WSJ: “Federal regulators are poised to hit Google Inc. with subpoenas, launching a broad, formal investigation into whether the Internet giant has abused its dominance in Web-search advertising, people familiar with the matter said. The civil probe, which has the potential to reshape how companies compete on the Internet, is the most serious legal threat yet to the 12-year-old company, though it wouldn’t necessarily lead to any federal allegations of wrongdoing against Google. While Google has faced several antitrust probes in recent years, the U.S. has limited its investigations largely to reviews of the company’s mergers and acquisitions. The new inquiry, by contrast, will examine fundamental issues relating to Google’s core search-advertising business, its biggest money maker, said the people familiar with the matter.”
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Daily Archives: June 23, 2011
FTC Files Amicus Brief in U.S. District Court Opposing Proposed Class Action Settlement with Debt Buyer Midland Funding LLC
News release: “As explained in the amicus brief, the proposed settlement raises concerns in three areas in which the FTC has significant expertise: FDCPA and debt collection, privacy and data collection, and class action fairness. First, the FTC is the chief federal enforcer of the FDCPA and has conducted comprehensive assessments of debt collection activities,… Continue Reading
17th annual Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices
“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) conducted its 17th annual underwriting survey to identify trends in lending standards and credit risk for the most common types of commercial and retail credit offered by national banks. The survey covers the 12-month period ending February 28, 2011. The 2011 survey includes examiner assessments of… Continue Reading
An Analysis of the Navy's Fiscal Year 2012 Shipbuilding Plan
An Analysis of the Navy’s Fiscal Year 2012 Shipbuilding Plan, June 23, 2011 “Since 2006, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has performed an independent analysis of the Navy’s latest shipbuilding plan at the request of the Subcommittee on Seapower and Expeditionary Forces of the House Armed Services Committee. This CBO study, the latest in that… Continue Reading
Consumer Finance Protection Bureau – Defining Larger Nonbank Participants
News release: “The Dodd-Frank Act, signed into law last year, gives the CFPB the job of supervising large banks, as well as some other types of financial companies, for compliance with federal consumer financial protection laws. While banks, thrifts, and credit unions have been subject to examinations by various federal regulators in the past, other… Continue Reading
EPIC: Supreme Court Strikes Down Prescription Privacy Law
“In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court struck down Vermont’s prescription privacy law. IMS Health, Inc. v. Sorrell held that the Vermont statute, which bars disclosure of prescription data for marketing purposes, violates data mining firms’ free speech rights. Vermont “burdened a form of protected expression that it found too persuasive. At the same time,… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Bank Regulation, Commercial Aviation, Federal Grants, Flood Insurance, Homeland Defense, International Food Assistance, ax Administration
American Samoa and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: Employment, Earnings, and Status of Key Industries Since Minimum Wage Increases Began, GAO-11-427, June 23, 2011 Bank Regulation: Modified Prompt Corrective Action Framework Would Improve Effectiveness, GAO-11-612, June 23, 2011 Commercial Aviation: Program Aimed at High-Risk Parent Abductors Could Aid in Preventing Abductions, GAO-11-602, June 23,… Continue Reading
Plugging In: A Consumer's Guide to the Electric Vehicle
Electric Power Research Institute: “Late in 2010 the first mass-produced electric vehicles hit dealer showrooms, bringing car buyers a new, electric option. Electric cars offer performance, safety and versatility and can be charged from the electric grid, providing convenient, low- cost, at-home charging. At the U.S. national average price of 11.5 cents per kilowatt-hour, buying… Continue Reading
