Markets Wired

Commission approval of joint amicus brief filing – The Commission has approved the filing of an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the matter of Altria v. Good et al., No. 07-562 (U.S. S. Ct.). The brief, which was filed on June 18, 2008 jointly with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Solicitor General, can be found on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. The case concerns whether state law claims brought by a consumer against a cigarette company have been expressly preempted by the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (FCLAA), 15 U.S.C. sec. 1331, et seq., or in an implied manner by the FTC. The Commission vote approving filing of the amicus brief was 4-0. (FTC File No. P082105; the staff contact is David C. Shonka, Office of the General Counsel, 202-326-2436.)

Commission issuance of Federal Register notice seeking public comment – The FTC is seeking public comment on a proposal to conduct consumer research on parental use of the Motion Picture Association of America’s movie rating system on rated DVDs, and on parental attitudes toward the marketing of unrated DVD versions of rated motion pictures. Comments should refer to “DVD Rating Symbol Study: FTC Matter P994511″ and be sent or delivered to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135 (Annex J) 600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The Commission is requesting that any comment filed in paper form be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible because U.S. postal mail in the Washington area and at the agency is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. Moreover, because paper mail in the Washington area and at the agency is subject to delay, please consider submitting your comments in electronic form.

Comments filed electronically should be submitted by following the instructions on the Web-based form at https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-DVDRatingStudy. To ensure that the Commission considers an electronic comment, you must file it on the web-based form at the https://secure.commentworks.com/ftc-DVDRatingStudy Web link.

If this notice appears at www.regulations.gov, electronic comments also may be filed through that Web site. The Commission will consider all comments that regulations.gov forwards to it. Comments can be submitted until August 4, 2008. A Federal Register notice announcing the research can be found at: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2008_register&position=all&page=32026.

The Commission vote approving issuance of the notice was 4-0. (FTC File No. P994511; the staff contact is Michelle Rusk, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3148)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.

(FYI 31.2008.wpd)