On October 3, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association of America, Limited, where the Court is reviewing the Fifth Circuit’s opinion that struck...more
10/5/2023
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Appropriation ,
Chamber of Commerce ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Funding ,
Oral Argument ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Payday Loans ,
SCOTUS ,
UDAAP
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
The Supreme Court’s opinion last week in National Pork Producers Council v. Ross raises more questions than it answers regarding what state laws might violate the dormant Commerce Clause. California prohibits the in-state...more
The U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision unanimously reversing the Ninth Circuit in Axon Enterprise v. Federal Trade Commission is likely to represent a monumental shift in pre-enforcement challenges to administrative...more
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
Earlier this month, New York Attorney General Letitia James issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at setting greater guardrails against price increases during emergencies. The action comes exactly one year after James...more
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
On February 27, 2023, the Supreme Court granted the certiorari petition of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to hear a case that could cast doubt on all of the regulations that have been promulgated by the...more
In what could be a seminal case of the Internet age, the U.S. Supreme Court this week heard arguments in Gonzalez v. Google, its first case concerning the hotly debated Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act....more
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
Last week the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it had issued a complaint and proposed consent order against Instant Brands LLC for allegedly marketing products as “Made in the USA,” when they were actually made in...more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—the federal agency tasked with protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices and enforcing antitrust laws—proposed a rule that, if enacted, will...more
1/24/2023
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Comment Period ,
Contract Terms ,
Employment Contract ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FTC Act ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Unfair Competition