JULY 2018
The FTC will hold a series of public hearings on whether broad-based
changes in the economy, evolving business practices, new technologies, or
international developments might require adjustments to competition and consumer
protection enforcement law, enforcement priorities, and policy. The hearings will cover topics such as competition
and consumer protection issues in communication, information, and media
technology networks, the intersection
between privacy, big data, and competition, and consumer welfare implications associated with the use of algorithmic
decision tools, artificial intelligence, and predictive analytics. The multi-day, multi-part hearings, which
will take place this fall and winter, will be similar in form and structure to
the FTC’s 1995 “Global Competition and Innovation Hearings.” The
Commission will invite public comment in stages throughout
the term of the hearings; initial comments on the topics identified are due
August 20. More details on the topics
and comment process are here.
The FTC, jointly with federal and state law
enforcement partners and the Better Business Bureau, announced the results of
Operation Main Street: Stopping Small Business Scams. Operation Main Street is a law enforcement
initiative targeting operations seeking to defraud small businesses, and an
education outreach effort to help small businesses protect themselves from
fraud. The agencies announced 24 actions, including one new FTC
case, three other FTC actions from the past six months, two criminal actions
announced by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and 18 actions by state AGs over the past
year.
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At the FTC’s request, a federal district court has stopped Internet
marketers from deceptively advertising free trial offers and not only charging
consumers full price for the trial product, but also enrolling them in
expensive, ongoing continuity plans without their knowledge or consent. The court temporarily halted the operation, froze
its assets, and appointed a temporary receiver. As the FTC has indicated with the yellow arrow
in the screen capture of this ad, Defendants hide the true charges and the
continuity plan by using tiny faint type that consumers must scroll down to see.
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A California company has agreed to settle FTC charges that it falsely
claimed it was in the process of being certified as complying with the EU-U.S.
Privacy Shield framework, which establishes a process to allow companies to
transfer consumer data from European Union countries to the United States in
compliance with EU law. Click for a Privacy
Shield business blog.
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The FTC hosted the semi-annual meeting of the Asia Pacific Privacy
Authorities Forum in San Francisco on June 25-26. Members exchanged best practices on privacy
protection in their own countries, including on topics relating to artificial intelligence, online reputation,
managing data breach notifications, and ongoing privacy investigations. They
also explored opportunities for cooperation on education, technological
research, and enforcement activities across the Asia Pacific region. At the conclusion of the 49th APPA
forum, members issued a communique, which contains more information about the meetings.
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 Report International Scams to econsumer.gov
Using Your Mobile Device
Did you know econsumer.gov is mobile
friendly? See the mobile screen snap
grab. About 30 percent of the visits to
econsumer.gov, and about 30 percent of the complaints filed there used a mobile
device. The econsumer.gov site is
specially designed for access by tablets, smart phones, and other mobile
devices. Contact Hui Ling Goh, hgoh@ftc.gov, for more information on how to participate in
econsumer.gov.
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Adding to the billions of dollars the FTC returned to consumers in 2017,
FTC Chairman Joe Simons announced that the agency would return more than $500
million to consumers harmed by a massive payday lending scheme. The Justice Department recovered the funds in
criminal and civil actions against the scheme’s operators. The FTC had previously obtained a $1.3 billion
civil court judgment in connection with this scheme.
A U.S. District Court ruled that AbbVie used
sham litigation to illegally maintain its monopoly over the testosterone
replacement drug Androgel. The court ordered
$448 million in monetary relief to consumers who were overcharged for Androgel
as a result of AbbVie’s conduct. The
court order represents the largest ever monetary award in a litigated FTC
antitrust case. The decision is subject
to appeal to the Federal Court of Appeals.
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CRH plc, an Irish-based construction company, agreed
to divest facilities in Montana, Nebraska, and Kansas as part of a settlement
resolving charges that CRH’s $3.5 billion acquisition of its Kansas-based
competitor, Ash Grove Cement Company, is anticompetitive and violates federal
antitrust law.
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In a comment to the Consumer Product Safety Commission about potential
safety issues associated with Internet-connected consumer products, staff of
the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection warned that poorly secured Internet of
Things devices could pose consumer
safety hazards to systems, for example, automobile
braking systems. Click for FTC business guidance on how to predict and
mitigate Internet of Things privacy and security risks.
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The FTC, with the concurrence of DOJ’s Antitrust
Division, approved amendments that simplify and clarify some of the language
used in the HSR Rules and instructions for filling out the premerger
notification form, and that allow for the use of email in certain circumstances
such as in granting early termination. A
notice in the Federal Register provides more
information.
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