Category Archives: Federal Trade Commission

Fast Company article on surveillance pricing

The article, Companies use this sneaky pricing trick to overcharge you. One lawmaker wants it banned, is by K.R. Callaway. Excerpt: Last year, the FTC launched an investigation into surveillance pricing, hoping to learn more about how companies were using personal data to change prices. The initial results, released in January, found that retailers were using everything from demographic […]

The myth of the bipartisan commission under Trump

According to American Banker’s Claire Williams, in an article headlined Republicans gear up for Dodd-Frank rollback, Democratic Representative Gregory Meeks said during a hearing yesterday “that he would be open to the idea of a bipartisan commission at the CFPB.” But President Trump claims the right to fire Democratic commissioners on so-called bipartisan commissions, even […]

Eighth Circuit cancels FTC’s subscription rule

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday nullified the Federal Trade Commission’s Click-to-Cancel rule. The rule addressed unfair and deceptive practices in subscriptions (or negative options marketing). The FTC aimed to remove misrepresentations in subscription practices and to generally make canceling subscriptions as easy as it is to sign up for them. In reversing the […]

Why does the administration see the FTC’s consumer protection efforts as ok but not the CFPB’s?

I hope some reporter will ask that question of someone in the Trump administration but I’m not sure who the person to ask would be. OMB Director and CFPB Interim Director Russell Vought? We have written at length about the administration’s attempts to shutter and shatter the CFPB. The FTC has certainly taken some hits, […]

FTC warns ticket reseller on new ‘junk fees’ rule

The Federal Trade Commission this week began work to enforce its new rule on unfair and deceptive fees. The Commission sent a warning letter to ticket reseller StubHub alleging that the company may have already violated the rule which went into effect May 12. The rule, which specifically applies to live-event ticketing and short-term lodging, […]

FTC Sues Uber for Deceptive Practices

The FTC currently has only three commissioners, all of whom are Republicans. There has been significant concern that the remaining commissioners will take a lax view as to both the agency’s rulemaking and enforcement authority. Nonetheless, today the Commission, with only 2 Commissioners participating due to a recusal, announced the filing of a complaint against […]