Are Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms a wretched hive of fakes and counterfeits, or has the company really made progress in eradicating counterfeiters from its sites? As the U.S. Trade Representative makes a list of which places on the internet tend to sell fakes, that’s an important question: is Alibaba really doing all that it can to root out knockoffs? [More]
trade groups
It’s Almost Lawsuit Season: Broadband Trade Groups Prepping Their Legal Arguments Against Net Neutrality
By 4.3.15
The FCC voted on the Open Internet Order — net neutrality — about six weeks ago. But nobody ever accused the wheels of bureaucracy of turning quickly and so it is only this week that the rule has been sent off to the fine folks at the Federal Register. That means we’re finally in the home stretch handoff; the rule will become the law of the land 60 days after the Federal Register publishes it. And that means we’re finally in the window for the big wave of down-and-dirty lawsuits and legal challenges we’ve been awaiting since basically forever. [More]
From The Cranberry Institute To Pickle Packers International: A Guide To Food Industry Trade Groups
By 4.3.15
There are thousands of trade groups in America. Probably hundreds of thousands. And although we most often hear from the groups representing industries like cable, tech, or banking, pretty much everyone out there has another someone out there collecting their dues and writing to Congress on their behalf. In the world of food, those groups can get as specific as every ingredient in your evening dinner. [More]
Sparkling Wine Is Just As Good As Champagne (When It's Well Made)
By 10.21.09
The Champagne Bureau, a trade organization representing “the grape growers and houses of Champagne, France,” just sent us a nonsensical press release warning consumers to be on the lookout for imposter champagne. WATCH OUT! You’re pouring sparkling wine into your mouth, you jerk! The thing is, the only real reason “champagne” is unique is because wine houses in that region of France managed to get laws passed to prevent anyone else from using the word on their own sparkling wines. They’re all sparkling wines; how they’re made is what determines quality.
Banks Consider Running TV Spots Against Proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency
By 7.13.09
Remember Harry and Louise? I don’t, but apparently they were a fictional couple in an early-90s TV commercial, produced by the insurance industry to help sway opinion against the Clinton health plan. Now banks and other financial companies may be pooling resources to create a new “Harry and Louise” style ad to convince Americans that Obama’s proposed agency to monitor abusive financial practices will limit choice and ruin lives.
Marketers Announce They Will Bring More Transparency To Personal Data Collection By 2010
By 7.3.09
Several major advertising trade groups announced yesterday that starting in 2010, they will implement a new set of self-imposed guidelines on how they collect and use your personal info, in an attempt to prevent the government from handing down federal regulations.
By 9.20.07
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“Recent events have exposed weaknesses in our nation’s food safety net,” says the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which has released a blueprint to strengthen federal oversight of food safety by making new FDA guidelines mandatory, requiring proof of compliance from suppliers, and increasing the FDA’s budget. The association’s support of the plan has pleasantly surprised some consumer advocates and politicians. [Reuters]
