So for those who forgot I have a personal vendetta against Dell (what can I say? The Irish have long memories when it comes to grudges). Anyway for those that forgot go here. But today is a day of victory. For the New York State Supreme Court is punishing Dell for the following practices (and fyi I copied this from here):
1. Blamed tech problems on third-party software when the real problem was caused by Dell hardware;
2. Delayed tech support until after a service contract was over, and then refused to offer any help because the contract had lapsed;
3. Forced clients to wait up to a year for support — even if they had paid for “next-day” repair service;
4. Sold products to people who thought they were eligible for zero-interest financing, and then charged them 30 percent interest;
5. Invoiced people for orders that were canceled or never authorized to begin with; and
6. Illegally harassed people for payments they didn’t owe.
However, I really, really hate having to point out there is a bigger crime going on here. The New York State Supreme Court has decided confiscate (read steal) the profits made off these unethical practices and put it towards the state. If anything this money should go back to the customers who suffered from Dell’s conduct. Talk about thieves stealing from thieves…
No one will ever deny that people show up to hospitals much more vulnerable than other businesses. Shameless Family Guy example below:
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So explain to me why Hospitals, often funded privately and by the state, feel the need to exploit a patients sickness for fundraising needs?
To quote one California resident:
“It feels like an invasion of privacy,” she said. “If I’m sick and I go to a doctor, I don’t want them telling anybody about it. My disease is not for sale.”
While I understand that fundraising for hospitals is critical this article makes a good point. Placing a “Okay to sell your disease to companies marketing solutions” in the fine print as you walk in vulnerable and in pain is heinous. Patients are not there to worry about their privacy and it’s time for hospitals to wise up.
Screw hat tips, this show belongs to my blogger friend Adam in Pennsylvania for giving me the scoop on the REAL ID action going on down there (and let me tell you it’s spicy hot drama).
The fourth and final Intergovernmental Affairs Committee hearing was held last Friday. Real ID supporter, Committee Chairman W. Curtain Thomas made his usual pitch supporting biometric mapping and the REAL ID.
However seven other Pennsylvania Reps were in attendance and most of them were co-sponsors of bills to ban the REAL ID. Rep. Florindo Fabrizio declared the whole thing a mess, shouting “This is madness!” during one testimony.
Side note: The other good guys include Representative John Hornaman, Curtis Sonney, Patrick Harkins, Brad Raoe and Michelle Brooks
However, it became apparent later in the meeting that Chairman Thomas was only there to push a watered down version of the Anti-REAL ID legislation that would still allow for biometric pictures to be stored in a government database.
So now civil liberty advocates in Pennsylvania need to find 15 members of the committee to push for the stronger version of the Anti REAL ID legislation in order to defeat the watered down version. If you want to offer help get in contact with Adam. Two more rallies will be held to protest PennDOT and the REAL ID.
Here is a video Adam put together of the Representatives:
And even though this blog post is getting pretty long I have to include the following (if just for my own joy). Behold the interrogation of Thomas:
Audience: ‘I understand that you have a bill presented similar to HB 1351. Is it stronger than HB 1351′
Thomas: ‘Well I have not introduced a bill yet.’
Audience: ‘Are you going to?’
Thomas: ‘Following these hearings, we’re going to have a committee meeting, and we’re going to make a decision based on the comments that we have received from people in Scranton, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia…’
Audience: ‘How ’bout the Constitution… why don’t you base your decision off that? It isn’t an opinion, it’s the law.’
Several slip ups by the Nanny State today that I’m proud to shine the spot light on:
1. Wired Threat Level revealed the “confidential, secure” data often blocked by FBI for “our security” is a a lot hooey. The FBI’s sensitive information included such drudgery as Survey results (FYI, the number of technical support calls for wiretaps went down last year even though the number of wiretaps went up) and the number of switches replaced for wiretapping. Sounds to me like they are just trying to build up a case for the FISA bill to pass.
2. Texas mayors and business leaders filed a class-action lawsuit Friday alleging Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff hoodwinked landowners into waiving their property rights for construction of Project 28. By “hoodwinked” they mean stealing property by acting like bullies and failing to negotiate a fair price for the land taken.
3. And lastly, it was revealed that the red light scam is well & alive in Los Angeles, California. A 29 year old woman has vowed to fight her $159 ticket for a red light citation after it was revealed 80% of red light camera tickets go not to those running through intersections but to drivers making rolling right turns. Sounds like greedy revenue for the big government to me.
“I’ve never . . . seen any studies that suggest red light cameras would be a good safety intervention to reduce right-turning accidents,” said Mark Burkey, a researcher at North Carolina A&T State University who has studied photo enforcement collision patterns.
Or even better….
“We’re kind of very leery about right turns. . . . They’re not really unsafe per se,” said Pasadena’s senior traffic engineer, Norman Baculinao. “Emphasizing those violations would be “more for revenue generation” than safety.”
A landmark trial is about to take place for computer crime. A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted a Missouri woman for creating a fake profile on MySpace in order to bully a teen girl, Megan, that had “a falling out” with her daughter. The hoax, which had a fake boy “Josh” flirting with girl ended when a message was sent to the teen suggesting the “world would be better off without her” upon which shortly after Megan committed suicide by hanging herself. More details about the case can be found here and here.
The community is crying out for justice after the tragedy but the FBI have little to go on for charges. They are using that violation “User agreement” for MySpace the basis they are using to prosecute the woman.
Some lawyers believe using a violation of a “User Agreement” will have far reaching implications for the future.
While the idea of “Privacy Rights” seems to have disappeared from the American political spectrum (it merged into “how invasive can we possibly be?”) it is good to see the Canadian Privacy Commission taking leading a lawsuit against Bell Canada.
Turns out Bell Canada was not just providing internet service but also using “deep packet inspection” (DPI) to read people’s e-mails as well. The peeping Tom’s were caught when the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC), an Ottawa-based Internet watchdog and privacy law advisory body filed the complaint before the commission.
My question: Should this be the role of a government agency…or should consumers just abandon a company that deceives and steals?
You know those deep, dark secrets in the recesses of your brain? The ones you disclose during long winded therapy sessions that you never, ever tell anyone else? Well the government might be taking a peek real soon.
The Nanny State, in this case the Maryland State Board of Physicians, is throwing the typical “this is for your protection” schpeal at therapists around Maryland. The state interest came after an allegation of over-medication was charged against psychiatrist Harold I. Eist. The doctor insisted on waiting for the family to sign a release form for the medical records (which took a year) before the case was eventually dismissed.
Let’s take a time out and watch the replay on that….
1. There was the accused.
2. He cooperated and got permission from the patients.
3. The case was dismissed.
There was no hiccup in the system. It took a long time but it worked and protected patients privacy. The State Board of Physicians, however, is pursuing a $5,000 fine against Eist, saying his delay was an act of noncompliance. The Board considers it’s request to be above that of patients rights.
Eist’s argument of patient privacy has won before administrative law judges, the Montgomery County Circuit Court and the Court of Special Appeals, prompting the board to seek review before Maryland’s Supreme court.
That’s some power trip for the almighty State Board of Physicians. Maybe they should make an appointment with Dr. Eist about their complexes. Unless, of course, they’re worried such documents may become public.
House Democratics narrowly blocked the FISA bill (terrorist surveillance bill) by one vote today. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) is looking to add the bill to the Senate-passed FISA bill to the fiscal 2009 Intelligence authorization bill. Due the narrow margin it is likely that if House if Speaker Nancy Pelosi allowed it to come to the House floor the measure will be passed.
Scary much? Remember right now it’s illegal for corporations to release personal information for reason! To protect your information people.
Just thought I’d highlight an excellent report by Global Research.ca which details exactly how much abuse government entities employ for domestic spying. Scarier is how willing corporation are willing to comply as long as the government promises to over look that pesky little fact that it is illegal.
To quote:
In a time of systemic crisis for the capitalist system as a whole, the massive intelligence being gathered by the Bush regime, and by future administrations–Democratic or Republican, take your pick–will be deployed as tools for wholesale repression under conditions of growing class polarization, economic crisis and mass opposition to war.
The report goes on to detail that wiretapping increased by 14 percent in 2007-largely because of court order “baskets” allowing multiple taps at once. AT&T is facing a lawsuit after a whistle blower revealed AT&T was streaming domestic information to the “Terrorist Surveillance Program.” Now Democrats are buckling on the fight for civil liberties giving a real chance for the amnesty bill to pass in Congress. A very, very bad sign.
America-please take your 30 second attention spans and realize the long term repercussions of allowing the government to view private information with no penalties or due process. The right to privacy is so critical we tend not to question its existence in our lives–but it’s being mowed over and we are the only ones able to defend it.
