Consumer Protection, Antitrust & Trade Regulation, Commercial Law & Contracts

FTC confirms continued commitment to vigorous enforcement in letter to CFPB

by Barbara S. Mishkin | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/16/2013

In its annual letter to the CFPB on its 2012 administrative and enforcement activities related to Regulations B (ECOA), E (Electronic Fund Transfers), Z (TILA) and M (Consumer Leasing), the FTC stressed that it is “committed...more

FTC Rules that “Randomized Clinical Trial” Evidence is Necessary to Support Advertising Claims for Juice Beverage and Related...

by J. Michael Keyes, Suzan Onel | K&L Gates LLP on 5/15/2013

I. Introduction - If you represent food and beverage manufacturers who advertise their products, you will want to be familiar with In the Matter of POM Wonderful LLC, a recent decision by the Federal Trade Commission...more

FCC Clarifies Companies' Liability for Third-Party Marketer TCPA Violations

by Ronald London | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 5/15/2013

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a long-awaited declaratory ruling governing when a company is liable under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), and FCC telemarketing and autodialing rules, for...more

FTC Annual Letter to the CFPB

by Brian J. Hurh | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 5/15/2013

The FTC recently released its annual letter to the CFPB on recent FTC enforcement actions related to the Truth in Lending Act, the Consumer Leasing Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act....more

FTC Denies Requests to Extend Effective Date for COPPA Rule Revisions

by Ronald London | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 5/14/2013

The FTC has voted to retain the July 1, 2013 effective date for the revisions to its Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA Rule), shortly after issuing revised “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) to aid compliance...more

OCC, FDIC Announce Overdraft Enforcement Actions

by BuckleySandler LLP on 5/13/2013

On April 30, the OCC and the FDIC announced parallel enforcement actions against a national bank and an affiliated state bank to resolve allegations that the institutions violated Section 5 of the FTC Act in their marketing...more

FTC’s revised COPPA rules go into effect July 1, 2013

by Thompson Coburn LLP on 5/9/2013

On May 6, 2013, the FTC unanimously decided that the revised Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) will go into effect on July 1, 2013, as announced last December. Several industry organizations had asked the...more

CFPB, FTC Announce Roundtable On Data Integrity In Debt Collection

by BuckleySandler LLP on 5/8/2013

On May 1, the FTC and the CFPB announced a roundtable to “examine the flow of consumer data throughout the debt collection process” and discuss (i) the amount of documentation and other information currently available to...more

FTC on COPPA: No Delay

by Mintz Levin - Privacy & Security on 5/7/2013

This afternoon, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unanimously rejected requests from industry organizations to delay the July 1 date for compliance with the amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)....more

CFPB/FTC target debt collection data in June 6 roundtable

by Alan S. Kaplinsky | Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/6/2013

The CFPB and FTC have announced that they will co-host a roundtable on June 6, 2013 in Washington, D.C. to examine the flow of consumer data throughout the debt collection process. Titled “Life of a Debt: Data Integrity in...more

FTC Updates COPPA FAQs

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/30/2013

On April 25, the FTC issued updated FAQs on the recently amended Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule. ...more

War of Words Regarding Implementation of Amendments to COPPA – UPDATE

by Mintz Levin - Privacy & Security on 4/25/2013

UPDATE — The Federal Trade Commission has published its promised COPPA FAQs - ..Volley #1 - Trade Associations to FTC: Please Delay! - The long-awaited amendments to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection...more

CFPB Presents Annual FDCPA Report

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/29/2013

On March 20, the CFPB presented to Congress its annual report on implementation and enforcement of the FDCPA. The report (i) summarizes the Bureau’s Consumer Response function, which does not currently cover debt collection...more

Unfair Contract Terms - ACCC Moves to Enforcement Phase

by Murray Deakin, Sylvia Ng | K&L Gates LLP on 3/26/2013

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) period of grace concerning the use of unfair contract terms in standard form consumer contracts is over. Following an industry review which prompted some businesses...more

Advertising News & Analysis - March 21, 2013

by Walter R. Calvert, Jeffrey D. Knowles, Amy Ralph Mudge, Gregory J. Sater, Randal M. Shaheen | Venable LLP on 3/22/2013

In this issue: - ANA CEO Calls for Greater Industry Cooperation, Self-Regulation to Win Policy Battles - Price Match Guarantees – Easy to Offer, Hard to Limit - Some States Eye Advertisers to Generate Tax...more

TechComm – FTC/UDAAP Client Alert: FTC Staff Issues Guidance on Effective Online Disclosures

by Paul Besozzi, Monica S. Desai, MIchael Drobac, Deborah Lodge, Carey Nuttall, Carol Van Cleef, Maria Wolvin | Patton Boggs LLP on 3/22/2013

Companies engaged in online advertising and social media promotions should carefully review “Dot-Com Disclosures – How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising,” released by the FTC staff on March 12, 2013. This...more

FTC Issues Report On Mobile Payment Consumer Protections

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/20/2013

On March 8, the FTC released a report on mobile payments by consumers. The report, based on a FTC workshop held in April 2012, focuses on financial, security, and privacy consumer protections. The FTC encourages companies to...more

FTC Issues New Guidance Addressing Mobile And Social Media Advertising

by Joseph D. Simon | Cullen and Dykman LLP on 3/18/2013

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has released new guidance for mobile and other online advertisers that explains how to make disclosures clear and conspicuous to avoid deception. Although the FTC does not have authority...more

FTC Issues Report on Mobile Payments

by Alan S. Kaplinsky, Amy Mushahwar, Trevor Salter, Mercedes Kelley Tunstall | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/18/2013

The Staff Report on mobile payments recently issued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) focuses on areas of concern discussed at the FTC’s April 2012 workshop. The report does not break much new ground, but it does...more

Is the FTC Opening a New Front in the War on Commercial Texting?

by Ronald London | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 3/11/2013

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced it concurrently filed eight complaints in courts around the United States against “senders of spam text messages” who allegedly engaged in deceptive acts or practices by...more

UK Government Announces Proposals for an “Opt-Out” Collective Competition Damages Action

by Philip Bentley, Veronica Pinotti, Wilko van Weert, Philipp Werner | McDermott Will & Emery on 3/7/2013

On 29 January 2013, the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation & Skills announced new proposals designed to improve the ability for consumers and businesses to bring collective damages claims against competition...more

Risk Management (March 2013) - The New Rules of Consumer Protection: Six Steps for Banks to Manage Third-Party Compliance Risk

by Richik Sarkar on 3/1/2013

Financial services firms now routinely contract outside companies to market new services that these institutions did not develop internally, such as investment and insurance options. More than ever, third parties are...more

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Consumer Protection › Antitrust & Trade Regulation › Commercial Law & Contracts