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: 889

FTC doesn’t assume consumers can discern bad ad claims

When evaluating advertising claims, the Federal Trade Commission not only seeks to protect consumers, but often assumes that they cannot evaluate claims themselves.

US-EU data transfer deal gets cheers and jeers

Almost as soon as word came down that a tentative agreement had been reached between the US and the European Union to govern the transfer of data from Europe to the United States, US technology and...

Critics press FTC to re-examine Google’s search practices

From the moment, three years ago, that the Federal Trade Commission closed its investigation into allegations that Google manipulated its search practices to favor its own services, critics have...

Bill banning restrictions on online reviews stalling in House

The Senate usually runs at a glacial pace while the House moves at a more rapid clip. But a bill beefing up the Federal Trade Commission’s authority in policing limits on online speech is having...

LabMD says no consumer harm means FTC data security case is fatally flawed

LabMD, having prevailed before an administrative law judge who threw out the Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit charging that the company had failed to provide reasonable security to protect...

Agencies seek more money and people for antitrust enforcement

Both the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are asking Congress to help them increase their efforts to protect marketplace competition.