Internet Law

FTC Places Online Marketplaces on Notice of Obligations Under INFORM Consumer Act

The Federal Trade Commission has recently sent letters to 50 online marketplaces nationwide notifying them about their obligation to comply with the new Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act – or the INFORM Consumers Act – as soon as it takes effect on June 27, 2023. “The INFORM Consumers Act…

FTC Explores Environmental Claims and Civil Penalty Rulemakings

On May 23, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission hosted a national workshop designed to consider the current state of recycling practices and recycling-related advertising. This follows an FTC announcement in December 2022 that the agency was seeking public comment on potential updates and changes to its ‘Green Guides’ for the use of environment marketing claims. …

FTC Compliance and Defense Lawyer Discusses Existential Threat to Lead Generation Industry

As previously blogged about here, the FCC recently proposed a rule that would turn the lead generation on its head.  The proposed new rule goes quite a bit further than simply requiring wireless carriers to block texts from illegitimate numbers.  See more, here. In addition to carrier investigation and blocking obligations, as well as an extension of DNC…

FTC Legal Regulatory Considerations for Ecommerce Investment Management Providers

The Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those that advertise, market, distribute, promote and sell certain kinds of ecommerce management, business coaching, work-from-home and investment programs. In late 2022, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it was exploring changes to the Business Opportunity Rule in order to broadly expand on…

FTC Takes Action Against Medical Clinic and its Owner for Alleged Unsubstantiated Claims its Treatment Could Cure Addiction and Disease

The Federal Trade Commission recently announced that it has taken action under the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act (OARFPA), suing  a physician and a set of companies she controls that operate as AWAREmed Health & Wellness Resource Center, a medical clinic, for allegedly making a wide range of false or unsupported claims for addiction…

Richard Newman Quoted by Law.com on the FTC’s First Law Enforcement Challenging “Review Hijacking”

FTC advertising compliance and defense lawyer Richard B. Newman was recently quoted in an article for Law.com titled “FTC Bags First Settlement in Probe of ‘Review Hijacking’ in E-Commerce.” The article discusses the FTC’s first case alleging “review hijacking,” in which a marketer steals or repurposes reviews of another product.  The case involves a marketer…