The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced that it has filed proposed orders against the owners and operators of Financial Education Services (FES), a credit repair operation accused of running a pyramid scheme and...more
The FTC has shut down Michigan-based Financial Education Services, a credit repair company that the agency says actually was a large pyramid scheme...more
The first part of the webinar was led by Foley partner Ed Burbach, lead counsel to Neora, and Neora’s co-CEO Deborah Heisz as they shared learnings from Neora’s historic 7-and-a-half-year battle and eventual victory over the...more
CSPI Urges Food Retailers, Congress to Make SNAP Decisions - Marketing is as important as availability, food study finds - Keep Your Government Hands off Our Food Stamps! SNAP—or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance...more
If we look at recent Supreme Court decisions, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a pretty dismal record, with well-publicized losses in AMG and Axon. At the district court level, however, things are quite different; we...more
In November 2019, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against direct selling wellness company Neora, LLC (f/k/a Nerium International, LLC) and its Chief Executive Officer alleging that the company operates as an...more
“Blessing Loom” Scheme Unravels in FTC Settlement - Esoteric trappings can’t save pyramid-scheme-by-another-name - Neolawgism - By certain ironclad laws of demography, we aren’t allowed to add terms to the...more
Welcome to Wiley’s update on recent developments and what’s next in consumer protection at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In this newsletter, we analyze recent regulatory...more
Last week, BINT Operations LLC aka “Blessings in No Time” (“BINT”) and its owners resolved two separate, but coordinated, lawsuits stemming from states’ and the FTC’s investigations alleging perpetration of an illegal pyramid...more
Arkansas AG Tim Griffin and the FTC settled with BINT Operations LLC and two of its officers (collectively, “BINT”) to resolve allegations that the company violated federal and state consumer protection laws by running a...more
Don’t Look Dumb, Dude; You Sound Dumb - Is this one of those pyramid things? Hell, yeah, it is. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be doing it. Do I look dumb enough to go get a job again? Well... According to a recent...more
Here are last week’s curated AG and federal regulatory news stories highlighting key areas in which state and federal regulators’ decisions are having an impact across the US: •AG Bonta Shares Proposed Regulations For...more
The FTC has obtained a temporary restraining order (TRO) against Financial Education Services, Inc., its owners, and five other affiliated entities (collectively the “Credit Repair Parties” or “CRPs”) for allegedly operating...more
Ephemeral messaging applications are considered solutions for data protection and privacy concerns (Blink, And I’m Gone: E-Discovery Challenges and Considerations With Ephemeral Messaging). However, courts are wary of...more
Nutritional Coffee Company Shut Down for Pyramid Scheming - FTC slaps a restraining order on Success by Health, 20 years after the first time it sued its founder - Choices, Choices - Success by Health, a Nevada...more
LEGISLATION, REGULATIONS & STANDARDS - Virginia Law Limiting Use of “Milk” Advances - Following a vote in the Virginia House Agriculture Subcommittee, the state’s House of Delegates will reportedly consider a bill that...more
The Federal Trade Commission reached a $150 million deal with multilevel marketing (MLM) defendants that also includes a ban from the business. ...more
Texas-based direct selling company AdvoCare International, L.P. reached a settlement with FTC on October 2, 2019, after a multi-year investigation. AdvoCare's products include energy drinks, health shakes, and bodybuilding...more
We now have a price tag on the WTO-authorized sanctions that the U.S. can impose on European goods as a result of the EU’s illegal subsidies of planemaker Airbus: $7.5 billion—the “largest authorized retaliation in the WTO’s...more
The Polsinelli BitBlog Weekly Update begins with the U.S. Securities and Exchange (“SEC”) settlement with an issuer of securities, who managed to both illegally offer securities, and create an unlicensed exchange to trade...more
The sixteen month long lawsuit between the Federal Trade Commission and Vemma Nutrition Company has come to a negotiated resolution under terms which will allow Vemma to continue operating its business under restrictions...more
The FTC announced today that it had settled charges with multi-level marketer and seller of health and wellness drinks Vemma over allegations that it operated a pyramid scheme. The FTC initially filed the action in August...more
CARU Emphasizes Accurate Performance, Use Presentations for Children - Two recent Children's Advertising Review Unit decisions emphasize the importance of providing accurate performance and use presentations for products...more
The legal status of many membership programs promoted via social media and spam has been called into question by a recent decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which affirmed a judgment that one such...more