The House has passed not one, but two cleverly-named measures targeting the miscreants who make and promote spyware. Though the FTC, Justice Department, and several state attorneys general are already empowered to prosecute spyware manufacturers, the two measures would extend existing laws by subjecting spyware makers to jail terms and multimillion-dollar fines.
news from the swamp
Department Of Education Busts Student Loan Party Once And For All
By 6.2.07
USDA To Meatpackers: You Have No Right To Test For Deadly Diseases
By 5.31.07
The USDA has vowed to safeguard your meat by fighting reckless meatpackers that want to test their dead cattle for mad cow disease. The USDA’s current policy of testing less than 1% of cows is clearly succeeding since none of you have caught Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human variant of mad cow disease.
Credit Card Companies Cheer New Regulation?
By 5.25.07
The Federal Reserve Board wants credit card companies to clean up their act, and the credit card companies couldn’t be happier. The Fed’s proposed regulation would give customers 45 days notice before a change to their card’s terms, require fees and interest to be shown separately on each bill, and would transform default APR into the more menacing-sounding penalty APR. None of this is objectionable to the credit card companies:
“We strongly agree that improved disclosures empower consumers to make better choices in our competitive marketplace,” said Edward Yingling, head of the American Bankers Association, a lobbying group that represents the biggest credit-card issuers.
We tell you why creditors are grinning, after the jump…
House Approves Gas Price Gouging Legislation
By 5.24.07
The House of Representatives has passed what could become the first federal law against energy price gouging. Currently, several states have laws against said gouging, but the rigor of the enforcement is inconsistent at best.
BREAKING: Baroody Withdraws CPSC Nomination
By 5.23.07
Michael Baroody withdrew his nomination for head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
FDA Knew About Potentially Lethal Diabetes Drug Since Last August, Said Nothing
By 5.22.07
The study was outed yesterday on the New England Journal of Medicine’s website. The editors of the journal and the study’s lead author both warned that the research methodology left the “findings open to interpretation.”
FTC To Investigate Deceptive Youth-Oriented Advertising Practices, Like KFC's "21st Century Dinner Bell," Audible Only To Kids
By 5.22.07
A report damning the coercive and deceptive practices used by food marketers to reach kids has been submitted to the FTC. The Commission plans to investigate how the food industry markets to children and adolescents; information requests, Commission-speak for subpoenas, have been sent to 44 companies that manufacture, market, and distribute foods and beverages.
House To Walmart: No Banks For You
By 5.21.07
The House is poised to pass a bill that will keep Walmart, and all who seek to follow them, from ever having a bank to call their own. The measure, H.R. 698, prevents industrial loan companies (ILCs) from being owned or chartered by any institution that doesn’t derive at least 85% of their revenue from financial activity.
Want To Drive In The HOV Lane Without Passengers? The EPA Has A Rule For You
By 5.20.07
The EPA has proposed a rule that would allow drivers of fuel-efficient vehicles to use the high occupancy vehicle lanes without bringing along those pesky carpoolers. Most states require at least two occupants for a vehicle to travel in the HOV lane.
