Listen to Episode 11 of our podcast, the Ad Law Tool Kit Show. In this episode, former Venable partner Alexandra Megaris talks to host Len Gordon about state attorney general investigations. Check out the episode....more
Listen to Episode 5 of our podcast, the Ad Law Tool Kit Show. In this episode, Venable partner Roger Colaizzi and former partner Alexandra Megaris talk to host Len Gordon about surviving an FTC investigation. Check out the...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
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
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
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
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
Non-compete agreements are under attack yet again. On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—the federal agency tasked with protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices—announced a new...more
Once a company or individual learns they are a target of a Federal Trade Commission investigation, they need to quickly make a series of decisions, then take action.
After being notified that the FTC has begun an...more
12/8/2022
/ Adverse Inference Instructions ,
Civil Investigation Demand ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Discovery ,
Document Retention Policies ,
Electronically Stored Information ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Investigations ,
Obstruction of Justice ,
Sanctions ,
Spoliation ,
Uber
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas settled with advertising giants Google and iHeartMedia for deceptive...more
12/2/2022
/ Advertising ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
Endorsements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Google ,
iHeart Media ,
Influencers ,
Misrepresentation ,
Settlement ,
State Attorneys General
At its most recent open meeting, the Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking public comment on whether to modify or expand its Business Opportunity Rule.
The...more
Last week at its monthly open meeting, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) unveiled two new rulemaking proceedings: the first deals with deceptive customer reviews and endorsements and the second with so-called junk...more
10/27/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Advertising ,
Biden Administration ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Endorsements ,
Fake Reviews ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fees ,
FTC Act ,
FTC Endorsement Guidelines ,
Online Reviews ,
Rulemaking Process
In the late summer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a circular that concluded in no uncertain terms that insufficient data protection or information security could be considered an unfair practice under...more
10/6/2022
/ Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Consumer Information ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Information Security ,
Multi-Factor Authentication ,
Passwords ,
Popular ,
Safeguards Rule ,
Webinars
The buzz around gig economy protections continued as the Federal Trade Commission took yet another action to safeguard gig workers. Last week, the FTC adopted a policy statement asserting its authority to address...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s recent action against Credit Karma serves as a reminder to advertisers that optimizing consumer conversion is not - and cannot be - the be-all and end-all. Regardless of what split or A/B...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under Director Rohit Chopra's leadership, has taken the first step toward regulating what the CFPB describes as "employer-driven debt," which refers to a range of employment...more
At the height of the pandemic, the Federal Trade Commission took swift action to stamp out scammers and other actors looking to take advantage of - or simply make a buck off - the crisis. One of the early moves it made was to...more
8/4/2022
/ Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Mail ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Scams ,
Statutory Deadlines ,
UDAP ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) recently issued an invitation for comments on a proposed second rulemaking to implement aspects of California's Debt Collection Licensing Act (DCLA)...more
We recently discussed the various ways in which the Federal Trade Commission is focusing on worker protections in the gig economy. Though we didn’t have a crystal ball to foresee it, the FTC announced that it is furthering...more
7/21/2022
/ Biden Administration ,
Data-Sharing ,
Divestiture ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gig Economy ,
Labor Shortage ,
Memorandum of Understanding ,
Mergers ,
NLRB ,
Unfair Competition ,
Unfair Labor Practices ,
Worker Protection Standard
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ("CFPB") issued an advisory opinion warning debt collectors that they may be collecting illegal fees from consumer-borrowers. Specifically, the Bureau has interpreted Section 808(1) of...more
Constant connectivity through smartphones has ushered in a new way for small businesses to connect with potential customers and gig workers looking for flexible employment. The emergence of companies like Uber, GrubHub,...more
6/30/2022
/ Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) ,
Amazon ,
Delivery Drivers ,
DoorDash ,
E-Commerce ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Enforcement Priorities ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Gig Economy ,
GrubHub ,
Job Ads ,
Lyft ,
Misleading Statements ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mobile Apps ,
Small Business ,
State Attorneys General ,
Tips ,
Uber ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Websites
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("the Bureau" or CFPB) released an Interpretive Rule - which is exempt from notice-and-comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act - that sets out its view on the power of...more
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit in federal court in California against Gravity Defyer Medical Technology Corporation alleging the company made unsubstantiated claims that its footwear reduces knee,...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s May 2022 open meeting, Alvaro Bedoya’s first since being sworn in as the agency’s fifth commissioner on May 16, considered a request for public comment on proposed amendments to its Guides...more
The CFPB has begun issuing Consumer Financial Protection Circulars to the government agencies responsible for co-enforcing federal consumer financial law. The Circulars are policy statements that outline how the CFPB intends...more