Maker of Marlboros May Buy Skoal for $10B

(NEWSER) - Tobacco companies engaged in “deceits” and knowingly marketed cigarettes without regard for consumers’ health, violating civil racketeering laws, a federal appeals court ruled today. In upholding the verdict in a landmark case brought by the Clinton Justice Department in 1999, the court refused to overturn a district judge’s order that the companies, including Altria and Philip Morris, stop using such marketing terms as “low tar” and “light,” the Washington Post reports. More»

Second-quarter date sounds 'terrifically optimistic,' anti-trust lawyer says

(NEWSER) - Facebook and Instagram aren't likely to finish tying the knot by the second quarter as they'd originally intended, because the Federal Trade Commission has launched a competition probe into the deal. Investigators are already collecting information from competitors like Google and Twitter, sources tell the Financial Times . Competition probes are par for the course with acquisitions of more than $68.2 million, but the process could take six to 12 months. More»

Proposed legislation would ban logos, colors

(NEWSER) - Australia is pushing for a new tool in its quest to cut smoking rates: really boring cigarette packages. The government has announced legislation that would ban logos, colors, brand imagery, and promotional text, while mandating that all packages be olive green—determined in studies to be the least appealing color. The move would “take away the tobacco industry’s final capacity to promote its product,” says a professor of public health. More»

The consensus: 'Ma Bell is back'

(NEWSER) - Reactions to the surprise AT&T-T-mobile merger are pouring in, and, not surprisingly, most conclude this isn't a good thing for consumers:

• The Bell telephone system—"aka AT&T"—was broken up in 1984 to increase competition, and the US telecommunications market was deregulated in 1996, again to increase competition. But this merger "effectively restores Ma Bell to her former girth yet allows the company to operate in a looser regulatory environment," writes David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times . "Consumers might wonder if they've been played. ... Ma Bell is back," and the only thing left for federal regulators to do is instill "new rules that address the shortcomings of our failed experiment in deregulation."

And cigarettes today are designed to be more addictive

(NEWSER) - Even a single cigarette can cause immediate damage to your very DNA, while inflaming tissue and leading to illness and death, the surgeon general said today in the office’s first report on tobacco in four years. “Tobacco smoke damages almost every organ in your body,” Surgeon General Regina Benjamin warned, according to the USA Today , adding that to a person with heart disease, “One cigarette can cause a heart attack.” More»