A few months ago Azureus petitioned the FCC, which led to a FCC hearing in February. One of the complaints from the commission was that there is little data available on the scope of BitTorrent throttling, a gap Azureus now tries to fill by collecting data on the prevalence of TCP-resets among ISPs worldwide.
shady
Azureus: Other ISPs May Also Be Throttling BitTorrent
By 4.22.08
Continental Airlines Using "Fuel Emergencies" To Skip Ahead Of Other Airlines At Newark?
By 4.17.08
There’s evidence that Continental Airlines might be engaged in some shady manipulation of air traffic controllers by creating “fuel emergencies” in order to skip ahead of other airlines and land quicker at Newark, says the Wall Street Journal. So-called “fuel emergencies” aren’t as scary as they sound– planes that are getting close to the minimum amount of fuel required to remain in the air can call into the tower and get “expedited handling,” and skip the line. There’s no real danger to passengers.
Dumpster Diver Finds Customer Financial Information In Bank Trash
By 4.9.08
For four months, James Hastings searched through trash bins outside People’s United Bank branches in Fairfield County. He pulled out bags of paperwork with private information, including customers’ Social Security numbers and account information.
Justice Department Will Investigate Countrywide's Lending Practices
By 4.3.08
Judge Thomas P. Agresti of the Federal Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh on Tuesday approved an inquiry into “the impact of Countrywide’s bankruptcy procedures on the integrity of the bankruptcy process” by the Office of the United States Trustee, a Justice Department arm that polices bankruptcy filings.
BMW Denies Test Drive Because You Are Not A "Serious Customer"
By 3.23.08
BMW of Columbia refused to let reader Barry test drive a 135i because he was not a serious customer. The dealership didn’t tell Barry what would make him a serious customer, but they seemed offended when Barry explained that he wasn’t going to buy a car that day.
Steve Jobs Only Wishes He Could Price Like This
By 2.27.08
Erin writes, “I was searching for an iPod Nano on Google Products and this link came up!” That’s one hell of a markup there, anonymous web store with no branding and an empty “Contact Us” page. Our favorite part: “NOT FOR RESALE”—don’t even think about buying this and marking it up for your own store.
DirecTV Refuses To Budge On $480 Cancellation Fee For Swapping Receivers
By 2.1.08
We do hate it when our advice turns out to be crappy. Daniel, the guy who switched his receiver only to find that he was stuck with a new 2 year contract, was told by the CEO’s office that he was, as they say, sh*t out of luck.
Hollywood Video Signing Customers Up For Magazine Subscriptions Without Permission?
By 12.19.07
We’ve received two letters claiming that Hollywood video is signing their customers up for magazine subscriptions without their consent. The scam sounds similar to the ones that Best Buy is accused of in their on-going racketeering lawsuit.
Zombie Debt: How Credit Card Companies Illegally Reanimate Your Old Debt
By 11.2.07
In what BusinessWeek calls “financial Night of the Living Dead” credit card companies are refusing to stop reporting legally discharged debt to credit reporting agencies—illegally forcing consumers to pay debts that they no longer owe in order to get approved for mortgages.
DHL "Loses" Two Brand New Dell Laptops In A Row
By 10.18.07
Here’s a lovely coincidence: DHL keeps “losing” brand new shiny laptops from Dell. How mysterious!
Crunch: $4 Trial Membership Secretly Means $138 Real Membership
By 10.16.07
That’s what I got after signing up for a contest at a Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce event (specifically Pizza fest) in July 2007. I took Crunch up on the pass because I wanted to check out what my local Crunch had to offer. Included in the week pass was a personal training session. I went to Crunch 3 times that week and had an enjoyable time; it’s a decent gym and seemed ok.
By 9.29.07
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The Iowa Joint Legislative Oversight Committee will hold hearings about the potentially inappropriate Bank of America/University of Iowa deal. The University has agreed to give B of A access,. through its alumni organization, to databases that include the mailing addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of students and parents.[Des Moines Register]
FCC Proposes $4,000 Fine On Comcast For Broadcasting "Fake News"
By 9.25.07
The FCC, always a source of amusement for this website, has decided to crack down on Comcast for broadcasting VNRs or “Video News Releases.” VNRs are produced by PR firms for use as filler by lazy TV news producers. It’s a great deal for TV: They get free content and don’t have to deal with the pressure of doing their jobs properly, and the company gets product placement. Consumers are the only losers.
Target, Limited Too and Dollar General Quietly Pulling Lead Contaminated Items Off Shelves
By 9.19.07
According to the NYT, Target, Limited Too and Dollar General have located additional products that are contaminated with lead, but no recalls have been announced by the CPSC.
Comcast's Class Action Waiver Ruled "Unconscionable"
By 9.7.07
Comcast can’t use their mandatory arbitration clause to keep its Georgia customers from obtaining class-action status in a lawsuit that alleges Comcast inappropriately collected too many franchise fees. The amount that was improperly collected (about $11 a subscriber) isn’t enough to warrant a bunch of individual lawsuits, so Comcast thought it could get away with it by citing its mandatory arbitration clause forbidding class-action lawsuits. It worked at first, but now the 11th Circuit Court is having none of it.
Blue Hippo Angers Florida's Attorney General
By 8.31.07
Blue Hippo, the notoriously scammy computer layaway service, has annoyed Florida’s attorney general.
Wisconsin Accuses Walmart Of Dodging Taxes
By 8.29.07
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue is irritated with Walmart. They’ve just noticed that Walmart has been charging itself rent in a (successful) attempt to avoid paying taxes. Teehee!
