With each new settlement the Federal Trade Commission announces, it appears more likely that mobile apps and children just don’t go together. In the most recent case, Yelp settled allegations that it improperly collected children’s’ personal information – a big no-no that means the online review site will pay hundred of thousands of dollars to rectify. [More]
Government Policy
CFPB Proposes Rule To Oversee Automakers’ Financial Units, Stop Discriminatory Lending
By 9.18.14
The lending arms for national car dealers, such as Ford and Toyota, may soon have to answer to federal regulators. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a proposed rule that would give the agency oversight of automakers’ financing units in a step to prevent discrimination and other harmful practices – marking a move that was applauded by several consumer advocacy groups. [More]
FCC Chair: Current Definition Of Broadband Isn’t Fast Enough
By 9.18.14
The FCC’s current definition of “broadband” Internet is 4Mbps downstream and only 1Mbps up. These were adequate speeds in a world where you occasionally watched a grainy YouTube video, but they don’t reflect the needs or uses of most consumers, and those benchmarks are only going to grow more irrelevant with each passing day. FCC Chair Tom Wheeler admitted as much to Congress yesterday. [More]
Court Shuts Down Payday Lenders Who Made Millions Off “Loans” Borrowers Didn’t Ask For
By 9.17.14
Whether you think that payday loans are a necessary financial offering for people with bad credit to get low-value, short-term loans or a predatory product that only results in more debt for the nation’s poorest consumers, you’d agree that no loans should be doled out without the borrower’s approval. But one network is accused of putting unauthorized payday loans in consumers’ bank accounts so it can eventually siphon off even more money. [More]
Ground Black Pepper Recalled In All 50 States For Possible Salmonella Contamination
By 9.17.14
Nothing gives a meal the right kick quite like a little ground black pepper. That is, unless the spice comes with a little salmonella, in which case we want nothing to do with it because it’s being recalled by the case load. [More]
Report Finds NHTSA Failed To Detect GM Ignition Switch Issue For Seven Years Despite Ample Information
By 9.16.14
By definition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is tasked with preventing crashes and achieving the highest standards of excellence in motor vehicle and highway safety. Yet, according to a new House committee report, the agency failed for years to identify a safety issue in General Motors vehicles that eventually lead to 19 deaths, if not more. [More]
Feds Sue Corinthian Colleges For Pushing More Than $560M In Predatory Loans On Students
By 9.16.14
Tens of thousands of students were duped by Corinthian Colleges Inc. into taking out costly predatory, and often financially devastating, private student loans to finance their post-secondary education, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleges in a recently filed lawsuit against the large for-profit education company. [More]
Dodgers Fans In L.A. May Get To Watch Team On TV This Season
By 9.15.14
It’s no secret that Time Warner Cable hates Dodgers fans. If they liked them, the cable company would figure out a way that more than 30% of people in L.A. could actually watch the games on TV. But with the team doing so well right now (and, more importantly, with regulators in D.C. asking questions about how the Dodgers disaster relates to the Comcast merger), TWC has decided that the final few games of the season will be available to anyone with an antenna. [More]
NHTSA Probes Ford Fiestas Because Car Doors Shouldn’t Magically Open While Driving
By 9.15.14
As a general rule of thumb I make sure to never drive with my door open: it’s not safe for me, my passengers or other drivers. But for some 60-odd drivers of Ford Fiestas, closing the door didn’t mean it would actually stay shut, and that issue opened the door (horrible pun) for a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigation. [More]
GM Official Says They’re Kinda, Sorta, Almost Probably Done Recalling Cars
By 9.11.14
Over the past nine months General Motors has recalled nearly 30 million vehicles for one reason or another, and it doesn’t sound like the car manufacturer is quite done. [More]
The Internet Speaks Up: FCC’s Fast Lane Proposal Would Be “A Cluster f**k Worse Than Comcast’s Customer Service”
By 9.10.14
It’s been a long road since an appeals court threw out the FCC’s Open Internet Rule — the one most of us call net neutrality — back in January. The FCC proposed a replacement rule in May, but there’s one small snag: it’s terrible. The proposal currently on the table would allow large ISPs to charge businesses for prioritized access, effectively splitting the internet into fast and slow lanes and choosing for consumers what sites and services they can best access. With the for-really-reals final deadline for the public to have its say fast approaching, today a large swath of the internet is speaking up for net neutrality and asking their visitors and customers to do the same. [More]
Netflix Speeds Finally Rebound For FiOS, U-Verse Customers
By 9.9.14
For years, Verizon has bragged about the fast data speeds available to subscribers of its FiOS broadband service. Meanwhile, the company was allowing Netflix streams to bottleneck, resulting in real downstream speeds that were slower than some DSL providers. And even months after Netflix agreed to pay Verizon for better access to its network, the speeds didn’t improve — until now. [More]
AT&T and Verizon: Your Home Network Doesn’t Actually Need To Be As Fast As Your Phone
By 9.9.14
The FCC has been all about broadband this year. In the mix with net neutrality and the Comcast/TWC merger, they’re also taking on the dearth of broadband competition consumers face and even thinking about redefining the meaning of the term to a higher minimum network speed. But AT&T and Verizon aren’t having it: according to comments they’ve filed with the FCC, a wired network connection too slow for a solid Netflix connection, and slower than the 4G your phone uses, should be perfectly satisfactory for a bandwidth-hungry nation. [More]
Swedish Manufacturer Announces Recall Of One Car For Tire Defect
By 9.9.14
Million-car recalls are so last month. In a year marred by vehicle safety issues, one Swedish car manufacturer issued what is likely the smallest recall of 2014: One vehicle. [More]
September Food And Supplement Recall Roundup – Salmonella Is Not A Superfood
By 9.8.14
In our September Recall Roundup for food, there could be walnuts lurking in the spinach, eggs in the frozen desserts, and Salmonella in pretty much every kind of food. [More]
Maker Of “Miracle” Green Coffee Weight-Loss Product To Pay $3.5M For Using Bogus Science To Sell Product
By 9.8.14
Months after going after online sellers for creating fake news sites, complete with a fake reporter, to push green coffee extract as a miracle weight loss drug, the Federal Trade Commission has settled its case against one Texas company that supplied the product while unsubstantiated scientific claims about the efficacy of the supplement. [More]
Comcast: Approve TWC Merger Because Broadband Will Still Suck Just As Much
By 9.5.14
Yesterday, FCC Chair Tom Wheeler surprised a lot of people by publicly discussing the woeful state of broadband competition in the U.S. Some viewed his remarks as an indicator that the commission is leaning toward blocking the pending Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, but the ever-optimistic (read: delusional) Comcast argue that Wheeler’s words actually support the deal. [More]
3 Million Comments And Counting: The Final Public Comment Period On Net Neutrality Ends Tonight
The chance for the public — individuals, consumer advocates, and businesses alike — to have their say on the FCC’s proposed net neutrality rule is finally coming to an end. In the four months of the various comment periods being open, the FCC has received over 3 million comments so far, with more pouring in by the minute. But the finish line is near: the deadline on the reply period ends, for real, at midnight tonight. [More]