Author: Jalatian Sonya

ATTORNEY BRIAN S. KABATECK ON TECHNOLOGY LITIGATION AND RIGHTING OLD WRONGS
By Paul Halpern

Lawyers and Settlements
rticles/10464/brian-kabateck-interview.html
April 21 2008

Los Angeles, CA: Brian S. Kabateck, founding partner of Kabateck Brown
Kellner, LLP, specializes in consumer class action and mass torts. His
client list includes the likes of Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon, Jose
Conseco, and Lou Ferrigno. As we’ll see, it also includes the victims
of genocide from almost a century ago.

LawyersandSettlements (LAS): You recently filed a class action against
Apple Computers. What was that centered on?

Brian S. Kabateck (BSK): This case concerns the iMac computer that came
out in August 2007. This iMac came in two versions, one with a 20-inch
monitor and one with a 24-inch monitor. We’re not doing anything about
the 24-inch model, which was all it claimed to be. The 20-inch model,
however, only had 6-bit color, but it was advertised as having sharp
images with millions of colors, and as an improvement over the previous
model from 2006. The 24-inch model did have sharp images and millions
of colors, but the 20-inch has less video memory and fewer colors,
and the screen’s blurry, which has led to a lot of problems for users.

Our case is not a technology case, we’re merely criticizing their
misrepresentation and failure to disclose this information about the
20-inch model. It doesn’t have millions of colors, it only display
262,144 colors, and the reason they did that was to save money, because
it uses a significantly less expensive memory card to drive the screen.

LAS: Your firm has handled a number of cases against technology
companies like Apple. Were they all similar to this one?

BSK: We’ve done several similar technology cases against companies
like Epson and Hewlett-Packard. We have several lawyers who do
this kind of work; it’s one of our special areas of interest. These
cases have involved TVs, the Xbox, printers, both laser and inkjet,
computer memory, and other types of cases. It’s a specialized subset
of consumer litigation.

We always bring these cases based on misrepresentation. They always
find ways to oversell or make promises that don’t deliver and wind
up costing the consumer money. The Apple case is typical. We just
filed and served in the Northern District of California before Judge
Patricia Trumbull and are now waiting for Apple to respond.

This is one of those situations where Apple should really just step
up and do the right thing and fix these computers. An upgrade would
be one acceptable method; so would giving the class members their
money back or giving them the price difference. Everything has a
value and everything has a real price, and what they advertised and
what they delivered were two different products. One option in cases
where people thought they were buying X and got Y is to give them
the cash back or give them the opportunity to have it fixed. We’re
always hoping they’ll do the right thing, but otherwise we’ll file
to have the case certified by the end of the year.

LAS: You’ve also been involved in litigation around the Turkish
genocide committed against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. Can
you tell us about that?

BSK: That’s very special. I’m half Armenian and my grandparents
were both survivors of the Amernian holocaust. I got my start doing
insurance bad faith cases, so this was sort of a natural progression
for me. We still have cases pending involving an insurance company
and a bank and we’re looking into four other insurance companies and
one other bank.

The life insurance cases are ones where there were companies who sold
policies to Armenians in the Ottoman Empire before the genocide in
1915. The other category is banks that did business in the Ottoman
Empire and had Armenian depositors, and never paid them after the
genocide, so the money still belongs to the descendants of the victims.

LAS: This sounds like it would involve an incredible amount of research
going back many years.

BSK: It’s fascinating. We have to have archivists search depositories
and archives throughout the world. Corporations are funny, they keep
all these records and documents, so we’ve been successful in finding
evidence of what occurred.

It’s been to their benefit to ignore not so much the genocide itself,
but rather their own obligations. The insurance companies never made
the list of policy holders available, the banks never advised Armenian
organizations that they had the deposits, so they profited from the
genocide. They didn’t kill anyone, but they profited by failing to
pay what they owed.

If they had a life insurance policy on someone who died in the
genocide and never had to pay it off, that’s making a profit from the
genocide. It’s also true for bank deposits; a small amount deposited
in an account could have been used to start a new life in America or
other countries for the Armenian people who were scattered after the
genocide. When they didn’t make the information available, they made a
profit from it. The League of Nations actually had a commission that
tried to get this information out, to get the benefits paid, and the
companies stonewalled them, so they did benefit from this genocide.

LAS: This sounds like it’s a matter of the heart for you.

BSK: Absolutely. We’re the only lawyers who have brought these kinds
of cases. This is not the kind of case we profit off of; we may make
enough to cover our expenses, but we’re really doing it because it
needs to be done.

Brian Kabateck, founding partner in Kabateck Brown Kellner LLP,
is a 1985 graduate of the University of California and received his
JD from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, in 1989. After working in
several other firms, he founded KBK in 2002; among other honors,
he was named California Lawyer of the Year/Litigation in 2006.

RA PRESIDENT AWARDS PERSONS PROMOTING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RECOGNITION

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.04.2008 16:02 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan signed Tuesday
a decree on decoration of persons contributing to recognition of the
Armenian Genocide, the RA leader’s press office reported.

Yuri Barseghov (Russia) for his book "The Armenian Genocide:
Turkey’s Responsibility and International Community’s Commitments"
and Yves Ternon (France) for significant scientific contribution to
the process of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide
will be conferred the 2007 awards.

Roger Smith (U.S.) will be decorated with Movses Khorenatsi order.

MEETING OF AZERBAIJANI AND ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS POSSIBLE SOON: US DIPLOMAT

Trend News Agency
April 18 2008
Azerbaijan

A private meeting between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia
Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sarkisian, to discuss the resolution of the
[Armenian-Azerbaijani] Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may take place in the
near future, Matthew Bryza, the US Assistant Secretary of State for
Europe and Eurasia, said on 17 April, Ð~XТÐ~PР-Ð&#x A2;Ð~PСС reported.

Bryza did not respond unilaterally to the appeals by legislators to
elaborate on the date of the talks between Aliyev and Sarkisian. The
planning of such a meeting could take place within a matter of
months. The Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers who are
eligible to arrange talks between Aliyev and Sarkisian, may meet
within a month or more," the US diplomat said.

He reiterated that the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh, as per the
aspect of Washington, does not have a military solution. The United
States considers that it is necessary to achieve a compromise of
‘political agreements’, Bryza stated.

He did not agree with reports stating that the activities by the OSCE
Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh under the co-chairmanship of Russia,
France and the United States, were not efficient. The work undertaken
by the Group represents tremendous value and is very efficient,
the Assistant Secretary of State said

Bryza addressed a two-party Commission meeting on security and
cooperation in Europe ( Helsinki commission) at the US Congress on 17
April, which was dedicated to the situation in Armenia. The chairman
of the organization is a member of the House of Representatives,
Elsi Hastings, democrat from Florida St. and the co-chairman –
Sen. Benjamin Cardin, democrat from Maryland St.

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AZERI OFFICIAL CRITICAL OF US POLICY ON KARABAKH

Azad Azarbaycan TV
April 17 2008
Azerbaijan

[Presenter] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice should display a
well-founded position while expressing her views on the settlement
of the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. An official of the presidential
administration, Novruz Mammadov, has said that it is impossible to
agree with Rice’s latest statement on the conflict settlement.

[Correspondent] Baku does not totally agree with US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice’s latest statement on the settlement of the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. The state secretary’s statement that –
if Armenia and Azerbaijan show a little political will, the Nagornyy
Karabakh conflict may be solved quite quickly – does not really
reflect the reality, the head of the foreign relations department of
the presidential administration, Novruz Mammadov, has said.

[Novruz Mammadov in his office] Relevant staff members should
give Condoleezza Rice accurate information about this conflict,
the essence of the negotiations, the essence of the position of
the parties and their principles so that Mrs Condoleezza Rice can
express a substantiated opinion about this conflict, i.e. express a
well-founded position. This is the main issue.

The US secretary of state should take account of cooperation and
strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and America and its future
and declare one day that a fair solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict is a priority for US policy.

[Correspondent] As for the recent Department of State statement on the
Nagornyy Karabakh conflict, Novruz Mammadov said that such statements
had been made before as well. However, the latest events allow
Azerbaijan to reconsider the negotiating process on the settlement
of the conflict.

[Mammadov] Is it possible to be sure that the [OSCE] Minsk Group
co-chairs are totally neutral in this issue? Or are the countries
represented in the Minsk Group really taking a resolute position on
a fair solution to the conflict? I think that such statements are
correct, but the Minsk Group co-chairs, as leading states of the
world and as states that form the world order and form, support and
guarantee international law, should reconsider their position.

We want to discuss the status of Nagornyy Karabakh by granting it the
highest and broadest degree of autonomy on the basis of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity. Why are these countries not taking a specific
position on the seven districts that surround Nagornyy Karabakh and
are larger than Nagornyy Karabakh?

[Correspondent] Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan says that his
country is not afraid of Azerbaijan’s threats. Baku explains only
by one reason Sargsyan’s statement that Azerbaijan should understand
that Nagornyy Karabakh’s independence is an undeniable fact.

[Mammadov] In fact, they are saying all this out of fear. All Armenians
have a strong fear in their hearts at the moment. They know that
the Sword of Damocles will fall on the heads one day. They are held
hostage by their own ideas and separatism, because Serzh Sargsyan
himself and everyone around him have committed so many tragedies on
the wave of separatism.

[Correspondent] The department head said that separatists are usually
unaware of international law. For this reason, the Armenian leadership
endangers the future of its own people with such ideas. He should
understand that the Armenian people have already exercised their
right to self-determination. It would be better if Sargsyan would be
surrounded by people who are aware of law so that they do not lead
their people to a disaster, end quote.

Aytan Musayeva and Ramil Ismayilov, "Son Xabar".

INTER PARLIAMENTARY COOPERATION SESSION STARTS

Panorama.am
15:12 18/04/2008

Today the general session of the inter-parliamentary cooperation
of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh starts in Stepanakert. Yesterday in
the evening the National Assembly chairmen of the NKR Ashot Ghulyan
and the RA Tigran Torosyan was held where the counterparts discussed
questions connected with the today’s session.

The NA officials signified the future cooperation of both parliaments
and discussed the principles and methods of those cooperation and
relationship.

Remind that yesterday the Armenian parliamentary delegation headed by
Tigran Torosyan left for Stepanakert. The delegation group consists
of Larisa Alaverdyan, Artashes Avoyan, Lilit Galstyan, Areg Ghukasyan,
and Ernest Soghomonyan.

CYPRUS PARLIAMENT TO COMMEMORATE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE VICTIMS

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.04.2008 12:23 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Like every year after their arrival in Cyprus as
Genocide survivors, the Armenian community of Cyprus is preparing to
commemorate the reason why they ended up in Cyprus almost 90 years ago.

The highlight of the series of events in the capital – under the
auspices of the President of the House of Representatives Marios
Garoyian – is the political meeting featuring PASOK MP and former
Defense Minister Akis Tzokatsopoulos on Wednesday April 23.

The following day on Thursday 24 April, the community will march
along Armenia street, leading up to the Genocide Memorial where
a Vigil will be held, while the Armenian youth will set up a big
screen on Eleftheria Square and will distribute informative leaflets
to passers-by.

On Thursday 17 April at 4:00 pm, during the session of the
Cyprus Parliament, commemorating the Armenian Genocide, Armenian
representative in the Cyprus Parliament Vartkes Mahdessian will
address the House.

The entrance to the public during the commemoration is open to all
community members, Gibrahayer.com reports.

AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES NAMING OF A BAKU AVENUE INTO IRAVAN

Trend News Agency
April 16 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 April / Trend News I. Alizade/ Re-naming of
one of the avenues in Baku into Iravan Avenue was suggested at the
Parliament. "Iravan is the ancient city of Azerbaijan. At the meeting
with the Azerbaijani citizens, President Ilham Aliyev stressed the
necessity to return the ancient Azerbaijani city Iravan," MP Musa
Guliyev from the governing New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) said at the
parliamentary meeting on 15 April.

According to Guliyev, one of the settlements in the Azerbaijani regions
and cities should be named Yeni Iravan (New Iravan). "The migrants
from West Azerbaijan founded a settlement in Ganja. They want a status
for the settlement and want it to be named Yeni Iravan," he said.

Speaker Ogtay Asadov said that the Parliament had already developed
a statement regarding recognizing Iravan as an ancient Azerbaijani
city and restoration in the history of the fact that it was given
to Armenians.

"The work over statement will be soon completed and in near future
it will be put for discussion at the Parliament," Asadov said.

AZERBAIJANI MP PREPARES DOCUMENT UNMASKING AGGRESSIVE ARMENIA

State Telegraph Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
April 15, 2008 Tuesday

On the first day of the Parliamentary? Assembly of the Council of
Europe spring session, member of the Azerbaijan delegation to the
PACE Rafael Huseynov has prepared and submitted to the Committee of
Ministers a new document proving that Armenia does not deserve to be
a PACE member.

The document titled The need to end the Council of Europe`s double
standards approach to occupant and anti-democratic Armenia indicates
that Armenia has been regularly violating CoE Statute since January
2001, and highlights a number of facts exposing Armenia`s occupation
policy.

The document is to be published by the PACE Secretariat. The Committee
of Ministers is expected to discuss it shortly.

IF A PEACEFUL AGREEMENT IS ACHIEVED WITHIN MINSK GROUP, PROBLEMS OF AZERBAIJANI REFUGES WILL BE SOLVED FOREVER – COUNCIL OF EUROPE COMMISSIONER ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Trend News Agency
April 16 2008
Azerbaijan

France, Strasburg, 16 April / TrendNews corr. A.Maharramli / Thomas
Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner on Human rights,
delivered a final report for 2007 during PACE plenary session on 15
April. MPs asked Commissioner several questions after the session.

MP Ganira Pashayeva, a member of Azerbaijani delegation to PACE,
expressed his regret that Hammarberg did not touched upon the problems
of rights of millions of Azerbaijani refugees, who have been displaced
from their lands as a result of occupation of Azerbaijani territories
by Armenia. "Hundreds thousand of people cannot return back to their
motherland. Mr. Hammarberg, what do you think as a Commissioner,
what can we do for these people? Should we reinforce care?" Pashayeva
stated.

In his turn, Hammarberg replied to the Azerbaijani MP’s question by
stating that the delegation paid a visit to the country to investigate
the situation in Sept 2007." We developed a special report after the
visit. The report reflected most of the issues. We visited the camps
where the refugees lived and met with them.

Furthermore, the report says that the Azerbaijani Government is
taking all the necessary efforts to make the conditions of refugees
better. However, I believe that the complete solution of the issue can
be achieved only through the peaceful agreement between Armenia and
Azerbaijan. I hope that the report will be useful on restoration of
human rights. I believe that if a peaceful agreement is signed within
the framework of Minsk Group then the problem will be solved forever,"
he stated.

GOVERNMENT MUST LAUNCH UNSTOPPABLE REFORMS

ARKA
April 14, 2008

Below is an exclusive interview by RA Prime Minister TIGRAN SARGSYAN
to the ARKA News Agency.

ARKA: Mr. Premier, how well is the Government prepared to relieve
the negative influence exerted on Armenia’s economy by the continuing
rise in the world prices?

T. Sargsyan: The principal threat to us is a price rise. International
experts say that low prices should be forgotten for the following
15 years.

Of course, this is a painful process, first of all for transitional
economies, for the countries struggling against poverty. So the
Government’s measures must be adequate to the challenges.

It will be an urgent priority. This first of all requires effective
coordination of the Government’s monetary and financial policies –
the Central Bank is supposed to assume part of the responsibility,
with the rest of the responsibility to be laid on the fiscal policy.

We must first of all consider social programs, which are supposed to
protect the most vulnerable sections of the population.

ARKA: Do you share the opinion that Armenia needs qualitative reforms,
a kind of "economic revolution"?

T. Sargsyan: I certainly share this opinion, as these are the
principal theses put forward by President Serge Sargsyan, which were
also discussed by the ex-president Robert Kocharyan. We are starting
reforms of the second generation, which first of all implies the
necessity for involving professionals in the process.

ARKA: Which reforms can be expedited?

T. Sargsyan: Among the priority tasks are specifically a project
of making Armenia a regional financial center, foundation of a
pan-Armenian bank, development of the capital market in cooperation
with the OMX, development of the postal service and foundation of
a post bank, introduction of compulsory insurance, creation of a
universal e-database in the health system, adoption of legislation on
investment funds, introduction of corporate management principles into
joint-stock companies, formation of consumer protection institutes
on the financial market.

ARKA: Is any special program being elaborated to redress the imbalance
between Armenia’s capital and regions?

T. Sargsyan: If you remember, one of the priorities of the program
presented to Parliament by Serge Sargsyan is Armenia’s regional
development.

Imbalance reduces the potential for economic growth. It is obvious
that Yerevan hinders Armenia’s economic development, while Yerevan’s
development is being hindered as well. A new concept of Armenia’s
regional development must of course deal with the problems.

ARKA: Armenia has been recording two-digit economic growth over the
recent years. What do you think, will the planned key inflation and
GDP indicators be ensured?

T. Sargsyan: As regards inflation, the planned indicator for this year
can hardly be ensured as the global situation is most unfavorable,
and we have no instruments to absorb the negative inflationary
fallout. As regards economic growth, I hope that the budgeted figures
will be ensured.

ARKA: What is your viewpoint on Armenia’s national debt? Is the
Government going to issue Eurobonds?

T. Sargsyan: Armenia has a moderate foreign debt and we are not afraid.

Everything depends on the purposes you borrow money for. If your
investments contribute to the increase in your national produce,
such a debt is a necessity for the countries that must eradicate
poverty. So we have no problems here.

The issue of our own bonds depends on our progress in implementing our
project of forming a financial center and in the project of developing
the financial market jointly with the OMX.

ARKA: What do you think of the possibility of enhancing the Diaspora’s
efficiency in Armenia’s economic development?

T. Sargsyan: I think that we are not making full-scale use of this
factor now. It would be naïve to think we are. But, if you remember,
this is one of the priorities of the Serge Sargsyan-headed Government,
and one of its principal theses is the unification of the Armenian
people and the use of the Armenian Diaspora’s potential.

ARKA: In what state have you left Armenia’s banking system?

T. Sargsyan: We can state that we have a stable banking system, that
is, we may not be concerned over it. Its potential for stability is
so great that we may not be afraid of any international financial
crises. In this aspect, a conceptual solution to the problem has been
found, and this stability only needs maintaining.

The Central Bank personnel have rather serious intellectual potential,
which we must use. I think that this potential may be of benefit to
the Government as well.

ARKA: Looking back at the achievements of the last ten year, what is
your view of Armenia in five years or so?

T. Sargsyan: About what we have not done. We delayed pension
reforms and mortgage. We have not a mortgage fund so far, which is
unpardonable. We delayed the concept of financial center, reforms of
post service, foundation of a post bank and creation of a universal
database on health system. We have no effective investment laws. Open
joint-stock companies have not established themselves in Armenia,
and the institute of banking ombudsman has not been founded. We are
just launching financial education programs for the population.

It would also like to point out crediting in Armenia’s regions,
social programs for rural settlements and settlements located far
away from Yerevan. We have numerous unresolved problems, and they
are all our faults.

In principle, if the Government does not want to be a provisional one,
it must launch unstoppable reforms. But if the Government works for
the situation of the moment, it will be a short-lived one and can be
dismissed in a few months. However, if we launch all the aforementioned
long-term projects, they can not be stopped. For example, if we start a
pension reform, it cannot be stopped, but must be carried through. The
same can be said of the insurance and social reforms. This is teamwork,
and dissolving the team means destroying the country. So my task is
to launch the reforms.

ARKA: The last question. How does the new Premier plan to work with
the press?

T. Sargsyan: I think that the previous experience of our cooperation
was positive in that we tried to be as transparent as possible,
implemented special programs for our work style to be clear. However,
I should point out with regret that we did not see a reciprocal
attitude on the part of mass media, as personal insults and biased
assessments of our activities constituted a rather high percentage.

I think that the yellow press plays quite a role in our life. I
understand that any society will have such kind of press, but when
it prevails it means that society has rather serious problems. This
situation requires serious bilateral reforms, which must be initiated
by the Government.

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