Yesterday the FCC announced new, expanded rules enforcing net neutrality, and they’ve set aside the next 60 days for public debate. Get ready to hear all sorts of creative end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it arguments from opponents like AT&T. We’ve checked out the official document (pdf) and below we summarize the changes that are open to public discussion for the next two months.
Government Policy
Brewery Owner Stares Down, Whups Monster In His Closet
By 10.22.09
Score a victory for the little guy. Matt Nadeau, the owner of the Rock Art Vermont brewery, which was slapped with a lawsuit by the sue-happy makers of the Monster energy drink for brewing a beer called “Vermonster,” has gotten the bullies to step off.
American Medical Alarms Sends Elderly Neighbor To Investigate Next Door
By 10.21.09
Is it okay for an alarm company to ask a neighbor to check on its customer? By sending a 70-year-old woman over to check on their 80-something-year-old customer, American Medical Alarms may have helped prematurely end a robbery/beating in progress. On the other hand, they asked a 70-year-old woman to go investigate an emergency next door—basically turning her into a potential Red Shirt. As the heroic neighbor’s daughter points out, “They should have already considered the possibility that something like this could happen, and have policies in place to prevent it.”
ISPs Threaten Metered Broadband As Net Neutrality Looms
By 10.21.09
Remember when you called up your ISP and, after an unholy modem screech, were billed for every minute you spent online? (Actually, it occurs to me that many Consumerist readers probably don’t remember this.) If ISPs’ current efforts pay off, we may all soon be paying for every little byte of Internet that we use.
MoneyGram Agrees To Pay $18 Million Back To Fraud Victims
By 10.20.09
MoneyGram International announced today that it would pay $18 million to the FTC to settle charges it allowed wire fraud to happen between 2004 and 2008. MoneyGram’s press release notes that they disagree with the FTC’s view of the matter, but $18 million is a hell of a lot of money to pay if you don’t think you were in the wrong. The press release from the FTC, on the other hand, provides plenty of detail illustrating MoneyGram’s negligence, as well as the criminal behavior of some of its employees who were in on the frauds.
AT&T Asks Employees To Oppose Net Neutrality
By 10.20.09
A reader sent us a letter that AT&T sent to its employees asking them to tell the FCC they oppose net neutrality. This comes after the FCC announced plans to investigate and enact net neutrality rules that will ensure that internet service providers (like AT&T) treat all content equally. The letter and a rebuttal are inside.
Deadly, Defective Stuff Recalled
By 10.20.09
Here’s the latest roundup of consumer products recalled because they might hurt or kill you!
Epic: Kindle 2 Fails Man's Drop Test, Forces Amazon To Pay Him $400
By 10.20.09
Paul bought a Kindle 2 from Amazon. He dropped it one day, and it sort of broke but not entirely, and Amazon wanted $200 to replace it. Instead, he got them to send him a $400 check, while still keeping the device. How? [More]
Woman Sues Toyota For Convincing Her She Was Being Stalked
By 10.19.09
It’s probably a bad idea to market to consumers by tricking them with practical jokes. It’s definitely a bad idea to make a consumer fear for her safety over a five day period because she thinks a stalker is coming after her. That’s why a woman in Los Angeles is suing Toyota for $10 million after being on the receiving end of a Punk’d-style stunt to promote the Toyota Matrix.
Energy Star Program Relies On Honor System For Some Products
By 10.19.09
Your new washer, dryer, fridge, monitor, or TV set may have an Energy Star label on it, but it turns out that nobody is making sure that means anything, reports the New York Times. Our parent organization Consumer Reports pointed out that this was a problem a year ago.
Testing Stuck Accelerator Survival Strategies
By 10.17.09
The recent recall of millions of Toyotas due to their floor mats’ unfortunate tendency to trap the cars’ accelerators, a flaw which has caused at least one confirmed horrific fatal accident, has caused people to wonder: if this happened to me, what would I do? Equipped with several different makes of cars and a test track, our colleagues at Consumer Reports Cars decided to play Mythbusters and put different stuck-accelerator survival strategies to the test.
FCC Asked To Address Misleading And Confusing Billing
By 10.16.09
In August, we wrote about upcoming investigations and possible actions by the FCC on several different areas of the consumer telecommunications experience. Several consumer groups filed comments on the first issue, truth in billing, this week, and we wanted to share some of their concerns and suggestions.
TSA Takes Baby Away From Mother?
By 10.16.09
UPDATE: The TSA has posted their CCTV video of the incident from 9 different angles. In the video, the child is never picked up by TSA agents or removed from the mother’s sight.
Browns Fan's Case Against EA Dismissed, Will Probably Be Settled
By 10.16.09
It looks like Big Dawg is getting his.
$8000 Credit For New Homebuyers Might Get Extended
By 10.16.09
Washington is working on getting the up-to-$8000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers due to expire in November extended, and perhaps even expanded to current homeowners buying a new house. [AP] (Photo: sflovestory)
Judge Tells ASCAP No Royalties For Ringtones
By 10.16.09
One of the weirder strategies by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) recently has been to claim that every time a ringtone played, a royalty should be paid. ASCAP sued AT&T earlier this year over the claim, but a federal judge has ruled that your phone ringing does not constitute a public performance.
Just Because Someone Tries To Sell You A Building Doesn't Mean They Own It
By 10.15.09
Meet Mr. Vargas. He would like to sell you his stake in some commercial property, a triangular lot just north of Central Park, at Lenox and St. Nicholas Avenues, in NYC. You would like to buy this property, because it’s apparently awesome. Unfortunately, after you give Mr. Vargas the money — you find out that the property is owned by an entirely different person.
Cash4Gold Hit With Racketeering And Fraud Class Action Lawsuit
By 10.15.09
A class action lawsuit (PDF) was filed against Cash4Gold in California federal court last Friday, accusing the company of a “massive scheme to defraud tens of thousands of consumers throughout the nation,” and racketeering.
