Securitisation, or the practice of bundling and selling more straightforward sorts of assets, such as mortgage receivables, has in one sense made banks more inscrutable, since banks are left with assets that are relatively opaque.

ECONOMIST: American banks

That has led some campaign-finance experts to dub the practice "family bundling" and say that student giving has become another way affluent donors can circumvent federal limits.

CNN: Small children, big political donations

The practice known as cable bundling means you have to pay for tens of channels just to watch one: want to see Jon Stewart on Comedy Central?

FORBES: How to Cut Your Cable [Interactive Calculator]

At the center of the dispute is bundling, the practice by media conglomerates like Viacom, Disney and Time Warner of inducing forcing, in the view of this and similar lawsuits pay TV distributors to carry scads of little-watched channels as part of their basic packages.

FORBES: It's Dolan v. Redstone on Cable Bundling. Root For Dolan If You Pay a Cable Bill

Cablevision Systems sued Viacom this week over a practice that drives many consumers nuts: Bundling.

FORBES: Cablevision Hates Bundles -- Except For When It Sells Them To You

That same report, issued when the agency was headed by Kevin Martin, also called for an end to channel "bundling" by cable and satellite companies, the practice of forcing subscribers to pay for channels they don't watch.

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