Tag: Entertainment

The operators of the MoviePass subscription service have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations they took steps to block subscribers from using the service as advertised, while also failing to secure subscribers’ personal data.The operators of the MoviePass subscription service have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations they took steps to block subscribers from using the service as advertised, while also failing to secure subscribers’ personal data.

The owner and operator of Inmate Magazine Service, a company that scammed prisoners and their families by charging them for magazine subscriptions that either showed up late or not at all, will be permanently banned from selling or marketing magazine subscriptions.

Under the terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and the Florida Office of Attorney General, Roy Snowden, who owned and operated a number of businesses that operated as Inmate Magazine Service, will also be required to surrender the contents of multiple bank accounts.

The FTC and Florida’s complaint against Snowden and his companies alleged that they marketed magazine subscriptions to consumers serving prison sentences, as well as their families, offering to send the magazines to the prisoners while they were incarcerated and promising the magazines would arrive within 120 days.

In many cases, the magazines never arrived or were delivered far later than promised, with no notification to the consumers about delayed shipment or the chance to cancel their orders as required by the FTC’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule. The complaint also alleged that consumers were almost never able to contact the company to request refunds or status updates on orders.

The FTC challenged Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.’s proposed $2.8 billion acquisition of rival casino operator Ameristar Casinos, Inc., alleging that the proposed deal would reduce competition and lead to higher prices and lower quality for casino customers in the St. Louis, Missouri and Lake Charles, Louisiana areas. In St. Louis, the two companies operated competing casinos, and in the Lake Charles area, Pinnacle operates one casino, and Ameristar is constructing a new casio to open next year. The FTC issued an administrative complaint against the two companies alleging that the deal would substantially lessen competition for casino services in the St. Louis and Lake Charles areas. The FTC also authorized staff to seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, but parties agreed to divest two casinos, one in St. Louis and another in Lake Charles, to settle the administrative charges.