The age of copper is over. Or at least, the nation’s biggest telephone legacy landline carriers really want it to be. And the FCC is okay with that — as long as companies stick to a few new consumer protection rules that the commission voted on today. [More]
Government Policy
Blue Bell’s Alabama Plant Gets State Approval To Distribute Ice Cream
By 8.5.15
Blue Bell ice cream has been off the shelves for some months now due to an outbreak of listeriosis that hospitalized ten people and killed three. Now there’s hope for desperate Blue Bell fans: the company’s production facility in Alabama, which didn’t cause any known illnesses, has been making test batches of ice cream and will now be allowed to distribute them. [More]
Why Didn’t Dept. Of Education Find Problems With Loan Servicer Fined $100M?
By 8.5.15
Last May, investigations by the Department of Justice and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation into student loans servicing resulted in a $100 million fine against government-contracted servicer Navient for allegedly violating federal laws limiting the amount of interest that can be charged on servicemember student loans. Following those investigations, the Department of Education undertook a review that found its four servicers – including Navient – weren’t cheating military personnel. With such conflicting reports, members of Congress are now getting involved, calling for an investigation into the Dept. of Education’s review process. [More]
U.S. Companies Must Reveal How Much CEOs Earn Compared To Workers
By 8.5.15
Five years ago, the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to come up with rules requiring American companies to calculate and report the ratio between a CEO’s pay and that of the company’s typical employee. After repeated delays and claims from big business that the math was too complicated, the SEC has finally voted to approve these rules. [More]
Jeep Cherokee Owners File Lawsuit Against Fiat Chrysler, Harman After Hackers Wirelessly Hijack Vehicle
By 8.5.15
It was inevitable: A few weeks after hackers showed that a Jeep Cherokee could be hijacked remotely, three car owners have filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against Fiat Chrylser Automobiles and Harman International, the maker of the Uconnect onboard infotainment system. [More]
Electronic Mortgage Documents Easier To Understand, Provide More Benefits For Consumers
By 8.5.15
If you’ve ever bought a house, you’re more than familiar with the mountain of paperwork you have to deal with at closing, not all of which are easy to understand. But a study claims that homeowners who utilize a newer electronic method for reviewing closing documents may better comprehend what they’re signing. [More]
Regulators Sue To Shut Down Illegal Offshore Payday Loan Network
By 8.4.15
While most of us think of payday lenders as small-time storefront operations, there is also a complicated web of interconnected payday businesses operating outside the U.S. borders, but illegally issuing costly short-term loans to American borrowers. A newly filed lawsuit hopes to put an end to one such network. [More]
Operators Of Credit Repair Business Masquerading As The FTC Must Return $2.4M To Consumers
By 8.4.15
Three months after regulators shut down a credit repair company catering mainly to Spanish-speaking consumers for falsely claiming to have a close relationship with the federal government – calling itself “FTC Credit Solutions” – and bilking thousands of dollars from individual consumers with empty promises of boosting their credit scores, the real Federal Trade Commission announced it has reached a settlement that will result in the return of $2.4 million to victims of the scam. [More]
Don’t Expect An End To Sketchy Hotel Resort Fees Anytime Soon
By 8.4.15
In 2012, it looked like the Federal Trade Commission might finally be cracking down on hotel “resort fees,” mandatory surcharges added above the listed price of some hotel rooms. At the time, the agency sent warnings to 22 different hotel operators warning them that they weren’t doing enough to disclose these fees, but no legal actions have been taken since, in spite of the fact that some popular tourist destinations are hiding their resort fees until the final payment screen. And judging by the FTC’s latest response to these concerns, you probably shouldn’t expect this to change in the near future. [More]
Court Will Hear Arguments Against Net Neutrality In December
By 8.4.15
Though the telecom and cable industry was unable to prevent new net neutrality rules from kicking in earlier this summer, the legal battle over the FCC’s authority to regulate broadband continues. A federal appeals court has agreed to hear arguments in the matter later this year. [More]
DOJ Sues Supplement Makers Over Mislabeling, Failure To Follow Good Manufacturing Processes
By 8.3.15
When people buy dietary supplements, they do so assuming that the product in the pill, powder, or liquid actually is what it claims to be, and that the amount you’re taking is correct. The U.S. Department of Justice has accused three supplement makers of being careless with what went into their products –– or, in bureaucrat-speak, “misbranding” and “not complying with the FDA’s current good manufacturing practices.” [More]
CDC: 358 People In 26 States Confirmed To Have Cyclosporiasis From Cilantro
By 8.3.15
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a partial import ban on cilantro grown in Mexico after an outbreak of the parasitic gastrointestinal illness Cyclosporiasis was traced to specific fields and processing facilities in that country. So far, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, government agencies have been able to confirm 358 cases of the illness, in 26 states. [More]
Citigroup Facing Federal Investigation Into Student Loan-Servicing Practices
By 8.3.15
Just last month federal regulators announced that an ongoing probe into potentially unscrupulous student loan-servicing practices resulted in nearly $18.5 million in refunds and fines from Discover Bank. Now, regulators appear to have Citigroup in their crosshairs, as the financial company announced it was party to an investigation. [More]
Regulators Investigating Harman Kardon After Remote Hack Of Jeep
By 8.3.15
UPDATE: A day after regulators announced they had opened an investigation into Harman Kardon to determine if vehicles – other than the recently recalled 1.4 million Fiat Chrysler models – equipped with certain infotainment systems were susceptible to remote hacks, the company assured investigators and consumers that the previously reported hack was an isolated incident. [More]
Kraft Recalling 36,000 Cases Of Cheese Due To Packaging Choking Hazard
By 8.3.15
True story: I had a friend in college who often wanted a snack while we were out and about on weekend nights guzzling Milwaukee’s Best Light. To curb her cravings, she’d often stick a few Kraft singles cheese slices in her purse, conveniently wrapped in plastic for individual snacking opportunities. Alas, that same convenient packaging is at the heart of a new voluntary recall from Kraft, over concerns that people could choke on the plastic wrapping. [More]
320K Dodge Chargers Recalled Because Airbags Shouldn’t Deploy When The Door Shuts
By 8.3.15
For the past year, car makers have been plagued with airbag issues of some kind. Over the weekend Fiat Chrysler announced it was the latest company to encounter problems with the safety devices: unintended deployment when shutting a vehicle’s doors. [More]
Regulators Settle Charges That Reynolds, Lorillard Merger Would Be Anticompetitive
By 7.31.15
A year after the No. 2 and No. 3 cigarette brands in the country first announced they were planning to go all-in on a $27.4 billion merger, regulators have approved an order settling charges that the deal would be anticompetitive for the U.S. cigarette market, paving the way for the merger to move forward. [More]
FDA Warns About Mixups Between Drugs With Similar Names
By 7.30.15
Here’s a scary thought: dangerous medication mixups could begin at your doctor’s office. The FDA put out a warning today that they’ve received reports of mixups between similarly-named drugs that do very different things. The FDA urges patients and caregivers to know what the drug they’re supposed to be taking looks like, and alert medical providers if the drug that they receive looks different. [More]
