Mon, Nov 21, 2011

Consumer Watchdog Calls For Criminal Charges Against Internet Executives As Feds Shut Down Scam Ads On Bing and Yahoo! After Earlier Action Focusing On Google

CONTACT: , 310-392-0522 x317

Consumer Watchdog Calls For Criminal Charges Against Internet Executives As Feds Shut Down Scam Ads On Bing and Yahoo! After Earlier Action Focusing On Google

SANTA MONICA CA – Consumer Watchdog today said executives of leading Internet companies Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! should face criminal charges for their roles in allowing mortgage modification ad scammers to advertise on their sites.

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Wed, Nov 16, 2011

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Consumer Watchdog Calls On Google To Donate Tainted Revenue From Deceptive Online Ads It Published As Feds Shut Down 85 Mortgage Modification Scammers

CONTACT: , 310-392-0522, x317

Consumer Watchdog Calls On Google To Donate Tainted Revenue From Deceptive Online Ads It Published As Feds Shut Down 85 Mortgage Modification Scammers

SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today called on Google to donate the tainted revenue it received from deceptive ads preying on vulnerable homeowners to non-profit groups that help consumers with credit problems, including homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure. The mortgage modification scams were first revealed in a Consumer Watchdog report last February.

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Fri, Nov 4, 2011

Pushing for online privacy on the East and West Coasts

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Pushing for online privacy on the East and West Coasts

The week began for me at meetings in the heart of geekdom in Silicon Valley and concluded with consumer and privacy advocates meeting in New York City.  The two sessions are more related than you might first think. The New York meetings, convened by the Consumer Federation of America, were an off-the-record session for consumer [...]

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Thu, Oct 27, 2011

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Is Google following Microsoft’s evil path?

Is Google following Microsoft’s evil path?

Has Google taken a page from Microsoft’s evil history and started using the same anticompetitive tactics that landed the Redmond, WA., software company in antitrust trouble in the U.S. and Europe? A exclusive report in The New York Post says that’s exactly what the Federal Trade Commission is considering in its major antitrust investigation of the Internet giant.

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Tue, Oct 25, 2011

Consumer Watchdog Asks LA Mayor, City Council To Demand Google Remove Video With City Employees Touting Google Apps; Says Apps Can Have Frightening Results

CONTACT: , 310-392-7041, or cell: 310-292-1902; or Jamie Court, 310-392-0075

Consumer Watchdog Asks LA Mayor, City Council To Demand Google Remove Video With City Employees Touting Google Apps; Says Apps Can Have Frightening Results

SANTA MONICA, CA – Google Apps can be dangerous, Consumer Watchdog warned today and the public interest group said Los Angeles has been responsible for “giving the first imprint of credibility and acceptance to a program that has failed Los Angeles and other communities with frightening consequences.”

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Fri, Oct 21, 2011

Consumer Watchdog Calls Google’s Explanation For Its Record $5.9 Million Lobbying Spending ‘Disingenuous Bafflegab’

CONTACT: , 310-392-7041, or cell: 310-292-1902; or Jamie Court, 310-392-0075

Consumer Watchdog Calls Google’s Explanation For Its Record $5.9 Million Lobbying Spending ‘Disingenuous Bafflegab’

“The fact is the company is facing a well-deserved antitrust investigation by the Federal Trade Commission and wants to escape any consequences for its anti-competitive behavior,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project. “They’ve got billions in profits stashed in off-shore tax havens and are pressing for a tax-holiday to bring it into the United States.”

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Thu, Oct 13, 2011

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Google faces IRS scrutiny for avoiding taxes

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Google faces IRS scrutiny for avoiding taxes

Remember the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich?” Those are the nicknames for the schemes that Google uses to dodge about $1 billion a year in U.S. taxes by running profits through offshore subsidiaries and stashing the cash in tax havens like Bermuda. Bloomberg Reporter Jesse Drucker originally revealed a year ago how the dubious [...]

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Tue, Oct 11, 2011

Consumer Watchdog Calls Online Industry’s Claims of Privacy Protection Bogus After New Study From Stanford Finds Websites Frequently Share Personal Information

CONTACT: , 310-292-1902; and Carmen Balber, 202-629-3043

Consumer Watchdog Calls Online Industry’s Claims of Privacy Protection Bogus After New Study From Stanford Finds Websites Frequently Share Personal Information

WASHINGTON, DC – Consumer Watchdog called online industry claims that consumers’ personal privacy is protected when they surf the Web to be meaningless in light of a study released today by Stanford University’s Computer Security Laboratory. The research was released at a forum discussing digital data collection sponsored by a coalition of 10 consumer, privacy and civil rights groups. Consumer Watchdog called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether identified companies violated their privacy obligations to consumers.

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Wed, Oct 5, 2011

Consumer Watchdog Urges Senator Kohl To Recall Google’s Schmidt As Witness After Executive Calls Government Slow And Stupid In Interview

CONTACT: , 310-392-0075; John M. Simpson, 310-392-7041; Carmen Balber, 202-629-3043

Consumer Watchdog Urges Senator Kohl To Recall Google’s Schmidt As Witness After Executive Calls Government Slow And Stupid In Interview

Washington, DC – Consumer Watchdog today took Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to task today over remarks made to The Washington Post in which he claimed Google should not be the subject of antitrust review because its services are “free” and made derogatory remarks about government officials being slow, backward and greedy.

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Wed, Sep 21, 2011

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Consumer Watchdog Asks Senate Panel To Explore Breakup of Google; Asks FTC to Open Inquiry Into Deceptive Mortgage Advertisements

CONTACT: , 310-403-0284 (cell) or 202-629-3043; John M. Simpson, 310-292-1902 (cell); Jamie Court, 310-392-0522 x327

Consumer Watchdog Asks Senate Panel To Explore Breakup of Google; Asks FTC to Open Inquiry Into Deceptive Mortgage Advertisements

WASHINGTON, DC – Consumer Watchdog today told a Senate committee that Google’s reach is so pervasive on the Internet that consumers cannot avoid its massive data collection apparatus. The public interest group said one possible remedy is breaking up the Internet giant, which exercises monopoly power over search and consumer data. Do Not Track regulations are necessary to protect consumers from the Internet giant’s pervasive data collection.

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Mon, Sep 19, 2011

Consumer Watchdog’s New Animated Video Satirizes Google Executives And Challenges Google’s Information Monopoly On Eve of Schmidt’s Senate Testimony

CONTACT: , 202-629-3043; John M. Simpson, cell: 310-292-1902

Consumer Watchdog’s New Animated Video Satirizes Google Executives And Challenges Google’s Information Monopoly On Eve of Schmidt’s Senate Testimony

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumer Watchdog’s latest online animated video debuted today, satirizing Google CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to dramatize Google’s information monopoly and make the case for Do Not Track Legislation. The video, “Supercharge,” exposes actual quotes by the executives and shows the two Google executives stalking a United States Senator through the signal in his Android mobile phone.

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Fri, Sep 9, 2011

Google’s Monopoly Power Raises More Concerns

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Google’s Monopoly Power Raises More Concerns

More examples of Google’s powerful grip on the Internet surfaced this week and its acquisition of the venerable restaurant reviewer, Zagat, raised new concern about how the Internet giant will use its monopoly power in the future. Being a monopoly is not in itself illegal. If you developed the position naturally without breaking any laws, [...]

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Wed, Aug 31, 2011

Consumer Watchdog Asks Senate Antitrust Committee To Require Google CEO Larry Page to Testify

CONTACT: , 310-392-7041, or cell: 310-292-1902; or Carmen Balber, 202-629-3043

Consumer Watchdog Asks Senate Antitrust Committee To Require Google CEO Larry Page to Testify

Group Cites DOJ Investigation That Found He Condoned Illegal Activity

SANTA MONICA, CA – Citing recent revelations that Google CEO Larry Page condoned Google’s criminal violation of laws prohibiting the importation of drugs to U.S. consumers by Canadian pharmacies, Consumer Watchdog called on the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee to require him to testify at its planned hearing in September.

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