Tag: FTC

In the United States, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is charged with protecting consumers in the marketplace. Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a)(1) prohibits companies from utilizing “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce”. This standard has been applied to protect consumers from deceptive pricing schemes. With retail […]

The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently released its 2017 Annual Privacy and Data Security Update (click here; for the direct link to the Update, click here and then click on the PDF link provided). We see seven compelling reasons to read the 2017 FTC Update and to take data breaches seriously: 1. The Number of […]

A recent California case reminds businesses and website owners that browsewrap and clickwrap agreements must be conspicuous for courts to enforce them. See Long v. Provide Commerce, Inc., 245 Cal.App.4th 855 (2nd Dist. 2016). It may be time to review your agreements to ensure they still comply with existing law. What are Clickwrap and Browsewrap […]

As many know, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) regulates unfair and deceptive business practices including such practices on the internet. One of the more vexing recent issues has been business use of “consumer” reviews, “likes,” rating systems and similar types of product and service endorsements on websites and on social media. In September 2017, the […]

Businesses that engage in deceptive and unfair internet practices are subject to injunctions and large monetary damage awards under the Federal Trade Commission Act (“FTC Act”). Just as importantly, the owners and principals of businesses can be held personally liable. In the case discussed below, FTC v. Ross, the website owner was fined $163 million […]

In early September of 2017, it was reported that Equifax Inc., one of the country’s three leading credit reporting services, was subject to a cyberattack that resulted in the access by the hackers of financial and personal information of more than 143 million U.S. consumers. According to Equifax, the hacking occurred from mid-May through July […]

One technique that companies often use to advertise their product or service is by drawing comparisons against their competitor’s product or service. This advertising technique is known as comparative advertising. Comparative advertising specifically identifies the competitor by name and highlights discrepancies in the quality of the competitor’s product or service compared to its own product […]