The House payroll tax extension bill is larded with rightwing ideological addenda and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski has denounced a provision that would “tie the agency’s hands in ways that could be counterproductive, reducing economic value and hindering innovation and investment.” [H]e warned that provisions limiting the FCC’s ability to designate [...]
Facebook this past month agreed to twenty years of independent audits of its privacy practices, joining Google which agreed earlier this year to similar audits following its breaches of user privacy when it introduced its aborted Buzz social network. As this piece outlines, the audits should be moderately extensive in examining how consumers’ personal information [...]
The Treasury Department told Google to shut down 85 advertisers who were scamming struggling homeowners with bogus “loan modification” or similar scams. The advertisers were preying on homeowners seeking help through the Home Affordable Modification Program, created as part of the TARP program. In a press release today, the Treasury Department alleged that scammers charged [...]
Want to fight Verizon? You’re stuck with arbitrators picked by Verizon to decide the case, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court. Verizon Wireless customers had claimed that a 2006 New Jersey Supreme Court decision made it “unconscionable” to enforce a clause in their service contracts requiring them to arbitrate small administrative charges they deemed unfair. [...]
