I can just hear our technically illiterate FCC Chairman saying, "See? The FTC
is the cop on the beat. We don't need to be." Only because he is so confused he
can't keep his job description straight.
"AT&T is writing a check for $60 million to the FTC to settle litigation over
allegations that it misled its smartphone customers with what it called
'unlimited' data plans, but that instead would often reduce customers’ data
speeds for things like video streaming and web browsing."
"The allegations stem from a 2014 complaint that said AT&T did not adequately
disclose to customers signed up for its unlimited data plan that AT&T would
reduce their data speeds if they reached a certain amount of data use in a
given billing cycle; according to the claim, that data point was 2 GB."
That is simply misleading advertising, having nothing to do with the neutrality
expectation of our telecom services. It would always have been something under
FTC jurisdiction.
Bert
-------------------------------------------------------
https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/at-t-pays-ftc-60m-for-misleading-unlimited-data-promises
AT&T Pays FTC $60M for Misleading ‘Unlimited Data’ Promises
Would “throttle” data speeds for video streaming and web browsing when a
certain data point was reached.
Michael Balderston 10 hours ago
WASHINGTON—AT&T is writing a check for $60 million to the FTC to settle
litigation over allegations that it misled its smartphone customers with what
it called “unlimited” data plans, but that instead would often reduce
customers’ data speeds for things like video streaming and web browsing.
The allegations stem from a 2014 complaint that said AT&T did not adequately
disclose to customers signed up for its unlimited data plan that AT&T would
reduce their data speeds if they reached a certain amount of data use in a
given billing cycle; according to the claim, that data point was 2 GB. This
“throttling” would impact things like streaming video through the phones or web
browsing. As of October 2014, an alleged 3.5 million customers were impacted by
this practice.
“AT&T promised unlimited data—without qualification—and failed to deliver on
that promise,” said Andrew Smith, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer
Protection. “While it seems obvious, it bears repeating that internet providers
must tell people about any restrictions on the speed or amount of data
promised.”
In addition to the monetary portion, the settlement prohibits AT&T from making
any representation about the speed or amount of mobile data without disclosing
any material restrictions. The FTC says the disclosures must be prominent and
not hidden in fine print or behind hyperlinks.
The $60 million will be used to help provide partial refunds to current and
former customers that signed up for unlimited plans but experienced throttling
issues. Customers will not need to file claims for a refund.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.