The U.S. Department of Justice is said to be investigating allegations that Wells Fargo discriminated against black borrowers, offering high-interest, subprime mortgages that seemed geared to lead to default. [More]
department of justice
Google Sets Aside $500 Million For Ad Settlement
By 5.11.11
Preparing to settle a Department of Justice investigation of “use of Google advertising by certain advertisers,” Google has set aside $500 million to make the investigation go away. [More]
How Safe Is Your Facebook Info From The Feds?
By 3.18.10
Newly released documents under the Freedom of Information Act reveal not just the Justice Department’s guidelines for how to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for investigative purposes, but which ones are the most friendly to their requests for access to user info. [More]
Congressman Wants Ticketmaster Investigated For 'TicketsNow' Website
By 2.4.09
Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D) of New Jersey has asked the FTC and the Justice Department to investigate the relationship between Ticketmaster and its reseller website, TicketsNow, after consumers who tried to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets encountered technical problems that prevented purchase, and were then redirected to TicketsNow where prices were “hundreds of dollars above face value” (actually, more like “thousands of dollars,” based on our check just a few minutes ago).
16 Years After The Law Was Passed, The National Auto Database Still Doesn't Exist
By 2.7.08
The Consumer Law & Policy blog says that three consumer advocacy groups, Public Citizen, Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety (CARS) and Consumer Action, have filed a lawsuit in order to force the Department of Justice to enforce a law passed in 1992 that requires a national database of auto information gathered from insurance companies. The database would allow consumers to “instantly check the validity of the car’s title and odometer reading and learn whether it had been stolen or severely damaged in the past.”
US Threatens to Sue if Maine Probes Verizon’s Phone Record Gift to NSA
By 8.8.06
Verizon customers in Maine asked the Public Utilities Commission to investigate whether the cellphone company handed over their phone records to the NSA. A July 28th letter from the DOJ to the PUC asked them to demure, and intimated at possible legal action.
DoJ Files To Dismiss AT&T Lawsuit… It’s Top Secret!
By 5.15.06
Bad news for those of us who don’t want the long-distance sex calls we made to our Canadian girlfriends shouted mockingly at us when we’re tied to a chair with a burlap sack over our face in between a knee-thwacking with a length of hose. The Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit by the EFF against AT&T for illegally complying with NSA wire-tapping of citizens’ lines.
Fed Agencies Lick Industrial Nutsacks & Rip Apart Consumer Lawsuits
By 2.20.06
s lap dog federal agencies help industries gain shielding from consumer and state lawsuits. Among the erosions:
