Mired in $1 billion of debt, Blockbuster asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to let it auction itself off. After restructuring its plan to better suit creditors who were calling for liquidation, Blockbuster has been granted verbal approval by the court to go ahead and put itself on the market. The judge still has to put his decision in writing to make it official. [More]
Government Policy
159,000 Air Pump Bottle Openers Sold On QVC Recalled For Breaking Bottles
By 3.10.11
Getting the cork out of a wine bottle can often be a risky proposition, especially if you’re wearing white. But for some owners of the skybar Air Pump Wine Opener, it could be a downright bloody disaster. [More]
Wireless Industry Group Says All Those Overages Are Actually Saving Us Money
By 3.9.11
There has been a lot of talk in recent years about cellphone bill shock and overages and what can be done to stop it. Now comes a new study by a wireless industry trade group that claims consumers are actually saving money because of all these overage. [More]
Consumerist On Bloomberg: Revenge Of The TSA
By 3.9.11
Catch Ben Popken on “Taking Stock with Pimm Fox” tonight on Bloomberg TV. He’ll be talking about the TSA asking for a cut of bag check fees, as well as the recent decision to uphold a $311,000 verdict against a debt collector. Tune in to Bloomberg TV, or watch online at Bloomberg.com/tv, at 5:45 p.m. ET and again at 9:45 p.m. See you there! [More]
Texas Pols Want To Outlaw Full-Body Scans & Pat-Downs By TSA
By 3.9.11
Politicians in the Texas state legislature have authored a pair of bills they hope would keep the TSA from using full-body scanners and enhanced pat-downs at airports in the Lone Star State. [More]
Passenger Accused Of Karate Chopping Air Marshal
By 3.9.11
On a Delta flight from France to Atlanta, a belligerent passenger allegedly used karate to unsuccessfully fight off an air marshal who arrested him after he sexually harassed a passenger. [More]
LimeWire Settles Copyright Case
By 3.9.11
After a federal court shut down LimeWire with a permanent injunction last year, the defunct peer-to-peer file sharing service settled its copyright infringement case with the National Music Publishers Association. [More]
Rising Cotton Costs Make Paper Money More Expensive To Print
By 3.8.11
Even though it’s referred to as “paper” money, most of the material used to produce U.S. banknotes is actually cotton. And with raw cotton costs at a 140-year high, it’s costing more money to print money. [More]
Florida Motorists Illegally Detained For Paying With Large Bills
By 3.8.11
Is it a crime to pay a $1 toll with a $100 bill? The people responsible for counting out change might wish that it were, but paying a toll with legal tender isn’t a crime. Toll collectors in Florida allegedly asks motorists for personal information and illegally detained them for paying with bills deemed too large. Even better? Toll takers flagged and detained drivers paying with bills as small as $20 based on racial profiling. [More]
Woman Charged With Scamming Nuns Out Of $285K
By 3.8.11
A federal indictment alleges that a California woman conned nuns in a Rhode Island convent out of $285,000. [More]
Disabled Janitor's $311,000 Victory Against Abusive Firm Trying To Collect $3,800 Debt
By 3.7.11
They just wouldn’t stop calling, and now they have to pay. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling that a debt collection firm will have to pay a former janitor suffering from a head injury $311,000. Quite a turn of events, considering the debt they were hounding him on was only about $3,800. [More]
LaHood Highlights Distracted Driving Risks, Launches Guide
By 3.7.11
Surrounded by family members of distracted driving victims, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced a new pamphlet designed to highlight the “deadly epidemic” of inattentive driving. Among those joining LaHood in his presentation at Consumers Union was Melissa Dinges, whose sister, Angelina, was walking with two of her friends along a pedestrian walkway just three houses away from her home in California when she was hit from behind by a truck driven by an 18-year-old woman. The driver had been typing a text message before the accident. Angelina’s two friends survived, but sadly, she did not. [More]
10 Ways To Make The TSA Crotch Grabbers Profitable
By 3.7.11
Last week, the the Director of Homeland Security suggested to Congress that the TSA get a cut of airline baggage fees. The fees encourage travelers to carry on their bags, and this in turn leads to more bags that have to be inspected by hand at security checkpoints. Should taxpayers keep picking up the tab, or should airlines give the TSA a piece of the baggage fees? How about neither? What if instead the TSA looked for more creative ways to offset costs and even increase revenue? Here are 10 modest proposals: [More]
Judge: Sony Can Have IP Address Of Anyone Who Visited Forbidden Site
By 3.7.11
In its ongoing quest to neutralize the alleged hackers who decimated the PS3’s security, Sony won the legal right to track down the IP address of anyone who visited a site on which the PS3 jailbreak was posted. [More]
Transportation Secretary LaHood Answers Reader Questions
By 3.7.11
Later today, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood will be answering questions at the Consumers Union offices, where he’ll also be speaking on the topic of “Distracted Driving Shatters Lives: Helping Parents and Educators Reach Teens.” You can watch that event live on the Consumer Reports Facebook page (click the “Live” tab) at 11:00 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, Secretary LaHood accepted Consumerist’s request to answer a few reader-submitted questions. [More]
Government May Tap Petroleum Reserve To Tame Pump Prices
By 3.7.11
Because Middle Eastern turmoil is inflating the price of oil, leading to runaway gas prices that are in no way examples of gouging, the government is considering turning toward its own petroleum stockpile. [More]
Some Skippy Peanut Butter Recalled Over Possible Salmonella Contamination
By 3.7.11
The folks at Unilever, with a little help from the FDA, have announced a recall of certain jars of Skippy Reduced Fat Creamy Peanut Butter Spread and Skippy Reduced Fat Super Chunk Peanut Butter Spread, because these products may be contaminated with everyone’s favorite pathogen, Salmonella. [More]
GAO To Feds: Replace Dollar Bills With Coins
By 3.4.11
While many other global economies — including the European Union — have ditched their low-value paper banknotes in favor of coins, the U.S. continues to churn out dollar notes while $1 coins take a backseat. But a new report by the Government Accountability Office urges the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to give renewed thought to the idea of making dollar bills extinct. [More]
