ombudsman

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  • FCC appoints an ombudsperson to hear your complaints

    by 
    Steve Dent
    Steve Dent
    06.16.2015

    As it promised when it made broadband a "Title II" utility, the FCC now has an ombudsperson in charge of "open internet questions and complaints." The regulator appointed Parul P. Desai to the job, who previously worked as communications policy counsel for the non-profit society behind Consumer Reports. If you've got a beef, you'll be able to contact her office by phone, email or the "file a complaint" section of the FCC's consumer complaints website. Chairman Tom Wheeler first dropped the idea of an ombudsperson last year when he decided to forge ahead with new net neutrality rules.

  • Norway Ombudsman looks at iTunes TOS and cries foul

    by 
    C.K. Sample, III
    C.K. Sample, III
    01.26.2006

    You know why DRM sucks? Because it makes it possible for Apple to do naughty things like change the ways you can use your iTunes Music Store tunes after you've purchased the songs / videos. If you didn't know about it, you should really take a long read of the iTMS Terms of Service. It looks like someone in Norway has noticed and found it to be supremely problematic: "The Consumer Council of Norway find the terms to be unbalanced and highly in favour of iTunes as one party in the entered agreement. . . . The consumer is granted few or no rights while iTunes provides itself with several unfair rights according to Waterhouse."So now, the TOS is up for review. I'd like to think Norway will slap iTunes down and it will lead to a loosening of the TOS across the globe, but considering how Apple's current poor support of Europe lags behind support in the U.S., I seriously doubt that Steve Jobs is very concerned by this review.