FTCWatch
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July 08, 2025
Alcoa ruling still shaping antitrust law 80 years later
When judges try to determine whether a company has illegally monopolized a market, they often adopt reasoning and analysis from a case decided 80 years ago that broke new ground concerning antitrust law.
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July 08, 2025
Former executive sentenced over asphalt bid-rigging conspiracies
Bruce F. Israel, former vice president of Asphalt Specialists, has been sentenced to six months in prison and a $500,000 fine for his role in multiple conspiracies to rig bids for asphalt paving services contracts in Michigan, the Department of Justice announced.
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July 08, 2025
As FTC pulls back, private attorneys take up Robinson-Patman revival
With new government enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act, or RPA, expected to be all but dead for the foreseeable future, it will now be up to private plaintiffs to galvanize litigation of price-discrimination cases. A handful of lawyers, including former antitrust enforcers from the Federal Trade Commission, are looking to do just that, but they are likely to face challenges in court.
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July 08, 2025
Author Q&A: MIT professor’s book explores origins of ‘Amazon economy’
Opening the final section of MIT political science professor Kathleen Thelen’s new book is a quote from a 2021 New York Times report: Amazon “eclipsed Walmart to become the world’s largest retail seller outside China.”
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July 08, 2025
Senators want probe of Spotify’s bundling practices
Senators Marsha Blackburn and Ben R. Luján are asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Spotify’s decision to convert premium subscriptions into higher-priced bundled subscriptions without telling consumers.
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June 24, 2025
Walmart to pay $10 million to settle claims over wire fraud
Walmart has agreed to pay $10 million to settle the Federal Trade Commission’s claims that the retail giant let scammers use its in-store money transfer services to defraud hundreds of millions of dollars from consumers.
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June 24, 2025
Legal, regulatory woes could mark new era for influencers
Social media influencers commanding millions of followers descended upon luxury hotels lining the French Riviera last week for Cannes Lions, the ad world’s premier gathering.
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June 24, 2025
Khan, ex-FTC officials say they left ‘durable blueprint’ for digital privacy enforcement
Between 2022 and this January, the Federal Trade Commission carried out an unprecedented burst of data protection enforcement, with many of those cases based on the agency’s powers to police “unfair” business practices under the FTC Act.
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June 24, 2025
Calendar
July 9 — The Federal Trade Commission is holding a workshop on “The Dangers of ‘Gender-Affirming Care’ for Minors.” It will be held in Washington, DC, and will be streamed online. For more information, go to: https://www.ftc.gov.
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June 24, 2025
Neil Averitt commentary: Where does antitrust fit in Trump’s drug pricing plan?
President Donald Trump has initiated a campaign to fight international price discrimination concerning pharmaceuticals by getting Americans the benefits of most-favored-nation status. The antitrust agencies are helping in this project, but it looks like their role will be limited.
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June 24, 2025
Safelite hit with federal complaints from auto glass repair shops
The Independent Glass Association — representing over 700 auto glass repair shops — has filed multiple federal complaints against Safelite, including one alleging monopolistic practices, according to the association’s executive director.
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June 24, 2025
Portion of I-85 named after former FTC Commissioner Elizabeth Dole
Interstate 85 stretches over 600 miles, including through former Senator Elizabeth Hanford Dole’s native North Carolina.
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June 24, 2025
People
Longtime FTC attorney leaves agency for DLA Piper
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June 24, 2025
Lawmakers push bill to end FTC’s oversight of horseracing industry
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is trying again to pass a bill to create an interstate compact that would remove much of the Federal Trade Commission’s powers to regulate the horseracing industry.
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June 24, 2025
Texas man gets 11 years in prison for transit industry scheme
Carlos Martinez has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for his role in a violent, years-long scheme to monopolize the transmigrante forwarding agency industry in the Los Indios, Texas, border region.
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June 24, 2025
Groups urge FTC, state AGs to investigate AI therapy bots
Consumer, labor and privacy organizations have asked the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate what they allege are unfair and deceptive practices by companies using AI therapy bots.
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June 24, 2025
Blackstone settles with government over collecting fake debts
Debt collection operation Blackstone Legal has agreed to a permanent ban from the industry as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
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June 24, 2025
Payment processor Paddle agrees to industry ban
UK-based Paddle has agreed to a permanent ban from processing payments for tech-support telemarketers as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
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June 24, 2025
On the Shelf: Taft’s thoughts on presidential power
When it came to religion, William Howard Taft was a churchgoing Unitarian. However, when it came to presidential power, he wasn’t a full-fledged proponent of the unitary theory.
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June 24, 2025
Ferguson’s DEI antitrust push raises legal, political questions
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s plans to investigate potential anticompetitive coordination over “diversity, equity and inclusion” metrics has raised questions about what such an inquiry and a potential lawsuit over the issue would look like.
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June 24, 2025
Senators propose task force to combat payment scams
Senators Mike Crapo and Mark Warner have introduced bipartisan legislation that would create a task force to combat the growing issue of payment scams.
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June 10, 2025
Privacy Corner: House rules apply for navigating live streams on Twitch, VP says
Since live streams can be a tricky area to moderate, Twitch’s community health team is building the tools to do that in real-time, nudging people, and reminding them of their manners.
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June 10, 2025
FTC wants lawmakers to cut budget by $42 million
Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson has done something few agency heads ever do — asked Congress to reduce the agency’s budget.
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June 10, 2025
‘Attention Economy’ workshop amplifies need to protect children’s safety online
The number of moms with school-aged kids who are serving in the Senate is few, according to Senator Katie Britt, who says the dual role informs her about social media’s perils.
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June 10, 2025
People
Antitrust scholar Francis wins top AAI research award