by Brian Wolfman Back in October, the Federal Trade Commission challenged the public to create an innovative solution that will block illegal commercial robocalls on landlines and mobile phones. As part of its ongoing campaign against these illegal, prerecorded telemarketing calls, the agency … launch[ed] the FTC Robocall Challenge, and offer[ed] a $50,000 cash prize […]
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We've already blogged twice on this subject today (here and here). But there's something else you may want to check out. Jen Lavellee, a senior lawyer at the D.C. Legal Aid Society, posted this piece on a client who experienced some of the serious problems discussed in the FTC Report on the debt buying industry […]
This morning, Allison posted this informative piece on the FTC's new report on the debt buying industry. The Consumerist has done a nice overview of the report, explaining in some detail what it sees as the report's eight key takeaways: (1) Debt-Buyers Only Pay About $.04 Per Dollar On The Accounts They Buy; (2) Debt-Buyers […]
Here. The lead: "Many of the nation's largest financial institutions lowered their spending on lobbying the federal government in 2012, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics." Still, as the slideshow makes clears, many of the largest financial institutions individually spent millions on lobbying last year. I wonder if all the consumer […]
If you have health insurance, you probably know that the charges for "out of network" services are more than services provided by doctors and hospitals that are "in network." This article by Chad Terhune explains just how much the differential can be and whether the system is in need of reform. Here's an excerpt: A […]
The Federal Trade Commission yesterday announced the results of an empirical study of companies that are in the business of buying consumer debts and trying to collect on them. The study looked at more than 5,000 portfolios containing nearly 90 million consumer accounts with a face value of $143 billion. In its report, The Structure […]
That's the name of this article by University of Chicago law profs Jonathan Masur and Eric Posner. When a federal regulatory agency proposes a rule–say, a rule seeking to promote product safety or environmental quality–the agency generally does an cost-benefit analysis. It often does a separate analysis of the the rule's effect on employment. In […]
by Paul Alan Levy Here at the Consumer Law and Policy blog, we worry about the chilling impact of both lawsuits against consumers’ speech and heavy-handed cease-and-desist letters demanding the cessation of such speech, on consumers’ ability to use the comment on business. We regularly discuss these situations, and at Public Citizen we often represent […]
Last week, Paul Levy posted about the NAACP's amicus brief supporting the soft-drink industry in its opposition to the New York City rules barring the sale of large sugary drinks. Paul thought that there was a link between the NAACP's position and the large amounts of money it takes from the Coca-Cola Company. Hazel Dukes, […]
By Steve Gardner, Center for Science in the Public Interest My most-excellent colleague at CSPI, Erika Knudsen, wrote a great piece for CSPI's Food Day blog. Check it out. It's a great read overall, and as an extra added bonus, it includes a link to a recent Colbert Report segment mocking Coke for Vitaminwater. Spoiler alert–the […]