REGULATORY REFORM UPDATE: MARCH 31 1997 Regulatory Reform Update: Negative Option Rule
As part of an ongoing review of the Rules and Guides it enforces, the Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comment about whether to retain, discard or amend the Negative Option Rule.
FOR RELEASE (Corrected): MARCH 31 1997 Autodesk, Softdesk Settle FTC Charges
Autodesk, Inc., has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its $90 million acquisition of Softdesk, Inc., as originally proposed, would have substantially lessened competition in the development and sale of computer-aided design (CAD) software engines.
March 28, 1997
For Your Information(Corrected): MARCH 28 1997 Announced Actions for March 28, 1997
The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions.
MEDIA ADVISORY : MARCH 28 1997 Media Advisory FTC TO CONSUMERS -- NO MORE APRIL FOOLS
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 27 1997 North Carolina Hosiery Mill Agrees To Settle Charges It Sold Misbranded Socks to National Retail Chain
Mauney Hosiery Mills, Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the company violated the FTC's Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (Textile Act) when it sold to national retailer The Gap, Inc. a line of socks -- the "Granite Ragg" sock -- that were mislabled as to their fiber content.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 25 1997 Regulatory Reform Update: Dry Cell Battery Rule
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comments from the public on whether to repeal its Dry Cell Battery Rule, which prohibits representations that dry cell batteries will not leak.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 25 1997 Regulatory Reform Update: Hobby Protection Act Rules
The Federal Trade Commission is seeking public comments on its Hobby Protection Act Rules, which require imitation political items -- such as buttons, posters, coffee mugs and the like -- to be marked with the calendar year they were manufactured, and imitation numismatic items -- including coins, tokens and paper money -- to be marked with the word "copy."
For Your Information: MARCH 25 1997 Announced Action(s) for March 25, 1997 J.C. Penney Company, Inc. and Thrift Drug, Inc. have applied for FTC approval to divest 161 Thrift Drug retail stores in North and South Carolina to a newly formed company, New Kerr Drug, which will conduct business under the name Kerr Drug.
March 21, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 21 1997 Judge Bars NY Firm from Offering FCC License Services in Win for FTC
A federal district court judge has barred New York City-based Micom Corporation and company principal Joseph M. Viggiano from offering any investment that involves a license or permit issued by the federal government, and any application filing service in connection with a government-issued permit or license.
March 18, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 18 1997 Federal, State, Local Conference--"Reinventing Consumer Partnerships" for the 21st Century
Scores of federal, state and local officials and private sector organizations will gather at a conference on "Reinventing Consumer Partnerships" jointly sponsored by Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection and its Atlanta Regional Office Wednesday, March 19, in Atlanta.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 18 1997 FTC Says Defendants in Job Services Case to Turn Over Nearly $2.3 Million for Redress
Atlanta-based Career Information Services, Inc. and CIS Associates, Inc., and their senior officers, have agreed to settle charges that they defrauded consumers seeking federal jobs out of millions of dollars, the Federal Trade Commission announced today.
For Your Information: MARCH 18 1997 Announced Action(s) for March 18, 1997
The FTC has granted the application of Wesley-Jessen Corporation, of Des Plaines, Illinois, to divest the opaque contact lens business it acquired in its merger with Pilkington Barnes Hind International, Inc. to The Cooper Companies, Inc., of Irvine and Pleasanton, California.
March 17, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 171997 FTC Staff Works with Credit Counseling Agencies
A new policy hammered out by the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC) with guidance from staff of the Federal Trade Commission will ensure that financially-troubled consumers who seek help from one of NFCC’s 1,100 Consumer Credit Counseling Services offices nationwide will be told that the offices receive the bulk of their funding from creditors.
For Your Information: MARCH 14 1997 Announced Actions for March 14, 1997
The FTC has granted the application of Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, New Jersey, to divest Cordis Corporation’s neuroscience business to Elekta AB, a Swedish corporation which has offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Miami, Florida.
March 13, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 13 1997 FTC, States "Trip-Up" Travel-Related Scams in Latest Joint Fraud-Enforcement Sweep
Travel-related scams are taking off again, according to the Federal Trade Commission and 12 state Attorneys General, who today announced "Operation Trip-Up," a joint federal-state- local campaign targeting a wide range of vacation frauds.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 13 1997 Opening Statement of Jodie Bernstein, Director, BCP at Press Conference
Today we announce "Operation Trip-Up," a law enforcement and consumer education campaign to alert American consumers about the breadth of travel fraud that threatens to take off with their vacation dollars.
March 12, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 12 1997 FTC Accuses Gerber of False and Misleading Advertising
The Federal Trade Commission today announced an agreement with Gerber Products Company to resolve agency charges over Gerber’s claim that four out of five pediatricians recommend Gerber baby food.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 12 1997 Defendants in Florida Job Placement Fraud Case Settle FTC Charges
Orlando-based Linc II, Inc. and its president and owner, Betty Busler, have agreed to turn over $8,000 in frozen funds as part of a settlement of Federal Trade Commission charges that they engaged in a fraudulent job search service scheme.
March 11, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 11 1997 FTC Conducts Review of 900-Number Rule
The Federal Trade Commission is conducting a review of its 900-Number Rule to determine whether it has been effective in curbing abuses associated with 900-number services.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 11 1997 FTC Law Judge Upholds Charges Against Phony Antilock Brake Maker
A Federal Trade Commission Administrative Law Judge has found that the "ABS/Trax" add-on braking system marketed by Automotive Breakthrough Sciences, Inc. and ABS Tech Sciences, Inc., and purported to function just like factory-installed antilock brakes (ABS), does not, in fact, sense the rate of rotation of the automobile’s wheels or the degree of wheel slip in order to correct such slippage.
March 10, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 11 1997 FTC Will Seek To Block Staples/Office Depot Merger
Deal Would Violate Antitrust Laws and Lead to Higher Prices for Office Supplies in 18 States and the District of Columbia, Agency Says
March 7, 1997
For Your Information: MARCH 7 1997 Announced Actions for March 7, 1997
The consent order with The Boeing Company, of Seattle, Washington, settles charges that its acquisition of Rockwell International Corporation’s Aerospace and Defense business would violate antitrust laws by reducing competition in the markets for high altitude endurance unmanned air vehicles (UAV’s), and for space launch vehicles.
March 6, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 7 1997 Prize Promotion Telemarkteing Firm Agrees To Settle FTC Charges
Best Marketing, Inc. has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges brought in July 1996 as part of “Project Jackpot,” a major federal/state enforcement effort targeting firms that offered purportedly valuable prizes to consumers to induce them to purchase products.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 7 1997 FTC Denies CSPI's Petition for Rulemaking
The Federal Trade Commission's case-by-case approach to challenging deceptive practices and weight-loss claims in the diet industry has provided substantial improvements in truthful advertising and continues to provide significant benefits to consumers, the FTC said today in a letter to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
For Your Information: MARCH 4 1997 Announced Actions for March 4, 1997
The FTC has approved the application of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, a French firm, to divest the hot surface igniters business of The Carborundum Company to Graphite Sales, Inc., of Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
March 3, 1997
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 3 1997 Los Angeles Loan Brokers Settle FTC Fraud Charges
Los Angeles-based Amstar Finance Corporation, Amstar Investment Corporation and their owner, Bibekanand Satpathy, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they rarely, if ever, came through on their offer of business loans and venture capital for which consumers paid up- front fees averaging $3,000.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 3 1997 FTC Settlement To Ban Florida Job Search Service Marketers from Telemarketing and Job Placement Industries
The Federal Trade Commission has filed in federal district court settlement agreements that would ban three Florida individuals who allegedly ran a bogus employment services scheme from ever again engaging in another telemarketing operation or the activities of a job placement agency, or assisting others in such businesses.
FOR RELEASE: MARCH 3 1997 Apple Computer To Offer To Pay Consumers To Settle FTC Charges over False Advertising Claims
As part of a settlement of Federal Trade Commission charges, Apple Computer, Inc., has agreed to offer Power PC Upgrade Kits, at less than half the original list price, to each consumer who purchased one of three of the company’s entry-level “Performa” model personal computers.
