The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has accused the computer manufacturer Dell of ‘dishonest business practices’ this week, claiming that the company does not always honor its much advertised ‘next-day parts and labor warranty.’
CREW has created a new website as well with the banner posted below, and has asked any user that has been wronged by Dell to post any similar issues. The group has also formally complained to the DC Attorney General.
The group says that the manufacturer is advertising false claims and specifically notes a recent $3.35 million settlement in January over similar issues.
“According to its website, ‘Dell puts you back to work fast.’ But for many customers, including me, that simply is not true. If Dell won’t honor its warranties, CREW, with help from the public, will hold Dell accountable. When a consumer pays for next day service, she should receive next day service,” says CREW executive director Melanie Sloan.
“If people in 34 states had enough problems with Dell for state attorneys general to step in, and Dell still refused to honor my warranty after the company settled that matter, then other people likely are having problems with Dell right now. Honoring a warranty is a matter of ethics and at CREW, we take action when confronted with unethical conduct. We hope D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles will share our concern that Dell is engaged in deceptive marketing practices by failing to honor its warranties and launch an immediate investigation.”
Result for: attorney general
Following three other companies before it, Hitachi has admitted to price fixing LCD displays, most of which were sold to Dell and Motorola.
Over the last few months, LG, Sharp and Chunghwa Picture Tubes have each admitted to price fixing the LCD market and were forced to pay fines ranging from $65 million USD for Chunghwa, to $400 million USD for LG, the largest group of the three.
According to the Department of Justice, Hitachi will cooperate with the ongoing investigation and will pay a $31 million USD fine for the price fixing of “TFT-LCD sold to Dell for use in desktop monitors and notebook computers from April 1, 2001, through March 31, 2004.”
“Hitachi joins three other multinational companies who have admitted to their involvement in fixing prices for LCD panels sold to U.S. companies and that have already paid criminal fines totaling more than $585 million,” added Scott D. Hammond, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Department’s Antitrust Division. “This case should send a strong message to multinational companies operating in the United States that when it comes to enforcing the U.S. antitrust laws we mean business.”
Result for: attorney general
The US Department of Justice may be getting ready to back the RIAA in one of their P2P lawsuits. At issue is a challenge to the constitutionality of a single provision of US copyright law which mandates minimum damages of $750 per work (1 song or album), or as much as $150,000 per work if the infringer knows what he’s doing is illegal.
The challenge was filed in the case of Sony BMG v Denise Cloud as part of a motion made by the defendant’s lawyer to dismiss the lawsuit. The Attorney General’s office subsequently filed a notice with the court announcing they may wish to defend the damages. They are planning to let the court know what their decision is by March 25.
This is far from the first time the subject has come up, but no judge has ever had to rule on it. Just last month Charles Nesson, the Harvard University law professor assisting the defense in another RIAA lawsuit, told Afterdawn the amount mandated by law is “so grossly out of proportion that it violates the due process clause.”
What is different now is the presence at the DOJ of lawyers who have been crucial cogs in the RIAA’s lawsuit machine. Litigators who were instrumental in the Grokster case and the initial wave of lawsuits against P2P users have been appointed to top spots in the Justice Department by President Obama.
