On December 20, 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a Petition in state court alleging Sirius XM Radio’s autorenewal practices violated New York’s autorenewal law. In the lawsuit, New York alleges that Sirius...more
Last week, the Fifth Circuit handed down an across-the-board rejection of four constitutional challenges raised by gene sequencing company Illumina in defending against the Federal Trade Commission’s merger challenge. Bah!...more
In March, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asked for comments on a proposal to replace the Prenotification Negative Option Rule with a more expansive Negative Option Rule. Now that the FTC has had the chance to review those...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continues to focus its attention on “Made in the USA” claims, and this time the agency has fixed its gaze on a Florida-based company and its principal, whose claims regarding patriotic and...more
With the holiday shopping season in full swing, companies will soon begin the annual fight for every consumer dollar. But before companies can make the sale, they will face an even more daunting task: grabbing customer...more
Environmental advertising claims remain a hot area of regulator action, with the Federal Trade Commission in the process of updating the FTC Green Guides. State legislatures like California’s also remain active in the area,...more
11/22/2023
/ Advertising ,
Class Action ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Environmental Claims ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Green Guides ,
Green Marketing ,
NAD ,
New Legislation ,
Recycling ,
State Regulators ,
Webinars
Large banks and credit unions must provide certain information to customers free of charge, such as account balances, transaction history, and fees, according to an advisory opinion issued by the Consumer Financial Protection...more
10/17/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Banks ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Unions ,
Excessive Fees ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hidden Fees ,
Supervisory Highlights
In recent years, independent agencies have continued to face a number of constitutional and statutory challenges before the Supreme Court. AMG Capital Management struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to obtain...more
10/16/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
AMG Capital Management LLC v FTC ,
Article II ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Due Process ,
Equal Protection ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Non-Delegation Doctrine ,
SCOTUS ,
SEC v Jarkesy ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) won a large battle in its extended war with Intuit, the makers of TurboTax tax-preparation software. An administrative law judge (ALJ) issued a lengthy initial decision, ruling...more
On September 19, Sam Levine, the director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, outlined the agency’s priorities at the annual conference of the National Advertising Division. Here are the...more
9/20/2023
/ Advertising ,
Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
FTC Act ,
Hidden Fees ,
NAD ,
Pricing ,
Proposed Rules ,
Trade Conference ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Website Design
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and six states permanently banned Roomster Corp. and its owners, John Shriber and Roman Zaks, from purchasing or incentivizing consumer reviews as part of a settlement over...more
The Seventh Circuit has once again weighed in on the scope of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) remedial authority. The case, FTC v. Credit Bureau Center, LLC, has had, in the words of the court, “a long and winding...more
As we covered previously, courts are coming around to reading Section 19 of the FTC Act more narrowly than the Federal Trade Commission may hope. In the latest instance, on June 9, 2023, a magistrate judge in the Southern...more
Marketers and lead generators have new guidance in the form of enforcement orders on what the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to consider required practice when obtaining consumer consent prior to the sale, transfer,...more
8/1/2023
/ Consent ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Lead Generators ,
Marketing ,
Personal Information ,
Prior Express Consent ,
Settlement ,
Telemarketing Sales Rule ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Join us on August 2, 2023 for a webinar highlighting the key changes and revisions to the Federal Trade Commission's Endorsements and Testimonial Guides (Guides) and a discussion of the Commission's new proposed trade...more
With the end of the Supreme Court’s term in June, most eyes have been on the release of the last remaining merits decisions. In the midst of issuing the final opinions of the term, the Court also granted certiorari on a...more
7/10/2023
/ Administrative Authority ,
Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Seventh Amendment
Thirteen months after proposing sweeping changes to its Endorsements and Testimonial Guides (Guides), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized its revised guidelines and released an updated set of FAQs to help guide...more
7/6/2023
/ Advertising ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Endorsements ,
Fake Reviews ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Intermediaries ,
Marketing ,
Online Endorsements ,
Online Reviews ,
Proposed Rules ,
Section 5 ,
Testimonial Statements ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
In the wake of AMG Capital Management v. FTC and Liu v. SEC, uncertainty has loomed as to how courts should measure the consumer redress available to the FTC under Section 19 of the FTC Act. Earlier this month, a court in the...more
Starting June 27, operators of online marketplaces will need to comply with a new federal statute, the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Market Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act or INFORM Act.
The...more
5/24/2023
/ Anti-Fraud Provisions ,
Counterfeiting ,
Data Collection ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Internet Retailers ,
New Legislation ,
Online Marketplace ,
State Attorneys General ,
Verification Requirements
Payment service providers should take note of an expansive new rule proposed by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) intended to protect consumer shoppers of goods and services sold on a subscription basis. For merchants...more
3/29/2023
/ Automatic Renewals ,
Cancellation Rights ,
Comment Period ,
Consent ,
Consumer Contracts ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Marketing ,
Notice Requirements ,
Payment Processors ,
Proposed Rules ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Subscription Services ,
Terms and Conditions
The Federal Trade Commission’s recent settlement with Dalal A. Akoury and AWAREmed Health & Wellness Resource Center provides a good overview of how today’s FTC approaches medical claims it believes are unsubstantiated. The...more
3/23/2023
/ Advertising ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Health Claims ,
Health Clinics ,
Opioid ,
Settlement ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The Ninth Circuit has never been shy about declining to compel arbitration, and the Court has issued multiple cases outlining what constitutes sufficient notice of certain provisions in consumer-facing terms and conditions,...more
3/1/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Contract Terms ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hyperlink ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Motion to Compel ,
Notice Requirements ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Website Design ,
Website Owner Liability ,
Websites
Gather your W-2’s and call your CPAs! Tax season is upon us, and that means one thing for the FTC—another flurry of activity in its ongoing action against Intuit, Inc., one of the largest online tax-filing services. Recently,...more
As the dust settles from the Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Management, LLC v. FTC, 141 S. Ct. 1341 (2021), which gutted the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to obtain equitable monetary relief in court, the...more
When it comes to negative options, the CFPB has strong opinions. As demonstrated in its new circular, these opinions generally align with those of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which has repeatedly targeted trial...more