This morning, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai made a claim that net neutrality, which hasn’t even been in place for two years, has driven investment in U.S. broadband to historically low levels. However, the actual numbers given by the nation’s largest cable and telecom companies don’t appear to back this up. [More]
Government Policy
FCC Chair Faces Blowback Over Decision To Undo ISP Privacy Rule
By 2.27.17
Last week, FCC Chair Ajit Pai declared that he would halt the Commission’s new privacy rule before it kicks in on March 2. That last-minute decision is now under fire from within the FCC and beyond. [More]
FCC Chair Ajit Pai Has No Plans To Review AT&T/Time Warner Merger
By 2.27.17
In recent years, the FCC played a key part in blocking the mergers of AT&T and T-Mobile, and Comcast and Time Warner Cable, while also using its regulatory leverage to place pro-consumer conditions on the mergers it did approve — like getting Charter to agree to not use data caps for seven years. However, the FCC will apparently give AT&T its wish and not even chime in on the pending merger of AT&T and Time Warner. [More]
We Dissected This Fake News Site Linking Denzel, Stephen Hawking To Brain-Boosting Pills
By 2.27.17
For years, marketers of sketchy dietary supplements have cooked up fake news websites and used bogus “reporters” to push their product online. But we stumbled on one site that quadruples down on the fiction, attributing utterly made-up endorsements to bona fide stars of stage, screen, sports, and science. [More]
Trump White House Directs Agencies To Start Lining Up Regulations For Chopping Block
By 2.24.17
In January, President Trump signed an executive order dictating that for every new federal regulation put in place, at least two existing regulations would need to be removed. Today, the President took things even further, directing these agencies to start thinking now about which rules should be eliminated. [More]
Despite Possible Crackdown, Nevada Will Allow Recreational Pot Sales In July
By 2.24.17
Yesterday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said that he expects the Justice Department to ramp up its efforts against non-medical marijuana. In spite of that statement, Nevada says it still plans to allow recreational pot sales to begin this summer. [More]
New FCC Chair Plans To Block Internet Privacy Rule Before It Kicks In
By 2.24.17
Last October, the FCC adopted a rule that limits what your internet service provider — home or mobile — can do with your private data. At the time, the rule was contentious, with two FCC commissioners dissenting volubly. One of those two commissioners, Ajit Pai, is now FCC Chairman, and he’s announced his plan to stop the privacy rule from taking effect because he thinks it’s not fair to pick on the Comcasts and Charters of the world. [More]
Customs Agents Require Passengers On Domestic Flight To Show ID Before Exiting Plane
By 2.24.17
While you might be used to the sight of Customs and Border Protection agents checking the passports of travelers arriving in the United States from abroad, passengers on a recent domestic Delta Air Lines flight had the unusual experience of having to show identification before they could leave the plane. [More]
Report: Obamacare Replacement Will Likely Cover Fewer Americans
By 2.24.17
So far, the only thing the White House has said about its plans to replace the Affordable Care Act is that it would provide “insurance for everyone” and that people would be “beautifully covered,” but comments coming out of Washington indicate that not everyone will be able to obtain coverage under the replacement plan. [More]
White House May Crack Down On Recreational Marijuana
By 2.23.17
Even though federal law currently prohibits the Justice Department from using any of the funding it receives from Congress to prosecute medical marijuana in 40 states (and D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico), no law blocks the DOJ from going after recreational marijuana operations, even in the growing number of states where it’s been legalized. This afternoon, the White House likened recreational pot use to the opioid epidemic and hinted that it may opt to crack down on non-medical pot. [More]
Florida Man Arrested For Collecting Payments For Jamaican Lottery Scammers
By 2.23.17
Operators of some overseas scams will use American middle-men to collect money from victims before sending it on to the scammers. Federal prosecutors have accused one Florida man of being the cash conduit for a “lottery” scam being run out of Jamaica. [More]
Senators Pitch Last-Minute Attempt To Exempt Pizza Places From New Menu Labeling Law
By 2.23.17
On May 5, 2017, new federal regulations finalized three years ago will go into effect that require chain restaurants with 20 or more outlets to post calorie counts on their menus, as well as on food items sold in vending machines and snack bars. Before that happens, lawmakers in the Senate have introduced a bill to make a few revisions. What would those revisions mean for consumers faced with making mealtime decisions? [More]
Soon-To-Be Proposed Sugary Drink Tax In Seattle Won’t Apply To Starbucks
By 2.23.17 — Updated: 6.7.17
Seattle could soon be joining the ranks of Philadelphia, Chicago, Boulder, CO, Albany and Berkeley, CA, and a handful of other cities in charging consumers a little extra when they purchase a sugary drink. But the home of Starbucks will reportedly provide some relief for java lovers, as coffee shops will be exempt from a proposed rule on sweet beverages.
[More]
Evanger’s VP: Dog Food Recalled For Euthanasia Drugs Contained Horse DNA
By 2.22.17
An executive at pet food company Evanger’s, which recently recalled its own and Against the Grain beef canned dog food due to drug contamination, recently admitted to a Washington state newspaper that the recalled food contained horse DNA. The company has thus far blamed these issues on its meat supplier, but this is not the first time Evanger’s pet food has included an animal meat that wasn’t advertised. [More]
Warm Winters Mean Bad Maple Syrup Harvests
By 2.22.17
If you live in the northeastern United States, you’ve probably noticed that temperatures are warmer than usual for this time of year. While that’s great news for most people, it’s terrible news for maple syrup producers, who are coping with low sap production and cloudy syrup. [More]
Automakers Ask New EPA Chief Pruitt To Rescind Mileage, Greenhouse Gas Standards
By 2.22.17
Now that Scott Pruitt — the former Oklahoma Attorney General who repeatedly sued the Environmental Protection Agency — has been sworn in as the Administrator of the agency whose policies he once attacked, auto industry lobbyists are calling on the EPA to put a stop to longterm fuel-economy and emissions standards locked in by the previous White House. [More]
Tech Industry Comes Out Against Possible DHS Collection Of Visitors’ Passwords
By 2.21.17
Earlier this month, newly confirmed Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told a Congressional committee that one of the possible forms of “extreme vetting” for visitors to the U.S. could include requiring them to hand over their login information for websites they visit. Today, a coalition made up of human rights organizations, consumer advocates, and the tech industry penned an open letter to Kelly, calling on DHS to not go down this path. [More]
Federal Court Resolves Crucial Question: Is The Snuggie A Blanket Or A Garment?
By 2.21.17
It’s a question that has torn this nation apart for far too long, dividing families, rending marriages in two, leaving scars that may never heal on the flesh and in the souls of good Americans: Is the Snuggie a blanket that just happens to have sleeves, or is it a garment, like an oversized bathrobe that you wear backwards? While it may not change your deeply felt personal opinion on this matter, a federal court has made its opinion known. [More]
