Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

SoylentNews is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop. Only 11 submissions in the queue.
posted by hubie on Wednesday May 15, @01:20PM   Printer-friendly
from the business-as-usual dept.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/big-three-carriers-pay-10m-to-settle-claims-of-false-unlimited-advertising/

T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T will pay a combined $10.2 million in a settlement with US states that alleged the carriers falsely advertised wireless plans as "unlimited" and phones as "free." The deal was announced yesterday by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

"A multistate investigation found that the companies made false claims in advertisements in New York and across the nation, including misrepresentations about 'unlimited' data plans that were in fact limited and had reduced quality and speed after a certain limit was reached by the user," the announcement said.

T-Mobile and Verizon agreed to pay $4.1 million each while AT&T agreed to pay a little over $2 million. The settlement includes AT&T subsidiary Cricket Wireless and Verizon subsidiary TracFone.
[...]
The carriers denied any illegal conduct despite agreeing to the settlement. In addition to payments to each state, the carriers agreed to changes in their advertising practices. It's unclear whether consumers will get any refunds out of the settlement, however.
[...]
The three carriers agreed that all advertisements to consumers must be "truthful, accurate and non-misleading." They also agreed to the following changes, the NY attorney general's office said:

  • "Unlimited" mobile data plans can only be marketed if there are no limits on the quantity of data allowed during a billing cycle.
  • Offers to pay for consumers to switch to a different wireless carrier must clearly disclose how much a consumer will be paid, how consumers will be paid, when consumers can expect payment, and any additional requirements consumers have to meet to get paid.
  • Offers of "free" wireless devices or services must clearly state everything a consumer must do to receive the "free" devices or services.
  • Offers to lease wireless devices must clearly state that the consumer will be entering into a lease agreement.
  • All "savings" claims must have a reasonable basis. If a wireless carrier claims that consumers will save using its services compared to another wireless carrier, the claim must be based on similar goods or services or differences must be clearly explained to the consumer.

The advertising restrictions are to be in place for five years.

Related stories on SoylentNews:
FCC Fines Major U.S. Wireless Carriers for Selling Customer Location Data - 20240430
FCC Does the Bare Minimum: Asks Wireless Carriers to be Honest About Location Data - 20220909
Verizon Wireless Adds Economic Adjustment Charge for Most Customers - 20220520
Google has been Paying Wireless Carriers Billions to Not Develop Competing App Stores - 20210820
AT&T Exempts HBO Max From Data Caps but Still Limits Your Netflix Use - 20200606
AT&T Loses Key Ruling in Class Action over Unlimited-Data Throttling - 20200222
John Legere, T-Mobile's Brash "Un-Carrier" Chief, to Leave in May 2020 - 20191120
AT&T Imposes Another $5 Price Hike on Grandfathered Unlimited Data Plans - 20180611
Court Rules FTC Data-Throttling Lawsuit Against AT&T Can Proceed - 20180227
Verizon Wireless Divides Unlimited Plan Into Three Worse Options - 20170823
T-Mobile and Verizon Mobile Plans Change; Probably Not Better for Consumers - 20170110
The FTC is Suing AT&T for Throttling its Unlimited Data Customers - 20141029


Original Submission

 
This discussion was created by hubie (1068) for logged-in users only, but now has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by pTamok on Wednesday May 15, @06:44PM (4 children)

    by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday May 15, @06:44PM (#1357075)

    Don't blame the lawyers. They are merely good at exploiting bad law. They don't make the laws.

    Who makes the bad laws? The politicians.

    Who advises the politicians? The lobbyists.

    Blame the lobbyists. They are extremely good at mis/re-directing blame.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +4  
       Insightful=4, Total=4
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15, @07:21PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 15, @07:21PM (#1357085)

    Who makes the bad laws? The politicians.

    Who advises the politicians? The lobbyists.

    Blame the lobbyists. They are extremely good at mis/re-directing blame.

    Wrong question, you should ask:

    Who reelects the politicians? The voters.

    Blame the voters. They are much better at mis/re-directing blame.

    In the meantime 95% of these politicians everybody likes to whine about will be reelected once again.. So please, when pointing fingers, most people should point into the mirror

  • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 15, @07:42PM (2 children)

    by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday May 15, @07:42PM (#1357092)

    Agree with AC: the ultimate blame is square at the feet of the voters (and those who choose not to vote.)

    The unfortunate reality is: the voters are so easily manipulated, and our system is now so complex that referenda on all the significant issues would be chaos and possibly even more easily manipulated than the clowns we send to D.C.

     

    --
    🌻🌻 [google.com]
    • (Score: 1) by pTamok on Wednesday May 15, @08:10PM (1 child)

      by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday May 15, @08:10PM (#1357098)

      Yah, but...who 'advises' the voters?

      In an ideal world, voters are rational and fully informed.

      In our world, they get their information from a limited set of (mostly) controlled and (quite possibly) biased channels. Lobbyists and 'media moguls' have an awful lot of soft power.

      • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday May 15, @08:37PM

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday May 15, @08:37PM (#1357102)

        >Lobbyists and 'media moguls' have an awful lot of soft power.

        As they always have. Why else would a boy genius sink $44B into a media platform and proceed to make it unprofitable?

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]