uTelecom Union Says Verizon Is Neglecting Landlinesr

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  (Eric Hauser)
  

  Though more than 40% of U.S. homes are now cellphone-only, many millions of Americans still have landline service. But a union representing 35,000 Verizon employees says the company is refusing to repair broken copper-line networks.

  In an effort to prove its point, the Communications Workers of America has filed multiple Freedom Of Information Act requests with utility regulators from six states (Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York) and Washington, D.C., claiming that the requested data on the repair, maintenance, and installation of Verizon landline services will show that the telecom giant has failed to meet its obligations for network upkeep.

  “As a public utility in these states, Verizon has a duty to maintain services for all customers,” said Dennis Trainor, CWA Vice President, in a statement. “But we’ve seen how the company abandons users, particularly on legacy networks, and customers across the country have noticed their service quality is plummeting.”

  The union, which acknowledges that more repairs means more work for its members, gives the example of New York state’s 2005 decision to eliminate automatic fines for lapses in Verizon’s telephone service quality. The hope had been that increased competition from new entrants into the phone service market would keep landlines working.

  However, the CWA contends that by 2010, Verizon was only clearing 1.2% of service complaints within 24 hours. That’s only a fraction of the 80% clearance standard set by the state. CWA accuses the state of then re-jigging its stats to eliminate 92% of customers from Verizon’s service quality measurements.

  Verizon says the union claims that the company is trying to abandon its copper network are “pure nonsense” and that the CWA is trying to exert pressure in advance of upcoming contract negotiations with Verizon.

  But this isn’t the first time the company has been accused of pushing customers away from traditional copper lines.

  In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, Verizon tried to replace some landlines in Long Island with its Voice Link service, leaving residents and businesses without all of the functionality they had beforehand. Ultimately, the company chose to replace the drowned copper lines with FiOS fiber service.

  Speaking of which, Verizon was accused last year of deliberately neglecting landline service in California as a way to push customers to switch to FiOS. Verizon has agreed to sell off its landline service in the state to other providers.

  In early 2014, the FCC gave the go-ahead for telecom providers to test Internet-based VoIP phone service as a full replacement for traditional landlines. Tests are currently underway in markets around the country.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uIndiana Passes Law Aimed At Slow Drivers Clogging Up The Left Laner

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  (Brad Clinesmith)

  We have all been there, either as the red-faced person gripping the wheel muttering, “Just. Get. Out. Of. The. Left. Lane” or perhaps, as the oblivious driver happily tootling along, unaware at the line of cars backed up in our wake. Lawmakers in Indiana want that to change with a new “slowpoke” law aimed at clearing out that left lane on the highway.

  Drivers dawdling in the left lane come July 1 in Indiana will now be facing tickets under a new law that allows police to cite motorists in the left lane if they’re holding up faster cars behind them and don’t move to the right, reports the Indianapolis Star.

  Tickets max out at $500, but it’s likely drivers will face much smaller fines for clogging up the passing lane.

  “I just want to see the roads used the way they are supposed to be,” says the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Jud McMillin said. “When I drive, I pass on the left and then get back to the right.”

  Such relief for frustrated drivers is believed to be one of only a few “slowpoke” laws in the country that pairs a fine with clogging up the left lane: New Jersey upped its maximum fine for left-lane dawdlers to $300 in 2013, while in Florida, drivers traveling more than 10 mph below the speed limit in that lane can get three points off their licenses and a $60 fine.

  Georgia passed a similar law to Indiana’s last July 1, giving officers discretion about when to issue tickets. For example, it’s more likely you’ll get pulled over if you’re holding up a long line of drivers instead of just a few. That’s the approach state police will likely take in Indiana, a police captain noted.

  “It’s really just using common sense,” he explained. “We’ve all been on the highway when some driver, or two drivers, are blocking the road and there’s 20, 40, 60 cars behind them and up ahead it is crystal clear for miles.”

  And for those drivers with ants in their pants, police are still going to be more likely to crack down on speeders than normal folks in front of them.

  “If someone is going 75 (mph) and someone behind them comes up at 90, we are going after the guy going 90,” he said.

  There are other scenarios under the law where it’s acceptable to remain in the left lane even if the driver is aware another vehicle is overtaking them from behind — traffic conditions or congestion make it necessary to stay put, bad weather or other obstructions, when exiting a roadway or turning left or when paying a toll or user fee. Emergency personnel or workers involved in road work are also exempt.

  Indiana law moves slowpokes out of passing lane [Indianapolis Star]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uGM May Face Federal Wire Fraud Charges Over Ignition Defectr

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  (Paul Pica)

  We recently told you that prosecutors were considering bringing criminal charges against General Motors over the long-delayed ignition switch recall that resulted in more than 100 deaths, and now the picture is becoming clearer as to what charges the car maker might face.

  While additional charges could be brought, the Wall Street Journal reports that prosecutors are looking at reaching a deal with GM to settle wire fraud claims in the coming months.

  In effect, the allegations would not be about whether GM made unsafe vehicles, but whether GM deliberately misled consumers about the safety of those vehicles.

  The defective ignition switches in Chevy Cobalts and other GM vehicles could be inadvertently turned off while the car was in operation, thus disabling power steering, braking, and airbags. While top GM executives claim to have been unaware of the problem, engineers at the car maker knew about the issue and quietly changed the switch without alerting consumers or regulators.

  It wasn’t until 2014, more than a decade after the first defective vehicles hit the road, that GM issued a recall. At the time, the company acknowledged only 13 deaths tied to the problem. However, an independent compensation fund set up to review death and injury claims related to the recall now admits to more than 100 fatalities.

  The charges could be similar to the ones that resulted in Toyota paying $1.2 billion in 2014 to defer prosecution over that car company’s sudden unintended acceleration issues.

  Like Toyota, GM could ultimately reach a deferred prosecution deal. That would save the company from the implications of a guilty plea while still requiring it to pay a substantial financial penalty. It’s possible that some individuals at GM could face charges.

  “We are cooperating fully with all requests from the [Justice Department], as we have from the beginning,” reads a statement from GM about the investigation. “Our approach with the recall has been to be as open and transparent as possible—and that has certainly been the case with this investigation.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uSnoop Dogg Suing Pabst Brewing Co. For A Cut Of Its Profits From Selling Colt 45r

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  (amcdaniel83)

  Companies love it when celebrities sign on to endorse their products, but you better believe those famous faces want to protect their paycheck when push comes to shove. That’s why Snoop Dogg is taking Pabst Brewing Company to court over the sale of the beer company’s Colt 45 line, claiming he’s owed a portion of the proceeds from that sale.

  Snoop Dogg signed a three-year agreement in 2011 to shill for Colt 45’s fruit-flavored beer called Blast by Colt 45, reports the Associated Press, a deal that the breach-of-contract lawsuit says entitled him to a portion of the sale price if Pabst sold Colt 45 before January 2016.

  Cut to November 2014, and Pabst announced it was being bought by an investment firm, with reports pegging the total sale price at $700 million or so.

  His lawsuit is now seeking 10% of the net sales price Pabst got for selling Colt 45, though it’s unclear how much of that $700 million price was earmarked for Colt 45’s Blast brand.

  The lawsuit says Pabst told the rapper that the sale didn’t trigger the clause that entitled him to sale proceeds, but Pabst says it hadn’t been contacted by Snoop Dogg or his representatives about the sale, and said something about the company’s new management. It’s not our fault, is the new guy!

  “Pabst Brewing Company has been under new ownership and new management since November 2014,” the company said in a statement. “We have not been contacted by Snoop Dogg or his representatives about this issue. We are investigating the matter and would be happy to talk to Snoop or his representatives to try to get to the bottom of this.”

  Snoop Dogg sues beer-maker Pabst over sale profits [Associated Press]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uAmazon Now Selling Ad Space On Shipping Boxesr

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• Amazon has been using its boxes to advertise its own products and services for years, but now the e-commerce giant is realizing that there might be some money to be made by shipping customers’ packages in cartons branded by paying advertisers.

  AdWeek notes that Amazon recently began delivering some parcels in bright yellow boxes advertising the upcoming animated movie Minions.

  Analysts say it’s a smart move on Amazon’s part as Walmart preps to launch its competing ShippingPass subscription service.

  Most shipping boxes just go straight into the recycling pile, so many consumers won’t be bothered if there’s an ad on the outside, especially if the revenue helps to keep shipping costs down or free. The e-tailer recently announced that a number of smaller items will now ship at no cost, even to non-Prime subscribers.

  “We know consumers are obsessed with free shipping and that it’s become nearly an expectation of online businesses,” one analyst tells AdWeek. “But it’s obvious Amazon can’t sustain the free-shipping model that’s kept consumers so devotedly in their pocket. So this is definitely an experiment to mitigate the loss they’re taking on that front.”

  For the brands, it could be an improvement over outdated modes of advertising like direct mail, as one if more likely to notice a brightly colored shipping box than they would a postcard that gets lumped in with the rest of their junk mail.

  Some experts do note that it’s probably best for both Amazon and advertisers to use this sort of campaign sparingly.

  “Less is more,” explains a brand consultant. “If their boxes start to look like NASCAR race cars, they will shoot themselves in the foot. No advertisers will find value in that, or it will polarize consumers, who might then learn to ignore the box.”

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uWeirdly Symmetrical Tractor-Trailer Accidents Scatter Live Piglets, Cases Of Bacon Across Highwaysr

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• Here at Consumerist, we have a completely understandable obsession with tractor-trailer accidents where food ends up strewn across the highway, especially when no one is seriously injured. Yet there’s a strange symmetry to two unrelated accidents in the last week that left thousands of live piglets running from the wreck in Ohio, and 70,000 pounds of bacon strewn across train tracks and a highway in Illinois. 

  We’ve covered highways strewn with salmon, Twizzlers, ramen noodles, fries, potatoes, chicken, ham, beer, margarine, more beer, and some inadvertently charred ribs.

  The accident involving the live piglets happened last night. Only the truck carrying the animals was involved, and one passenger sustained minor injuries. A few hundred piglets were killed in the accident, and witnesses describe seeing something completely unexpected: piglets running along the highway. The tiny hogs were feeder pigs, on their way to an auction or to a farm where they would live until they reach their full potential and are sent to slaughter.

  Local farmers volunteered their trailers to gather as many of the animals as they could, and the animals were taken to the local fairgrounds until everyone could figure out the next steps. Most of the surviving piglets have been rounded up, but some remain at large and may never be found.

  

  On Friday, an Amtrak train collided with a tractor-trailer full of bacon in rural Illinois, scattering the cargo across the tracks and the road. About a dozen people were taken to the hospital for their injuries, but none were life-threatening.

  Piglet death toll in U.S. 35 semi crash nearly 400 [WHIO]
  AMTRAK TRAIN COLLIDES WITH TRUCK CARRYING BACON NEAR WILMINGTON [ABC 7]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uApple Adds Menstrual Cycle Tracking To HealthKit Appr

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  (Dee)

  Around half of all humans, at some point in their lives, experience menstrual cycles. Keeping track of different parts of that cycle is part of paying attention to general health, and there are plenty of mobile phone apps designed for that purpose. That’s why when Apple announced that a central repository for health information, HealthKit, would be part of iOS 8, many people assumed that menstrual cycles would be in there, right along with blood glucose levels and blood pressure. It wasn’t, until today.

  Tracking cycles has a number of uses: when the number of days in each cycle varies, that can be a sign of an underlying health problem. A “hey, you’re ovulating!” notification is useful when trying to conceive a baby, or trying not to conceive a baby. Even though “first day of your last menstrual period?” has been a routine part of every doctor visit for most of my life, I rarely actually remember.

  One of the many things Apple announced at their Worldwide Developer Conference today is that they’re adding this feature to HealthKit. They’re also adding information about how much time you spend sitting down, and your exposure to ultraviolet rays.

  There are numerous apps that already exist to track cycles, but there are also numerous apps that track the distance that you’ve walked or run during a workout, and that didn’t stop Apple from making that data part of HealthKit. While some companies choose not to share their users’ data with Apple, the company still left an important part of health data for a massive number of people out of HealthKit, which is supposed to give a complete picture of the phone owner’s health.

  Some tech pundits blame ingrained sexism in the software industry for the oversight. “… Apple’s first diversity report did show that the company is mostly white and male,” Arielle Duhaime-Ross at the Verge wrote when HealthKit first debuted. “So it’s likely that menstrual cycles just aren’t a concern for a majority of the company’s employees. But that shouldn’t be an excuse.” It’s a feature that’s useful to more people than tracking one’s blood glucose level.

  With iOS 9, Apple’s HealthKit will finally track menstruation [The Verge]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist