FTCWatch
Current Issue: 1060

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.

 
 

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.

 
 

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.

 
 

GOP antitrust advocate Buck to leave Congress next year

Representative Ken Buck, who has led efforts to strengthen antitrust laws, is leaving Congress.

 
 

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.

 
 

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.

 
 

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.

 
 

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.

 
 

Google private browsing mode trial taking shape in US as witnesses named

With Google and a group of plaintiffs filing a joint witness list and their proposals for jury instructions, the framework is coming into focus for what would be the first-ever US class action privacy trial involving a large tech company, a trial that could reveal the inner workings of Google’s data-collection stack for the first time.

 
 

People

Newman returns to teaching law

 
 

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/.

 
 

FTC Briefs

 

Complaints about robocalls drop to five-year low, FTC finds

 

DOJ Briefs

 

Ex-president of asphalt paving firm pleads guilty to rigging bids