April 17, 2009
Senator John F. Kerry
218 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC 20510
Dear Chairman Kerry:
You and your colleagues will very likely soon receive a petition from members of Free Press urging you to launch “an investigation of Time Warner Cable’s plans to impose an unfair penalty against Internet users.” The correspondence will be motivated in substantial [...]

April 17, 2009
 
 
Congressman Rick Boucher
 2187 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
 
 
Dear Chairman Boucher:
 
            You and your colleagues will very likely soon receive a petition from members of Free Press urging you to launch “an investigation of Time Warner Cable’s plans to impose an unfair penalty against Internet users.”  The correspondence will be motivated in substantial [...]

Dr. Joseph P. Fuhr, “Why Biosimilars Will Have a Smaller Competitive Edge Than Generics,” presented at CBI’s Second Annual Summit on Biosimilars and Follow-on biologics, Baltimore, based on an article coauthored by Dr. Erwin A. Blackstone and published in the Journal of Health Care Finance, Winter 2008, pp. 84-95. Slides available.
Steve Pociask, “Why Solvency Matters,” Property [...]

Internet consumers continue to express high concerns about online threats such as viruses, spam, and identity theft, according to a survey by the American Consumer Institute (ACI), though the level of concern was somewhat lower than expressed in last year’s survey.
Topping the list, 63% of consumers saying they were “very concerned” with identity theft, followed [...]

Rep. Mary Bono Mack will be introducing the Informed P2P User Act tomorrow, or Thursday at the latest. Stop Child Predators has been supportive of this bill, and we’re hoping you may also be interested in showing support.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) programs allow Internet users within the same networking program to connect with each other and directly [...]

The New York Times discusses our latest Consumer Calculator in its recent personal technology article.  The calculator allows consumers to rank computer printers based on their lifetime printing cost, and shows that ink costs far outweigh the cost of the printer itself.  However, printer manufacturers rarely disclose information on the cost of printing on either their [...]

ITEM: TELECOM SUBCOMMITTEE TO HOLD
UNIVERSAL SERVICE REFORM (USF) REFORM HEARING
Universal service has long enjoyed widespread support in principle as an objective of US telecommunications policy. However, changes in technology, regulation and markets over the years have complicated its pursuit and raised serious questions about best to define its objectives and to fashion rules to govern [...]

This article discusses a new plan to reform telecommunications regulations and provide additional support to low-income consumers. Click here.

In several ConsumerGrams, we reported that consumers were overpaying on computer printer ink by a total of $6 billion a year, because manufacturers were not disclosing their printer or cartridge costs per page.  Furthermore, we showed that, over the useful life of a printer, the actually cost of the printer may be a little as a tenth of the cost of [...]

Our last ConsumerGram analyzed the hidden telephone fees that consumers pay as a result of an outdated system of regulated payments between telephone companies. We concluded then that these payments represent subsidies that hurt consumers, are inefficient, and are not sustainable in the face of increasing competition. Moreover, the subsidy scheme works to discourage investment [...]