Underneath All Are the Contracts

Ralph Nader explains the problem with standard form contracts and introduces faircontracts.org.

Latest News

Amtrak Sued for its Arbitration Provision

Public Citizen filed a lawsuit against Amtrak challenging the legality of imposing an arbitration provision on its riders as a condition of passage. The arbitration provision, introduced in 2019, states that it “is intended to be as broad as legally possible” applying to “all claims, disputes, or controversies, past, present, or future” for any rider….

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The Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR Act) to Re-Open Courthouse Doors

Visitors of this website are likely familiar with the power and pervasiveness of forced arbitration clauses. Employers and businesses routinely put clauses into the fine-print of boilerplate contracts that deprive consumers and employees of their right to go to court and instead force their claims to be decided in a secret arbitration proceeding. Often class…

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The New York Times Pays Attention to the Fine Print

The New York Times Pays Attention to the Fine Print The New York Times‘ editorial board asked: “If no one reads the terms and conditions, how can they continue to be the legal backbone of the internet?”  See “How Silicon Valley Puts the ‘Con’ in Consent” here.  

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Before Being Filmed, Read the Fine Print!

Before Being Filmed, Read the Fine Print! The New York Times ran a piece on August 19, 2018 entitled “Sacha Baron Cohen Pranked Me, Can I Sue?  Yes. Win? Not So Much,” about the difficulty in winning a lawsuit for those who have already signed away their legal rights in advance through a fine print…

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Top student loan ripoff investigator quits CFPB; says bureau suppressed report about unfair account fees

The federal official in charge of handling complaints against the student loan industry resigned in fury on Monday, leveling a series of accusations against his agency — including suppression of a report showing lenders were ripping off college students with “legally dubious account fees.” The step was not a surprise.  Seth Frotman, who was student loan…

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Consumer Review Fairness Act Protects Free Exchange of Consumer Feedback Online

In an era when online ratings and reviews can make or break a business, maintaining a sterling online image can be crucial. So crucial, in fact, that over the past few years many businesses have introduced “non-disparagement” clauses into the form contracts that make up their sales agreements. These clauses prohibit buyers from expressing negative…

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Surprise! Congress failed to address Facebook’s fundamental flaw

Of all the things Mark Zuckerberg said this week before Congress, I found this the most incredulous: “I would hope that what we do with data is not surprising to people.” Everyone is surprised when they find out what Facebook does with data. I’ve been writing about data hacks and privacy for more than a…

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Gift cards cards are safer, but not safe, and rebate cards are tricky — 30 Days of Gotchas

Complicated rebates have largely disappeared. They still appear in major appliance purchases, however. (NOTE: This is a free excerpt from my new book: Gotcha Capitalism, 10 years later.  A lot has happened in the world of credit cards since 2008.  It’s fun to look back….) Gift cards could be pretty diabolical when they burst onto…

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D.C. Circuit Court Upholds Constitutionality of CFPB’s Single-Director Structure

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has determined that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s current single-director structure is constitutional.  In a reversal of an earlier ruling, the decision preserves the current structure of the agency, protecting the CFPB director from removal by the President without cause.   PHH Mortgage Corp., a lending company that was…

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As airline profits soar, hidden fees and other Gotchas are still OK, administration says

“Passengers still have to go searching for airfares with a calculator in one hand, and that’s how the airlines like it.” — Chrisopher Elliot of consumer travel site Elliot.org. The Trump administration just helped kill some price tags.  That’s bad for consumers, but good for huge, monopolistic airlines. The main thesis behind Gotcha Capitalism is…

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