Tag Archives: FTC

CNBC reports: The Federal Trade Commission on Friday asked that notorious “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli be held in contempt of court for forming a new drug company in violation of a judge’s ban on the convicted fraudster from working in the pharmaceuticals industry. Shkreli, who was released from prison last year, in February was banned “for life from directly or indirectly participating in any manner in the …

CNBC reports: Epic Games, the developer and publisher of the video game Fortnite, will pay $520 million in fines to settle with the FTC over violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The FTC had alleged that Epic paired children and teens “with strangers,” exposed them to “dangerous and psychologically traumatizing issues,” and failed to introduce adequate parental …

CNBC reports: The Federal Trade Commission is closely watching Twitter’s moves under new owner Elon Musk, a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. The agency struck a settlement with Twitter earlier, which granted it oversight of certain security and privacy practices at the company. “We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” an FTC spokesperson said in a …

Via press release from the FTC: The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against data broker Kochava Inc. for selling geolocation data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices that can be used to trace the movements of individuals to and from sensitive locations. Kochava’s data can reveal people’s visits to reproductive health clinics, places of worship, homeless and domestic …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Lions Not Sheep is a Utah-based clothing company launched in 2016 that makes stridently pro-America, pro-gun, pro-Trump shirts, hats and apparel. Every order comes with a free copy of the U.S. Constitution because they love America. So much so, in fact, that they had made a big deal about all their clothing being manufactured right …

Courthouse News reports: Apple will have to face claims the company profited off of criminal enterprise schemes featuring stolen gift cards after a federal judge declined to dismiss claims the company benefited monetarily from sophisticated schemes that employ fake apps to swindle consumers. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila dismissed some of the claims from a class of plaintiffs that said …

The Washington Post reports: Amazon doesn’t distinguish well enough between paid ads and organic search results, something that could trick consumers, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday. More than a quarter of search results on Amazon are paid ads, according to the complaint filed by the Strategic Organizing Center, a coalition of labor …

First, a reminder about the case: Jacob Wohl, a conservative activist known for his largely bumbling attempts to stage political scandals, has been charged with running a robocalling scheme to spread false election information. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel filed four felony charges today against Wohl and his partner Jack Burkman. They’re accused of targeting Detroit residents with calls that …

Politico reports: The Federal Trade Commission has filed a new antitrust complaint against Facebook, rebooting a high-stakes case to break up the social media giant after a federal judge tossed the agency’s original complaint in June. Progressive FTC Chair Lina Khan joined with her two Democratic colleagues in a 3-2 party-line vote Wednesday to file the new complaint. The agency’s …

From the Federal Trade Commission: The operators of the MoviePass subscription service have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations they took steps to block subscribers from using the service as advertised, while also failing to secure subscribers’ personal data. Under the proposed settlement, MoviePass, Inc., its parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics, Inc. (Helios), and their principals, Mitchell Lowe …

Law & Crime reports: The Federal Trade Commission accused disgraced pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli on Tuesday of having destroyed evidence relevant to a lawsuit that could lead to his lifetime ban from the industry. Regulators claim that the convicted fraudster invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked about a phone he used to conduct business from prison. “It …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan group of state attorneys general sued Facebook Inc. on Wednesday, bringing broad antitrust allegations that the social-media giant engaged in a yearslong campaign to buy up or freeze out nascent tech firms that one day might have become rivals. CNBC reports: The FTC alleges that Facebook engaged in …

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Trump is considering establishing a panel to review complaints of anti-conservative bias on social media, according to people familiar with the matter, in a move that would likely draw pushback from technology companies and others. The plans are still under discussion but could include the establishment of a White House-created commission that would examine …

Business Insider reports:  The Federal Trade Commission is mulling whether to file an injunction against the social networking giant that could block it from its plans to stitch together its WhatsApp messaging service with the chat features of Instagram and those of its core Facebook app. The injunction could also block the company from enforcing its rules about how apps …

CNBC reports: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday sued Match Group, the online dating service company that owns Tinder, OKCupid and other dating sites, alleging that it used fake love interest advertisements to trick consumers into buying paid subscriptions. Shares of Match Group dropped as much as 7% on the news, before recovering to be down around 3%. Match …

CNBC reports: Google’s YouTube will pay $170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general that it earned millions by illegally collecting personal information from children without their parents’ consent. The settlement, announced Wednesday, was passed in a 3-2 vote by the commissioners along party lines. The two Democrats voted against it, saying …

The Verge reports: The Federal Trade Commission formally announced its $5 billion settlement with Facebook on Wednesday morning, which is the culmination of a years-long investigation into the Cambridge Analytica scandal and other privacy breaches. In the agreement filed today, the FTC alleges that Facebook violated the law by failing to protect data from third parties, serving ads through the …

The Verge reports: Facebook has reportedly reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over repeated privacy violations, The Wall Street Journal reports. According to the Journal, the FTC voted this week to approve a $5 billion settlement, which has now moved to the Justice Department’s civil division for review. It is unclear how long the review will take. The …

The New York Times reports: As Federal Trade Commission lawyers investigated a Miami company accused of defrauding thousands of customers, they were stunned to learn last year about a new job for a figure in their inquiry, Matthew G. Whitaker: He had been named chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “You’re not going to believe this… Matt Whitaker …

The Miami Herald reports: A South Florida company that collected more than $100 million in premiums selling sham health insurance “for smart people” through a network of deceptive websites, including one called trumpcarequotes.com, was ordered by a federal judge to temporarily shut down following consumer complaints to the Federal Trade Commission. Simple Health Plans, based in Hollywood, lured “tens of …