FTCWatch
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December 05, 2023
Calendar
Jan. 16 — The Federal Trade Commission is holding a virtual informal hearing on the proposed amendments to the Negative Option Rule. It will be held at 10 a.m. ET. For more information, go to: https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/12/ftc-hold-virtual-informal-hearing-january-2024-part-its-review-proposed-click-cancel-rulemaking?utm_source=govdelivery.
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December 05, 2023
Justices grapple with where to draw lines on whether, when Congress can authorize agencies to bring cases without jury
US Supreme Court justices grappled with where the dividing line lies between actions that federal agencies can bring in administrative court and those that must be heard by a jury.
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December 05, 2023
On the Shelf: The rise and fall of the American dream
Robert Bork didn’t cause pestilence or famine. But Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times writer David Leonhardt blames the influence of Bork’s views on antitrust law as a factor that’s hurt the likelihood that younger people will attain more wealth than earlier generations.
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December 05, 2023
People
Antitrust veteran Goodman jumps from FTC to Morgan Lewis
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December 05, 2023
DOJ’s procurement collusion strike force holds first summit
The Department of Justice’s procurement collusion strike force hosted its first summit to discuss emerging threats and strategies to confront them.
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December 05, 2023
US Chamber, House Republicans push FTC to strengthen recusal rules
The US Chamber of Commerce and some of its Republican congressional allies are urging the Federal Trade Commission to revamp rules to clarify when members must recuse themselves.
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December 05, 2023
Job satisfaction at FTC improves, survey says
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan testified to Congress last summer that she was addressing low morale in a series of workplace actions, and the 2023 federal employee survey shows improvement in that regard.
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December 05, 2023
DNA testing company settles with regulators over deceptive marketing claims
CRI Genetics agreed to pay a $700,000 penalty to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission and California’s attorney general that the company deceived consumers about the accuracy of its DNA reports.
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December 05, 2023
Subspace antitrust case against Amazon highlights enforcers’ cloud competition concerns
Amazon’s alleged anticompetitive conduct in the budding market for cloud optimization services offers a case study for antitrust concerns flagged by the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department in the burgeoning on-demand computing sector.
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December 05, 2023
State, federal laws aimed at protecting children online upend privacy landscape
New legislation aimed at keeping kids safe online is upending the US privacy landscape, and dramatically expanding the obligations of any company that provides an online service or feature children could use.
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December 05, 2023
Lack of disclosure complicates FTC’s enforcement of influencer marketing
The Federal Trade Commission faces a significant hurdle in stopping deceptive influencer marketing given the apparent prevalence of undisclosed sponsorship in influencer posts.
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December 05, 2023
Feds probe Evolv’s marketing practices
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Evolv’s marketing practices, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by the company, which offers weapon screening detectors powered by artificial intelligence.
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December 05, 2023
Neil Averitt commentary: Weight-loss drugs give FTC golden opportunity
The sudden emergence of miraculously effective weight-loss drugs is good news for 100 million American dieters. It’s also a unique opportunity for the Federal Trade Commission. If the agency can help make these drugs more widely available, it can provide a visible quantum-leap benefit for consumers, rather than the kind of marginal benefit involved in the typical antitrust case.
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November 14, 2023
Judges balking at defenses about FTC’s constitutionality in preliminary injunction suits
Merging companies got a boost when the Supreme Court said they could challenge the constitutionality of the US Federal Trade Commission’s in-house court before the completion of adjudication, but federal district court judges are starting to signal they don’t want to hear such a challenge if it’s presented as a defense to an agency’s attempt to block a deal.
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November 14, 2023
People
Newman returns to teaching law
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November 14, 2023
GOP antitrust advocate Buck to leave Congress next year
Representative Ken Buck, who has led efforts to strengthen antitrust laws, is leaving Congress.
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November 14, 2023
Calendar
April 3-4 — The International Association of Privacy Professionals is holding its Global Privacy Summit 2024 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington, DC. For more details, go to: https://iapp.org/conference/global-privacy-summit/.
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November 14, 2023
Complaints about robocalls drop to five-year low, FTC finds
The Federal Trade Commission released its annual National Do Not Call Registry Data Book, which found consumer complaints about robocalls and unwanted live telemarketing calls decreased to a five-year low.
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November 14, 2023
Tech titans, other companies face PR hurdles in antitrust suits
Antitrust cases are fought as much in the court of public opinion as in a courtroom, and experts say that calls for a multipronged strategy.
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November 14, 2023
Consumers ask for data access via app as FTC considers rulemaking
A smartphone app from Consumer Reports lets consumers ask businesses to delete or stop selling their data. But a patchwork of state laws and lack of federal regulation mean consumers’ requests can legally go unheeded in most of the United States.
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November 14, 2023
On the Shelf: A light touch when regulating misinformation
The rise of the Internet has made the volatile debate over free expression even more contentious. Now the increasing use of confrontational speech and the spread of misinformation have led to calls for more regulation.
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November 14, 2023
Consider AI, scope of ‘health provider’ in rule update, FTC told
Amendments to the federal rule governing commercial processing of health data should account for the emerging use of artificial intelligence and should include a precise definition of “health provider,” according to public comments to the Federal Trade Commission.
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November 14, 2023
Ex-president of asphalt paving firm pleads guilty to rigging bids
Daniel Israel, the former president of a Michigan-area asphalt paving firm, pleaded guilty to conspiring to rig bids for service contracts in Michigan, the Department of Justice announced.
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November 14, 2023
Safeguards Rule change set to take effect in April
Mortgage brokers, auto dealers, payday lenders and many other nonbank financial institutions are required to report cybersecurity breaches to the Federal Trade Commission under an amendment to the Safeguards Rule set to take effect in April 2024.
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November 14, 2023
Neil Averitt commentary: Actually using a balancing test in the Google case
Antitrust lawyers love to talk about the consumer welfare standard and the rule of reason, and indeed these things are central to the intellectual framework of the law and to practical counseling. But when they’re put to the test in high-stakes litigation against Big Tech, courts generally recoil from applying a balancing test.