a way that they didn't anticipate and so a lot of it will be how the laws and force the federal trade commission will be in charge of that and of course there are companies lined up behind this that might also be a recognition that some form of online privacy legislation is all but inevitable and these maybe terms that they're willing to live with now so supposedly it within this bill if it does go through they're supposed to tell you why they want to use your information who they might give it to how long they might track it for but same thing if we talk about the logistics of it let's say i'm surfing online and i go to a web page is it going to be in this tiny terms of agreement still or do they have to make it more pronounced i mean are there any rules here that really has to be in the face of the consumer of the user well that's the thing again the lawmakers are really trumpeting and there was a new bill introduced today in the house again where they say it has to be clear that these things they have to be interpreted by the courts companies it may not be reasonable in all cases for them to

here is the price list called for by federal trade commission regulations. there at the bottom that was chosen. direct cremation, no services, no ceremony. without a viewing. $1,220. >> the family originally came in and opted for the simplest direct cremation or preparation or viewing or really anything. >> later the family decided to add a short viewing and that is where hurt feelings came in. they charged $200 for the family to say goodbye. look at the price list. the charge is listed right there with brief 30-minute family only viewing in chapel, $1,420. $1200 more. however, our report left the impression they didn't do much for the money. that it was almost a ransom. >> this $200 fee was painted as if, if the family wanted to see their loved one it's going to cost you $200. that is not it at all. >> the son of the founder, a family business, he has been providing services at this daly city location for decades. money he says is not the focus here. >> the money thing really bothered us because we're not that way. we don't emphasize that. >> and in fact, t

do you support the recommendation by the federal trade commission to create a mandate for a two not track for the technology based on some sort of browser technology? >> we have not taken a formal position at this time. the president calls for -- we have had an interagency review with a particular emphasis on the congress department and a develop -- and developed a green paper three or four months back. we expressed our commitment to basic privacy protections, and we thought the fair information practice standards should also be acknowledged, and the fcc should have enforcement authority on the space, and that there should be enforceable codes of conduct, emphasizing voluntary cooperation. it is conceivable that the browsers, the internet economy, a key stakeholders on the rhone in a voluntary fashion come together and put together their own "do not track" approval, and that would be an industry-led program that could be endorsed by the fcc. the reason i see a slight distinction here is we stopped short of any particular mandates akin to "do not track," and it is more of a framework for h

. >>> there was word tonight the federal trade commission is considering investigating google.the ftc is waiting for the justice department to figure out if it will challenge google's plan to buy off a ticket making company. >>> and the dow jones closed down more than six points. the nasdaq finished up a little more than two points. make that exactly two points. >>> luck had nothing to do with it. the decision that could come tonight on the future of the morati casino plan. ougog t bk. atst fwa. wi cseuidesi yr arho, u stnaa cte, wi cseuidesi hise a de. yr arho, ke sp rwdte, >>> in just about five minutes tonight, the richmond city council will decide whether to move along with a casino. the pomo indian tribe wants to build a casino at the molati. >>> mark is here now with sports, a lot of eyes on the san francisco giants because they are starting this off a little slow. >> just got a little slower a few minutes ago. the giants lose again. this time a change of venue down in san diego. pretty much the same story. last couple of years they don't fair well but that guy is coming

. >> reporter: the federal trade commission just announced a crackdown on websites that use the logosreal news organizations and fake testimonials to push a dietary sum elementary. they are not the only diet scam out there. with the nation's high obesity rate coupled with the easy net access weight is an area ripe for scammers and you don't always get what you see. >> it allows people to cloak their scamming products in -- with legitimate looking items things like logos and people they might have seen before, with formats that look like they are legitimate news formats. >> reporter: claims like these should be a warning sign. lose weight without diet other exercise, lose 30 pounds in 30 days. or eat your favorite foods and still lose weight. the only thing you're likely to lose with many of these so- called quick fixes, the ftc says, is your money. >> it's very common for people who are marketing weight loss products to try to pitch them as being quick and easy ways to lose weight. we have been seeing that for years and years and years. >> reporter: when it comes to weight loss the on

have passed out in the subcommittee is basically going to establish the rules through the federal trade commission and then we're going to put in penalties in the cases of breaches of information. we're going to have audits by the f.t.c. on information broker security. we put together a whole list of things that these companies must do in the event there's a breach. that is something that the state of california has already done. and they are to be commended. the bill that i have is patterned a little bit after california, but if you have 50 states with 50 different laws it's going to be difficult for the security companies to comply adequately. so we're putting in a federal standard which we think will be stronger than the states and we'll have protection for the sensitive information. >> isn't it true that corporations have made advances for the private sector in collecting information than does the u.s. government? aren't state gofertz the u.s. government -- the u.s. government requires a warrant for some kinds of information, does it not, whereas, what it does to evade that, we hear, for examp

antitrust agencies have and i'm always assuming the department of justice it can also be federal trade commission. i haven't figured out how to pick commissioner works as we get these mergers, but the look antitrust perspective of mergers and when you look at the wireless market you do have to look at a market by market, geographic market, product market as well, it's complicated and complex but i hope we can give a full and fair hearing in the debate as quickly as possible. >> joining also is lynn stanton from "telecommunications reports." >> as you mentioned the sec public interest standard is rather of an amorphous. would you look for? is a balancing act of what it does at the positive and the negative, would you look for letting the public interest in the merger? >> in the merger you have to look through -- the way i approach this is are there any harm coming about as a result of the merger so what are the specific arms to the consumers and if there are arms they should be narrowly tailored to address those but it shouldn't be an excuse to implement rulemakings become issues that don't arise

scripps howard news service investigated 1.4 million complaints filed with the federal trade commission found tax identity theft has more than tripled in the past five years. >> from the criminal's perspective, a little bit of money from a great number of people starts to add up. >> reporter: there are two versions of the scam. number one -- fake tax prep services. thieves offer to do other people's taxes for free, then file fraudulent returns with uncle sam and hijack the refunds for themselves. this massachusetts man just pleaded guilty to stealing $200,000 that way. in scam number two -- con artists target not just you, but your kids. they steal children's social security numbers and list them as dependents to try to score a larger refund. >> here we go again. >> reporter: greg sartin says his daughter taylor has been used as a dependent on other people's tax returns six times, starting when she was just a baby. and when he tries to claim her himself -- >> this was rejected. >> reporter: -- the irs rejects his return. now he fears for taylor's financial future. >> when she turns 18,

so the department of justice and the federal trade commission and, you know, government spend a lot of time during the first eight years that i was here blessing this kind of consolidation. not just blessing it, but actually encouraging it. so it wasn't just the private sector, it was the public sector encouraging this consolidation while at the same time the commission moved away from a lot of dedication and commitment and had the public interest oversight and regulation. you know, at some point we have to decide whether we're really serious about having competition or not. and if you're going to have this constant trend toward duopoly or monopoly, then b there has to be some rules of the road, there to be some oversight, some regulation. i'm not hesitant to use that term. that's how we looked at monopolies for a long period of time, if we're serious about fostering competition, then let's get about the job of doing that and have some rules of the road and maybe at that point the private sector and companies will begin to understand that any and all mergers are not going to be automat

do you support the recommendation by the federal trade commission to create a mandate for a do not track sort of technology that would stop web sites from, basically, following users on the web based on some sort of browser technology? do you support the do not track? >> >> guest: we have not taken a tomorrow position at this time. what the president called for, and this is one of the areas that i've had particular leadership and emphasis on, the commerce department has been phenomenal in developing a green paper that was published maybe three or four months back at this point. and that was the basis upon which larry strickland delivered the testimony that he did just a couple weeks back where we expressed our formal commitment to base privacy protections, and we thought that the fair information practice standards should be the baseline. we also acknowledged the ftc should have authority on that base privacy provision and that there should be enforceable codes of conduct emphasizing the role of voluntary cooperation. now, why do i give you this long, convoluted story? it is conceivable

bounties including threatening violence encouraging suicide and posing as law enforcement the federal trade commission reported last month that in two thousand and ten there were one hundred forty four thousand complaints filed against threatening debt collectors only identity theft had more complaints than debt collectors to top it all off but these debt collectors are doing is completely illegal according to the fair debt practices collection practices act of one thousand nine hundred eighty seven it is illegal for pet collectors to use deceitful or threatening tactics to collect payments yet that's exactly what they're doing in every city in america all across this country every single day every single evening so why is this a lot of the happening here offer some answers as joseph morrow e.s.q. as as in attorney and consumer rights attorney in new york state joseph welcome to the program the loco or i should say s.y.s. . this is against the law well in fact even before i get to how are they getting away with this stuff. you you have represented a couple of these clients who have been the victims of

can have input and the approach it takes for mergers so the department of justice and the federal trade commission and government spent a lot of time during the first eight years that i was here last thing this kind of consolidation. not just blessing it but actually encouraging it so when does the private sector. does the private sector encouraging this consolidation while the same time the commission moved away from a lot of dedication and commitment in public interest oversight and regulation. at some point, we have to decide whether we are really serious about having competition or not and if we are going to have this constant trend toward duopoly or monopoly then there has to be some rules of the road. there has to be some oversight. there has to be some regulation. i hesitate to use that term. we look at monopolies for long period neck of time over the last 100 years regulated. let's get about the job of doing that and the rules of the road and maybe at that point the private sector and the companies will begin to understand that any of no mergers are not going to be automatically rubberstam

the federal trade commission at the department of justice there are existing statutes that deal with bad business practice you don't even the internet specific laws you just need business bad business practice laws which already exist just like you don't need an internet bill of rights or provide for propriety civil rights and we've already got we've got a little rights and that all you do is add more and cheapen the original bill writes thank you so much for joining us and thank you for having the courage so at least they on t.v. and face anybody that might disagree with you and stand up i would give you want to write on that was editor in chief of stop net regulation dot org seton motley when we come back we'll explore the education of a true third with luke without injury and alex jones to explain how he's been able to reach so many people using the internet and. fight. for. feel. let me get that we met in a park right here right here. i think iraq may be the body well. we never got the look says they're going to keep you safe get ready because you're going to hear freedom. and. w

do you support the recommendation by the federal trade commission to create a mandate for a do not track sort of technology that would stop web sites from following users on the web comic browser technology? do you support this idea do not track? do we have not taken a formal position on do not track at this time. the president called for and we have had an interview agency review in this is one of the areas that i have had reticular leadership and emphasis on, the commerce department has been phenomenal in developing a green paper that was published maybe three or four months back at this point and that is the basis upon which larry strickling deliver the testimony that he did just a couple of weeks back where we ask rest our formal commitment to basic privacy protections and we thought that fits the fair information practice dinner should be the base and we also acknowledge that the fcc should have enforcement and already on that day's privacy provision, and that there should be enforceable codes of conduct emphasizing the role of voluntary cooperation. wide-awake you'd be this long co

it could also be federal trade commission, and i've never quite figured out exactly how the possession arrow works as to who gets these mergers. but those agencies look at the antitrust perspective of mergers, any merger, and when you look at the wireless market, you do have to look at it market by market. geographic market, product markets as well. so it's complicated and complex, but i hope we can give it a full and fair airing and do it as quickly as possible. >> host: joining us, also, is lynn stanton with "telecommunications reports." she's a senior editor there. >> host: thank you. as you mentioned, the standard is rather amorphous. what do you look at? the is it a balancing act of what it does that's positive, what's negative? what kind of factors and considerations to you look for in weighing the public interest in a merger? >> guest: so, the way i approach this, are there any harms coming about as a result of the her very? -- merger? what are the specific harms to the consumer? if there are harms, conditions should be narrowly tailored to address those, but it should not be an

. >>> the federal trade commission meanwhile may look into complaints from parents that games and apps like farmville or the smurfs encourage kids to spend their parents money. parents hand over the iphone or laptop to kids, not realizing that when the kids buy seeds or costumes or other virtual goods, parents are build real money through paypal or itunes. a congresswoman from massachusetts has asked for a full investigation. so, for instance, you can buy a pony for farmville using farmville money but that translates into real money for mom and dad. >> and no real pony. >> and no real pony. that's a lot of allowance. >> which is the genius of this thing. how on earth -- >> oh, it is. the game companies say we spell this out pretty clearly and you have to link your credit card. but in the end some family ends up with $1,000 worth of ponies. >> what i was going to say the se genius is somebody iom actually getting people to buy something that doesn't exist. >> 5:28. we'll be right back. this was so easy. that was quick. no envelopes to lick. no deposit slips to fill out. a lot less paper

. >>> the federal trade commission may look into complaints from parents that games and apps like farmviller the smurfs encourage kids to spend their parents' money. what happens is parents hand over the phone or the laptop to kids, not realizing when kids buy seeds on farmville or costumes or virtual goods, the parents are billed real money through paypal or itunes. the "wall street journal" says a congresswoman from massachusetts has asked for a full investigation. i looked through our archives and found at least one example of a family that ended up with a $1200 bill based on a smurfs game. that's going to be a shock when you get your itunes bill. >> the same thing happens with cell phones and texting. i know a lot of parents face that with texting. >> do you remember way back when it happened with aol. somebody would get a computer and hook it up to aol and it would make a long distance call and you'd get a $10,000 phone bill. >> i don't remember that. i'm too young. >> back in the -- way back in the '90s. >> the cotton gin, remember that? >> i remember when there were no computers. >>>

important responsibility when it comes to merger review together with the justice department or federal trade commission or government reviewing transactions as well. it is important that we not prejudge transactions, follow an honest and efficient process and meet our statutory duty. >> you don't want to give us a hint on at&t/t-mobile? let me ask you about mergers. china you can't comment specifically but so much of what you have done and others are trying to do is speed up the decision process and information flow more rapidly yet we are still making large decisions like this in a very slow process. take a year or more to get these decisions through the fcc. any way to speed up the process so someone who wants to merge will know it less than a year-and-a-half? >> we have been doing that. historically many cases there was a gap that could be very long between the time there was a ruling on a transaction or the state government does it and the fcc. we brought that gap weighed down. my time in the private sector is the kind of thing that can legitimately drive a company crazy and you end up with inconsi

they have filed this official complaint with the federal trade commission, calling the program's claimsnd misleading, saying it poses significant health and safety risks to infants by getting them hooked on television too young. >> we want the ftc to stop your baby can read from false and deceptive marketing and we want your baby can read to offer refundses to the parents who have been duped. >> this is not a short-term effect. >> reporter: duped, the complaint says, by this man. [ applause ] >> reporter: dr. robert titzer, the creator and ceo. he callses himself an infant learning expert. his name and face appear on efg. he agreed to sit down with us for our initial story. >> we are changing the way people are looking at reading. >> reporter: we have spoken with child development experts from some of the most prestigious universities like harvard, yale, tufts, nyu, cornell, penn and the national association of school psychologists, national center for infants, toddlers and families. they say the program is not only misleading but false. >> well, they are all yonge. >> reporter: you're

responsibility when it comes to merger review, together with the justice department or the federal trade commission. it is very important that we not prejudge transactions and follow an honest and fair process and meet our such a jury duty. >> so you do not want to give us a hint on at&t. [laughter] let me ask you about mergers. i know you can comment specifically. something that you have tried to do is speed up the information process, get it to flow to people more rapidly, but we're still getting decisions like this rather slowly. is there any way to speed up the process so that anyone who wants to merge will know in less than a year-and-a-half whether they can do the merger or not? >> we have been doing that. i will give you one example. historically, in many, many cases, there was a gap that could be very long between the time between doj or ftc ruled on a transaction or the state governments would have to do it and the fcc. and we brought that gap way down. it is the kind of thing that can legitimately dradrive a company crazy and end up with inconsistent decisions. so we worked very hard to m

. >> we can look to the federal trade commission and the u.s. consumer safety commission, both consumer protection agencies that you have commissioned it -- that use commissioned as well. are they effective? >> if you want to address those agencies, as you would have to come back and testify. >> we should restructure the government to have one director? >> we think it would be a major improvement over the system we have right now. >> was your credit union one of the contending factors to the financial crisis? >> no, we're not. >> you have heard a lot about predatory lending today. were you engaged in predatory lending? >> no, i was not. >> as we have gone to these new dodd-frank regulations, is it fair to say that the regulations on your credit union have increased dramatically? >> yes, they have. >> are the new regulations that will come from the cfpb, they will also continue to increase the regulation? you are not opposed to smart regulation of banking, are you? >> no, i am not. i is to feel that the gun regulation should be regulated. -- i jus

. >> i think all of the people and the federal trade commission or wherever would all like that exception. and that's why at least philosophically that would be good because it brings jurisdictions back to congress and you don't have these executives and stars running off. disapproving the bush administration a gal who was in the bush administration said mr. sun steamed during 4000 new regulations. that is what she said. obvious to regulations have an impact whether they come from epa, department of transportation, wherever. i think you mentioned shadegg -- >> congressman shadegg -- >> john shattuck is no longer here. >> john shattuck also -- i'll go look at his bill. john shattuck and i are friends. he is retired from arizonans who is retired to arizona so i'm going to look at that. i think certainly that would be worthwhile to talk to the speaker about to make that part of some of these other bills. if we build a strong about net neutrality in the sense we are doing there, certainly will apply elsewhere to prevent the administration from doing things on their own which we see a lot of t

. >> if we look outside of banking, we can look to the federal trade commission and the u.s. consumer protection safety commission, both consumer protection agencies that use commissions as well, are they also ineffective? >> let me just say if you wanted to address those agencies, we'd be happy to come back and testify -- >> but they're ineffective? you think that we should have, we should restructure the agency for these agencies to have one directer? >> we believe it would be a major improvement over the system we have right now. >> ms. smith, was your credit union one of the contributing factors to the financial crisis? >> no, we were not. >> and you've heard a lot about predatory lending today. were you engaged in that? >> no, i do not. >> i was going to ask ms. andersen the same question, i assume her answer would be the same. >> is it fair to say that the regulations on your credit union have increased dramatically? is. >> yes, they have. >> and with the new regulations that are going to come from the cfpb, they'll also continue to increase with regulation, right? >> y

bloomberg is reported this morning that the federal trade commission is looking to probe the google dominance in the search engine industry. members of the president's c cabinet will travel to alabama to assess tornado damage. they are looking to fema for aid and assistance. for the first 40 minutes, we want to get your thoughts on the aftermath of the tornado and other instances like flooding. your confidence in the federal government in their effort into disaster relief. we have divided our phone lines originally this morning. if you live in the eastern and central time zone, 202-737-0001. is the number. 202-737-0002 if you live in the mountains and pacific time zone. your thoughts on disaster relief and relief efforts by the federal government. we want to telephone in with your comments, you can also twitter at twitter.com and our reliable e-mail address, journal@c-span.org. this is the white house memo showing the members of the cabinet that will be traveling on sunday to alabama and mississippi. they include janet napolitano, craig fugate, tom vilsack, sean donovan, and caramels, but mr.

responsibility when it comes to merger review, together with the justice department or the federal trade commission. it is very important that we not prejudge transactions and follow an honest and fair process and meet our such a jury duty. >> so you do not want to give us a hint on at&t. [laughter] let me ask you about mergers. i know you can comment specifically. something that you have tried to do is speed up the information process, get it to flow to people more rapidly, but we're still getting decisions like this rather slowly. is there any way to speed up the process so that anyone who wants to merge will know in less than a year-and-a-half whether they can do the merger or not? >> we have been doing that. i will give you one example. historically, in many, many cases, there was a gap that could be very long between the time between doj or ftc ruled on a transaction or the state governments would have to do it and the fcc. and we brought that gap way down. it is the kind of thing that can legitimately dradrive a company crazy and end up with inconsistent decisions. so we worked very hard to m

even google is being attacked by our own government, the federal trade commission and others. it happened microsoft and ibm. the government seems to lead the way in attacking our best companies. it makes no sense as a national strategy. our companies, the executives and of being function -- focused on -- in our companies, the executives end up being focus on litigation. president obama has been five -- has vilified businesses. what should bill gates and steve jobs be rich when others are poor? they create something that others are willing to buy. that is what the entrepreneurial system requires -- rewards for creators. we need to change our national mind-set about how we view business. >> thank you very much. i would like to open the floor right now for q&a. >> i have a question to the two american participants on the panel. you have stressed the importance of innovation, america is strong in innovation, and must remain strong in innovation. that task to be seen against the background of continued shrinking of the industrial sector -- has to be seen against the background of c

securities and exchange commission, the commodities futures trading commission and the federal trade commission are examples of regulatory agencies led by a commission. most noticeably, the consumer product safety commission is led by a five-member commission. the powers of the bureau are too broad for a single director, and the move to put the commission in place was an important check on power. i would like to commend mr. duffy for his leadership on the second bill we will be considering today. this legislation makes important improvements to the financial stability oversight council ability to overturn a siepi be regulation. -- cfpb regulation. current law also requires a two- thirds majority vote to oversee overturn regulation. this simply sets the bark too high. mr. duffy is to be commended for his legislation which makes dramatic improvements by lowering the threshold for a vote by changing it to regulation which is subject of the petition inconsistent with the safe and sound operation of the united states financial institution. in addition to lowering this threshold, this chang

that's going to be mainly the federal trade commission, department of justice, maybe state privacy laws and their enforcers. under a section -- not to sound too much like a lawyer -- 222 of the communications act for common carriers, there's a customer proprietary information restrictions, and that's kind of our limit on the privacy issue. now, i would say friday freressal -- peripherally we operate in that space, but there are other agencies on the books that govern the privacy issue which is very important. >> host: lynn stanton, one final question. >> host: if it's the final one, then the government is facing a possible shutdown as we speak. are you an accepted employee? will you be coming into work next week? will you have staff? is. >> guest: excellent question. we are recording this on friday, april 3th, and big talk of a shutdown, a potential shutdown which i'm still optimistic it won't happen. but, yes, interestingly, fcc commissioners are considered essential employees, and i say that with a smile on my face because our staffs are not. now, that's immediate staff in our office,

, seems to me, this is an area in which the fbi would be well served by working with the federal trade commission. can you tell me what you are currently doing to work with the ftc on this issue? >> again, i'd have to get back to you on -- i know we have a number of task forces and working groups with them, but i would have to get back to you with the specifics. >> i appreciate that. a while back i saw representative peter king, chairman of the homeland security committee in the house, say on tv pretty categorically that there was no cooperation from the somali community or from community leadership in minnesota after a very small number of members of that community went to somalia to train with al-shabab. my experience is that no one is more upset about what happened than the twin cities' somali community itself, and my understanding from talking to law enforcement is that there has been real cooperation from the community in minnesota. is that your understanding? >> yes, sir. i think that the somali community in min annapolis was -- minneapolis was taken aback by the number of young men who had

commission at guantanamo bay. this is the obama administration's plan b. in 2009, justice department announced it would try them in a civilian federal court in manhattan, just blocks from the world tradel plan. >> unfortunately since i made that decision, members of congress have inveerned and imposed restrictions blocking the administration from bringing any afghanistan guantanamo bay detainees to trial in the united states. >> reporter: republicans welcomed the news. >> forred safety of the security of the american people i'm glad of president reconsidered his position. >> reporter: another reversal by the boom administration when it comes to terror suspects and guantanamo bay. after taking off he pledged to close the detention center within one year, calling system of military commissions slowen ineffective. >> cleaning up something that is quite simply a mess. >> reporter: two years later the prison at guantanamo bay is still open for business. leaving president obama open for criticism. mike and peggy? >>> despite all of the criticism mr. obama says he wants another four years in the white house. he made the announcement official in an e-mail to millions of supporters. >> reporte