U.S. Federal Trade Commission

Why Does Spotify Keep Ripping People Off?

Ten dollars a month is a small price to pay for practically every piece of recorded music except The Beatles. Which is why, late last year, I signed up for Spotify. Only two months in, however, I was out, and feeling like I'd been ripped off. Turns out I'm not the only one. See also: What Are You ... More >>

FTC Orders POM Wonderful to Stop Making Health Claims

POM Wonderful pomegranate juice is made from the Wonderful variety of the fruit, but that doesn't make it some wonder drug. The Food and Drug Administration and Federal Trade Commission have had enough of the company making medical claims such as that its products help reduce cholesterol, aid with ... More >>

Gas-Price Gouging Possible As Cost of a Gallon Reaches New Record High in L.A.

See also: *Gas Prices Could Reach All-Time High in L.A. Gas prices set a new record in California over the weekend. Is this a scam? Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to launch an "immediate investigation" into the price spikes because, she stated, "it does no ... More >>

POM Wonderful Health Claims Might Not Be So Wonderful After All, Judge Rules

First the Federal Trade Commission took on the those butt-shaping shoes that were supposed to help you get a Kim Kardashian derriere, now a federal judge upheld on a complaint by the FTC that the healthful claims surrounding POM Wonderful juice products are deceptively unsubstantiated.

Skechers Don't Give You Kardashian Booty, Unfortunately

You bought a pair of Skechers Shape-ups and you still don't have Kim Kardashian's behind? You could get a refund. Really. In announcing its settlement with the Manhattan Beach footwear company, the Federal Trade Commission cited the firm's marketing claim -- which was made, in part, via an endor ... More >>

UCLA Professors Say eHarmony Is Unscientific and its Customers Are 'Duped.' Here's Why.

"If you're gonna make scientific claims, act like a scientist. Or don't make scientific claims," UCLA social psychology professor Benjamin Karney says, leaning forward in his chair in his office at UCLA's Franz Hall, his voice rising an octave. "Don't pretend!" "It just so happens that they tread o ... More >>

Big Pimpin'

Pimp cups have real players and white kids alike dropping cash

Michael Downs, High-School Senior From Santa Clarita, Charged With Raping 14 Girls He Met on Facebook, at Parties

Michael C. Downs via FacebookThat Justin Bieber haircut isn't fooling anybody.​Updated at the bottom with creepy details from Downs' Facebook and Formspring profiles. No, this is not a scene from that Clive Owen movie about what your tween daughter is really doing on her smartphone all day. ... More >>

Feds Sue Rogue Debt Collectors in the Valley, Reveal Horrifying Tactics They Used to Collect

mymajicdc.comWhatever it takes.​Ever had the grave misfortune, over the last five years, of receiving a call from Forensic Case Management Services in Van Nuys? You'd definitely remember. (Though the company may have called itself Rumson, Bolling and Associates, Commercial Recovery Solutions ... More >>

FTC Cracks Down on Four Loko Again

There's a reason there's "Four" in the name, and it isn't for four healthy vitamins and minerals. A 23 ½-oz. can of the drink Four Loko contains the alcohol equivalent of 4 ½ beers. Now the label will say so, after Phusion Projects, maker of the "blackout in a can," reached an agreement with the F ... More >>

Craig Huey, Who Earns a Living Soliciting Old People Via Junk Mail, Named "Guardian of Seniors' Rights"

​From the annals of chutzpah, we have news today that entertainer Pat Boone has bestowed the coveted "Guardian of Seniors' Rights award" on Craig Huey, the Tea Party candidate in next Tuesday's Congressional election.This is the same Craig Huey who makes his living by targeting direct-mail solicit ... More >>

Craig Huey Touted "Obama Crisis Kit" Gold Investment Scheme

Craig Huey​Craig Huey rode a Tea Party wave to win a spot in the July 12 runoff for the 36th Congressional District. He bills himself as a small businessman taking on "career politician" Janice Hahn.Huey's business, Creative Direct Marketing Group, sends out junk mail advertisements for nutritiona ... More >>

POM Juice Claims Sexual Benefit In New Ads: L.A. Billionaire And POM Co-Owner Lynda Resnick Backs The Claim

​You have to admire the owners of POM Wonderful, the pomegranate juice maker that claims its product can prevent or treat heart disease, prostate cancer, and erectile dysfunction: A week after being slapped with a federal complaint alleging its claims are as lame as your penis will still be a ... More >>

12 Deceptive Pieces: The KFC-Komen Foundation Union

KFC/Susan G. Komen Foundation​Witness the improbable marriage of grease-pusher KFC and the Susan G. Komen Foundation, who have united under the inelegant banner Buckets for the Cure in a bid to make "the largest single donation to end breast cancer forever." In their television ad, diners are ... More >>

Google, Bloggers Involved In Theft Says Rupert Murdoch

RupertFox​Rupert Murdoch has been on a tear against Google, vowing to close off content he controls to the search giant and saying the web king, news aggregators and bloggers are all involved in "theft" of content created by journalism organizations like the ones he owns. His comments were ma ... More >>

Gavin Newsom Picks Alex Padilla to Chair His Gubernatorial Campaign

Alex PadillaWith L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa now out of the running, San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom has named State Senator Alex Padilla (D-San Fernando Valley) as the chairman of his 2010 gubernatorial campaign. According to Associated Press, Newsom, in town to preside over a town-hall meetin ... More >>

NBC Universal: Big Media's Big Stick

Hollywood Reporter and its journalist, Bond, frozen out over Obama coverage

Survivor, Hollywood-Style

MGM Tells Fiscal Truths, William Morris Lays Off, Chris Hemsworth Lands Thor

¡ask a Mexican! Special Día De Los Impuestos Edition

Social Security, identity theft and why the Feds couldn't care less

Too Fast and Too Furious

Not just Mel, but sanctimonious Hollywood, too

Huffing and Puffing

Thank You For Smoking lights up the doctors of spin

Joe Donnelly Meets the New Boss, Mike Lacey

The Phoenix cowboys ride again

Digital Trim

Hillary likes her coffee cold

Tempest From a Teapot

For MoveOn’s Wes Boyd and Joan Blades, politics begins and ends at home

Giving Conservatives Moore Nightmares

Robert Greenwald talks about his journey from TV nice guy to nemesis of the right-wing

Dumb and Dumberer

Why the FCC shouldn’t consolidate without concessions

Our Bodies, Their Solutions

The rise and fall of one more fad diet

All Boxed In

Stumbling onto the truth about casket prices

Ode to Plotlessness

I want my Ralph TV

Wares Wars

Consumer non-protection act threatens open-sourcers — not to mention the rest of us.

Was It Good for You Too?

Who got screwed when Time-Warner jumped into bedwith AOL?

Quack-in-the-Box

How did the U.S.'s biggest mail-order health-remedy peddler find my mailbox?

Hey, Fatso

Why Toilets Are White

Nancy Tomes puts germaphobia under a microscope