About that "consumer protection" bill?

[unixronin]

Yeah, well, about it. This sounds BAD, with a capital BAD, if the RUMINT is true.

The question is, what does "persons operating in consumer financial markets" mean?  Bad enough if it means "anyone who trades a stock" or "anyone who puts $10K into a five-year CD or T-bill".  Am I "operating in a consumer financial market" if I have a savings account?  I trust not, but...

(Yes, the tone of this article is a bit on the hysterical side.  Nevertheless, it's still quoting language that makes me distinctly uncomfortable.  Who, exactly, is this supposed to be protecting...?)

Comments

Paranoid....or not Paranoid Enough?

[rob-thompson.livejournal.com]

Reading through it - the descriptors are vague and too general. Insurance agnets and brokers, for example, are deemed to work in the financial services sector. So - that means they can collect private financial data on each insurance agent? Little something wrong with this picture. If this were happening in Canada (I'm Canadian, as you know) I would believe it. As it is - for this to happen in the US...time to run for cover if this bill is ever passed.

Re: Paranoid....or not Paranoid Enough?

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Little something wrong with this picture.

Yeah, this one seems ... pretty stinky.

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

Congress doesn't have a lot of popularity points left to spend. Their numbers have been going steadily down for some time. My guess is they will start with a very limited bill, and hope to expand it later on, since some of them have to be hoping for re-election in November.