The Justice Department’s has given its blessing to a merger between the country’s only two satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, arguing the resulting monopoly won’t harm consumers. Among the many things that make absolutely no sense: It appears the competition cops at the Justice Department didn't actually bother to talk to any satellite radio consumers. We take apart DOJ's nonsensical justifications for approving the anti-consumer deal and hope the Federal Communications Commission does better as it now takes up the case.

Should telecom titans such as AT&T and Verizon be given retroactive legal immunity for allowing the government to run wiretaps on their customers without a warrant? We say absolutely not. Compromise legislation moving through the House addresses national security concerns, but also would maintain consumer privacy and civil liberties. What a concept.

The good people at our sister organization Consumer Reports have put together some helpful hints for dealing with the problem of cell phone spam.

Many consumers might not be able to receive the over-the-air broadcasting they now receive after conversion to digital signals -- even with a government-subsidized converter box. More than 2,900 Class A and low-power TV stations are likely to continue to broadcast in analog, and those signals will be blocked by most of the available converter boxes.