Legal

Apple has revealed its once closely guarded list of global suppliers, taking a dramatic and unprecedented step in response to harsh criticism that it's turning a blind eye to dismal working conditions at partner factories. 

U.S. investigators are conducting a preliminary inquiry into forced child labor used in an organic and fair trade cotton program that supplies the American lingerie retailer Victoria's Secret, a federal law enforcement official confirmed.

After more than two years of investigation, CVS Caremark agreed to pay $5 million to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission that the company had misrepresented the price of certain prescription drugs in one of its Medicare drug plans, causing many older consumers to pay significantly higher prices than advertised.

American Apparel said an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into its financial reporting practices had ended without enforcement action. The investigation was sparked in 2010 when Deloitte & Touche resigned as American Apparel's accountant and warned the retailer that its previous audit reports and 2009 financial statements may not be reliable.

An Arizona man is suing eBay over the auction giant's automatic bidding system, claiming that the policy runs counter to the company's user agreement and that it unfairly undercuts the final price paid by the winning bidder.

Plenty of brands, lawmakers and regulators aren't happy that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is going right ahead — despite 11th hour hearings — and opening the doors on Jan. 12 for a possible barrage of applications for new generic top-level domain names.

Amazon.com soon will no longer be able to avoid collecting sales tax in Indiana, which means you also won't be able to bypass paying the tax on your online purchases. Gov. Mitch Daniels said that the Seattle-based retailer has agreed to begin collecting tax in 2014, adding an estimated $20.million to $25.million to the state's coffers each year. Indiana sales tax is 7 percent.

The Fiorentino brothers were aggressive entrepreneurs who grew a small direct mail catalog company into what is now CompUSA, a national electronics chain. Then greed got in the way. Nearly nine months after Gilbert, Carl and Patrick Fiorentino were physically escorted out of the Miami headquarters of the company they started in 1987, the first official account of their transgressions has emerged in a lawsuit that was filed by CompUSA's parent company in Miami-Dade Circuit Court.

eBay sellers who filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit against the company last year have until Jan. 27 to file a second amended complaint, a judge ruled. eBay had filed a motion to dismiss, which the judge granted in part and denied in part. According to the lawsuit allegations, "While eBay lists purported alternative payment methods, eBay has through its intentional action made it so PayPal is the only viable option for sellers."

Apple is threatening a Chinese firm with legal action if it doesn't discontinue its sale of a Steve Jobs doll. Manufactured by In Icons, the 12-inch action figure bears an uncanny likeness to the late Apple genius who passed away last year. The doll comes complete with Jobs’ trademark blue jeans, trainers and black turtleneck jumper.