On Thursday, January 29, the FTC came to a settlement with Craig Brittain, the owner and operator of IsAnybodyDown.com, in their suit against him regarding deceptive business practices on his website. IsAnybodyDown.com was—the website was closed in April of 2013—a “revenge porn” website, where Brittain would post nude images of women and then offer to …
We have all heard radio or TV advertisements for car dealerships that sound something like the following: “Low credit? No credit? No problem!” Due to the fact that bad credit tends to prevent one from getting a loan, the option of purchasing a car has often been foreclosed to individuals with poor credit that are …
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is operating a national program to form a database vehicle license plates coordinated with other law enforcement agencies, according to a recent American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Freedom of Information (FOIA) request. Although a February 2014 Washington Post article indicated that the Department of Homeland Security’s License Plate Reading Program …
Need to know if there’s a police officer ahead on your drive? There’s an app for that! In 2010, Apple trademarked the phrase “There’s an app for that”, implying Apple’s App Store offers an app for virtually any task you might want to complete. Now, there’s an app, Waze, for alerting drivers to the presence …
Humans have found a myriad of ways to use technology to ease the sting of pesky inconveniences. We have apps that let you turn off your stove. Apps that control your tv when you lose the remote, and apps to pay for your latte when you forget your wallet in the car. Waze is one …
Have you seen the Johnny Depp science fiction thriller Transcendence? If not, allow me to provide you with a quick summary. Johnny Depp plays a scientist who is driven by his interest in artificial intelligence. Depp’s character ultimately uploads his own consciousness to a computer program and that decision leads to dangerous implications. The concept …
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a service that allows you to use the internet (a broadband connection) to make phone calls instead of the more traditional phone line method. VoIP calls can be made from a computer or telephone, and it can make calls to a computer or telephone. VoIP is often cheaper, and …
The Federal Trade Commission filed suit against AT & T in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on October 28th for deceiving consumers with the phone service provider’s promise of an unlimited data plan. The FTC claims that while the consumers who purchase the “unlimited” data plan from AT & T …
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced Friday that it is again postponing its planned Incentive Auction of low-frequency airwaves until early 2016. Similar auctions for the licenses of electromagnetic spectrum have been conducted by the FCC since 1994. The FCC has found that these spectrum auctions are an effective means of assigning licenses, by awarding …
Ebola has captured the nation’s attention over the past few weeks. Media speculation and fear have seemed to perpetuate this disease, mostly afflicting West African countries, into a supposed serious threat to Americans. Federal and state governments’ responses provide a patchwork of different regulations, as federal, state and agency level actions have attempted to squelch …
