FTCWatch
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October 29, 2024
Calendar
Oct. 30 — George Mason University’s Mercatus Center is hosting “A Conversation with FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak.” It will take place on Zoom from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. For more information, please go to: https://mercatus-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aGixMaqWQQmQEy2WlPnXbQ#/registration.
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October 29, 2024
Tapestry-Capri merger decision endorses flexible US market definitions
Handbag-makers Tapestry and Capri Holdings repeatedly told a US judge examining their planned merger that the Federal Trade Commission’s “accessible luxury” handbag market definition is too complex and imprecise to be valid.
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October 29, 2024
Lyft pays $2.1 million fine for deceptive earnings claims
The Federal Trade Commission settled with ridesharing company Lyft for $2.1 million after being accused of misleading drivers about potential earnings.
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October 29, 2024
Evans Concrete sentenced over bid-rigging scheme
Evans Concrete and four individuals were sentenced for participating in a bid-rigging conspiracy in the concrete industry in Georgia, the Department of Justice said.
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October 29, 2024
Elite colleges hit with new suit alleging antitrust violations
Colleges are in the antitrust crosshairs again following a class action alleging that a group of them colluded to give less financial aid to students whose parents are divorced.
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October 29, 2024
Neil Averitt commentary: Courts help algorithmic collusion beat the rap
Centralized, computerized price-fixing is a pressing concern for private plaintiffs and antitrust agencies alike, as in cases like RealPage. But it’s been unreasonably hard to sell this concept to district court judges.
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October 29, 2024
Sensitive health information must be guarded, FTC lawyer says
As healthcare becomes an increasingly sensitive topic — with some procedures newly criminalized — the Federal Trade Commission wants to rein in significant privacy violations by health-related applications and websites, said Robin Rosen Spector, a lawyer for the commission’s Division of Privacy and Identity Protection.
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October 29, 2024
Bedoya calls for authenticity in ads for seafood restaurants
A member of the Federal Trade Commission took a step to ensure the nation’s largest seafood restaurants aren’t giving customers a false impression about where their catch is actually being caught.
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October 29, 2024
FTC partners with AARP to protect older Americans from scams
A report from the Federal Trade Commission shows what the agency — in conjunction with organizations like the AARP — has been able to accomplish in terms of protecting older Americans from fraud in recent years.
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October 29, 2024
Car rule in limbo amid litigation
The Federal Trade Commission rule that would beef up the procedures regarding automobile sales remains on hold, pending the outcome of a challenge being heard by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
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October 29, 2024
On the Shelf: Bite-sized takes on presidents and the presidency
The presidency is heavily chronicled but often misunderstood.
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October 29, 2024
Industry groups fight FTC over subscription rule
Industry groups are challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s “click-to-cancel” rule, which would require sellers to make it as easy for consumers to cancel their enrollment as it was to sign up. The agency announced the final rule on Oct. 16.
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October 29, 2024
Qargo Coffee settles over franchise rule violations
Coffee shop franchise Qargo Coffee and its founders agreed to a $30,000 settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for failing to disclose critical information required under the franchise rule.
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October 29, 2024
People — Former DOJ attorney joins McGuireWoods
A onetime assistant chief in the Department of Justice has departed government to join the Washington, DC, office of the Richmond, Virginia-based law firm McGuireWoods.
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October 15, 2024
Bipartisan overhaul of HSR form shows FTC’s Dems, Republicans can work together
When the Federal Trade Commission announced long-awaited changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act premerger notification requirements last week, it was the first time in the rule’s 45-year history that such a major overhaul had taken place — and it was accomplished with a 5-0 vote. Two years ago, when the agency had two different Republican commissioners, unanimity on big issues was rare.
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October 15, 2024
Privacy Corner: Georgetown Law’s Ohm advised FBI on privacy
Georgetown Law Professor Paul Ohm landed his first job as a lawyer with the Department of Justice in the early 2000s. Computer programming had offered the perfect segue.
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October 15, 2024
Rule banning fake reviews takes effect Oct. 21
“I was disappointed when this product arrived,” the three-star review on Amazon said. “The pop tarts were just crumbles.” Compare that to this snippet from a review of another product posted about a decade ago on Amazon alongside a five-star rating: “I am in-love with this product.”
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October 15, 2024
In hurricane aftermath, feds act to clean up disinformation
Along with a recent storm came a torrent of disinformation, causing state and federal officials, including those at the Federal Trade Commission, to set the record straight on scams and other falsehoods related to the hurricane.
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October 15, 2024
Calendar
Oct. 30 — George Mason University’s Mercatus Center is hosting “A Conversation with FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak.” It will take place on Zoom from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. ET. For more information, please go to: https://mercatus-org.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_aGixMaqWQQmQEy2WlPnXbQ#/registration.
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October 15, 2024
DOJ gets another guilty plea in asphalt bid-rigging probe
The Department of Justice secured a guilty plea from a sixth individual in a bid-rigging investigation targeting the Michigan asphalt industry.
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October 15, 2024
On the Shelf: A Supreme Court justice describes how she got there
Supreme Court justices tend to write two kinds of books, either coming-of-age memoirs or analyses of some aspect of the law.
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October 15, 2024
Antitrust enforcers vow to safeguard AI markets at G7 summit
The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission pledged to safeguard developing artificial intelligence markets at a global competition summit held in Rome.
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October 15, 2024
Hess CEO banned from Chevron board
The Federal Trade Commission banned John B. Hess from being appointed to Chevron’s board of directors as part of the proposed Chevron-Hess deal, citing antitrust concerns.
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October 15, 2024
Marriott settles with FTC, states over data breaches
The Federal Trade Commission settled with Maryland-based hotel chain Marriott International and its subsidiary Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide after three data breaches that affected more than 300 million people globally.
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October 15, 2024
Neil Averitt commentary: Surveillance pricing and the Walmart-Vizio deal
We saw in the last issue that the Federal Trade Commission is studying individualized or “surveillance” pricing, looking first at its obvious consumer protection effects. But a firm’s ability to set individual prices can also be relevant in assessing antitrust cases. The agency’s review of the Walmart-Vizio merger gives it a chance to think about those competitive implications.