Trade Commission

Visa Inc. joined the Federal Trade Commission and the Better Business Bureau in a press conference on Dec. 17, 2009 to alert consumers to online deceptive marketing practices associated with free trials with a negative option feature.

According to a Visa survey, 29 percent of American consumers have fallen victim to deceptive marketing when unscrupulous e-commerce merchants require them to cancel or opt-out of a recurring charge for future products or services.

With free trials with a negative option feature, a company takes a consumers failure to cancel as permission to begin charging. While many merchants use this billing process appropriately, others pre-check consent boxes, bury the details of the offers in the terms and conditions and make cancellations or returns difficult, catching consumers in a cycle of recurring cha

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Jon Leibowitz ‘84 (NYU Law), currently a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and formerly the Democratic chief counsel and staff director of the U.S. Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, spoke on January 12 at NYU School of Law’s Public Interest Forum. In his talk, Leibowitz touched on his pre-FTC career and his experiences as a commissioner, which include cases about anticompetitive behavior in the pharmaceutical industry, predatory financial practices and spamming.

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http://www.socialmediatrafficblueprint.com

For Release: 10/05/2009
FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials Changes Affect Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, Celebrity Endorsements

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has approved final revisions to the guidance it gives to advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act.

The notice incorporates several changes to the FTCs Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, which address endorsements by consumers, experts, organizations, and celebrities, as well as the disclosure of important connections between advertisers and endorsers. The Guides were last updated in 1980.

Under the revised Guides, advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect. In contrast to the 1980 version of the Guides which allowed advertisers to describe unusual results in a testimonial as long as they included a disclaimer such as results not typical the revised Guides no longer contain this safe harbor.

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that material connections (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers connections that consumers would not expect must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other word-of-mouth marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement like any other advertisement is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims.

Celebrity endorsers also are addressed in the revised Guides. While the 1980 Guides did not explicitly state that endorsers as well as advertisers could be liable under the FTC Act for statements they make in an endorsement, the revised Guides reflect Commission case law and clearly state that both advertisers and endorsers may be liable for false or unsubstantiated claims made in an endorsement or for failure to disclose material connections between the advertiser and endorsers. The revised Guides also make it clear that celebrities have a duty to disclose their relationships with advertisers when making endorsements outside the context of traditional ads, such as on talk shows or in social media.

The Guides are administrative interpretations of the law intended to help advertisers comply with the Federal Trade Commission Act; they are not binding law themselves. In any law enforcement action challenging the allegedly deceptive use of testimonials or endorsements, the Commission would have the burden of proving that the challenged conduct violates the FTC Act.

The Commission vote approving issuance of the Federal Register notice detailing the changes was 4-0. The notice will be published in the Federal Register shortly, and is available now on the FTCs Web site as a link to this press release. Copies also are available from the FTCs Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTCs online https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,700 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTCs Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer topics.

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Cappnonymous helps to expose ebay once again.
Links found here:

COURT SAYS EBAY IS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE. SERIOUSLY.
http://tinyurl.com/lonupe
http://preview.tinyurl.com/lonupe

A Cheat Sheet of eBay’s Pending Announcement
http://tinyurl.com/ngghtx
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ngghtx

Where to Complain by Ming The Merciless:
1. US Department of Justice (DoJ)
Anti Trust Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
E-mail: antitrust.atr@usdoj.gov

How to submit a complaint:

http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm

2. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Consumer Response Center
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580

Mission: The Federal Trade Commission is the nation’s consumer protection agency. The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection works For The Consumer to prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace.

The Bureau:

–Enhances consumer confidence by enforcing federal laws that protect consumers

–Empowers consumers with free information to help them exercise their rights and spot and avoid fraud and deception

–Wants to hear from consumers who want to get information or file a complaint about fraud or identity theft

To report a company for a pattern and practice of suspected fraud:

1-877-382-4357

CAUTION: The FTC doe NOT resolve individual consumer complaints. Please confine your remarks whether verbal or written to ebay/PayPal policies you believe are illegal.

Online fraud complaint form:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

3. Securities and Exchange Commission
SEC Complaint Center
100 F Street NE
Washington, D.C. 20549-0213

http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce.shtml

Above link includes information about insider trading and sending tips and complaints.

1. Insider trading: http://www.sec.gov/divisions/enforce/insider.htm
2. Tips and Complaints: http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml

Online complaint forms: http://www.sec.gov/complaint/selectconduct.shtml

Hypthetically, if I were filing an SEC complaint, I’d strongly consider:

–False or misleading statements about a company (including false or misleading SEC reports or financial statements)

5. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA)
Chairman
House Energy and Commerce Committee
2204 Rayburn
House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone (202) 225-3976
Fax (202) 225-4099

LOS ANGELES OFFICE
8436 West Third Street, Ste 600
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Telephone 1 (310) 652-3095
Telephone 2 (818) 878-7400
Telephone 3 (323) 651-1040
Fax (323) 655-0502

http://waxman.house.gov/

6. Attorney Generals Office
California Department of Justice
Attn: Consumer Protection Division
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
(916) 322-3360

http://ag.ca.gov/contac/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL

7. Attorney General’s Office
2115 State Capitol
Lincoln, NE 68509

Consumer Protection Division: 800) 727-6432

Online complaint form:

http://www.ago.ne.gov/consumer/emailform/consumer_complaint.htm

Specific consumer complaints to the Attorney Generals against ebay/PayPal should be directed to the California and Nebraska Attorney general’s Office Division of Consumer complaints. Complaints could include PayPal holds on seller funds, ebay billing issues, PayPal confiscation of seller property, etc. PayPal complaints should be directed to both attorney generals’ office, and ebay complaints should be sent to California.

General comments:

– Emails and phone calls are fine, but SNAIL MAIL has more impact. PLEASE send all complaints with regular USPS mail.

– When filing and mailing WRITTEN complaints, spring for an extra envelope and stamp and send a copy to the San Jose Better Bureau. Little will come of it, BUT ebay MUST file a written response.

– Rep. Waxman has the ability to hold public hearings on the conduct of a business or industry. He has the power to subpoena executives past and present, past and present rank and file employees, and records. Consider the possibilities

8. San Jose Better Business Bureau
1112 S. Bascom Ave.
San Jose, CA 95128
Phone: (408) 278-7400

9. Ebay operates in all 50 states. Therefore sending copies of complaints or filing directly with your state’s attorney general’s office will make a difference if they receive enough complaints. Your can find your attorney general and consumer protection
information by using a search engine using these keywords (Your state) Attorney General Consumer Protection.

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