The People's Lawyer Consumer News Alert
Center for Consumer Law
  Volume 107 Number 5

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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day

If you buy a new car you have three days to change your mind, right? Wrong! Unless you have were misled, deceived, or otherwise tricked into signing the contract, once you sign you are bound. If you are not sure, don't sign.



For more general information about the law, check out my website.

 Click here for more.


FCC Chair Takes Neutrality Plan on the Road

On February 26, the FCC will vote on a net neutrality plan that could shape the future of how you experience the Internet.



Although the full details of the proposal haven't been made public, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has been making the rounds talking up key points of his net neutrality plan.



As he puts it,



"Broadband networks must be fast.

Broadband networks must be fair.

Broadband networks must be open."



What is net neutrality? Why is the February 26 vote so important?


 Click here for more.


Carriers Must Unlock Phones Starting Today

Last year, President Obama signed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act into law. The law made it legal for consumers to unlock their cell phones in order to take existing phones to another network. However, wireless carriers haven't been required to sell unlocked phones or help you unlock your phone.



Until today.



Starting now (February 11, 2015), carriers must unlock cell phones at a consumers request of the consumer has paid off the phone or completed a contract term. Consumers in the middle of a contract term still can't force the carrier to unlock a phone.



To read about the unlocking policy for your carrier,


 Click here for more.


7 Vaccine Myths Debunked By Doctors

With the current measles outbreak across the United States, a new spotlight has been shined on the anti-vaccine movement. Simply, vaccines protect children against deadly infectious diseases and are critical to fostering the short- and long-term health of a child. The anti-vaccine movement isn't helping.



A number of vaccine myths are making the rounds. Notably, some in the anti-vaccine movement believe that a delay in vaccines allows a child's immune system to mature, that foreigners are bringing infectious diseases back to the United States, and that vaccines cause autism. Of course, none of these are true.



To read about seven vaccine myths, why doctors say they're wrong, and why vaccines are important,

 Click here for more.


Your Money

Buying a car? Should you take advantage of the low interest rate, or great rebate?
 Click here for more.


For the Lawyers

Courts should not intervene mid-arbitration.

The Ninth Circuit held that a court should intervene in an arbitration only in truly “extreme” situations. The court noted that courts may only engage in the very front and very back end of an arbitration. At the outset, courts may determine whether the parties agreed to arbitrate the dispute, and at the end, courts may determine if the arbitration met the basic fairness requirements of the Federal Arbitration Act.
Click here for more.

 

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