The FTC today announced four new enforcement actions and one new settlement alleging deceptive income claims in violation of the FTC Act. The FTC noted that these actions are part of a broader initiative branded as “Operation Income Illusion,” which it described as a crackdown “against the operators of work-from-home and employment scams, pyramid schemes,
Illinois Court Dismisses Neora’s Declaratory Judgment Suit against FTC on Jurisdictional Grounds
Turns out the best defense may not be a good offense, at least when litigating against the FTC. The Northern District of Illinois yesterday rejected an attempt by multi-level marketer Neora, LLC (formerly Nerium) to obtain a declaratory judgment that the company did not operate as a pyramid scheme and that the FTC was not
Webinar Replay: Product and Earnings Claims in the Time of COVID-19
The replay of our recent webinar Product and Earnings Claims in the Time of COVID-19 is available here.
The FTC has recently sent warning letters to hundreds of companies for allegedly falsely implying that products can be used to treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent COVID-19. The FTC has also issued warning letters for implied
FTC Sends Warning Letters to Ten MLMs about COVID-related Product and Earnings Claims
Last week, the FTC sent warning letters to ten multi-level marketing companies alleging that the companies failed to stop their participants from making deceptive product and earnings claims related to COVID-19. The letters request that the companies report within 48 hours what actions they have taken to stop their distributors from claiming their products can
Ad Law Access Podcast: Price Gouging
As COVID-19 continues to dominant the news and the effects sweep across the country and globe, one of the important issues that directly affects companies and consumers alike is price gouging. In fact, the AGs in 32 states sent a letter to online retail platforms (Amazon, eBay, Craigslist and others) urging them to do more
States Place New Restrictions on Collection Efforts and Outbound Calls Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have far-reaching effects on businesses and consumers everywhere. While many states are taking broadly consistent approaches on certain issues (e.g., price gouging, non-essential business closures), one area where we’ve seen significant divergence involves regulation of collection efforts – both by first party creditors and debt collectors. In
Retailers Should Keep Price Gouging Laws in Mind
If you’ve been shopping lately, it’s likely that you’ve encountered empty shelves and shortages of items, such as (for inexplicable reasons) toilet paper. This tends to happen whenever a disaster – whether that’s a hurricane or COVID-19 – strikes. In some cases, retailers respond to these shortages by increasing prices. Although there may be legitimate
Trust in Trustworthiness Ratings? Privacy Group EPIC Lodges Complaint with FTC Regarding Airbnb Ratings
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleging that Airbnb is violating the FTC Act and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by assigning “secret ratings to prospective renters, based on behavior traits using an opaque, proprietary algorithm.” EPIC is a non-profit that seeks to advance
CFPB Clarifies Standard for Determining “Abusive” Practices
The CFPB announced today a policy statement outlining three new principles that it intends to apply when evaluating whether practices are “abusive” under the Dodd-Frank Act. The Dodd-Frank Act marked the first time that a federal or state regulator was granted the authority to regulate broadly “abusive” acts and practices. While Dodd-Frank provided a general
FTC Launches Two More Actions under the Consumer Review Fairness Act, Requires Companies to Stop Restricting Reviews through Form Contracts
The FTC today announced two new actions under the Consumer Review Fairness Act against companies (CRFA) that allegedly used non-disparagement provisions in consumer form contracts in connection with selling their respective services to help rent properties. The two actions follow three CRFA actions last month, which we discussed here.
In the complaint against Shore