Category Archives: Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission staff will host a workshop on October 10-11, 2007, to explore changes in the debt collection industry and examine their impact on consumers and businesses. Consumer advocates, industry representatives, state and federal regulators, and others with relevant expertise will provide information on a range of issues, including the effects of technological, […]

Approval of FTC comments to the FERC on the wholesale electric power market: The Commission has provided a comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regarding competition at the wholesale level in regions of the U.S. with organized electric power markets. The comment was developed in response to an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking […]

The FTC today told the Maryland Task Force on Identity Theft that public organizations, including federal, state, and local governments, “play a critical role in guarding against misuse and unauthorized disclosure of the personal information they collect and maintain.” Speaking before the Maryland Task Force to Study Identity Theft, Betsy Broder, Assistant Director of the […]

Two marketers of the alleged pain relief product Biotape, Smart Inventions, Inc. and Jon Nokes, have entered into a settlement agreement that will provide up to $2.5 million in consumer refunds. In addition, a federal district court ruled that a third defendant, Darrell Stoddard – the inventor of Biotape who appeared in the product’s nationally […]

The FTC today told the Maryland Task Force on Identity Theft that public organizations, including federal, state, and local governments, “play a critical role in guarding against misuse and unauthorized disclosure of the personal information they collect and maintain.” Speaking before the Maryland Task Force to Study Identity Theft, Betsy Broder, Assistant Director of the […]

The FTC today told the Maryland Task Force on Identity Theft that public organizations, including federal, state, and local governments, “play a critical role in guarding against misuse and unauthorized disclosure of the personal information they collect and maintain.” Speaking before the Maryland Task Force to Study Identity Theft, Betsy Broder, Assistant Director of the […]

Two providers of consumers’ medical profiles used in determining eligibility for life and health insurance have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that, as consumer reporting agencies (CRAs), they failed to provide insurance companies with the Notice to Users of Consumer Reports required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). “Consumer reporting companies sell […]

Federal Trade Commission staff sent ten warning letters to prescribers of contact lenses for allegedly failing to release prescription information to their patients, requiring their patients to purchase contact lenses from them, or imposing additional fees on their patients before releasing the prescriptions. Staff sent the letters on August 15, 2007, in response to consumer […]

The Federal Trade Commission has charged Kevin Trudeau with violating a court order by allegedly misrepresenting the contents of his book, “The Weight Loss Cure ‘They’ Don’t Want You to Know About,” in several infomercials. During the ads, Trudeau claims that the weight loss plan outlined in the book is easy to do, can be […]

An operation that downloaded onto consumers’ computers software that spawned pop-up messages claiming consumers had signed up for a “free trial” that had expired, and demanding payment to make the messages go away, has settled Federal Trade Commission charges that its practices violated federal law. The consent agreement requires the defendants to provide a way […]