February 25, 2016

The Honorable Edith Ramirez, Chairwoman
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

Dear Chairwoman Ramirez,

On behalf of the undersigned consumer organizations, we are writing to ask the Commission to hold a workshop to examine the factors underlying the troubling growth of unwanted software (also known as “potentially unwanted programs”) and its impact on computer users.

Unwanted software are programs that consumers install inadvertently, typically because the program is bundled (often deceptively) with another program that the consumer intends to install. A common form of unwanted software are so-called “ad injectors,” which can cause Web advertisements to appear where they are not expected (e.g. a weight-loss advertisement on a children’s website). In particular, we are concerned that unwanted software may disable security updates to operating systems, Web browsers or other essential software. This can leave consumers’ computers especially vulnerable to malware infections and raise the risk of fraud such as identity theft.

The Commission has repeatedly recognized the harm caused by unwanted software via numerous enforcement actions, its 2004 spyware workshop and consumer education materials. However, troubling data has come to our attention that suggests unwanted software continues to be significant concern for the safety and security of consumers’ computers.

For example, a May 2015 study by researchers from Google, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of California, Santa Barbara found that 5% of visitors to Google’s services—tens of millions of users—had at least one piece of unwanted software installed on their computer. Within that group, nearly one-third of users had at least four pieces of unwanted software infecting their machines. It is expected that fraud linked to unwanted software will cost businesses $7.2 billion in 2016, an increase of nearly $1 billion from 2015, according to the digital security firm WhiteOps.

Consumers benefit from the wide availability of free software. However, we fear that this benefit could be threatened given the growing scope of the unwanted software problem.

We therefore urge the Commission to convene a workshop to reexamine the problem of unwanted software and determine whether additional Commission action beyond what was proposed in the 2005 spyware staff report is necessary. Such a dialogue would also provide valuable guidance to Web advertisers and software providers who wish to support the continued availability of free software for consumers.

We applaud the FTC’s ongoing work to protect consumers from unwanted software. With additional focus on this issue, we believe that the Commission’s efforts will greatly benefit the consumers we represent. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact John Breyault, National Consumers League vice president of public policy, telecommunications and fraud, at your convenience.

Kind regards,

Ed Bartholme, Executive Director, Call for Action

John D. Breyault, Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud, National Consumers League

Katharina Kopp, Director of Privacy and Data Project, Center for Democracy and Technology

Linda Sherry, Director, National Priorities, Consumer Action

Marceline White, Executive Director, Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition

February 22, 2016

Hartford, CT–Good morning. My name is John Breyault and I am the Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud at the National Consumers League. Based in Washington, DC, NCL is the nation’s oldest nonprofit consumer and worker advocacy organization.

Before I begin, I’d like to thank Senator Blumenthal for inviting NCL to speak today and for his leadership in the U.S. Senate. Since his days as a U.S. attorney, state legislator and Attorney General here in Connecticut and now as a U.S. Senator in Washington, he continues to be one of the greatest friends consumers have.

I am here today to express the concerns of millions of travelers nationwide at the ever-growing list of fees that the American airline industry is demanding from its customers. This is an industry that in less than a decade has consolidated from nine national carriers to just four major ones. Combined, American, Delta, Southwest and United control 80% of the market for domestic air travel. Thanks to this consolidation, cheap fuel, reducing seat sizes and a litany of fees, the industry last year posted its highest profits on record — $14.1 billion for the Big Four alone. And the industry’s record profits are set to continue for the foreseeable future – $33 billion in 2016 according to the International Air Transport Association.

While we applaud the industry’s ability to make money for its workers and shareholders, we believe that these “blowout” profits (as one analyst put it) are coming at the expense of consumers’ pocketbooks and safety.

We share Senator Blumenthal’s concerns about the proliferation of egregious add-on fees in the air travel industry. Only in an industry as opaque as this one could they expect to get away with calling a $650 add-on fee a “carrier-imposed surcharge.” That’s on top of $200 cancellation fees, $25 bag fees, $125 in-cabin pet fees (American), $150 unaccompanied minor fees (Delta), $25 reservation by phone fees (JetBlue), $75 name change fees  (Frontier) and literally dozens of other penalties and add-on costs. For goodness sake, there’s even a $150 antler fee, per rack! (Delta)

These charges can add hundreds of dollars to the price of a ticket, yet consumers too often have to click through page after page of airline websites to get an accurate picture of what flying will actually cost them. And forget about being able to easily compare prices across airlines. For far too many consumers it feels like you need to break out a slide rule just to figure out what is the best deal for flying to grandma’s house. And don’t let the airlines kid you. All this nickel-and-diming adds up to big bucks. Cancellation fees alone contributed an estimated $3 billion in revenue for the industry in 2015 (BTS). I’ve seen no indication that these fees are in any way related to cost for the airlines. It appears that “whatever the market will bear,” is the modus operandi when it comes to airline fees.

Consumers are fed up and are speaking out. Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported a 30% year-on-year increase in consumer complaints about the airlines. This comes despite repeated assurances from the industry that they are reinvesting revenue from all those fees in an improved customer experience.

Our simple question is this: “If, as the airlines argue, consumers are willing to put up with all the fees as long as ticket prices are low, why are complaints skyrocketing?”

Airlines are, of course, free to charge whatever fees they want, but they shouldn’t be able to hide those costs from consumers by making fee information difficult to obtain. Consumers should be able to easily and accurately compare the cost of flying — including add-on fees — across airlines so that they can get a full picture of exactly how much a particular trip is going to cost.  

This is why we feel it is so important for the Department of Transportation to require mandatory reporting of all ancillary fees. The DOT has proposed rules that would require basic reporting of such fees. However, we believe these rules can and should require much greater detail from the industry. Should the DOT fail to put in place adequate disclosure rules for consumers, we would urge Congress — with the help of leaders like Senator Blumenthal — to step in and require greater fee transparency. We hasten to add that disclosure is only a first step. Reining in these punishing fees is high on NCL’s list of much-needed consumer protections.

In conclusion, I would again like to express my thanks to Senator Blumenthal on behalf of the National Consumers League and consumers nationwide for raising this important issue. We look forward to continuing to work with him and other pro-consumer leaders in Congress to push forward reforms that promote fair dealing and fair treatment of airline passengers.

January 4, 2016

Contact: Cindy Hoang, National Consumers League, (202) 207-2832, cindyh@nclnet.org 

Washington, DC—January 19 marks the launch of the fifth annual Medication Adherence Team Challenge, a two-month-long intercollegiate competition among health profession student teams and faculty for creating solutions to raise awareness about medication adherence as a critical public health issue. The Challenge, coordinated by the National Consumers League (NCL), America’s pioneer consumer group and the lead organization on the national Script Your Future campaign, is returning to university campuses across the country after four years of successful student innovation. 

The Challenge is part of Script Your Future, a campaign launched by the National Consumers League and partners in 2011 to combat the problem of poor medication adherence in the United States, where nearly three out of four patients do not take their medication as directed.

“We know that, by working together, health care professionals can help patients take their medications as directed in order to preserve and improve their health. The Challenge embraces this principle behind improving medication adherence and lays the foundation for adherence-minded care delivery among students before they enter the workforce,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “We have been so impressed by the creativity and dedication of our student teams in previous years and look forward to seeing what this year’s Challenge will contribute to the discussion.”

The Challenge is sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP), the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) Foundation, the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Medical Association (AMA), and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN).

From January 19 through March 18 inter-professional teams—including student pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and others—will implement outreach with creative approaches in their communities to raise awareness and improve understanding about medication adherence, using Script Your Future. At the end of the Challenge, select schools and their teams will be recognized nationally for their efforts to improve medication adherence.

“The Script Your Future Adherence Challenge has provided a tremendous opportunity for health professions students to illustrate how they can work collaboratively to improve patient care through better medication adherence,” said Dr. Lucinda L. Maine, Executive Vice President and CEO at the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. “This challenge, now in its fifth year, provides a great example of the power health professions teams can have on medication adherence.”

Since the Challenge began in 2011, more than 6,000 future health care professionals have directly counseled more than 22,000 patients and reached more than nine million consumers in this concerted public effort about the importance of medication adherence. Last year’s National awardees were the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy. The Focused awardees were the University of Charleston School of Pharmacy (Health Disparities), the Northeast Ohio Medical University College of Pharmacy (NEOMED) (Media), and the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy (Creative Inter-Professional Event).  

To learn more about last year’s winners visit the Script Your Future website.

For more information on the Challenge visit the Challenge Community website at https://syfadherencechallenge.ning.com/. Tweet along with us during the Challenge using #SYFchallenge and follow the campaign @IWillTakeMyMeds.

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Script Your Future is a campaign of the National Consumers League (NCL), a private, non-profit membership organization founded in 1899. NCL’s mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information about the Script Your Future campaign, visit www.ScriptYourFuture.org. For more information on NCL, please visit www.nclnet.org.