On September 25, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced five administrative complaints and proposed orders involving companies that – according to the agency’s press release – have allegedly relied on artificial intelligence (AI) to “supercharge deceptive or unfair conduct that harms consumers.” The FTC has dubbed this new initiative “Operation AI Comply.”
For over…
The staff of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a report that contains the staff’s findings from its review of disclosure statements from 70 multi-level marketers (MLMs). The report is just the latest in a series of attacks that the FTC has launched against the MLM industry and provides further insight into how the…
Last month, we wrote a blog recapping the Senate’s passage of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0) and the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) with a promise to keep a close eye on the House. You may recall that both pieces of legislation would significantly alter how minors are protected online. Well, we…
NAD 2024 is in the books. It was a jam-packed two days. You’ll hear more about the NAD conference on this site in the days to come, but here are a few quick highlights. First, the conference was notable for the number of senior FTC speakers. Bureau Director Sam Levine, Associate Director for Ad Practices…
Sorry folks, there is no punchline here, but there are bottom lines from a settlement the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced last week. We discuss three today: (1) the FTC continues to mount broad investigations and enter into settlements that include advertising, marketing and data security/privacy; (2) the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and…
It was late summer in 1921, and Roscoe Arbuckle – known familiarly to movie audiences as Fatty Arbuckle – had just signed a three-year deal with Paramount Pictures under which he would earn an unheard-of $1 million a year. To celebrate, his friends planned a Labor Day weekend party at San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel.…
Over the past few years, the regulation of per- or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products has exploded. While manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have focused on significant new consumer product PFAS regulations in California and New York (some of which will go into effect on January 1, 2025), the regulated community also must keep track…
As of relatively recently, gambling was generally prohibited in the United States. You could visit a casino in places like Las Vegas, participate in some state lotteries, and buy tickets for charitable raffles, but options for casino gaming or sports betting were typically limited. That changed in 2018, when the Supreme Court’s decision in Murphy…
The Final Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials was issued yesterday. It becomes effective 60 days after the rule is published in the Federal Register, which has not happened yet so no clock is ticking just yet. But it’s good for advertisers to have some time to get ahead of…
A makegood, as the name implies, is the mechanism by which a media provider will make the advertiser whole for advertisements that don’t run at all (e.g., media is preempted by a breaking news story) or run improperly (including in a manner that is inconsistent with campaign parameters or agreement terms), or for some other…
