The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Vivendi has negotiated a tentative $5.8 billion deal to sell its minority stake in NBC Universal to General Electric Co. This means that GE is closer to being able to sell NBC to Comcast. [More]
Government Policy
Senate Trying To Give FDA More Power
By 12.1.09
Last week the Senate cooked up a Scooby Snack for the FDA. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee unanimously approved a bill that will make the FDA run around all hyper and bestow it with super strength and ghost-catching ability, the LA. Times reports, though not in those words. [More]
Judge Tells Debt Collection Firm To Pay Stranger $115 For Dragging Him To Court
By 11.30.09
Last week, a Brooklyn judge ordered strongly suggested that the law firm of Pressler & Pressler, “one of the biggest in the collection industry,” pay a day’s worth of income to the man they falsely accused of owing an unpaid debt. To encourage the firm to do the right thing, Judge Noach Dear scheduled a sanctions hearing but told the firm’s lawyer, T. Andy Wang, that he might drop it if they pay up. [More]
Continental, ExpressJet Fined $100,000 For Tarmac Delay Incident
By 11.30.09
Back in August, Continental and its partner, ExpressJet kept 47 passengers, including some babies, on a plane for 11 hours with only some pretzels to eat. A few days later, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that he was looking in to the issue. Last week, the DOT announced that the Aviation Enforcement Office (AEO) had fined Continental Airlines and ExpressJet Airlines $100,000 for their involvement in the incident. [More]
New Jersey Wants Marketers To Stop Mailing Unsolicited Checks
By 11.30.09
Assemblyman Paul Moriarty wants direct mail marketers to stop sending out those “free money!” checks that auto-enroll you in expensive programs when you deposit them, while a senator has introduced a similar measure. “Instead of relying on tricks, companies looking to sell their services in New Jersey should go back to the old-fashioned way: earning consumers’ trust,” said Moriarty. [More]
Slothful Home Loan Modifiers Earn More Money When You're Delinquent
By 11.30.09
With a rising wave of foreclosures looming, the Treasury is stepping up pressure on lenders to finish modifying home loans and to pick up the pace. Potentially exacerbating the problem is that many loans are held by servicers whose fees increase the longer borrowers remain in default. [More]
BlueHippo Files Chapter 11 After Bank Accounts Frozen
By 11.28.09
It appears that when the FTC filed a contempt charge against scamtastic consumer electronics purveyor Bluehippo, the company’s bank took notice and froze their accounts. Now Bluehippo has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, claiming that they can’t repay their creditors, what with the frozen bank accounts and all. This will not end well. [More]
2.1 Million Cribs Recalled, Including 150,000 From Fisher Price
By 11.24.09
Following four deaths, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced one of the largest recalls of cribs in the agency’s history: 2.1 million cribs manufactured by Stork Craft, including roughly 150,000 sold under the Fisher Price brand. As in other recent recalls, this one is based on problems with drop-side cribs entrapping babies and seriously injuring or killing them. [More]
CPSC Links Chinese Drywall To Home Corrosion
By 11.23.09
The CPSC announced findings linking Chinese drywall to reports of home corrosion, and a possible link between the sulfuric gas emitting from them and health problems.
Police Drop Theft Charges Against Pub Non-Tippers
By 11.23.09
Police in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, are withdrawing charges against the two college students who refused to tip at a pub last month, says The Morning Call.
Possible Class-Action Suit Alleges Xbox Bans Result Of Vast Redmond Conspiracy
By 11.21.09
Microsoft has declared that the owners of banned Xbox consoles have no recourse and no choice but to buy new consoles. Some users see this as unfair and a vast Redmond conspiracy, and law firm AbingtonIP is fighting back with a class-action lawsuit. God bless America.
Police: Gang Was Killing People For Fat, Attempting To Sell It To Cosmetic Companies
By 11.21.09
Police in Peru say that they’ve caught a group that was allegedly killing people and harvesting their fat to sell to Europeans who wanted it for cosmetics.
Should Yelp Remove Reviews By Non Customers?
By 11.20.09
Lehigh Pub, the restaurant in Pennsylvania that had two patrons arrested for not tipping, was blasted on Yelp in the past 24 hours or so by angry readers. Many of them weren’t customers, but heard about the arrests in the news and came to vote down the pub. As of this morning, it had an average of one star out of five.
Vick's Sinex Nasal Spray Recalled Due To Bacterial Contamination
By 11.20.09
The FDA says P&G is voluntarily recalling three lots of its Vicks Sinex nasal spray in three countries: the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom after finding the bacteria B. cepacia in a small amount of product. There have been no reports of illness. However, the bacteria could cause serious infections for individuals with a compromised immune system, or those with chronic lung conditions, such as cystic fibrosis. B. cepacia poses little medical risk to healthy individuals.
Watch Out Criminals: That Craigslist "Customer" Might Be The Police
By 11.20.09
The Chicago Sun-Times says that three men have been charged with “stealing cash and property at gunpoint from victims thinking they were meeting to buy televisions and other electronics advertised on Craigslist.” The suspects were arrested after police saw “suspicious” postings on Craigslist and contacted the sellers posing as an interested customer.
North Pole, Alaska, Forced Out Of Santa Letter Program
By 11.19.09
New security rules have proven too complex for Alaska’s post offices to bear, so they’re ending their participation in Operation Santa, the 50-year-old program where letters addressed to “Santa Claus, North Pole” are answered by volunteers. The program will continue elsewhere, reports the Associated Press, but when I called the USPS to find out where letters should be addressed I was told parents should contact their local post offices for information.
Judge Refuses To Pull Verizon's "There's A Map For That" Ads
By 11.19.09
As you probably know, AT&T is currently suing Verizon over the “There’s a map for that” ad campaign. The big blue death star says that the maps depict different things, whereas Verizon says the maps are truthful and “the truth hurts.” A federal judge says the ads can stay up — for now.
82-Year-Old Receipt Checker Chases Thief
By 11.19.09
This security footage from a BJ’s Wholesale in Florida shows a man trying to steal two computers, and the store’s elderly greeter/receipt-checker giving chase. Almost all the good stuff happens off screen, so you’ll have to imagine the awesome karate moves that probably ensued. It’s retail crime fighting in action!
