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( Jim Perry ) Financially distressed consumers on the brink of foreclosure have enough to worry about without having to be on the lookout for shady mortgage relief companies making hollow promises to save their homes. Today, the Federal Trade Commission put an end to an operation that took advantage of homeowners’ vulnerabilities. The FTC announced today that a court had granted the agency’s request to halt the operation of HOPE Services – also doing business as HAMP Services – alleging that the mortgage relief enterprise promised homeowners it would help get their mortgages modified, but instead effectively stole their mortgage payments, leading some to foreclosure and bankruptcy. According to the FTC complaint [ PDF ], the operation targeted consumers facing foreclosure – especially those who had failed to get any relief from lenders – by pretending to be “nonprofit” with government ties. The company allegedly sent homeowners mail bearing what looked like an official gover...

( Tom Richardson ) Net neutrality has already made a lot of enemies, and the new rule hasn’t even been implemented yet. Along with big ISP lawsuits and hostility in the House , the FCC’s Open Internet Rule is now facing pushback from some of the big money entrepreneurs who make the internet their business. An “ad hoc group of Internet gray beards,” as tech reporter Katy Bachman aptly styles them , have filed a petition to the FCC requesting that the agency put a stay on their own order. If that sounds unlikely to happen, that’s only because it is. The petition therefore also includes a threat: if the FCC doesn’t hold its own order by May 11, then the “Tech Innovators” group will file a suit asking the court to issue a stay. Daniel Berninger, founder of VCXC, filed the petition ( PDF ). VCXC is a tech group pushing to hasten the IP transition — that is, the move away from copper wire telecom service and onto replacement phone-over-broadband services. You may or may not have hea...

( .sanden. ) The housing market simply can’t keep up with the demand from a very specific part of the market…people who seek houses worth $100 million or more. Sales of houses with nine-figure price tags have reached an all-time high of…well, five of them sold last year, but there are many more on the market or being sold away from the general real estate market, and the fabulous-homes-for-billionaires market will just keep growing. Not that the lovely people at Christie’s International Real Estate are objective observers of the high-end real estate market. However, looking at the very highest end of the real estate market does give us some interesting insights into global trends. First is the fact that billionaires see giant houses as an investment. “It’s something they’ll hold onto for a lifetime,” the CEO of Christie’s Real Estate told Bloomberg News , “the same way they’ll hold onto a Picasso or a Warhol or any number of the great pieces of art we’ve sold over the years.” You c...

( TheBackYardScientist ) There is no question we never fail to answer in this Internet age, and it’s, “What’s gonna happen next?” We have to know. We were born needing to know. And so of course, we must click a button and find out what could possibly occur when some guy pours molten aluminum into a watermelon and films it. Because something must happen, if the video is posted on the Internet in the first place, especially when it pairs two things that don’t normally interact, right? Probably, but it’s not always what you’d expect: In the case of watermelon-plus-melty-metal, even The Backyard Science guy behind the clip admits that he had a pretty buzzworthy result in mind. Did he achieve instant virality? Is Gallagher going to be very jealous? We’re not in the habit of spoiling the end of stories, so you’ll just have to watch and findout for yourself. I will say it’s pretty cool, regardless of your expectations when it comes to molten metals and fruit. by Mary Beth Quirk via C...

( Dustin Michelson ) It’s difficult to go a month or even just a few weeks without hearing of another for-profit college being under investigation for unscrupulous practices, such as inflated job placement rates and pushing students into costly student loans . New legislation announced today aims to curtail the number of investigations we hear about by protecting students from predatory, deceptive, and fraudulent practices in the for-profit college sector, before they even enroll. The Protections and Regulations For Our Students Act – also known as the PRO Students Act – would, among other things, ensure that students have access to accurate information and data about schools, strengthen oversight and regulation governing the for-profit college industry, and hold schools accountable for violations and poor performance. California Representative Mark Takano announced the bill during a press conference on Thursday afternoon saying the legislation would ensure tha...

(JeepersMedia ) When faced with wasting precious data allotments, many travelers submit to paying for WiFi on the go. But Sprint customers will find their wallets staying a bit fatter with new, free access to Boingo Wireless hotspots in 35 U.S. airports, starting today. Sprint and Boingo announced their deal today, without disclosing financial details of the arrangement. Customers will be able to automatically connect to WiFi networks at a slew of airports , the companies said in a press release today , without dinging their data allowances. “With WiFi being the world’s largest wireless ecosystem, we view it as a highly complementary layer to our network,” said Stephen Bye, Sprint CTO. “By enabling customers to move seamlessly between secure Wi-Fi and cellular, our customers will have a better mobile experience in more locations, all while lowering their cost of data usage.” Sprint’s been pushing WiFi connectivity in other ways as well, introducing free calling over WiFi for iPho...

Pete Kraynak A few weeks ago, Sears Holdings announced that it would be starting a joint venture with mall operator Simon Properties . This new company would buy Sears stores, then lease them back to the company in an effort to raise some quick cash and keep the company’s retail operations retailing. Now Sears has announced a similar deal with another mall owner, Macerich Properties. Each company had its own valuable contribution to the joint venture: Sears contributed nine stores, whose real estate value is $300 million. Macerich kicked in $150 million in cash, which is now in the coffers of Sears Holdings. The company that Sears started to serve as a partner in this joint venture, Seritage Growth Properties, will raise money for its contribution to the joint venture through a rights offering of its stock: that means that current Sears shareholders will have the right to buy shares of Seritage, and then Seritage will pass that money on to Sears in exchange for its share of the rea...

( sparkle-motion ) When Education Credit Management Corporation announced late last year that it would buy 56 of for-profit education chain Corinthian College Inc.’s Everest University and WyoTech campuses , consumer advocates expressed great concern that the new company – which would operate under the name Zenith – would continue the unfair practice of requiring students to sign away their right to seek any legal action against the company if they’re wronged. While ECMC ultimately said it would do away with the practice, new legislation aims to strengthen students’ legal rights when it comes to forced arbitration. The Court Legal Access & Student Support Act (CLASS) – introduced to the legislature by Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois and Rep. Maxine Waters of California – would prohibit any school receiving student aid funding from the Department of Education from including any restrictions on students’ ability to pursue legal claims, individually or with others, against higher e...

If life was fair, we could all be our ideal body shape/type/weight and look as young/old/smart as we wanted while eating/drinking/doing whatever we felt like. Life, however, is not fair, and as such, it’s unlikely that drinking booze infused with collagen will give you both the buzz of alcohol and the fresh-faced appearance of youth in one bottle. You just can’t have it both ways. Not too long ago, the parent company of Jim Beam, Suntory Holdings Limited, introduced a beer aimed at women in Japan that includes two grams of collagen per can, Fortune pointed out last week. Dubbed “Precious” and only available in Hokkaido right now, the beverage comes with a tag line that promises the attention of men: “Guys can tell if a girl is taking collagen or not.” The fountain of youth, made from beer? Probably not, a collagen expert told Fortune, as alcohol isn’t great for the body or your skin (think of how puffy and tired you look the next day after one too many). And at only two grams of co...

( Hammerin Man ) Yesterday we reported that Congress would make a decision whether or not it would intervene to slow the Department of Defense’s work to create new rules aimed at closing loopholes in the Military Lending Act that often leave military personnel vulnerable to predatory financial operations. Thankfully, legislators saw the need for more protections regarding military lending and determined the rules could go into effect as planned. According to the Military Times , Congress narrowly voted to remove controversial language that would have delayed the rules from the annual defense authorization bill. The 32-30 vote in the House Armed Services Committee concerned a small provision (Sec. 594) in the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act [ PDF ], that would require the Sec. of Defense to submit a report to Congress by March 1, 2016 on any new MLA-related rules. While the crux of the Act is good, the passage that many consumer groups feared would be the undoing of the ...

( Roger Schultz ) Car-hailing app Uber has racked up another municipality on its list of places where the service has been banned, yet drivers remain on the roads anyway. That distinction belongs to the entire nation of Brazil, where a judge has ruled that providing rides to strangers is the exclusive right of licensed taxi services. Yesterday, a judge ruled that Uber must stop giving rides in Brazil, imposing a fine of 100,000 real or about $30,000 USD per day that they remain on the road. However, a Sao Paulo-based Bloomberg News reporter noted that the service was still running locally and drivers were ready to pick up fares . Maybe the service was slow to shut down, or maybe Uber is betting that the government won’t really impose those fines, and would consider them part of the cost of doing business if it does. When contacted, the company claimed not to have heard about the decision yet. The order also affects companies that offer downloads of mobile apps: Google, Apple, Mic...

Because it wouldn’t be an Apple product without some kind of hubbub over a wait or delay involved, a new report says some shipments of the Apple Watch will take a while after one of two suppliers made a faulty component. That means that Apple will have to limit how many watches are out there for sale, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing insiders in the know. This isn’t just your garden variety component, if there is such a thing — the taptic engine is the piece of the watch that makes it feel like you’re being tapped gently on the wrist, a feature Apple thinks is superior to a ding or a ring or a vibration. A play on the word “haptic,” (technology that delivers a physical sensation) the taptic engines were being made by two companies when reliability testing revealed that some of the parts supplied by AAC Technologies Holdings in China were breaking down over time. Apple reportedly tossed completed watches because of the problem, and is likely to move all manufacturing of the ...

( Mike Mozart ) A day after we learned that McDonald’s had eliminated nine items from its menu so far this year, the fast food giant announced it would also adjust its build-your-own-burger test program to be easier for customers and franchisees to use. Reuters reports that McDonald’s has started testing TasteCrafted, a more modest version of its “Create Your Taste” pilot that began late last year, at several restaurants around the country. The new version of the customizable meal program will reportedly cost less for franchisees to install and have the ability to be offered through drive-thru windows. A spokesperson for McDonald’s says the TasteCrafted program is currently being testing in a limited number of restaurants near Atlanta; Portland, OR and Southern California. Citing a filing from an analyst for Janney Capital, Reuters reports that the new test allows diners to choose burgers, sandwiches, McWraps and salads in a variety of “chef inspired flavors.” While the Tast...

( kc2gvx ) Though not many of its fast food rivals have taken the plunge into organic waters, Wendy’s is just going with the trend embraced increasingly by consumers, announcing that it’ll be serving Honest Tea nationwide at its restaurants, brewed fresh by workers and sweetened with fair-trade sugars and natural flavors approved in USDA certified organic foods. According to the Wall Street Journal , this move into organic beverages around the country makes Wendy’s a bit of a standout among its peers, and shows that it’s ready to get on board with the the kind of healthier eating lifestyle that has become popular among consumers in recent years. The tea will be brewed on site, Seth Goldman, co-founder and chief executive of Bethesda, Md.-based Honest Tea (its parent company is Coca-Cola) told the WSJ. Wendy’s has an exclusive deal to sell one flavor — Honest Tropical Green Tea. Washing down French fries with an organic drink might seem like a stretch, but traditional soda isn’t th...

( Dave Transier ) It’s not every day you see a dog flying first class – for free – on an airplane. But that’s exactly what passengers on a flight from Iowa to Louisiana witnessed Wednesday, as United Airlines footed the bill to reunite a dog with his family after going missing four years ago. ABC News reports (warning: link video autoplays) that United pulled out all the stops when it came to reuniting Sam, a Yorkshire terrier, with his family in Louisiana. The ordeal began in 2011, when the family says Sam went through a hole in their backyard fence into the surrounding wooded area. The family tried everything they could to find the dog, but had no luck. That is until this April when an animal control officer in Cedar Rapids, IA, spotted the pup and brought him to a local shelter. “The Yorkie was in fair condition, but was straggly and weighed only 5 1/2 pounds,” according to the press release from the city of Cedar Rapids . “Despite the dog’s condition, Animal Care and Co...

Zooming along the sidewalk at up to 13 miles per hour on an electric-powered scooter sounds like a lot of fun. However, one scooter company has run into trouble by running its ads that show an unsupervised teen zipping around the neighborhood during shows for inappropriately young kids. Their commercials caught the attention of the ad watchdogs over at the Children’s Advertising Review Unit of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council. Because I spend too much time on the Internet, I wasn’t aware that anyone under 13 actually watched the current generation of “My Little Pony” cartoons. In all seriousness, though, the CARU found this spot inappropriate for the audience of “Friendship is Magic,” which is when it aired. Based on the description, the ad in question appears to be this one: While the subject of the ad scooters around a residential neighborhood, the ad’s disclaimers tell us that it’s a “closed and controlled course.” The bigger problem, though, is that the more powerful sco...

(iDiapo) Since introducing ResearchKit, its open-source framework for scientists to develop iPhone apps for medical research, Apple has made a few tweaks to the submission guidelines for apps that aim to collect and use sensitive medical data. One new addition is that anyone submitting an app that does research on humans must submit proof that the study has been approved by an independent ethics review board. Whether the research includes simply taking a survey or experimental drugs or surgery, any research that involves experimenting on people must be approved by an ethical review board. That doesn’t mean that you take a research proposal down the hall to friendly colleagues and say, “Hey, guys, does this look ethical to you?” For researchers who work at a hospital or a university, for example, their institutions will have their own review board which should function independently. Review boards for hire are also available. Apple is now leaving those decisions to the respective re...

Here’s an example of a non-disparagement clause in the real world. This one is from a wedding supply vendor’s contract . It forbids customers from making disparaging remarks or encouraging others to make them. For the last couple of years, we’ve been telling you about ridiculous, so-called “non-disparagement” clauses that threaten customers with financial penalties for writing (or threatening to write , or even encouraging someone else to write ) something negative online about a company. California has already outlawed these clauses , which tend to fail when challenged in court, but an attempt to enact legislation at the federal level has so far fallen short. But that’s not stopping some members of Congress from trying to ban this form of consumer bullying. Rep. Eric Swalwell from California, the lawmaker behind the Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2014 , is trying again with the Consumer Review Freedom Act of 2015 [ PDF ], which would void any contract clause that “prohibits or re...

( dsuniaga ) Not content to ferry passengers, packages and food , Uber is reportedly casting its net in the pool of merchant delivery, by taking advantage of both its drivers and its UberRUSH courier service to connect online shoppers with their goods the same day they order them from popular retailers. You could ostensibly be riding with someone’s hamburger in the back seat with you while another stranger’s shoes are reclining up front, reports TechCrunch: The site says it got its hands on training manuals for its drivers and couriers who will be a part of the merchant delivery pilot program. Insiders say retailers like Neiman Marcus, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany’s and more have discussed being a part of the program, for a total of more than 400 merchants currently talking to Uber about same-day delivery. Uber issued a statement from a spokesperson to TechCrunch, saying neither yes nor no: “Experimenting and finding new, creative ways for the Uber app to provide even greater value to ...

( Steven Depolo ) Nearly five months after Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase agreed to pay more than $35 million – including $11.1 million in redress to affected consumers – for their part in an illegal mortgage kickback scheme, the purported masterminds behind the “pay-to-play” arrangement are finally facing action from federal regulators for their shady dealings. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, along with the Maryland Attorney General, announced today that they reached a proposed deal with five of the six defendants previously working as executives for now-defunct title company Genuine Title and loan officers for various bank branches, that would bar them from the mortgage industry and require them to pay a total of $662,500 in penalties and refunds to affected consumers. The proposed consent order stems from the individuals’ part in real estate closing company Genuine’s years-long scheme to provide cash, marketing materials and consumer information in exchange for mort...

The final nail in Internet Explorer’s coffin came today, as Microsoft revealed its erstwhile web browser’s replacement: What had been known as Project Spartan is being introduced to the world as Microsoft Edge. Microsoft announced Edge, which will be featured in its upcoming Windows 10 operating system, at the company’s BUILD conference, reports Ars Technica . In what is perhaps an homage to Explorer or maybe just a comfort thing, the “E” for “Edge” closely resembles the icon its predecessor used. This may or may not be the icon, as seen on Twitter (via VentureBeat ): New kid on the block. http://pic.twitter.com/7EzMjxUrFf — Kyle (@kylealden) April 29, 2015 Microsoft hopes this E fares better: The company’s systems chief Joe Belfiore noted that the “e” icon “now has a completely different and better meaning than it has for a while,” reports CNNMoney . Edge will support modern browser functions, such as extensions, unlike Explorer. The browser touts a New Tab page that shows...

( frankieleon ) There are a lot of purchases you can make with the information on the front of a credit card. But ID thieves who have the card number, name, and expiration date will still hit a speedbump if they have to enter that (usually 3-digit) security code on the back of a victim’s card. Notice that we said “speedbump” and not “dead end,” because some scammers have figured out how to get this crucial info from their victims. According to our colleagues at Consumer Reports , the security code scam works by taking advantage of the near-constant news of data breaches that have hit retailers in recent years. Once a scammer has the main information for the card, they can call the unwitting victim, claiming to be from the bank or credit card network. The caller will say there has been a suspicious transaction alert on that card and asks the victim whether or not they made that purchase. Since that transaction is entirely fictional, the victim will correctly state that they did no...

( Phillip Pessar ) Moderately perceptive RadioShack employees could look around their stores and follow the news in recent years and tell that something was about to happen to their employer. Yet RadioShack employees had very little information about what was happening to their stores and whether they could expect to have jobs in the future. The college town of Athens, Georgia will now be left with zero RadioShack stores. Sure, the people of Athens will muddle through, but how employees say that how they learned about the doomed state of their stores reminds us of the last days of Wet Seal. That chain, as you might recall, was a young women’s clothing retailer that recently shut down. Employees claim that they were assured the stores would stay open even as managers clearly knew that the opposite was true. “[T]hey told us specifically not to look for jobs, that everything was fine, and that we had low inventory because they were just going to remodel the store,” one former assist...

( Brad Clinesmith ) It’s been two years since we found out that the NSA has been quietly scooping up basically everyone’s phone records, willy-nilly, without warrants. The revelations of widespread surveillance freaked plenty of people out, but under existing law, the agency has acted legally . To get change, then, you’d need to change the law… and Congress has 33 days remaining in which to do exactly that. Three key provisions of the Patriot Act will expire on June 1 of this year. The biggest is known as Section 215 : that’s the part of the law that lets the NSA do those huge bulk phone data sweeps, in which basically all of us have been caught up. With the expiration date looming on Section 215 and the other two provisions, Congress has about four weeks left to take one of three actions: they can either renew them wholesale, renew them partially with changes, or let the provisions all simply expire and cease being law. Letting sections of the Patriot Act simply sunset doesn’t re...

As we sip the last drops of champagne over the failure of the merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, an even bigger acquisition appears to be passing through the regulatory process with relative ease — that of AT&T and DirecTV. And with Comcast, TWC, Charter, and other cable operators all now looking for potential corporate spouses, their eyes may also be turning toward the wireless market. During T-Mobile’s quarterly earnings call on Tuesday, CEO John Legere made it clear that the day is coming when people don’t think in terms of wireless companies versus fixed-line cable or fiber broadband. “We think far too simplistically about the four major carriers and what the structure of the industry is going to be,” he explained, “without understanding that the tangential players in various industries are touching mobile players” in a way that’s going to drive new partnerships and acquisitions. He repeatedly stated that video, music, and other content are all primarily moving online ...