federal trade commission Archives

FTC Targets Phoenix Internet Marketer Selling Weight Loss Pills & Colon Cleansers

Arizona Republic: “A district court ordered a Phoenix internet marketer [Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc.] of weight loss pills and colon cleansers to temporarily halt business, after hearing Federal Trade Commission allegations of deceptive advertising and unfair billing practices that scammed consumers out of $30 million or more in 2009. . . . [The products sold online are] AcaiPure, an acai berry supplement, as a weight-loss product, and Colopure, a colon cleansing supplement,”

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Obama’s FTC Plan to Reinvent America’s News Media

Los Angeles Times: “a year ago the new Democrat administration of Barack Obama launched a major internal study intended to design a major government rescue plan for the nation’s financially-troubled information media, primarily newspapers.”

“Would you believe: major changes to the copyright law, including government licensing provisions; government pilot programs to investigate potential new media business models, antitrust changes to allow media companies to unite on imposing online pay walls, establish a journalism division of AmeriCorps with government underwriting the training of young journalists, tax incentives per news employee, increased funding of public broadcasting, a 5% tax on consumer electronics and/or assessments on users of public airwaves.”

See “Will journalists wake up in time to save journalism from Obama’s FTC?” “FTC protects journalism’s past,” “How not to save news – Bad gov’t ideas for journalism” and “FTC floats Drudge tax.” See also “Lefties take anti-freedom of speech push to FCC.” The author says Common Cause, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute “seek repeal of the First Amendment’s guarantee of your freedom of speech.”

For a good summary of the FTC report go to “FTC Floats Tax-and-Subsidy Plan for Journalism.”

Here is the actual FTC study called the “POTENTIAL POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS TO SUPPORT THE REINVENTION OF JOURNALISM.”

FTC Extends Endorsement & Testimonial Guides to Cover Bloggers

A Harvard Law Review article called “Internet Law – Advertising and Consumer Protection – FTC Extends Endorsement & Testimonial Guides to Cover Bloggers.”

FTC’s Privacy Initiatives Pose a Threat to Online Behavioral Advertising

The Digital Media Lawyer Blog: “The FTC has been working on Internet privacy policy since at least 1995. It is currently engaged in a series of roundtables focusing on privacy and behavioral advertising. However, the shape of any new regulations is very fuzzy. This may be because the data is conflicting on the public’s true interest in the issue, as well as the lack of a clear Congressional mandate. At the FTC’s December 2009 privacy roundtable, panelists raised concerns that collection and third party use of browsing data invades private space by: (1) revealing a user’s innermost thoughts, such as a search history that reflect a user’s explorations of his sexual identity, (2) taking away a user’s control over her identity, such as by broadcasting compromising photos of a user at a Cancun Spring Break party to a potential employer, (3) revealing sensitive identity or financial information that can be misused by third parties to perpetrate fraud, or (4) intruding on a user’s seclusion by serving targeted ads during a browsing session that reveal that outsiders are listening in.”

Another Federal Bludgeon – More Powerful FTC Proposed

Wall St. Journal: “In every poll and town hall meeting, Americans are demanding . . . a stronger Federal Trade Commission. Just kidding. But you’re about to get a more powerful FTC anyway, so look out. Buried in the House financial reform is a provision that would muscle up the FTC and radically expand its mission. Pushed by liberal barons Henry Waxman and Barney Frank, the language would empower the FTC to impose civil penalties on companies that are first-time offenders and make it easier for the agency to concoct new rules. The law, supported by FTC Chairman Jon Liebowitz, would also invest the agency with the power to independently litigate civil penalty cases rather than going through the Department of Justice.”

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