January 31, 2002

• Release Date: January 31, 2002
  Pyramid Promoter Settles FTC Charges
  participant in a pyramid scheme that posed as a multi-level marketing business has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the scheme violated federal law.
• Release Date: January 31, 2002
  FTC Staff Opposes Alaska Proposal to Allow Physician Collective Bargaining
  Proposed Legislation Would Significantly Increase Consumer Health Care Costs
• For Release: January 31, 2002
  Deceptive Billers Agree to Settle FTC Charges
  Operators who allegedly sent bogus bills to consumers or charged their credit card accounts, claiming that the consumers owed money for audiotext or Internet services they did not order or authorize, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their practices violated federal law.

January 30, 2002

• For Release: January 30, 2002
  FTC/DOJ Hearings to Focus on the Implications of Competition and Patent Law and Policy
  Initial Hearing Scheduled for February 6, 2002

January 29, 2002

• For Your Information: January 29, 2002
  Announced Action for January 29, 2002
  Approval of publication of a Federal Register notice announcing changes in the two threshold figures that define when it is unlawful for an individual to serve as an officer or director of two or more competing corporations

January 25, 2002

• For Your Information: January 25, 2002
  Announced Action for January 25, 2002
  Approved publication of a Federal Register notice announcing that the Commission has allowed Australian law enforcement authorities access to the FTC's Consumer Sentinel database.

January 23, 2002

• For Release: January 23, 2002
  Identity Theft Heads the FTC's Top 10 Consumer Fraud Complaints of 2001
  Identity theft headed the top 10 consumer fraud complaints of 2001, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

January 22, 2002

• For Release: January 22, 2002
  FTC Proposes National "Do Not Call" Registry
  Commission Seeks Comment on Registry and Other Proposed Changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule

January 18, 2002

• Release Date: January 18, 2002
  FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Available to Discuss the FTC's Proposed Amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule
  Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Director J. Howard Beales III will be available TUESDAY, January 22, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss proposed amendments to the Telemarketing Sales Rule, including a proposal to create a national "Do Not Call" registry.
   
• FTC Commissioner Statements Regarding the Proposed DOJ and FTC Clearance Procedure Agreement
  • Statement of Commissioner Sheila F. Anthony
  • Statement of Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson
  • Statement of Commissioner Orson Swindle and Commissioner Thomas B. Leary
     
• For Release: January 18, 2002
  Eli Lilly Settles FTC Charges Concerning Security Breach
  Company Disclosed E-mail Addresses of 669 Subscribers to its Prozac Reminder Service
   
• For Your Information: January 18, 2002
  Announced Actions for January 18, 2002
  Denial of petition for modification or interpretation of injunctive decree in the Matter of Superior Court Trial Lawyers' Association; approval of final consent order concerning Royal Ahold NV and Bruno's Supermarkets, Inc.

• Release Date: January 18, 2002
  FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Available To Discuss Settlement of Alleged Violations of an Online Privacy Policy
  Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection Director J. Howard Beales III will be available TODAY, January 18, 2002 at 11:00 a.m. to discuss an FTC settlement with a corporation for alleged violations of its online privacy policy.

January 17,  2002

• Release Date: January 17, 2002
  FTC Commissioner Thomas Leary Speaks on "The Essential Stability of Merger Policy in the United States"
  Remarks Presented Today Before Joint U.S./E.U. Antitrust Conference in Paris
• Release Date: January 18, 2002
  FTC Chair and Antitrust Chief to Unveil Clearance Procedures for Antitrust Investigations at Press Conference
  Timothy J. Muris, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Charles A. James, Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice, will hold a press conference TODAY, January 17, 2002 at 1:00 p.m. in room 432 of the FTC, to unveil an agreement between the two agencies concerning clearance procedures for antitrust investigations.

January 16, 2002

• Release Date: January 16, 2002
  New York Marketer of Candy Machine Business Opportunities Barred from Falsely Stating Profitability Prospects
  Defendants Will Pay More Than $44,000 In Redress Under Commission Consent Order

January 15, 2002

• Release Date: January 15, 2002
  FTC to Challenge DGF Stoess's Proposed Acquisition of Leiner Davis
  Combined Firm Would Account for More Than 50 Percent of U.S. Sales of Pigskin and Beef Hide Gelatin
• Release Date: January 15, 2002
  Federal Trade Commission Issues "Facts for Business" Guide on Complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act
  Publication Specifically Aimed at Landlords who are Residential Property Owners

January 14, 2002

• For Your Information: January 14, 2002
  FTC v. Libbey, Inc. and Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.
  The Federal Trade Commission today filed its complaint for a preliminary injunction to block Libbey, Inc.'s (Libbey) proposed $332 million acquisition of Anchor Hocking (Anchor), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Newell Rubbermaid, Inc.
   
• Release Date: January 14, 2002
  Skybiz Ordered to Repatriate Millions in Offshore Assets
  Illegal Pyramid Scheme Funds Should Be Preserved for Consumer Redress

January 11, 2002

• For Your Information: January 11, 2002
  Announced Actions for January 11, 2002
  Issuance of one Amicus Curiae Memorandum of Law Brief in the matter of Statoil ASA v. HeereMac V.O.F.; Publication of Federal Register notice for a new textile fiber generic name and definition.

January 10, 2002

• Release Date: January 10, 2002
  FTC Seeks Civil Contempt Liability for Defendants' Violations of Court Order
  The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it has asked a federal district court to order Enforma Natural Products, Inc., Andrew Grey, and Michael Ehrman to show cause why they should not be held in civil contempt for violating the terms of a May 2000 final consent order prohibiting unsubstantiated claims for weight loss products.

January 9, 2002

• For Your Information: January 9, 2002
  Announced Actions for January 9, 2002
  Issuance of Two Amicus Curiae Memorandum of Law Briefs: Bristol-Myers-Squibb and Buspirone and The Hearst Trust and First Data Bank; publication of Federal Register notice regarding the Trade Regulation Rule on Power Output Claims for Amplifiers Used at Home.
• Release Date: January 9, 2002
  FTC Nets Two Companies that Falsely Promised Advance Fee Loans and Grants; Settlement Requires Payment of $350,000
  Defendants Are Also Banned From Selling Credit- Or Grant-Related Goods

January 8, 2002

• Release Date: January 8, 2002
  FTC Report Highlights Battle to Detect and Prosecute Violators of FTC-Obtained Court Orders
  A Federal Trade Commission law enforcement initiative launched five years ago to detect and prosecute violators of FTC-obtained court orders has resulted in 27 civil and/or criminal contempt prosecutions.

January 4, 2002

• For Your Information: January 4, 2002
  Announced Actions for January 4, 2002
  Approved a proposed transaction by Unified Western Grocers, Inc.; approved an application by CVS Corporation; approved the filing of a stipulated judgment in a bankruptcy court action concerning Mega Systems and Jeffrey Salberg; approved a final consent order concerning the merger of Chevron Corp. and Texaco, Inc.

January 2, 2002

• Release Date: January 2, 2002
  FTC Broadens Warnings to Marketers of Bioterrorism Defense Products
  E-mails Focus on Questionable Claims for Bioterrorism Protection Devices