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news from the swamp

FCC Chairman Takes Aim At Cable Monopolies

By consumeristcarey 11.11.07

Newly emboldened FCC Chairman Kevin Martin plans to wield the Cable Communications Act of 1984 to shatter the cable industry’s anti-competitive practices. The proposed regulations would give consumers flexible, diverse programming at cheaper rates, while capping the cancerous growth of conglomerates like Comcast and Time Warner.

The commission is preparing to take steps to make it less expensive for rivals of the largest cable conglomerates to buy their programs — so that, for instance, a satellite company would find it less expensive to purchase programs by the Turner Broadcasting System, a unit of Time Warner.

president bush

House Passes AMT Fix

By consumeristcarey 11.10.07

The House voted 216-193 on Friday to keep 21 million middle-class taxpayers from paying the alternative minimum tax (AMT) next year. Republicans opposed the measure because the bill is funded by raising the tax on carried interest, paid exclusively by investment bankers, from 15% to 35%.

Friday’s bill would extend AMT relief for one year, at a cost of about $51 billion. It includes another $30 billion in largely popular tax relief measures, including expanding the child tax credit, providing a property tax deduction to some 30 million families and extending a tax exemption for the combat pay of military personnel.

savetheinternet

Tell The FCC, Congress To Support Net Neutrality

By consumeristcarey 11.8.07

Net neutrality advocates are gathering momentum to take Comcast to the woodshed for an old fashioned populist beating. Comcast believes that deliberately destroying connections to the popular communications protocol BitTorrent amounts to “reasonable network management,” which the FCC permits. Advocates figure if they can’t ride the net neutrality pony to Congressional passage now, it will forever lie dormant in the stable munching on BitTorrent packet hay.

wonkette

Liveblogging The Senate Commerce Committee Hearing On Media Consolidation

By consumeristcarey 11.8.07

Starting at 10 a.m., the Senate Commerce Committee will try to derail the Federal Communications Commission’s plans to make it easier for any one company to control several radio and television stations in the same city. The move would benefit the six major conglomerates that own the vast majority of media outlets to the detriment of minorities and local interests, whose voice is rarely represented in the broader media.

media consolidation

Media Consolidation Is Bad For Everyone

By consumeristcarey 11.4.07

Bill Moyers produced an excellent segment on media consolidation and its disproportionate impact on minorities. African Americans and Hispanics account for over a quarter of the population, but own just 33 of the nation’s 1,350 television stations, and only 6% of radio stations. According to Melody Spann-Cooper, owner of Chicago’s only black-owned radio station:

Radio has moved from being in the business of empowering and educating people to Wall Street, to making money. And that’s not the big corporate conglomerates, you know, that’s not their fault. They were allowed to do this.

ethics

CPSC Head's Travel Paid For By Industry Groups

By consumerist.com 11.2.07

CPSC head Nancy Nord took scores of trips paid for lobbyists representing companies under her regulatory scope, Washington Post reports. The trips include $11,000 in “gift travel” to China, paid for by a fireworks company. The Toy Industry Association paid for her train ticket, hotel, meals, and parking ticket to attend their toy convention in New York. Federal agencies are barred from taking gifts from industry groups with pending matters before them, but other top agencies are more strict about accepting gifts from companies under their domain. By some sort of magical coincidence, the travel records disclosure come at time Nord is facing calls for her resignation for disagreeing with the new changes and expansions Congress is considering for the CPSC.

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Washington Has Had Enough Of CPSC Chair Nancy Nord

By Meg Marco 10.31.07

It seems that more than a few people in Washington have had just about enough of Nancy Nord and her whole “No, don’t make my agency regulate the industry its supposed to regulate” thing. Nancy has come out against currently proposed legislation that would give the CPSC both more money and more power, because she says it would make consumers “less safe” by overwhelming her office with complaints about trivial stuff.

liveblogging

Liveblogging The Do Not Call Improvement Act and CPSC Reform Act Committee Markups

By consumeristcarey 10.30.07

Get ready for dual-chamber coverage of the House and Senate markups of the Do Not Call Improvement Act and the CPSC Reform Act, starting at 2 pm. The FTC-supported Do Not Call Improvement Act would make Do Not Call registrations permanent. The House is set to consider its version, H.R. 3541, in the House Energy and Commerce Committee at 2 pm, while the Senate Commerce Committee will markup its own version, S. 2096, at 2:30 pm. The Senate will also markup S. 2045, the CPSC Reauthorization Act, which would boost the CPSC budget to almost $150 million, add 80 new staffers, and increase the CPSC’s maximum fine from $1.8 million to $100 million.

F.C.C. To Strike Down Sole Provider Cable Deals for Apartments

By consumerist.com 10.29.07

The FCC is slated Wednesday to nullify and bar exclusive agreements between cable companies and apartment buildings. Currently, in cases where such arrangements exist, consumers can only choose the cable provider their landlord inked the deal with. The FCC hopes is to increase competition and lead to lower prices for consumers. Verizon and AT&T, which have started offering their own video services, lobbied heavily for the action.

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CPSC Chair Thinks Senate Bill Would Overwhelm The Agency

By Meg Marco 10.26.07

Nancy Nord thinks a new Senate bill that would increase the budget and power of the CPSC would overwhelm the agency and “put the American people at greater risk,” according to the Washington Post.

economy

Joint Economic Committee Estimates 2 Million Foreclosures By 2009

By Meg Marco 10.26.07

The Joint Economic Committee has released a report estimating 2 million foreclosures by 2009, causing $71 billion in lost housing wealth.

file sharing

Comcast BitTorrent Meddling Draws The Attention Of Congress

By Meg Marco 10.26.07

Comcast’s meddling with BitTorrent has prompted a member of congress to say something nice about file sharing. Aww!

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Liveblogging The House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing On The Arbitration Fairness Act

By consumeristcarey 10.25.07

Consumers may finally escape from the clutches of mandatory binding arbitration if the House Judiciary Committee smiles favorably today upon the Arbitration Fairness Act. Arbitrators rule against consumers in more than 98% of all disputes; the Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law is currently meeting to consider H.R. 3010, which would restore consumers’ rights to resolve disputes fairly and openly.

walmart

Liveblogging The Senate Commerce Committee Hearing On Toys, Children's Products, And The Chinese Sweatshops In Which They're Made

By consumeristcarey 10.25.07

Starting today at 9:30 a.m., the Senate Commerce Committee will examine the lives of the young Chinese workers who assemble our Barbies and Tiggers without the workforce protections or social safety nets enjoyed by western workers.

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FTC Vows Not To Expire Numbers From The Do Not Call List

By consumeristcarey 10.23.07

The FTC will vow in Congressional testimony today not to purge numbers on the Do Not Call List while Congress considers making registrations permanent. Do Not Call registrations currently last for five years, and are set to start expiring in April 2008 despite the list’s broad popularity: 92% of Americans have heard of the list, 76% have added their number, and 92% claim to receive fewer calls marketing calls. Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection will hail the list for ‘restoring the sanctity of the American dinner hour.’

news from the swamp

By consumeristcarey 10.22.07

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The Arbitration Fairness Act is set to take a giant leap forward this Thursday. Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA), sponsor of the House version, H.R. 3010, has convinced the chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law to hold a hearing. [House Judiciary Committee]

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Liveblogging The Senate Commerce Committee Hearing: Cellphone Companies And The Customers They Hate

By consumeristcarey 10.17.07

Today at 10 a.m., the Senate Commerce Committee will pry through bone and muscle to see if cellphone companies really do have hearts of pure stone. The Committee will question the industry’s most egregious practices: junk fees, illegal contract extensions, and early termination fees. The industry is working overtime to cast itself as the consumer’s best friend, with AT&T recently agreeing to prorate ETFs as part of a desperate attempt to show that federal regulation is unnecessary.

news from the swamp

By consumeristcarey 10.10.07

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The House is currently debating H.R. 3056, which would ban the IRS from commissioning private debt collectors to scare up back taxes owed to the government. Each successful collection earns the private collector a 25% commission, providing a powerful incentive to employ deceptive tactics. The measure should sail effortlessly through the House, but its fate in the Senate remains murky. [GovExec]

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