Even as the holidays wind down, so-called “hoverboards” continue to be a hot ticket at retailers and shopping malls around the country. One such busy mall happened to be in Texas where a self-balancing scooter caught fire, marking it just one of dozens of fires reported to federal safety officials in recent months. [More]
Government Policy
Hoverboard Catches Fire At Texas Mall, Federal Safety Officials Record 22 Explosions In 17 States
By 12.29.15
Residents In Nine States Could Need A Second Form Of ID To Pass Through Airport Security Next Year
By 12.28.15
Ten years ago, Congress passed the REAL ID Act, which set minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and photo IDs. While the rules haven’t exactly been enforced to the “T” by the Dept. of Homeland Security, that’s poised to change, leaving millions of people in nine states in need of a second form of ID to pass through airport security. [More]
Law Firm Must Pay $3.1M For Operating Automated Debt-Collection Lawsuit “Factory”
By 12.28.15
A Georgia-based law firm behind hundreds of thousands of debt-collection lawsuits, and its principal partners, have agreed to pay a total of $3.1 million in penalties to settle federal accusations that they were operating a lawsuit mill in violation of the law. [More]
Yet Another “Hoverboard” Catches Fire While Charging, Singes Carpet In New Jersey Home
By 12.28.15
As expected, so-called “hoverboards” – that don’t actually hover at all – were a hot commodity under the Christmas tree. But for one New Jersey family, the holiday gift quickly turned from exciting new device to dangerous fire-starter after it burst into flames while charging. [More]
Advocate: Additional IRS Funding Should Be “Extremely Helpful” In Actually Helping Taxpayers
By 12.28.15
As we approach 2016, taxpayers might be wary of dealing with the Internal Revenue Service after last year’s identity theft problems. But according to the IRS’ national taxpayer advocate, the agency is going to be much better at dealing with taxpayers than it was last year. [More]
Verizon, Sprint Customers Have Until Dec. 31 To Claim A Piece Of The $158M Cramming Settlement Pie
By 12.28.15
The holidays can be a tiring, stressful time, full of never-ending checklists. While you might have checked off plenty of your to-do items, if you’re a Verizon or Sprint customer, you’ll want to make sure you add “check to see if I’m eligible for a bill-cramming refund,” to the top of your list. [More]
TSA Updates Screening Procedure, Will Mandate Some Passengers Use Full-Body Scanners
By 12.23.15
Going through airport security is about to get a bit different for some passengers: the Transportation Security Administration can now require some travelers to go through body scanners even if the person asks to get a full-body pat-down instead. [More]
Eighth U.S. Death Linked To Takata Airbag Defect; Additional Vehicles Added To Recall List
By 12.23.15
Yet another death has been linked to Takata airbags that can explode and spew potentially lethal shrapnel at passengers, federal regulators said on Wednesday, increasing the number of fatalities in the U.S. to eight, and nine worldwide. [More]
FDA Recalls Several Weight Loss Supplements Containing Unsafe Ingredients
By 12.23.15
Earlier this year, the owner of a dietary supplement company was sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling “all natural” products that secretly contained harmful active ingredients that shouldn’t even be available to U.S. consumers. Today, the FDA announced recalls for more than a dozen additional products containing these same, unsafe ingredients. [More]
YouTube Calls Out T-Mobile For Throttling Video Traffic
By 12.23.15
Net neutrality says that internet providers can’t throttle some services and speed others up. That much is clear. But if they’re throttling literally everyone, even those who didn’t sign up for it, is it still a violation? Google says yes, and has a definite complaint about the way T-Mobile is starting to handle video. [More]
Southwest Airlines Offering Free Gift-Wrapping Today To Passengers At 7 Airports
By 12.23.15
When traveling by airplane for the holidays and lugging gifts through security, there’s always the chance that the Transportation Security Administration checker will feel the need to unwrap your beautiful present. To make sure that’s not an issue for you, or if you simply ran out of time to perfect your presentation, Southwest Airlines and the Container Store are teaming up to offer passengers free gift wrapping, at select airports. [More]
Ford Recalls 313K Sedans Because Lights Are Necessary While Driving In The Dark
By 12.23.15
Six years after federal regulators originally closed an investigation into Ford sedans that contained headlights that could fail and four months after a new probe into the issue was opened, the automaker has issued a recall for 313,000 of the vehicles. [More]
How The Federal Government Tries To Keep Financially Troubled Colleges From Failing
By 12.22.15
Under federal law, colleges that record a student loan default rate of 30% or more for three consecutive years – or 40% in a single year – can lose their access to federal aid. While the rule is meant to weed out bad players and schools that don’t provide students with means for gainful employment, a new report shows that the government often intervenes, propping up schools just before they fail. [More]
Feds Clarify When & How Advertisers Need To Reveal They Paid For Sponsored Stories
By 12.22.15
If you’re reading a website about business travel and you read an interesting news story about saving money on hotels, does it matter to you if that “article” was paid for by an advertiser? If so, how should that sponsorship be communicated to the reader? [More]
Study: Home Broadband Subscriptions Are Falling As More Americans Live By The Smartphone
By 12.22.15
There’s a general feeling in the air that mobile everything is the wave of the future. Optimized websites, streaming apps, new data packages… everything points to a continuing trend of our lives centering around the pocket computers we all carry and still anachronistically call “phones.” It’s one of those things we all “know,” anecdotally as much as anything else. But now there’s new data showing that not only is the mobile future already here, but also it’s robust enough that consumers are starting to pull the plug on their home internet connections. [More]
Regulators Accuse Oracle Of Deceiving Customers About Security Of Java Updates
By 12.21.15
The owners of more than 850 million personal computers using Oracle’s Java Platform Standard Edition were misled about the security of their devices after software updates left the PCs susceptible to hack attacks according to federal regulators. [More]
FDA Ends Across-The-Board Ban On Blood Donations From Gay, Bisexual Men
By 12.21.15
Exactly a year ago this week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it was going to eventually change its guidance on blood donations that had barred any man who had been intimate with another male at any time in the previous three decades from donating. Today, the FDA finalized that change, which still requires that all male donors abstain from same-sex intimacy for a year before donating. [More]
BMW To Pay $40M For Failing To Recall Mini Coopers In A Timely Manner
By 12.21.15
Three months after federal regulators opened a probe into whether BMW failed to recall more than 30,000 Mini Cooper cars in a timely fashion after certain models did not meet side impact crash standards, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration fined the car manufacturer $40 million after finding a series of violations. [More]
