On Wednesday, July 27, I will be presenting at the California Lawyers Association IP Section’s conference on IP and the Internet, on the topic of the FTC and Online Reviews. Participation is virtual. 2022 IP AND THE INTERNET JULY 27 @ 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Schedule Link Registration Link See also:
House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ), along with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) the ranking Republican on the Committee, and Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) who is the ranking Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, released a discussion draft of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act which is a comprehensive national data…
The Federal Trade Commission’s Dot Com Disclosure guidelines, first issued in 2000 and updated in March 2013, have explained how to make consumer disclaimers on various digital platforms. The FTC has just announced that it is seeking to modernize the guidelines and its press release says it all – FTC Looks to Modernize Its Guidance…
When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) actually has guidelines concerning the use of a particular word, that would suggest caution in using that word. In this case, the word is “Free” and the FTC has guidelines concerning its usage which boils down to one sentence – “free” should mean “free”. Anyone watching this year’s exciting…
Fashion Nova, an online fashion retailer, agreed to pay $4.2 million as part of a consent decree with the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) in which it will be prohibited from suppressing customer reviews of its products. The FTC alleged in a complaint that Fashion Nova misrepresented that the product reviews on its website reflected the views of…
In December 2020, the Trump Federal Trade Commission filed an antitrust complaint (Case No. 1:20-cv-03590, D.D.C.) against Facebook which came [f]ollowing a lengthy investigation in cooperation with a coalition of attorneys general of 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam, the complaint alleges that Facebook has engaged in a systematic strategy—including its 2012 acquisition…
Throughout the Trump presidency, there have been calls for Twitter to act on the President’s tweets that were in apparent violation of its terms of service such as past tweets threatening nuclear war against North Korea and a photoshopped video showing him beating up CNN. Tweets by Trump and other world leaders led Twitter to…
The FTC announced that its coronavirus-related fraud complaints have doubled in the last week to 7,800. The top categories of coronavirus-related fraud complaints include travel and vacation related reports about cancellations and refunds, reports about problems with online shopping, mobile texting scams, and government and business imposter scams. In fraud complaints that mentioned the coronavirus,…
The Federal Trade Commission has released a new publication for online influencers that lays out the agency’s rules of the road for when and how influencers must disclose sponsorships to their followers. The new guide, “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers,” provides influencers with tips from FTC staff about what triggers the need for a disclosure…
The Internet Law Center’s award-winning newsletter featuring the debate over online privacy sparked by the California Consumer Privacy Act is below.
The Federal Trade Commission has released a series of fact sheets and an introductory video on cybersecurity basics. The factsheets begin with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework which gives businesses an outline of best practices to help decide where to focus time and money for cybersecurity protection. Other topics covered are: Cybersecurity begins with strong physical security Ransomware Phishing…
In January 2018, the New York Times did an expose on an obscure American company named Devumi that has collected millions of dollars in a shadowy global marketplace for social media fraud. Devumi sells Twitter followers and retweets to celebrities, businesses and anyone who wants to appear more popular or exert influence online. Drawing on…
Over the years, the Federal Trade Commission has emerged as the de facto traffic cop in addressing cybersecurity breaches. Two recent cases sought to challenge the FTC’s authority in this area. The first was Wyndham Worldwide Corporation which challenged the FTC’s authority over data security only to have the Third Circuit affirm’s the FTC’s authority. The…
Cyber Report 