Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - Text of Press Releases
Speeches, news, and information from the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. The FTC's Bureau of Competition seeks to prevent business practices that restrain competition.

• FTC Wraps Up Case Against Alleged Bogus Business Opportunity Purveyors
  Defendants Surrender All Frozen Assets to Settle Charges Over Envelope Stuffing Income
• Agencies to Issue Proposed Rules and Guidelines that Address Accuracy and Integrity of Consumer Report Information and Rules to Allow Direct Disputes
  The Federal Trade Commission and the federal financial regulatory agencies (the Agencies) have approved proposed regulations and guidelines to help ensure the accuracy and integrity of information provided to consumer reporting agencies and to allow consumers to directly dispute inaccuracies with financial institutions and other entities that furnish information to consumer reporting agencies.
• Major Online Advertiser Settles FTC Charges. "Free" Gifts Weren't Free; Settlement Calls for $650,000 Civil Penalty
  A large online advertiser that drove traffic to its Web sites using spam e-mails with misleading subject lines has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it failed to disclose that consumers have to spend money to receive the so-called "free" gifts it offers.
• FTC Challenges A and PÂ’s Proposed Acquisition of Pathmark Supermarkets
  Companies Required to Sell Six Supermarkets in Staten Island and Shirley, New York
• FTC Releases Survey of Identity Theft in the U.S. Study Shows 8.3 Million Victims in 2005
  The Federal Trade Commission today released a survey showing that 8.3 million American adults, or 3.7 percent of all American adults, were victims of identity theft in 2005.
• FTC Reviews Environmental Marketing Guides, Announces Public Meetings
  First Workshop is January 8, 2008 on Carbon Offsets and Renewable Energy Certificates
• FTC Approves Final Consent Order in Sixth Alternative HRT Matter
  Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved the issuance of a final consent order in the sixth matter related to the advertising and sale of alternative hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products, Merilou Barnekow, individually and doing business as Women's Menopause Health Center.
• Federal Court Finds Kevin Trudeau in Civil Contempt
  On November 16, 2007, a U.S. District Court judge found Kevin Trudeau in contempt of court for violating a 2004 permanent injunction.
• Budget Rent-A-Car Settles FTC Charges; "Fuel" Fees Levied on Customers Who Returned Rental Cars With a Full Tank
  Budget Rent-A-Car has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it failed to adequately disclose a "fuel" fee automatically charged to customers who drove fewer than 75 miles.
• Court Halts Bogus Check Scam Targeting "Lottery Winners," Money Transfers Used to Defraud Consumers
  A federal district court has halted a bogus lottery and prize-promotion scam that provides victims with counterfeit cashier's checks and false promises of large cash prizes, pending trial.
• FTC, Tennessee Attorney General to Sponsor Advertising Workshop
  Green Lights and Red Flags: Rules of the Road for Advertisers and Businesses
• Commission Approves Final Consent Orders in Five Alternative HRT Matters
  Commission approval of final consent orders: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved the issuance of final consent orders in five matters related to the advertising and sale of alternative hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products.
• FTC Challenges Schering-Plough's Acquisition of Organon BioSciences N.V.
  Companies Required to Sell Rights and Assets Related to Three Poultry Vaccines to Wyeth
• FTC Chairman Provides Keynote Address at Seventh Annual Antitrust Fall Forum
  Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras today presented the keynote address at the ABA Antitrust Section's 2007 Fall Forum in Washington, DC.
• FTC to Host One-Day Workshop on Unilateral Effects in Merger Review
  Chairman Announces Early February Event at 2007 ABA Fall Forum
• Skipping the Mall for Holiday Shopping? Stay On Guard When You Are Online
  FTC and National Cyber Security Alliance Offer Safe Shopping Practices
• FTC Issues Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for Fiscal Year 2007
  Issuance of Commission report: The Commission has authorized the staff to release publicly the FTC's Performance and Accountability Report (PAR) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007.
• FTC Testifies on Cigarette Testing for Tar and Nicotine Yields
  Renews Recommendation that Congress Give Testing Authority to a Science-Based Public Health Agency
• FTC Receives Petition for Approval of Proposed Divestiture from Kyphon, Inc.
  Petition for approval of proposed divestiture: The Commission has received a petition from Kyphon, Inc. requesting approval of a proposed divestiture related to its recent acquisition of certain assets from Disc-O-Tech Medical Technologies, Ltd. and Discotech Orthopedic Technologies, Inc. (collectively Disc-O-Tech).
• Court Affirms Ruling: Magazine Seller Will Pay More Than $7 Million
  On October 22, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court's judgment ordering a magazine subscription seller to pay a civil penalty of more than $5.4 million and give up more than $1.6 million of his ill-gotten gains for violating a 1996 Federal Trade Commission consent order and the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule.
• FTC Announces Law Enforcement Crackdown on Do Not Call Violators
  Six Settlements Require Payment of Nearly $7.7 Million in Civil Penalties; Additional Complaint Charges Telemarketer with Multiple DNC-Related Violations
• Commission Receives Petition to Reopen and Modify Order in Matter of Nine West Group; FTC Approves Final Consent Order in Matter of Merck KGaA and Mylan Laboratories
  Petition to reopen and modify order: The Commission has received a petition from Nine West Group, Inc. to reopen and modify a prior FTC order. Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved a final consent order in the matter concerning Merck KGaA and Mylan Laboratories, Inc.
• Nationwide Debt Collector Will Pay $1.3 Million to Settle FTC Charges
  A Texas-based debt collection company will pay more than $1.3 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it misled, threatened, and harassed consumers in violation of federal law.
• FTC Creates Consumer Hotline for Consumers Who Paid for Debt Reduction Services
  The Federal Trade Commission has created a consumer hotline for consumers who purchased "debt reduction services" from Edge Solutions, Money Cares, the Debt Settlement Company, the Debt Elimination Center, and Pay Help Inc.
• FTC Staff Files Mortgage Disclosure Comments With Banking Agencies
  The Federal Trade Commission today released staff comments to the federal banking agencies – the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision, and the National Credit Union Administration – in response to their request for comments on proposed illustrations of consumer information for subprime mortgage lending.
• Agencies Issue Final Rules on Identity Theft Red Flags and Notices of Address Discrepancy
  The Federal Trade Commission and the federal financial institution regulatory agencies have sent to the Federal Register for publication final rules on identity theft “red flags” and address discrepancies.
• Las Vegas Company, Businessman Banned fr