ftc posts

As the Internet interposes itself into our lives, broadband Internet access has become increasingly necessary for work, recreation, and fellowship. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), thanks to money set aside in the Recovery Act, is creating a National Broadband Plan, and it would like your help in establishing the current baseline level of service.

The FCC has created a Web site, Broadband.gov, and beseeches you to visit the page and use the embedded test to determine the quality of the broadband you currently enjoy (or document your lack thereof). I did so (results above) and found that my Internet service provider was giving me what I subscribed for.

Have you ever placed an order with a company and then discovered a monthly charge was being made to your credit card? Or do you have such a long list of charges on your statement that you might not even notice you've been a victim of "negative option marketing?"

With this type of marketing, you accept a merchant's offer for a free product or service and then your billing information is used to enroll you in a subscription or membership offer you never signed up for.

Why do companies use this sleazy tactic? Because it's the most effective way to bring new customers on board. According to testimony by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, fewer than 15% of consumers will sign up for a service if they get a solicitation, but that number jumps to 80% if they're recruited using negative option marketing.

LifeLock, Inc., which paraded its CEO's Social Security number on the side of a truck to bolster claims the company could prevent identity theft, reached a $12 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and 35 states over misleading advertising charges.

"While LifeLock promised consumers complete protection against all types of identity theft, in truth, the protection it actually provided left enough holes that you could drive a truck through it," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a written statement.

To settle the charges, the company agreed to stop making claims about how its service could prevent identity theft, monitor all activity of all its customers and to render their personal information useless to identity thieves. And, ironically, the company also had to agree to protect its customers' information, something the FTC said it had been lax about.

Controversial author and late-night infomercial king Kevin Trudeau is battling to keep himself out of jail. His lawyers were scheduled to appear before a federal appeals court Tuesday in hopes of reversing a decision to send Trudeau to jail for a month on contempt of court charges.

But he won a reprieve Friday when the appeals court extended the appeals process into March -- allowing Trudeau to remain free while lawyers do their thing.

Trudeau was found in criminal contempt earlier this month after exhorting his followers to unload a barrage of emails on U.S. District Court Judge Robert Gettleman. Trudeau later said he merely wanted to show the judge that people had benefited from the book that is the subject of the court case.

The Federal Trade Commission and Ohio Attorney General Rob Cordray announced a crack down on the growing number of work at home and job search scams aimed at exploiting job seekers.

A sweep, known as "Operation Bottom Dollar," has already resulted in 44 criminal actions at the federal level and 18 at the state level. Settlements have been reached with four other companies, including Job Safety USA (charges were brought against the company in Maryland), Career Hotline, Inc. (charges were brought against the company in Tampa, Fla.), Penbrook Productions (doing business in Irvine, California) and International Marketing (charges were brought against the company in Puerto Rico).

Kevin Trudeau, the star of late night long-form TV ads promoting his own books filled with questionable claims, will be the first one to tell you of his contempt for the government and courts that have tried to rein him in.

The normally cocky and unapologetic pitchman with a large and loyal following left U.S. District Court in Chicago with his tail between his legs after being held in criminal contempt of court. Trudeau tapped into the raw energy of those who cling to his words like the gospel and asked them to email notes of support for him to Judge Robert Gettleman. The judge got the message as hundreds upon hundreds of emails filled his inbox -- still pouring in even as Trudeau stepped into the courtroom.

If you've bought a wonderfully smooth, silky feeling piece of clothing supposedly made from environmentally-friendly bamboo -- chances are you've been duped.

More than six dozen companies -- including some of the nation's biggest retailers -- are being warned by the Federal Trade Commission to stop mislabeling clothing and textiles made of rayon as being made from bamboo. In all, the FTC contacted 78 companies, including Wal-Mart, Target, Saks and Nordstrom, that they could be in violation of federal law by making the claim.

More than 356,000 victims of a massive nationwide telemarketing scam will be sent checks totaling more than $14 million, the Federal Trade Commission said.

The telemarketing operation was run by Suntasia Marketing of Largo, Fla., which allegedly deceived nearly a million people into joining buyers' and travel clubs between 1999 and 2007, the FTC said in a news release. A permanent injunction shutting down the operation, which took in more than $170 million, was filed in federal court a year ago. The company's principals also agreed to sell their homes, boats and vehicles to add to the compensation fund.

Eight groups have filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Facebook's new privacy settings for its 350 million users. The 29-page complaint accuses Facebook of deceptive practices, violating "user expectations" and diminishing privacy.

The ringleader is the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based group focused on civil liberties, although it's also joined by nine other consumer protective groups, including the American Library Association, in the complaint.

Even if you don't know Kevin Trudeau by name, you'll likely recognize his face. You've probably seen him while channel surfing during a bout of insomnia; he's the perfectly coiffed guy who confidently explains to one or more women on his talk show style-infomercials about having the answers for all that worries you -- from illness to money.

Trudeau is a legendary figure in the world of infomercials, with a charismatic approach that has won him a legion of followers. Over the years, he's offered us advice on how to beat cancer, improve our memory, read faster, lose weight and straighten out our finances. Now he's onto the next life-altering topic. Trudeau is currently saturating the infomercial airwaves with 30-minute segments about his latest book: "Free Money 'They' Don't Want You to Know About."

Trudeau has sold millions of books that dole out his expansive range of advice. Yet, one thing his adoring fans might not realize is that the charming pitchman on the television is also a convicted felon who has been slammed with an extraordinary series of sanctions by the FTC for allegedly misleading consumers. Currently, there is a $40 million-plus fine looming over Trudeau's head in an ongoing court battle with the Federal Trade Commission. A judge even gave him the distinction of being the only pitchman banned from doing infomercials.

When the concept of "Mommyblogging" first hit big, scoring a payday meant getting a book deal, and the only scandal was how some of the novels produced pumped up the sex content over the spit-up.

But then the tables turned and somehow the term became a pejorative for "sell-out." Now moms who blog stand accused at every turn of taking freebies, shilling products while secretly on the company payroll and of profiting from a huge payola system of their own devise.

There must be money involved if the Federal Trade Commission saw fit to intervene and start requiring bloggers to disclose freebies or financial relationships as of Dec. 1. But is a pot of gold really out there for bloggers?

"Hi. This is Rachel from Cardholder Services." It's safe to say that millions of Americans have received a call from Rachel or one of her robo-calling cohorts at some point. In fact, there have been so many complaints about calls from robo-dialers with pre-recorded announcements that the government has almost entirely banned them.

As of September 1, the Federal Trade Commission barred all prerecorded telemarketing calls unless a consumer gives their written permission to receive them furst. Robo-soliciting over cell phones was already prohibited by the Federal Communications Commission several years ago.

Just don't tell that to Rachel. She doesn't appear to be slowing down -- and, at least for the time being, no one can stop her because it's not clear where she comes from.

BlueHippo.com, which markets itself as a way for the credit-challenged to buy a new computer and other electronics, has been ripping off its customers and should be ordered to stop, the Federal Trade Commission told a federal judge today.

"BlueHippo is a company with a business model based on deceit," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. The company is also allegedly operating in violation of a 2008 agreement to settle a previous case brought by the FTC.

Among its complaints, the FTC says BlueHippo took in $15 million under the guise of financing computer purchases for their customers, but it neither provided the financing nor the computers. Fewer than 1 percent of customers received what they signed up for, the FTC said.

A call to BlueHippo's designated phone number for the media rolls into a voice mail that doesn't accept messages. And a call to their spokesman at the Washington, D.C. offices of an international public relations firm was not returned.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd unveiled his financial reform package on Tuesday and consumers could win big if the bill becomes law. Dodd proposes a strong Consumer Financial Protection Agency whose sole job will be to protect American consumers from fraud and abuse. He wants to be sure people get the clear information they need on loans and other financial products from credit card companies, mortgage brokers, banks and others.

Dodd introduced the bill along with fellow committee members Jack Reed, Charles Schumer, Robert Menendez, Daniel Akaka, Jon Tester, Mark Warner, Jeff Merkley and Michael Bennet -- all Democrats, so at least it looks as though this may be a partisan effort, but the issue is so important I hope it can become a bipartisan bill.

Have you ever wondered if that blogger is really a flogger pushing a product or service just a little too hard?

Starting December 1, bloggers promoting any kind of stuff from a company must admit if they got cash or gifts to do so. This means blogging will be goverment-regulated for the first time. The new rules don't apply to you if you tried the new Italian restaurant down the street and go onto your own personal blog to rave about how it was the best meal ever. They do apply to you if the restaurant gave you a big discount, a free meal or other goodies just to spur you to rave about it in your blog. This means bloggers must follow the rules, care of the Federal Trade Commission, that every advertiser already does now, making information they give about products more accurate for those of us reading them. (Uos WalletPop bloggers have to follow traditional journalism rules when it comes to our posts -- we don't take cash or gifts from companies to write about them, we just write the cold, hard truth and our honest opinions.)