Comcast has settled a $16 million class-action lawsuit accusing the Internet provider of preventing customers from sharing files via BitTorrent. The suit alleges that Comcast sold users “unlimited” internet access that was, in fact, quite limited. Comcast still admits no wrongdoing, and affected customers will receive up to $16 each as part of the settlement. Ka-ching! [More]
Government Policy
Senate Passes Health Care Reform Bill
By 12.24.09
In case you missed it, Senate Democrats managed to succeed at their goal of pushing through some sort of health care reform bill before Christmas Day–the chamber voted this morning 60-39 along party lines and passed the bill. Up next: the Senate and House have to get together and negotiate some final version. If you want to compare what’s in the House and Senate versions, the New York Times has put together an excellent side-by-side comparison tool.
FCC Commissioner Says She's Not Happy With Verizon's ETF And Billing Explanations
By 12.24.09
At least one official with the FCC is not impressed by Verizon’s latest explanations of its Early Termination Fees (ETFs) and Mobile Web billing practices. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn released a statement (pdf) last night where she called Verizon’s explanation “unsatisfying” and “troubling,” and she closed with the fighting words, “I look forward to exploring this issue in greater depth with my colleagues in the New Year.” [More]
Pay Czar Rules On Bailed-Out Executives' Salaries
By 12.24.09
The pay czar has spoken. Late yesterday, the Treasury Department’s pay czar, Kenneth Feinberg, ruled on whether executives of bailed-out companies can receive higher salaries than the $500,000 limit. Rulings included exemptions for General Motors, GMAC, and Chrysler. Citigroup has repaid enough of its bailout funds that it will be exempt from pay caps in 2010. [Marketwatch] [More]
If Wall Street Ran The Airlines
By 12.23.09
The Baseline Scenario has written a pitch-perfect article that pretends financial industry types are now speaking for the airline industry. It’s filled with appeals to the free market, and lots of threats about how the American Way of Life will collapse if we can’t let passengers sit for more than three hours on tarmacs. [More]
Microsoft Must Change Word Or Stop Selling It
By 12.22.09
A federal appeals court has ordered Microsoft to remove custom XML functionality from any copies of Word 2007 that go on sale after January 11th. The ruling struck down Microsoft’s appeal of an earlier verdict that technology used in Office 2007 originated with the Canadian company i4i Software. [More]
Verizon Denies It Charges You $2 Each Time You Mistakenly Press A Certain Button On Your Phone
By 12.22.09
Last month, David Pogue at the New York Times published a tip from a self-described Verizon employee. The employee accused Verizon of deliberately rigging its system to trap customers whenever they accidentally press the “Get It Now” or “Mobile Web” buttons on their phones–even if they cancel the operation immediately, they’re charged a fee of $1.99 each time. Both Pogue and the FCC asked Verizon to explain why this happens. Verizon’s response: it doesn’t, and Pogue and the hundreds of people who wrote in to confirm this practice are all crazy. [More]
Tarmac Imprisonment Limited To 3 Hours
By 12.21.09
Airlines must let passengers stuck in airplanes stranded on the tarmac get off after 3 hours, the Transportation Department today ordered. They’re also now only allowed to starve you for 2 hours, after which they must serve pizza or a reasonable facsimile. Toilets must be functional during the entire time as well. [More]
Consumerist Interview: White House To Banking Lobbyists, "It's On."
By 12.18.09
We went back to the White House this week, for our second interview with Obama Administration economic advisor Austan Goolsbee. In a wide-ranging talk, Goolsbee discussed the Administration’s plans to help small businesses get credit, said that the battle against bank lobbyists is on, and expressed amazement that people in DC use the weather as an excuse to miss meetings. “I’m from Chicago,” he said, explaining that even blizzards don’t stop normal activities there. “We aren’t wimps in Chicago.”
Inside: Video and full transcript.
Speak Out Against Ticketmaster-Live Nation Merger At TicketDisaster.org
By 12.17.09
Yesterday a bunch of consumer advocates and anti-trust people held a press conference on Capitol Hill and asked the Department of Justice to block the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger. If you, too, feel that this spells nothing but trouble for consumers–that a Ticketmaster-Live Nation monopoly would ruin competition and increase ticket prices–then check out the website TicketDisaster.org. From there, you can contact the DOJ to voice your opinion about the proposed merger, read up on reasons why the merger sucks for consumers and for the concert industry, and sign up for updates. (Thanks to JammingEcono!)
Senate Concerned About Buy.com's Aggressive Webloyalty Checkout Hardsell
By 12.17.09
Before you can finish your purchase at Buy.com, you have to go through an entire page trying to upsell you to the much-maligned Webloyalty program and click the tiny “no thanks” button at the bottom. You can find it located under the large YES! button. [More]
FTC Sues Intel For Decade Of Illegal Sales Tactics
By 12.17.09
The FTC sued microprocessor giant Intel yesterday, alleging the company had engaged in illegal sales tactics for the past 10 years, relying on backroom strongarming instead of over technical innovation to maintain market dominance. [More]
Walmart Overcharges Soldiers Stationed Abroad For Shipping
By 12.16.09
The idea behind military mail is to allow people in a given country to send mail to their loved ones stationed anywhere in the world, for the same price as mailing a letter or package to any other destination in the United States. However, the military paper Stars and Stripes reports that some retailers are increasing prices for customers with APO/FPO addresses, claiming “higher transportation costs.” The biggest offender? Walmart. Surprise! [More]
Pretty Much All Roman And Roll-Up Blinds Recalled
By 12.15.09
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Window Covering Safety Council have announced a “recall to repair” of all Roman shades and roll-up shades, after multiple reports of deaths and near strangulations in recent years. If you’ve got kids in your house and you use either type of window covering, visit www.windowcoverings.org or call 800-506-4636 to receive a free kit that will let you retrofit the shades and blinds with clips. [More]
New Jersey Considers "Do Not Solicit" Registry To Block Credit Card Offers
By 12.15.09
New Jersey politicians appear to be engaged in some sort of contest to see who can get the most stringent anti-junk mail law passed. First an Assembleyman introduced a bill a few weeks back that would ban companies from mailing unsolocited checks to consumers. Now the Assembley’s Consumer Affairs committee has proposed starting a “Do Not Solicit” list, which would block credit card companies from offering new cards to consumers who aren’t interested. [More]
NYC Anti-Soda Commercial Shows Man Drinking Tall Glass Of Fat
By 12.15.09
No. You do not want to watch this video. Just promise the New York City Department of Health people that you won’t drink sugary soda so much. Then we’ll all be healthier, happier people, and nobody has to watch this video. (Video is embedded below.) [More]
Sandlin's "The Road to Nowhere" Essay Now Available
By 12.15.09
The awesome narrative non-fiction writer Lee Sandlin has posted online for the first time ever his 54-page 1984 essay “The Road To Nowhere – On Suburbia, the Interstates, and the National Defense: A Confession.” It’s full of little gems like how interstates plowing through poor neighborhoods were justified in part because their increased light would reduce crime and their concrete barriers would serve as excellent firebreaks in the event of nuclear war.
The Road to Nowhere [Lee Sandlin]
