Showing posts filed under: FTC Beat by Nicole Kardell
FTC Signals Interest in Enforcement of Deceptive Advertising Laws Against Payment Processors
Ignorance of the law is no excuse; nor is (willful) ignorance of a business partner’s illegal activities. That’s a lesson to be learned from a recent amended complaint filed by the FTC which named a payment processor in its complaint against a telemarketer that allegedly engaged in a scam concerning credit card interest rate reduction…. Read More
Can ‘Disparate Impact’ Become the Basis for a Fair-Lending Claim?
As part of its aggressive program to protect consumers in financial matters, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) has announced that it is prepared to adopt a controversial “disparate impact” theory of liability against lenders. A case that the U.S. Supreme Court may accept would have a major impact on whether the CFPB is actually… Read More
Policing the Wide, Wild New World of Biometrics
Progress in the world of biometrics should cause us all to shudder. Cameras in public locations can now employ facial recognition to direct advertising to us based upon an assessment of our age, sex, and other characteristics. Cameras can determine our reaction to and engagement in video games and movies. It sounds a bit like… Read More
It’s Not Easy Being Green: FTC’s Revised Green Guidelines May Adversely Affect the Little Guy
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission released its revised Green Guidelines, providing parameters for advertising and marketing claims of supposedly eco-friendly products. The publication completes a two-year revision process that the FTC undertook, involving the updating of guidelines last visited in 1998. The Commission touted the new guidelines as helping marketers “avoid making misleading… Read More
POM Loses a Round in Its Advertising Dispute With FTC, But Battle Continues
POM Wonderful LLC recently received a setback in its longstanding dispute with the Federal Trade Commission. On Sept. 30, 2012, U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts in the District of Columbia dismissed the juice maker’s declaratory judgment action against the FTC. The judge’s ruling, though, does not put an end to the POM-FTC battle, which is… Read More
Court Strikes Most of ‘Gainful Employment’ Rule, But For-Profit Colleges Must Still Beware
For-profit education institutions may have breathed a sigh of relief on June 30, 2012, when a federal judge struck down most of the Department of Education’s Gainful Employment rule. The decision came none too soon, as the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the ruling literally on the eve of the day… Read More
In Time for Bikini Season, Kardashians Face Lawsuit Over Endorsement of Diet Aids
Kim Kardashian, the reality star, is accustomed to the public eye, but now she faces a lawsuit that may not bring her good publicity at all. Along with her sisters Khloe and Kourtney, Kim has been named as a defendant earlier this year in a class action over QuickTrim, a dietary supplement that they have… Read More
Obama’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights: Less Than Meets the Eye?
A good bit of fanfare surrounded the Obama Administration’s release of its Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights in late February. The publication reflects the Administration’s efforts to improve online consumer privacy protections while not stifling the growth of the Internet industries. The document is entitled, “Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World: A Framework for… Read More
Why POM Wonderful Can Celebrate FTC Judge’s Ruling in Advertising Case
Pomegranate juice maker POM Wonderful has declared victory against the FTC . . . in spite of an administrative law judge’s ruling that upholds many claims in the agency’s complaint. But the California company has good reason to celebrate: certain FTC standards, the ones that POM cried foul on, were rejected by the court. The… Read More
In Nutella Advertising Case, Whom Is the System Protecting?
The world is full of surprises, like the fact that Nutella chocolate spread is loaded with saturated fat and sugar and is not itself healthy. Ferrero USA, Inc., the company that makes Nutella, learned the hard way that many American parents could not survive (nor perhaps could their children) without the aid and intervention of… Read More
