CONSUMER CATCH-UP: AT&T sued for allegedly creating fake DirecTV Now accounts, people would rather drive than use self-driving cars, survey says
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- AT&T sued for allegedly creating fake DirecTV Now accounts to boost numbers
AT&T is facing a lawsuit over allegations that senior management pressured employees into creating fake accounts for its live streaming service.
According to Forbes, a group of investors is suing the company, saying it was part of an effort to artificially inflate user numbers of their DirecTV Now service. The lawsuit alleges employees added subscriptions to existing customers' accounts without their knowledge. The investors also claim that executives in the sales department knew of this scheme and encouraged it in order to boost their numbers during AT&T's merger talks with Time Warner.
AT&T says it will fight these claims in court.
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Commuters would prefer to drive over using self-driving rideshares, study finds
A new study by the University of Washington has found that commuters would prefer to drive themselves than rely on a self-driving car.
The university surveyed 502 people and asked them to estimate their "perceived cost of commute time" using a rideshare, a self-driving rideshare, and a personal vehicle. The researchers found that respondents evaluated a rideshare as "less expensive" than driving themselves, while rideshares that were self-driving were evaluated as "more expensive" than driving.
"The idea here is that 'time is money,' so the overall cost of driving includes both the direct financial costs and the monetary equivalent of time spent traveling," said Don MacKenzie, a UW associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. "The average person in our sample would find riding in a driverless car to be more burdensome than driving themselves. This highlights the risks of making forecasts based on how people say they would respond to driverless cars today."
Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.
