The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday issued fines to three motels for false advertising after they claimed to have installed surveillance systems to prevent unauthorized filming of guests.
The commission recently inspected 15 motels that advertised anti-pinhole camera technology and surveillance systems to ensure the privacy of guests. Of the 15, three were found to have no surveillance system as advertised.
Commission vice chairperson Shih Hui-fen (施惠芬) said that when inspectors confronted Debonair Motel (雅筑汽車商務旅館), which claimed in online advertisements to have installed surveillance cameras in all entrances, exits and hallways, the motel at first tried to cover up its violation by saying they could not provide proof they had installed the surveillance system.
However, the motel later admitted THAT it had not installed such systems and was fined NT$150,000 by the commission.
Another motel that claimed it maintained a monitoring system 24-hours-a-day was later revealed to have hired housekeeping staff to make rounds of the premises at undetermined time intervals while carrying mobile pinhole camera detectors, Shih said.
In yet another motel, the FTC found that the surveillance systems had been installed, but that the motel had not repaired the device after it broke down in 2005, nor had the motel removed related claims from its online advertisements.
The FTC also issued warnings to eight other motels for advertising anti-pinhole camera devices, when the motels did not regularly monitor for unauthorized filming or only did so upon request, Shih said.
Aside from issuing fines, the commission also asked the Tourism Bureau to step up inspection efforts to ensure the privacy of consumers.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry