint.

She further asserted, under penalty of perjury, that a worker’s compensation judge had granted
a motion for protective order filed by Kaplan’s firm because of “unprofessional behavior during discovery matters,” and that a special master had been appointed to attend discovery to ensure Reiner controlled his behavior.

At the hearing on the motion, Kaplan said Reiner was “threatening” and had “invade[d] my space by getting right up in my face.”

Kaplan described Reiner as “unstable,” and “always agitated, almost as if he is under the influence of something.” He “uses profanity and makes all kinds of wild accusations and threatens our attorneys by stating that he is going to file complaints against them for assault,”

Kaplan said, adding that she was “convinced he will not stop this type of conduct unless he is prohibited from doing so.”

Reiner, however, on Friday reiterated his assertion, reflected in the opinion, that Kaplan’s version of events was “utterly fabricated.”

“Kaplan and her firm concocted false allegations against me…in an effort to try to throw a monkey wrench” in an ongoing workers’ compensation case in which his client is raising a claim of insurance fraud by Kaplan and her firm as an affirmative defense, Reiner claimed.

“There is an animus that exists and drives the present matter,” he insisted.
Reiner had also denied the factual assertions in Kaplan’s complaint at trial, where he represented himself, before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Cunningham III.

According to Reiner’s version of events, Kaplan had noticed a deposition at her offices, and an employee had held the rear door to the offices open for Reiner and the process server to enter. He stated that he had been in Kaplan’s office less than 60 seconds, and that “there was no violence, nor threat of violence, nor profanity, nor confrontation.”

After the hearing, Cunningham granted the restraining order prohibiting Reiner from being within 100 yards of Kaplan, her home, and her vehicle, but did not check off the box that would prohibit Reiner from being within 100 yards of Kaplan’s job or workplace. The order remains in effect until Oct. 8, 2012.

Writing for the appellate court, Justice Richard D. Aldrich noted that some of the alleged instances of harassment occurred in a courthouse during pending litigation, but he explained this was insufficient to protect Reiner’s conduct.

The justice opined that an attorney’s free speech rights are circumscribed during judicial proceedings by his obligation to maintain respect for the court, emphasizing that Reiner’s conduct—following Kaplan around the courthouse, yelling, using profanities, and threatening opposing counsel—was “[b]y no stretch of the imagination…courteous or even civil.”
Aldrich also brushed aside Reiner’s contention that the trial court proceedings had not been fair since he was denied the opportunity to testify.


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Brown to Serve Subpoena on Vernon in Broadened Probe of City Officials' High Salaries

The state attorney general's office announced Wednesday it will serve a subpoena on the city of Vernon, as part of an expanded probe of city salaries and expenses.

The subpoena will seek compensation records for Vernon employees and city officials, state Attorney General Jerry brown said in a statement.

A former Vernon city administrator who now serves as a legal consultant has topped the $1-million mark for each of the last four years, records show.

Eric T. Fresch was paid nearly $1.65 million in salary and hourly billings in 2008, when he held the dual jobs of city administrator and deputy city attorney, according to documents obtained by The Times through the California Public Records Act.

Fresch, described by city officials as an experienced finance attorney, was paid nearly $1.2 million last year, records show. Through July 31 of this year, he has earned about $643,000 as "outside legal counsel."

Other highly compensated employees include Donal O'Callaghan, who was paid nearly $785,000 last year as city administrator and director of Light & Power, overseeing Vernon's city-owned utility. He now earns $384,000 a year overseeing capital projects for the utility after stepping down July 20 as city administrator.

Former City Atty. Jeffrey A. Harrison earned $800,000 last year, and City Treasurer/Finance Director Roirdan Burnett made $570,000, records show. The year before, Harrison was paid $1.04 million. Although Vernon and Bell share a border in southeastern Los Angeles County, they are very different cities. Bell is a working-class, largely immigrant city with 38,000 residents. Vernon has fewer than 100 residents and is largely a business and industrial hub.

Top administrators in Vernon also racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in city-paid expenses on first-class flights, luxury hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and limousine service, according to a records review by The Times.

The records, which cover 2005-2010, detail lavish travel expenses billed to the city by its top executives, including then-city administrators Fresch and Donal O'Callaghan.

Some of the trips occurred as recently as this year, when the city laid off employees and canceled the life and health insurance benefits of city workers' spouses and children because of budget problems.

In one short trip to New York in February 2007, O'Callaghan, Fresch and a financial advisor flew first class to New York for a combined cost of more than $12,700.

O'Callaghan and the financial advisor, Craig Underwood, each stayed one night at the Ritz-Carlton, paying a nightly rate of about $800. Fresch, who stayed four nights, spent more than $7,600 at the Ritz-Carlton.

The bill included services from Paris Limo totaling $2,251 for four separate days. The city also reimbursed Fresch for $485 he spent dining at the Four Seasons New York.

The records show Fresch routinely commuted from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area to L.A. first class for more than $931 per round trip. In a few instances, he spent more than $1,100 for the relatively short air commute. He also incurred a bill of $350 at the United Red Carpet Airport Club, according to one city invoice.

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'Ground Zero Imam' Evades Being Served with Complaint -- Later is Legally Served for Nuisance, Emotional Distress, Assault

NEW YORK, Sept. 15 /Standard Newswire/ -- Larry Klayman, founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, announced yesterday that the "Ground Zero Imam" and his mosque, the Cordoba House/Park51 Project, were served with the class action complaint filed by First Responder Vincent Forras. The complaint alleges that the building of the planned mosque would be a legal nuisance and that the entire project, to be built in the immediate vicinity of Ground Zero, is a blatant attempt to inflict emotional distress on the inhabitants of New York City; in effect a form of psychological terrorism.

Both the Imam and the mosque have ties to terrorist interests, and a large donor to the Imam's enterprises gave handsomely to the Holy Land Foundation, a convicted terrorist front group. In addition, during an interview on CNN's "Larry King Live" the Imam refused to say where the money was coming from to build the mosque at Ground Zero. There is other considerable evidence connecting the "Ground Zero Imam" and his mosque to persons and entities associated with terrorism.

When Freedom Watch, plaintiffs' counsel, sought to have the complaint served personally upon the defendants, including the Imam, servers were prevented from giving it to them. In this regard, plaintiffs sought to serve the Imam after his speech yesterday at the Council for Foreign Relations in New York City.

Service of process was however made under alternative legal means.

Larry Klayman issued the following statement to the Imam:

"In this country, it is important to obey the law. If the Imam is innocent of the charges, he should have willingly accepted service of the complaint. However, instead he chose to 'run' from the process server. The Imam can try to run but we will not allow him to hide. Justice will be done under the American legal system, not Sharia law. The case is now on its way to achieving justice for the plaintiffs and all of the people of the City of New York."

The class action suit has been brought at the behest of Declaration Alliance, with Freedom Watch, in the Supreme Court of New York in Manhattan, on behalf of Lead Plaintiff Vincent Forras, a courageous First Responder severely injured during his efforts to save innocent lives during September 11, 2001.



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Armed Process Server Threatens Teen

BREA — An argument between a process server and a 17-year old boy is being investigated after the process server is alleged to have pointed a gun at the juvenile, police said.

Process servers typically deliver legal documents to individuals involved in court cases, Sgt. Bill Smyser said.

The argument took place 8:30 p.m. Saturday in the Hollydale Mobile Home Park on Carbon Canyon Road, when the agent was serving papers at a residence there, Smyser.

The process server, who was not a law enforcement official, pointed a handgun at the juvenile and then left. The juvenile called police, Symser said.

Police don't yet know why the agent was serving papers at the location.

"Nobody is in custody at this point," Smyser said. "They are working on it and trying to put the pieces together... I don't know if the papers were ever served or whether he was trying to serve the owner."


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'Subpoena GMA to clarify Saliao testimony'

MANILA, Philippines - The “smoking gun” testimony of a witness before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on Wednesday further strengthened calls to subpoena President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to clarify her relationship with the Ampatuan family.

In an interview with radio DZMM, lawyer Harry Roque, Jr. said the families of the victims would want to be clarified of Arroyo’s links to the Maguindanao massacre case.

Lakmudin Saliao, a former trusted aide of the Ampatuan family, revealed that former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan, Jr. only agreed to surrender his son and namesake to authorities after getting assurances he will be put “under the care” of the then president.

The landmark trial began on Wednesday (September 8), with the prosecution team presenting Saliao as its first witness.

Saliao directly linked Andal Jr. to the planning and execution of the killings last November 23, 2009.

Roque, a private prosecutor representing the families of several of the victims, said: “Bakit sasabihin ng mga Ampatuan ang ganitong mga bagay na seryosong-seryoso? Lumalabas na presidente pa ang gumawa ng paraan para mabaluktot ang mga batas at criminal case procedures.”

(Why would the Ampatuans say something serious as that? It appears that the president herself was willing to bend the laws.)

He said the families have already asked Branch 221 Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes during the pre-trial to subpoena the former president as a “hostile witness.”

Immunity

Roque, however, fears that Arroyo may invoke her immunity to escape responsibility.

In case the court does call for Arroyo, a legal issue may arise, he said.

As the Pampanga 2nd District Representative, Arroyo has parliamentary immunity from arrest, he explained.

“Legal issue ito e, nakaupo na siya sa Kongreso,” Roque said.

He said it would be best however if she testifies in order to debunk rumors that she did have a different relationship with the Ampatuans, albeit suspect.

Saliao testimony strong

He dismissed the defense team’s accusations that Saliao’s testimony was “well-rehearsed.”

He said Saliao would not testify, under oath, if his story is a mere lie.

“Kahit gaano ka ka-loyal, mahirap sikmurain yung nangyari,” he said.

Roque said there are other witnesses who would corroborate Saliao’s statements.

Meanwhile, the lawyer asked public prosecutors to file a petition before the Supreme Court to make Solis-Reyes’ court a special court in order to hasten the procedures.

This way, Solis Reyes will only focus on this one particular case, he said.

It is expected that the trial will take years.

Both the prosecution and defense want to present some 500 witnesses, combined.

Saliao will again take the witness stand on September 15. He will also be cross-examined by the defense team.




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Douglas Bruce Not In Contempt But Must Testify

DENVER (AP) ― A judge ruled Tuesday that anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce won't be held in contempt of court for not testifying in a lawsuit about tax-cutting ballot measures, but he will have to answer questions about them.

Denver District Judge Brian Whitney rejected the Colorado attorney general's request to hold Bruce in contempt after state officials tried and repeatedly failed to serve him with a subpoena.

Government lawyers argued that the author of Colorado's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights illegally avoided answering questions about three proposals on the November ballot. Bruce has said he has nothing to do with those measures and was out of state when state officials tried to subpoena him.

Bruce wrote a 1992 constitutional amendment that limits government spending and taxing in Colorado.

Although he wasn't found in contempt of court, Bruce was ordered to appear for a deposition within three weeks to answer questions about his involvement with the initiatives: Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101.

The Denver Post reports that Bruce's attorney, David Lane, said his client will likely fight any attempt to make him testify about his stances on the measures. Lane said inquiring about those activities would violate Bruce's First Amendment right to associate politically with whom he pleases.

"Douglas Bruce is not obligated to set forth any of his political beliefs," Lane said after the court hearing. "His life doesn't become an open book."

The secretary of state's office wanted Bruce to testify earlier this year in an administrative case looking into who is financing the three ballot measures. The initiatives would limit the ability of local and state governments to borrow and spend money.

A Colorado administrative court ruled in June that Bruce helped get the proposals on the ballot and that three other people involved should have disclosed their contributions. Those three people were fined $2,000 each for not reporting their contributions but Bruce wasn't.


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UNC DT Marvin Austin Hit With Subpoena

As UNC football recovers from a thrilling but disappointing debut against LSU and prepares for the upcoming showdown with Georgia Tech, defensive tackle Marvin Austin continues to come under scrutiny for his contact with agents.

Investigators from the office of N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall subpoenaed Austin last week as part of their investigation into the sports agents around the program and potential violations of state laws governing agents. Marshall’s office has not commented other than to say that the investigation is ongoing.

Austin was indefinitely suspended from the UNC football team last week for an unspecified violation of team rules. In a press release from the football program, head coach Butch Davis said that Austin had “neglected his responsibilities to the team.”

The press release stressed that the suspension was not linked to the NCAA investigations into the football program.




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Process Server Undone by Bing Security's Pick and Roll

They say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

And it certainly doesn't matter when you are trying to serve Mayor Dave Bing with a lawsuit.

Christian Pomroy, the owner of At Your Service Document Delivery, told the City Hall Insider that, after two months of trying to serve Bing a lawsuit from a jilted Bing Group supplier he got close enough today to touch Bing. It happened outside the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on the Randolph side where city officials park.

"I told him, 'Mayor Bing, I am a big fan,' and then I shook his hand," said Pomroy, who then told Bing his name and asked if he could take the lawsuit.

"No, not at this time," Bing replied, according to Pomroy, before security shooed him away in a nifty moving screen that would have made Bing's Piston teammates proud.

Pomroy has tried multiple times at City Hall and the Bing Group's former offices to serve the lawsuit from Parts Finishing Group in Auburn Hills, which sued July 13 alleging nearly $37,000 in unpaid bills.

"I should have just dropped it on him," Pomroy said of the missed opportunity.

But that may have been unwise. Bing's security officers are sure to have a short fuse after one of their vehicles this week was found up on four blocks minus the tires.


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FTC Subpoenas 48 Food Companies Regarding Marketing to Kids

NEW YORK -- The Federal Trade Commission is once again handing out subpoenas to companies who market food to children and teens.

Three years after initially delivering what is technically known as "orders to file special report" to 44 marketers, the FTC last week began sending subpoenas to 48 companies in order to prepare a follow-up to its 120-page report issued in 2008, "Marketing Food to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities and Self-Regulation."

"This is a follow-up to measure the effects that self-regulation has had over the last three years," said Carol Jennings, spokeswoman for the FTC's Division of Advertising Practices/Bureau of Consumer Protection. "We are supportive of industry voluntary efforts to limit their marketing to kids and this will see whether more is needed."

Ms. Jennings said the findings will be made available to the public.

A handful of marketers that received subpoenas in 2007 were left off the 2010 list, presumably because they have limited their marketing to children. Twelve companies on this year's list are new, but 36 companies are once again receiving subpoenas -- including Yum Brands, which was called out by FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz in a December 2009 speech in which he said, "Many companies that market heavily to children and teens have yet to join or make a commitment. Why, for instance, hasn't Yum Brands, with its KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut chains, stepped up? Or Chuck E. Cheese and IHOP? Or the marketers of Air Heads and Baby Bottle Pops?"

Calls to Yum Brands were not returned. A spokeswoman for CEC Entertainment Inc., parent company of Chuck E. Cheese, said she could not comment without having seen the subpoena.

Some have speculated that the new round of subpoenas was a prelude to Congressional hearings and possible legislation, but Ms. Jennings refuted that.

"We are not proposing any regulation," she said.

Anthony DiResta, an attorney specializing in advertising, marketing and media at the Washington, D.C.-based firm Manatt Phelps & Phillip, agreed with Ms. Jennings and said he did not see legislation in the future.

"Given the current political climate and the way the polls are suggesting Congress may change after November, I don't see it happening," he said. "In order for Congress to hold hearings or empower the FTC to do anything close to rule-making, that would require a very, very progressive and activist legislative effort. I just don't think right now that's in the winds."

But Mr. DiResta, a former director of the FTC's Southeast Regional Office, did say that marketing food products to children very much remains on the FTC's radar.



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