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House to vote on rollback of privacy notice rights

Monday, December 3, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

On Tuesday, under suspension of the rules, the House may have a vote to roll back some of the privacy notices required as a condition of the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act that allowed virtually unfettered sharing of consumer information by and between financial firms, their affiliates and third parties. Reps. Ed Markey (D-MA) and Joe Barton (R-TX) marched down the floor to demand a recorded vote.

Haunted by a shopping cart, tracking me across the web

Saturday, December 1, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

On Black Friday no less, I surfed a few of my favorite e-commerce sites. At one, I even started to fill a cart. Now, the contents of that cart track me and appear on every page I open.

FTC to hotels: Nuisance add-on fees deceptive

Wednesday, November 28, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

The FTC has warned 22 hotel chains that add-on fees, such as resort fees, may be deceptive. Meanwhile, air passenger groups are asking consumers to petition the White House to require that the Department of Transportation's FAA require full disclosure of airline fees.

Trouble In Toyland

Wednesday, November 21, 2012
By | Nasima Hossain
Public Health Advocate

It’s a holiday morning and kids all over the world are waking up to open their presents. Big smiles and laughter abound. What could be wrong with this picture?

Pictures from our DC toy safety news conference today

Tuesday, November 20, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

Today, PIRGs around the country released our 27th annual Trouble In Toyland report, highlighting potential choking, toxics, magnet and noise hazards kids may face. Here are a few photos from our DC event, where we were joined by Dr. Bryan Rudolph, a pediatric gastroenterologist, and Bob Adler, a Commissioner of the CPSC.

FTC consumer champion has industries making false health claims afraid, very afraid

Wednesday, November 14, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

Adweek profiles FTC consumer chief David Vladeck and his campaign to make yogurt makers, athletic apparel makers, cereal makers and household name firms from Reebok and Skechers to Kellogg's and Dannon to either tell the truth about their health claims or pay. It's a nice piece on the FTC's work and on the longtime consumer champion, who heads back to his Georgetown Law professorship at the end of the year.

Youth vote surges in election

Friday, November 9, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

In case you missed it, the Student PIRG New Voters Campaign has a release explaining that "the youth share of the electorate increased to 19 percent in 2012 over 18 percent in 2008." The PIRGs helped register over 100,000 new voters in this cycle.

Court rejects First Amendment attack on credit bureau regulation and other financial follies

Thursday, November 8, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

In an important case joined by the government, a U.S. district judge has rejected the latest misguided industry attack on the constitutionality of regulation of credit bureaus. Meanwhile, the CFPB has released its first annual report on credit card deals with colleges. Here's a weekly summary of the latest financial follies.

What's Next on Health Care Costs?

Thursday, November 8, 2012
By | Laura Etherton
Health Care Policy Analyst

Now that the election is over, talk has turned to the need to work together and get results for America. It’s a tall order, and on the polarized issue of health care, it may seem like an impossible task. But here's why I'm optimistic that we can in fact make progress.

Supreme Court hears case on textbook prices with implications for all secondary markets (Amazon, eBay)

Tuesday, October 30, 2012
By | Ed Mierzwinski
Consumer Program Director

Yesterday the Supreme Court heard an important case concerning whether publishers can restrict owners of books from reselling their used copies, raising massive implications not only for the prices of textbooks but also for the very existence of important secondary markets like Amazon and eBay.  U.S. PIRG joined others in urging the Supreme Court to reverse a lower court's view that consumers lose longstanding rights to resell copies of copyrighted books, if the books were made outside the US.

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