LabMD litigation against FTC lingers

Although the Federal Trade Commission won its effort to quash a lawsuit over its probe of LabMD, the now-defunct medical laboratory is still trying to sue three agency employees.

Neill Averitt

The pushback on convenience, resort and junk fees

Unexpected, surreptitious fees in retail transactions — additions like “convenience fees” and “resort fees” — have proliferated wildly over the past 30 years. When they aren’t clearly disclosed at the start of a transaction, their omission can deceive consumers and distort the purchase decision....

Current Issue: 864

Record years for merger deals will test agencies

Mega-deals roared back in 2014, and the trend is likely to continue into next year, according to a recent report by economic consulting firm Ernst & Young. That’s good news for the people who make...

New coalition goes public to challenge Comcast deal

The sudden emergence, this month, of a broad coalition of public interest groups, industry associations and companies to oppose the Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, almost 10 months after the...

AGs join push for changes to telemarketing rule

Partisanship may be the norm in Washington but on a key consumer protection issue, there is bipartisan consensus among state attorneys general.

McCain is key to passage of sports blackout bill

Even as Senator John McCain is in the middle of intense national security debates and prepares to assume the chairmanship of the powerful Armed Services Committee, he recently took time out to...

Lawmakers optimistic on patent troll action

Leaders in the House and Senate are indicating their willingness to tackle the issue of problematic patent-assertion entities next year, though the Obama administration’s likely point person on the...

Neil Averitt commentary: Leisure hours with Diana Moss, Kathleen Foote

This column continues our occasional series on the leisure and weekend activities of members of the antitrust community. Our subjects this time are Diana Moss, the incoming president of the...