Markets Wired

A one-day “back to basics” workshop on complying with truth-in-advertising laws is being presented on Thursday, October 25, 2007, by the Federal Trade Commission’s Southwest Region and the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan Houston. Green Lights & Red Flags: FTC-BBB Rules of the Road for Advertisers features a roster of national experts discussing the latest developments in advertising law for attorneys, business owners, and marketing executives. The workshop is presented in cooperation with the Houston Bar Association and the American Advertising Federation Houston.

Topics to be examined at the workshop include:

• FTC Advertising Law: Understanding the Rules of the Road – The FTC’s approach to ad claims, disclosures, endorsements, and substantiation;
• Avoiding a Promotion Commotion – Complying with new laws for rebates, commercial email, and other promotional practices;
• The Secure Entrepreneur: Data Security & Consumer Privacy – Best practices to avoid, assess, and address a data-security breach;
• Keeping Your Client Compliant – How advertisers and ad agencies can work together to make ads effective and compliant;
• If the Government Comes to Call – An inside look at federal, state, and local consumer protection investigations; and
• When Your Competitor Crosses the Line – Weighing the legal options when a competitor’s ads are deceptive.

Green Lights & Red Flags will be held at the Houston Club, 811 Rusk Avenue, 10th Floor, Houston, Texas from 8:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. The admission fee of $70 includes a full breakfast, lunch, and a CD of all workshop materials. Green Lights & Red Flags has been approved for 3.75 hours of Texas CLE credit. To register, visit www.bbbhou.org or www.ftc.gov/greenlights or call the BBB at 713 341-6147.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.