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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 24, 1998)
FCC cracks down on ‘stammers’ WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of victims of illegal “slam ming” - the unauthorized changing of a customer’s long-distance com pany - has exploded over the past five years, showing that federal reg ulations prohibiting it are all but meaningless, officials said Thursday. Complaints to the Federal Communications Commission rose from 1,867 in 1993 to more than 20,000 last year. And since most people don’t bother to report inci dents of slamming, the problem probably is far worse, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said during a hearing of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Victims often end up paying higher, sometimes exorbitant, rates for poorer service provided by unethical telephone companies, said a report released Thursday by the General Accounting Office, Congress’ investigative arm. “Deliberate slamming is like stealing and should not be tolerat ed,” said Collins, subcommittee chairwoman and sponsor of a bill that would make intentional, repeat ed slamming a criminal offense. “It’s time to quarantine this con sumer epidemic,” said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., another sponsor. Meantime, FCC Chairman Bill Kennard, called upon the nation’s local phone companies - the main providers of billing and collection for consumers - to help the commis sion combat another growing prob lem: cramming. That is the practice of billing customers for services they never ordered, such as call wait ing, voice mail and Internet access. in letters 1 nursday, Kennard asked the companies to “work with the commission in order to adopt an industry code of practice to prevent cramming.” The code, he said, should include getting written approval from customers to bill them for nontelecommunications services and putting nontelecommu nications charges on a separate page from the rest of the telephone bill. The FCC is scheduled to adopt tougher anti-slamming rules in a few weeks, and the Senate is expect ed to debate legislation later this spring. For now, the most effective actions consumers can take is hav a Its time to quarantine this ... epidemic ” Dick Durbin Illinois senator ing their long-distance companies “freeze” their accounts, said Eljay Bowron, the GAO’s assistant comp troller general for special investiga tions, told the subcommittee. “The FCC has adopted some anti-slamming measures, but effec tively does little to protect con sumers,” he said. “Most states have some anti-slamming measures, but their extent varies widely.” Bowron said slamming is less frequent among big telephone com panies that have their own equip ment and more common among the smaller “switchless resellers,” which lease equipment and tele phone lines from bigger companies. Telephone customers sometimes are slammed inadvertently through clerical errors. But unscrupulous companies build up customers by misleading consumers, staging deceptive sweepstakes and some times going so far as to falsify authorization documents or simply copy telephone numbers out of phone directories, Bowron said. He said Daniel H. Fletcher, whose Fletcher Cos. were fined more than $5 million by the FCC on Tuesday, had billed customers at least $20 million and left industry firms with at least $3.8 million in unpaid bills by 1996 after beginning , large-scale slamming the year before. Federal investigators suspect that Fletcher may still be running similar scams, but they don’t know where he is, Bowron said. Kennard told the panel: “I believe that the reason people slam is because there is a financial incen tive to do so, and we need to remove that financial incentive.” German parliament votes to use euro Backers say adoption of continentwide currency will unify Europe BONN, Germany (AP) - Parliament on Thursday over whelmingly endorsed plans to give up the German mark for the single European currency. Chancellor Helmut Kohl called the vote one of Germany’s “deci sions of the century. “I’m assured that the success story of the German mark will con tinue as a success story for the eurd,” Kohl said. & ^ • > Uiisj ■ The 575-35 vote in parliament’^ lower house was iargelya formality, since the major political parties already had endorsed plans for Germany to be among the 11 European Union nations adopting the euro on Jan. 1. Many speakers steered a day r long debate toward domestic poli tics, including Gerhard Schroeder of the opposition Social Democrats, nominated this month to challenge Kohl in September’s national elec tions. But Kohl largely confined his hourlong speech to European inte gration, saying monetary union was the biggest step in efforts by the 15 EU nations to become more unified. •{ ~ Polls show <moat Germans oppose replacing their,solid mark with ah uncertain euro. But Kohl said that would change soon. “The public’s approval will be so strong we’ll hardly be able to imag ine the current resistance,” he pre dicted. “This will be one of our most important decisions of the century.” Schroeder and the Social Democrats also endorsed the euro but blasted Kohl’s center-right gov ernment for not doing enough to prepare for it or convince the public of its benefits. “Those who want to substitute the mark with a European currency need darn good reasons for it and should be able to convey them,” Schroeder said. , If European governments; do not coordinate efforts to fightdouble digit unemployment, the monetary union could collapse, he warned. The remark appeared aimed at Kohl, who resisted agreements for continentwide spending to create jobs last fall at an EU summit. The reformed communists, the Party of Democratic Socialists, were the only bloc unified in oppos ing the euro. PDS lawmakers hold ing placards reading “Euro - not like this” delayed Kohl’s speech as a parliament official confiscated the signs. “You can’t unite a continent with money. That’s never happened, and never will,” faction leader Gregor Gysi said. . Kohl and other backers say the euro will not only help unite Europe, but also rival the dollar and consolidate economic strength to better compete; with trade blocs in North America and Asia. Parliament’s upper house will vote on the euro plans today. U.S., Korea ‘open skies’ with pact WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States and Korea reached an “open skies” agreement , Thursday that will let the two countries’ airlines fly freely between them. Under previous rules, five U.S. carriers, including two cargo companies, served Korea, and two Korean carriers served the United States. The new agreement allows an unlimited number of airline companies to fly unlimited flights in either direction. U.S. carriers previously also could fly to Korea and offer con nections to points beyond, but Korean carriers could not do the same in the United States. They now will be allowed to do so, and carriers heading in each direc tion will also be allowed to code share. That practice, in which two airlines coordinate flights and share the same designations on tickets, allows passengers to make seamless connections between carriers. The pact was effective imme diately. “Korea, which is our second largest market in Asia, is now out largest ‘open skies’ partner in the region,” said Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater. The agreement comes after similar pacts with Malaysia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Singapore and Brunei, as well as a liberal ized deal for flights to and from Japan. “Consumers now enjoy con venient service to more Asian cities |h§^^r be|Qr|e” Sl^er believes increased competition will lower airfares in Asia. In Europe, the United States and France settled an “open skies” agreement this month and negotiations are under way with Britain on a similar pact. ft •tf : y - _ _ ; Need a little separation from the establishment? How does 30,000 feet sound? Well, thanks to our special Amtrak® student discounts, them's never been a better time to choose the cool, casual comfort of an Amtrak train. As a special offer, show us your face, a student ID to match, and give them the code “Y814” and you get 10% off. Better yet, if you have a Student Advantage Card stuffed away in your book bag, you get 25%. Go home. Visit friends. Even go back for summer classes if you have to? All at op to 25% off regular fares. You do the math. Good for travel between April 13 and June 20, and includes any of the over 500 destinations Amtrak serves. Hurry. Seats are limited (this isn’t a term paper you can blow off to the last minute). For more information on hues & reservations, call your travel agent or Amtrak at 1-800-USA-RAEL. Trains depart from the Amtrak station at 201 N. Seventh St. in Lincoln. Offer shown is for coach class travel only and is subject 16 availability. Reservations are required. No multiple discounts. Fares, schedules and restrictions are subject to change without notice. Blackout dates mayappiy. Not valid for Autotrain, peak Metroiiner, or Canadian portion of ViaRail. ' ^j^BppjlB jlffiPPp @jpH| SJr-ii''*i'jJ^-A^S?^5iSB _JEBara»&£l ^Bl