The Federal Trade Commission charged a telemarketing operation with bilking millions of dollars from thousands of consumers by tricking them into buying what they believed was comprehensive health insurance, when in fact they had paid for something decidedly less. At the FTC’s request, a federal court stopped the defendants from marketing or selling any products […]
Monthly Archives: October 2012
FTC Settlements Require Equifax to Forfeit Money Made by Allegedly Improperly Selling Information about Millions of Consumers Who Were Late on Their Mortgages
One of the largest U.S. consumer reporting agencies, Equifax Information Services LLC, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it improperly sold lists of consumers who were late on their mortgage payments. In two separate actions, both Equifax and the companies that allegedly bought and resold the information from it will pay a […]
FTC Cracks Down on Phony Mortgage Relief Schemes
The Federal Trade Commission has filed three separate suits in federal court to halt the allegedly deceptive tactics of three operations that preyed on distressed homeowners by falsely claiming they could save their homes from foreclosure, and then charging them thousands of dollars up-front, while delivering little or no help and often driving them deeper […]
FTC Submits Amicus Brief Explaining that Drug Companies Use No-Authorized Generic Agreements to Delay Generic Competition
The Federal Trade Commission filed an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey stating that an agreement by a branded drug company not to launch an authorized generic (AG) drug “provides a convenient method for branded drug firms to pay generic patent challengers for agreeing to delay entry.” In […]
FTC Seeks Public Comment on Kinder Morgan’s Application to Sell Pipeline Assets
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment on an application by energy company Kinder Morgan, Inc. requesting FTC approval for the company to sell certain natural gas pipeline and other assets to Tallgrass Energy Partners, LP. Kinder is required to sell Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission LLC, its interest in the Rockies Express Pipeline, […]
FTC Puts Conditions on UHS’s Proposed Acquisition of Ascend Health Corporation
Hospital management company Universal Health Services, Inc. will sell an acute inpatient psychiatric facility in the El Paso, Texas/Santa Teresa, New Mexico area to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that UHS’s proposed acquisition of Ascend Health Corporation would be anticompetitive. The settlement is the latest example of the FTC’s work to protect consumers from anticompetitive […]
FTC Announces Agenda for Robocall Summit on October 18, 2012
The Federal Trade Commission today announced the agenda for its upcoming Robocall Summit, which will be held in Washington, DC, on October 18, 2012. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz will provide opening remarks, and will be joined at the event by experts in the fields of law enforcement, telemarketing and telecommunications. During the last two years […]
Operator of Celebrity Fan Websites to Pay $1 Million to Settle FTC Charges that It Illegally Collected Children’s Information Without Their Parents’ Consent
The operator of fan websites for music stars Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Demi Lovato, and Selena Gomez has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by improperly collecting personal information from children under 13 without their parents’ consent. The FTC charged that the website operator, Artist […]
FTC Seeks U.S. Supreme Court Review in AndroGel “Pay-for-Delay” Case
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, the Solicitor General of the United States petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a recent federal appeals court ruling concerning the FTC’s case against a “pay-for-delay” agreement that postponed generic competition for the testosterone-replacement drug AndroGel. The filing, known as a petition for certiorari, was made […]
FTC Halts Massive Tech Support Scams
The Federal Trade Commission has launched a major international crackdown on tech support scams in which telemarketers masquerade as major computer companies, con consumers into believing that their computers are riddled with viruses, spyware and other malware, and then charge hundreds of dollars to remotely access and “fix” the consumers’ computers. At the request of […]