January 2005
Check this out: You won rights When my wife and I redid our kitchen, we met with the contractor to go over a “punch list”--work the builders still had to finish. Well, here at Consumers Union and Consumer Reports, we have another kind of punch list--work that still needs to be finished by lawmakers. Our conclusion: Consumer issues got too little attention last year, but there were a few accomplishments. What’s the score? Your credit score--numbers assigned to you by credit bureaus based on your credit history--is used by everyone from department stores to insurers to decide whether to do business with you and how much they’ll charge. So it’s important that your credit record is correct. That record has been yours for the asking, but usually at a price. Since December 2004, consumers in the West can get a free copy once a year from each of the three major credit bureaus. That right extends to consumers in the Midwest in March 2005, the South in June 2005, and the Northeast in September 2005. Go to www.ftc.gov for details. (You still must pay for the credit score itself.) How are you feeling? The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, which brought us free credit reports, is now bringing us free access to our own “health report.” MIB, an association of insurance companies, tracks medical records, coding some 230 conditions that may affect your insurance. When you apply for life, health, disability, or long-term-care insurance, you may be asked to sign a form giving the insurer permission to check your records. Until now, you had to pay MIB to see its report on you. Now you’re entitled to one free report each year. If you’re applying for a new insurance policy, you should verify that the data in your record are correct. Go to www.mib.com to order your report. Victory of a different kind. I’ve spent a lot of time over the last year talking about something absolutely critical to our work and to your protection--Consumer Reports’ ability to publish its expert findings without the fear of being crushed by wealthy corporate interests that disagree with them. In 2003, The Sharper Image tried to silence us by filing a product disparagement lawsuit in California after we rated the company’s Ionic Breeze Quadra air cleaner “ineffective.” We fought back. We filed a motion to strike the suit under California’s Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute. Such statutes protect against meritless lawsuits designed to chill constitutional rights, particularly the right to free speech. I’m proud to say that we prevailed.The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the case, rejecting all of Sharper Image’s claims and thereby powerfully affirming Consumers Union’s reputation as an objective, unbiased testing organization. Under California’s Anti-SLAPP statute, CU is now entitled to reimbursement for legal fees and expenses incurred in its defense. So, not only did we win, but we won with a decision that sends a strong message to deep-pocketed interests, who should think twice before dragging honest critics to court.
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