Telemarket scam uses CA name – Consumer Alert; telemarketing fraud investigation – Brief Article Consumer Alert recently discovered and alerted the Federal Trade Commission to a widespread telemarketing scam in which senior citizens appear to be the primary target. According to reports we received from consumers across the country, the telemarketers start their sales pitch […]
Category: Consumer Comments
No quick fix for childhood obesity The problem of childhood obesity has no quick fix and the solutions are multifaceted–involving families, schools, as well as governmental institutions, according to a new study released by the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine. The chairman of the expert panel authoring the report, “Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health […]
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A win for consumers on wine
A win for consumers on wine A federal judge in Manhattan ruled in November that the state of New York’s law barring the shipment of wine from outside the state directly to consumers was unconstitutional. Consumer Alert participated in the case, Swedenburg vs. New York, by filing an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, […]
CA’s proposals for the UN Summit Consumer Alert, accredited as a Non Governmental Organization (NGO) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, had ten NGO representatives attending many of the meetings that took place August 24-September 4, 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa. About 60,000 delegates from around the world were expected to attend the Summit. […]
Law would allow more government snooping in consumer records Congress has passed an Intelligence Appropriations bill that gives the FBI the power to search through the consumer records of a wide variety of businesses without the benefit of a search warrant, as required by the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. What is […]
CA files amicus brief in NY wine case Consumer Alert filed an amicus curiae brief on June 23 supporting New York consumers’ rights to purchase wine from out-of-state wineries and have it delivered to them in New York. The brief was filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in the […]
One thing agreed ona new trade round – World Trade Organization – Brief Article There are some good and some bad results for consumers from the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ministerial Meeting in Doha, Qatar (November 9-13). The good news is that the more than 140 member countries of the WTO agreed on starting a […]
CA reacts to energy plan – Consumer Alert; National Energy Plan – Brief Article Consumer Alert reacted to the White House’s National Energy Policy, released May 17, with a mix of applause and caution. Consumers can only benefit from expanded energy supplies and their attendant lower prices after a decade of energy-suppression policies. But mandatory […]
Pharmaceutical retail-price survey shows consumers ways to save A survey in May 2003 comparing prices charged in the same towns by a sample of different pharmacies, ranging from independently owned businesses to large retail and discount chains to Internet providers, showed significant price differences. The states surveyed included Virginia, Georgia, Iowa, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, Colorado, […]
Steel protection hurts consumers The U.S. lost another round at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against its policy to protect the U.S. steel industry from competition. In an appellate body decision, the WTO agreed again with the complaint by seven countries and the European Union that U.S restrictions on steel imports, including high tariffs, violate […]