Tag Archives: FTC

$62 Million Is Something to Write Home About – the Opendoor Case

By Daniel Kaufman on August 4, 2022 Posted in FTC

A recent Federal Trade Commission (FTC) lawsuit and settlement with Opendoor Labs Inc. (Opendoor) is a must-read even if you are not in the real estate business. But if you don’t want to actually read it, we’ve got you covered. The case raises a range of issues regarding how savings claims are made to consumers … Continue Reading

Not Every Payment Processing Case Is the Same – the Latest FTC Case Provides Some Helpful Reminders

By Daniel Kaufman on August 1, 2022 Posted in FTC

Most of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) law enforcement actions involving payment processors have exclusively focused on allegations that processors did not do sufficient due diligence before onboarding questionable merchants. The latest payment processing case, however, has a bit of a novel twist and focuses instead on alleged deceptions aimed at the merchants that were … Continue Reading

FTC and DOJ MOUs with NLRB Reflect the Administration’s Ongoing Focus on Restrictive Labor Relationships and the Gig Economy

By Daniel Kaufman, Marc Antonetti and Ann O'Brien on July 28, 2022 Posted in FTC

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that the agencies had entered into a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The FTC press release touted the MOU as a big deal, stating that it would “bolster the FTC’s efforts to protect workers by promoting competitive U.S. labor markets and putting … Continue Reading

A Flurry of Right to Repair Activity from the FTC – What You Need to Know

By Daniel Kaufman on July 8, 2022 Posted in FTC

“Right to repair” is a consumer protection issue that is rapidly picking up steam. In addition to federal legislation that was introduced in 2022, there has been quite a lot of recent state legislative activity. And we have seen a lot more Federal Trade Commission (FTC) activity on the issue lately. So what exactly is … Continue Reading

Taking Another Look at Courts Interpreting Section 19 of the FTC Act

By Daniel Kaufman on July 5, 2022 Posted in FTC

After the Supreme Court held that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) could no longer use Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to seek equitable monetary relief in federal court, the agency quickly ransacked the sofa, seeking spare change and any other statutory tools it could find to compensate. Section 19 of the FTC Act contained … Continue Reading

Dot Com Guideline Revisions Will Focus on Hyperlinks, Dark Patterns, the Metaverse and More

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on June 21, 2022 Posted in FTC

It has been two weeks or so since the FTC announced that it is going to take a close look at whether and how to revise the Dot com Disclosure Guides. For those who are new to this, the dot com guides (technically and annoyingly titled the “.com” guides) are a helpful source document to … Continue Reading

The 13th Public Commission Meeting – an AI Study About Online Scams and, Yes, Another Policy Statement

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on June 16, 2022 Posted in Advertising

We spend many of our working hours – and far too many of our nonworking hours – talking about Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) issues, and we can confidently state that no one has ever said to us, “I sure do wish the agency would issue yet another policy statement.” With that, we turn … Continue Reading

If an Agency Calls Something Unfair, Does That Magically Make It Unlawful? A Recent Blog Post by the FTC’s Chief Technology Officer

By Daniel Kaufman on May 31, 2022 Posted in FTC

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) tech blog quietly published a post that could have broad implications – for privacy practitioners and beyond. In this post, the agency takes the novel position that if consumer data is compromised in a security incident and the company does not provide consumer notice, that could in and … Continue Reading

Testimonial Guides Update – The Things That Make Us Go Hmm

By Amy Ralph Mudge, Daniel Kaufman and Randal M. Shaheen on May 20, 2022 Posted in FTC

As we reported yesterday, the FTC has issued its proposal for an update to the Testimonial & Endorsement Guides. These are not THE LAW, because (1) guides are not law and (2) even if we treat them as such, this is a proposal. That said, the changes are an important indication of what the agency … Continue Reading

May 2022 Public Commission Meeting – Meet Commissioner Bedoya, Plus Blasts from the Past, Endorsements and an FTC Legend

By Amy Ralph Mudge and Daniel Kaufman on May 19, 2022 Posted in FTC

In February 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it was going to reexamine the Endorsements and Testimonial Guides (Guides) and sought comment on whether and how the Guides should be changed, including addressing issues involving reviews, affiliate links, children’s perceptions and changes in technology. Two very long years later, the FTC has proposed … Continue Reading

And Then There Were Five – Commissioner Bedoya Has Arrived

By Daniel Kaufman on May 18, 2022 Posted in Advertising

When a new commissioner arrives at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission), there are some changes to expect as that new person gets up to speed and learns how different it is to be at the FTC versus watching what the Commission does from the outside. But the addition of a new commissioner can … Continue Reading

A Deeper Dive into the FTC’s Proposed Changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Continued Interest in Negative Option Programs

By Daniel Kaufman on May 6, 2022 Posted in FTC

At last week’s public Federal Trade Commission (FTC) meeting, the commissioners unanimously voted for possible changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). Given the intense interest in FTC rulemaking and the important role the TSR plays in FTC enforcement, we thought this warranted a closer look. First off, this is a very different rulemaking process … Continue Reading

What’s Going on at the FTC? New Employee Survey Raises Issues If You Are Engaging with the Agency

By Daniel Kaufman on April 29, 2022 Posted in FTC

A recent survey of FTC employees put forward some interesting numbers. In 2020, FTC staff were asked if their senior leaders “maintain high standards of honesty and integrity” and 87 percent answered positively. In November 2021, the same staff were asked the same question and the positive responses dropped by 34 points to 53 percent. … Continue Reading

The 10th Public Commission Meeting – Talking About Telemarketing, AMG and, Yes, Dream Incubation

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on April 29, 2022 Posted in FTC

We made it to the 10th public commission meeting. Now, one person who didn’t make it to the meeting today (or at least did not appear on the main screen) was Alvaro Bedoya. We had heard that his confirmation vote to become the fifth commissioner was going to happen this week, but apparently a few … Continue Reading

The FTC’s Website Redesign – Broken Links, Missing Content and Broken Dreams

By Daniel Kaufman on April 19, 2022 Posted in FTC

Whether you are an FTC fan or foe, we can all agree that one of the agency’s crown jewels is its consumer and business education program. For decades, this program has provided information that has helped consumers protect themselves and has provided businesses with important information and guidance to inform their decision making. And probably … Continue Reading

What’s in a Label – Three Takeaways from the FTC’s First Enforcement Action Brought Under the New Made in the USA Rule

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on April 18, 2022 Posted in FTC

Last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) finalized a new rule (Rule) that would allow the agency to seek civil penalties in matters where a company made a false and unqualified Made in the USA (MUSA) claim on product labels. In the rulemaking process, however, the FTC developed a very broad definition of “labels,” which … Continue Reading

Bamboozling Part II: The FTC Brings Back Retro Penalty Offense Letters like Bell Bottoms and Big Hair

By Daniel Kaufman, Amy Ralph Mudge and Randal M. Shaheen on April 12, 2022 Posted in FTC

What do bamboo fabric and green claims have to do with toys, weight loss, car rentals and fur coats? Sounds like the start of a Dad joke, but unfortunately this is no laughing matter. It is the FTC reaching back to bygone eras for help in getting money in its enforcement cases. Much virtual ink … Continue Reading

Bamboozling – Part I: Do Green Claims Require a Life Cycle Analysis?

By Amy Ralph Mudge, Daniel Kaufman and Randal M. Shaheen on April 11, 2022 Posted in FTC

The title of this series is an homage to the great Lesley Fair, who launched and authors many of the best of the FTC’s business blogs and who coined this term in her blog reviewing 2013 cases on the same topic. But we are here today to talk about the most recent settlements involving textiles … Continue Reading

The Rubber Hits the Road to the Tune of $10 Million – FTC and Illinois Sue an Auto Dealership

By Linda A. Goldstein and Daniel Kaufman on April 5, 2022 Posted in FTC

Not many people enjoy sitting in a car dealership spending hours evaluating or making a costly purchase, but it’s far more frustrating when the dealership allegedly engages in practices that face the ire of law enforcement. A recent case announced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is important for many reasons. First, it’s a helpful … Continue Reading

The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear BluBlockers – A Walk Through Advertising History

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on April 4, 2022 Posted in Advertising

The other day, we noticed an article announcing that legendary direct marketer Joe Sugarman had passed away. He had quite a career in the industry but was probably best known for the omnipresent BluBlocker sunglasses that were on heavy rotation in the 1980s and early ’90s. For younger readers, BluBlockers were ultra-cool sunglasses that promised … Continue Reading

Taking a Lesson from the FTC – Reviews and Gag Clauses Emerge as CFPB Issues

By Daniel Kaufman on March 30, 2022 Posted in FTC

We have talked a lot this year about the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) focus on reviews, and so far we have seen cases involving review suppression and incentivized reviews, as well as new guidance about how platforms and marketers should handle reviews. And the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has now staked its claim to … Continue Reading

The 9th Public FTC Meeting – Reporting on Vaping and E-Cigarettes

By Daniel Kaufman and Amy Ralph Mudge on March 18, 2022 Posted in FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a long history of addressing issues involving cigarettes and tobacco, often in the advertising context. Indeed, one of us bloggers started at the FTC in 1998, and the first case he worked on was the agency’s litigation against R.J. Reynolds. That case alleged that the company’s use of the … Continue Reading

No Time to Weight and Watch for Children’s Data Compliance

By Daniel Kaufman and Michael Ingram on March 10, 2022 Posted in FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently settled with Weight Watchers (WW) and its subsidiary Kurbo for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). COPPA requires websites, apps and other online services to obtain express parental consent prior to collecting, using or disclosing personal information of children under 13. It is a complex … Continue Reading

You Do Have Time for This – the New Wave of FTC Rulemaking

By Daniel Kaufman on March 8, 2022 Posted in FTC

The wave of Federal Trade Commission (FTC or the Commission) rulemaking has begun, and it raises many questions: Most notably, how big is this wave going to be, why is the FTC doing this and do I have time for this? Although there has been a great deal of concern raised about whether and why … Continue Reading