The somnolent lapdog known as the Bush Administration Federal Trade Commission is responsible for the deception. Perhaps the numbers in the Bradford piece will wake them up. In weak settlements totaling a paltry $1.2 million dollars, it has continued to allow Experian to use the word "free" for its overpriced subscription service. Using the word "free" confuses consumers into thinking that they are going to the government-mandated annualcreditreport.com site where you can get an actual free credit report required by law. The web is full of other blogs that agree with me: (MSNBC Red Tape Chronicles blog, Huffington Post blog, Washington Post blog). If you are tricked into purchasing over-priced credit monitoring with the promise that it is "free", complain to the FTC and also to your own state attorney general (list here). He or she is a tough consumer cop, unlike the FTC.

Here's another thing: When the full history of the financial meltdown is written, it will describe the role of the credit bureaus. Not only did their super-duper credit scores fail to accurately warn of consumers' ability to repay, but their use of trigger lists and their incessant Internet ads for products such as lowermybills.com (also owned by, you guessed it, Experian) drove people to the mortgage companies where they got hooked on over-priced debt (previous blog). Over at his Center for Digital Democracy, Jeff Chester has written about the role of the credit bureaus in the explosive growth of behavioral advertising on the Internet.