uNew Yorkers: Here’s How To Help Make Sure You Get The Internet Speed You Pay Forr

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  Back in October, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent letters to three of the state’s biggest broadband providers — Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, and Verizon — seeking information about the connection speeds they market to consumers and the speeds they actually deliver. Now, the state is asking for consumers’ help in seeing if these Internet service providers are being honest.

  It’s a pretty simple process, one that gets around some of the privacy and accuracy concerns of the FCC’s Measuring Broadband America report.

  First, New York residents can go to the third-party InternetHealthTest.org, and simply click “Start Test.”

  The site then measures your “throughput” Internet speeds – the speeds at which customers actually reach content on the Internet — to several points online. It will take up to a few minutes to go through the full list, but in the end you’ll have yourself an idea of what your average connection speed is.

  This differs from the FCC test, in that the FCC does not use throughput data for its report on advertised vs. real broadband speeds. Instead, that report has thus far only published measurements of connections along the “last mile” of users’ Internet connection — i.e., just how quickly a user’s data moves along the network of their ISP, not its speed across multiple, interconnected networks.

  The other concern that has limited participation in the FCC’s broadband speed tests is privacy. A lot of folks are just not thrilled with the idea of giving any information about their Internet use to any government agency.

  To get around that problem, the New York program only asks that volunteers send screenshots of their test results, using this online form (which also has instructions on taking a screenshot). The image you attach includes no information about your device (browser history, IP address, etc.), and the only identifying info required on the form is your name and ZIP code. Any other personal info on the form — e-mail address, phone number — is voluntary.

  “New Yorkers should get the Internet speeds they pay for. Too many of us may be paying for one thing, and getting another,” says Schneiderman. “By conducting these tests, consumers can uncover whether they are receiving the Internet speeds they have paid for.”

  The tests are being applauded by consumer groups, including our own Consumers Union.

  “As Consumer Reports has pointed out, Internet speeds can vary considerably, and consumers do not always get the ‘blazingly fast’ internet speeds they are are paying for,” explains Chuck Bell, Programs Director for CU. “We have heard from dozens of customers in New York who are concerned that they are not getting the internet speeds promised by internet providers.”

  Likewise, Susan Lerner, Executive Director for Common Cause/NY, points to the importance of crowdsourcing this sort of information on ISPs.

  “No individual New Yorker acting alone can influence the giant telecom companies that control broadband in our state,” say Lerner.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uDVDs Are More Expensive In Target’s Reality Vortexr

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• Like many Americans, I like to shop at Target. However, walking inside the friendly red doors means that shoppers must accept that they’re entering a different reality. Inside the Target Reality Vortex, numbers have no meaning, and ordinary retail logic doesn’t hold up.
  Shopping there is easier once you’ve accepted this, but our readers still send us pictures from Target’s reality vortex.

  Moshe found prime examples where Target was trying to sell DVDs as an impulse item. That’s a good idea, but he noticed that the display and the films on it didn’t quite line up. The shelf promoted the DVD release of Minions, which is nice, and had a sign up top advertising “Favorite movies under $10.”

  As a new release, Minions probably won’t be priced under $10, but surely the other movies in the display would be. Right?

  

  Stranger still, do you see the $5 sign off to the left? Using normal retail logic, you would probably assume that it marks a real discount shelf full of cheap DVDs. You would be wrong. It’s not clear what costs $5 here, but it isn’t the Scooby-Doo feature on that first shelf.

  

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uHow Fraudsters Can Convert Stolen Goods Into Cash Through Bargain-Huntersr

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  Maybe you’re planning a large purchase or a big shopping trip with a certain retailer, and you seek out gift cards to that store from online gift card marketplaces. Swapping gift cards online is a unique opportunity for savings, but also provides a unique opportunity for fraudsters.

  How’s that? The sellers aren’t misrepresenting the amounts on their cards or selling counterfeits. According to a report on Krebs on Security, there’s a problem unique to national retail chains: shoplifters turn ill-gotten merchandise into cash by using gift card exchange sites.

  The sites aren’t parties to this scheme, but the existence of sites where people can sell gift cards for prices under retail provides an opportunity for them to convert cards into cash easily before card buyers and marketplaces catch them.

  One flag to look out for: the reader who initially submitted this story to Krebs purchased Petco gift cards that turned out to be merchandise return cards, not gift cards as they were advertised. If this happens to you, don’t just shrug and go shopping anyway: notify the gift card marketplace.
  The Role of Phony Returns in Gift Card Fraud [Krebs on Security]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uBreast Milk Scammer Sends Fake Check In Exchange For Mail-Order Milkr

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  In this story, a woman and her customer were engaging in a controversial practice: they had arranged online to exchange human milk for money, shipping it across the country. This kind of transaction poses risks of contamination and spoilage, but that isn’t why we’re sharing the story. We’re sharing it because the buyer sent a fake check.

  The mother who pumped and shipped her milk says that she sent off her real milk in exchange for a fake check, and she shared her story with CBS Sacramento because she wants to warn others. Her advice really applies to people shopping or selling on any online marketplace: read the rules, make sure to follow any advice that the site gives for avoiding fraud, no matter how trustworthy your potential trading partner might seem.

  In this case, a woman in Florida sent a check for $2,000, paying in advance for a total of 750 ounces of pumped milk over the coming months. Yet what the purported seller swore is a real check is a counterfeit, according to her bank.

  The site, OnlyTheBreast.com, specifically spells out to sellers that they should only accept PayPal, and that they should never accept payments in the form of a check.

  

  “Do not under any circumstances accept checks,” they say, just in case it isn’t clear.

  Maybe the most important lesson to take home is to always read warning labels. The site whew the transaction took place specifically warns users not to accept checks as payment, but this provider was satisfied that the buyer was a real and trustworthy person.

  Grass Valley Woman Selling Breast Milk Online Says She Was Scammed By Bad Check [CBS Sacramento]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uMajor Package Carriers Want To Help You Not Get Your Deliveries Stolenr

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  No one wants to see their packages stolen from their front porch. Not even package thieves want anyone to steal their packages. That’s why, as we shift more of our shopping online, the major delivery services have devised new ways to ensure that our packages end up in our hands.

  There are two ways that carriers can bypass leaving things on the porch: by having customers use the Web to schedule delivery windows or re-route packages to a different address as needed, or having carriers deliver our packages somewhere else.

  UPS was the first to allow residential package recipients to do this, and now competitors USPS and FedEx have joined the party. All three use the same business model: accounts and some basic services, like notifications of an impending delivery, are free. Customers have to pay for other services, which can include setting a precise delivery time or having a package re-routed to a different residential address.

  Delivering packages to a central location is limited only to certain areas. Even Amazon has joined this effort, setting up its own lockers in some areas where people can pick up their package from a secure space. The USPS is currently experimenting with their own package lockers, which are called GoPost, being tested in only a few markets for now. UPS is now experimenting with delivering residential packages to nearby businesses.

  How to Avoid Holiday Package Theft at Home [Consumer Reports]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uReport: Cord Found Wrapped Around Accelerator Of Runaway Boston Trainr

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  We knew it: the Boston commuter train that left the station with a driver yesterday didn’t suddenly become self-aware and decide to drive off all on its own. Instead, investigators reportedly found a cord wrapped around the train’s accelerator.

  On Thursday morning, a Red Line train rolled away from the station with 50 passengers aboard and made it through four stations before humans were able to stop it.

  After the incident, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said it seemed likely that someone had deliberately messed with the train, and a new report indicates that’s the case: WBZ-TV cites sources familiar with the investigation that a rubber telephone cord was used to inhibit the normal movement of the train.

  It was reportedly wrapped around a control called the Cineston valve, which acts as either an accelerator or a brake control. It requires constant pressure to set the train in forward motion.

  The train’s operator stepped outside to set a bypass switch because of a signal problem, but the cord hadn’t been removed, which made it keep going without him, the sources say.

  Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack would not confirm the cause Friday to WBZ-TV, citing the ongoing investigation.

  The conductor involved was brushed by the train and suffered a minor leg injury. He’s now been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.

  The MBTA says going forward, it will require the presence of a second technician during a bypass procedure, instead of relying on a single operator to man the train.

  Cord Reportedly Found Wrapped Around Accelerator Of Runaway Red Line Train [CBS Boston/WBZ-TV]

  
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by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uDisney Decides To Be Evil Again, Re-Sends Copyright Takedown For Star Wars Figure Picr

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  This morning, it seemed like Disney had realized that sending copyright takedown notices for legally obtained and posted photos of Star Wars action figures was maybe not a good idea. But the Dark Side apparently has Mickey in its grips, as Disney continues to send takedown notices for copyright claims the company had already retracted.

  Ars Technica reports that the folks at Star Wars Action Network — who dared to break absolutely no law by posting a photo of a new Star Wars action figure, legally purchased at a Walmart store, on their Facebook page — are the victims of Disney’s utter incompetence when it comes to dealing with copyright matters.

  Earlier today, Disney had retracted its demand to have SWAN remove the images. But Ars notes that, almost immediately after everyone rejoiced, a second copyright Death Star was built.

  “For reasons we can’t understand—Disney has now RESUBMITTED the claim, again removing the pictures (that they restored this morning),” wrote Marjorie Carvalho of SWAN.

  Making matters even more confusing, Facebook demanded that the entire post — not just the photos — be taken down.

  So instead of the post seen in the above screengrab, visitors to that link now only see this:
  

  And just to rub in how horribly, horribly stupid and bad Disney is, the SWAN staffer who posted the photo is now under a three-day ban from posting to Facebook.

  As Ars notes, it’s highly possible this is all the result of a dumb copyright bot. But it also flies in the face of the Digital Millennium [Falcon] Copyright Act, which says it’s against the law for anyone to knowingly file a false copyright takedown notice. Since Disney had previously retracted this notice, it would seem to follow that the company should have know that the initial claim was bogus.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist