Blog

Today, the FTC announced a lawsuit against four individuals alleging that they have promoted one or more fraudulent “chain referral schemes.” Such schemes are not new – in fact, the FTC has brought chain referral cases for years. What makes today’s announcement interesting is that the alleged schemes used bitcoin, a cryptocurrency. (The FTC brought its first cryptocurrency-related case in June 2015, another in February 2016, and held a public...

When the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection started the Business Blog in 2010, we promised readers “a minimum of ho-hum, a maximum of how-to, and as little yadda yadda yadda as a legal website can manage.” More than 1,000 Business Blog posts later and we’re still striving to keep things engaging and enlightening (although being a legal website and all, we’ve succeeded is cutting out only two of the yaddas). The FTC’s unique dual mission is to...

Medical professionals, consumer advocates, industry members, and law enforcers are gathering in Washington right now in anticipation of today’s workshop, The Contact Lens Rule and the Evolving Contact Lens Marketplace. Panelists will scrutinize issues related to competition in the marketplace, consumer access to contact lenses, prescription release and portability, and other topics. Even if you couldn’t make it to DC, you can be an eyewitness to...

Every business wants to forge an ongoing relationship with their customers. That principle takes on special significance for mobile device manufacturers when they need to issue security patches for the operating system software on their phones and tablets. Once devices are in consumers’ hands, are they getting the patches they need to protect against critical vulnerabilities? Are companies deploying those patches in a timely fashion and for a...

Once bitten, twice shy. That fundamental principle of human behavior is why reputable businesses that work hard to earn consumers’ confidence should support the FTC’s ongoing efforts to fight fraud. According to the FTC’s 2017 Consumer Sentinel Data Book, consumers reported losing a total of $905 million to fraud last year. That’s close to a billion bucks people won’t be able to spend on legitimate products and services from credible companies...

The FTC is eyeing its Contact Lens Rule and has announced the agenda for a March 7, 2018 workshop, The Contact Lens Rule and the Evolving Contact Lens Marketplace. The Contact Lens Rule, in place since 2004, requires prescribers to give patients their complete contact lens prescription after a fitting, whether the patient asks for it or not. The Rule also says that prescribers must verify the prescription – or provide a copy – in response to a...

The FTC is eyeing its Contact Lens Rule and has announced the agenda for a March 7, 2018, workshop, The Contact Lens Rule and the Evolving Contact Lens Marketplace. In place since 2004, the Contact Lens Rule requires prescribers to automatically give patients their complete contact lens prescription after a fitting. The Rule also says that prescribers must verify the prescription – or provide it – in response to a request from an authorized third...

If you’ve been following the FTC’s lawsuit against AT&T alleging deceptive and unfair data throttling, there’s important news. A unanimous en banc decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in the FTC’s favor on a key issue involving the agency’s jurisdiction. You’ll want to read the opinion for the details, but here’s what Acting Chairman Ohlhausen said about it: “I welcome the Ninth Circuit’s ruling as good news...

Right now DC is the place to be for people interested in the latest on consumer privacy and data security. The FTC’s third PrivacyCon begins at 9:15 ET on Wednesday, February 28, 2018, with opening remarks from Acting Chairman Ohlhausen. Like the first two PrivacyCons, this year’s event features many of the biggest names in the research world discussing their findings. But this time there’s more. Three new additions: 1) a deeper dive into the...

Advances in payment methods could end those open-wallet debates about who owes what for the pizza. But as innovative technologies change how people pay for things, established consumer protection principles apply. An FTC complaint against peer-to-peer payment service Venmo – now operated by PayPal – alleges that the company failed to disclose material information about the availability of consumers’ funds. In addition, the lawsuit challenges...