Announced Actions for March 24, 2000

The Federal Trade Commission today announced the following actions:

Commission action regarding applications for approval:

• Following a public comment period, the Commission has ruled on applications for approval of several transactions from the following: Exxon Mobil Corp.
  
  

  Pursuant to Exxon and Mobil's November 1999 consent agreement with the Commission, the companies were required to divest several assets prior to the finalization of their proposed merger. The transactions approved by the Commission and announced today, include: 1) the divestiture of the Texas Marketing Assets (Exxon Mobil's ownership interest in 10 retail sites in Texas) to 7-Eleven, Inc.; 2) the divestiture of Mobil's interest in TETCO Stores to Tetco, Inc.; 3) the assignment of Mobil's supply agreements in Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas, to Tetco, Inc.; and 4) the assignment of Mobil's supply agreements in Bryan/College Station to Petroleum Wholesalers, Inc.  

  The Commission vote to approve the transactions was 4-0, with Commissioner Thomas B. Leary recused. (FTC File No. 991-0077; Docket No. C-3907; staff contact is Daniel P. Ducore, 202-326-2526; see press release dated November 30, 1999.)

Applications for approval of transactions:

• The FTC has received an application for the approval of a proposed divestiture from the following: Fidelity National Financial, Inc. The application concerns Fidelity National's request for Commission approval to sell a copy of its title plant serving Napa County, California; a copy of its title plant serving Yolo County, California; and a copy of its title plant serving Tehama County, California to Old Republic Title Company. The application was made pursuant to the Commission's order in Docket No. C-3929.
  
  The Commission is seeking public comment on the application for 30 days, until April 21, 2000. Comments should be sent to the Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. (Docket No. C-3929; staff contact is Daniel P. Ducore, 202-326-2526; see press release dated January 12, 2000.)

Publication of Federal Register notices:

• The Commission has approved the publication of a Federal Register notice announcing the date, time, location, purpose and agenda for the third meeting of the Advisory Committee on Online Access and Security. The meeting will be held on March 31, 2000, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Room 432, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., is open to the public and will include a period for public comment.
  
  The purpose of the Advisory Committee is to provide advice and recommendations to the Commission regarding implementation of certain fair information practices by domestic Web sites - specifically, providing online consumers reasonable access to personal information collected from and about them, and maintaining adequate security for that information.
  
  (FTC File No. P004897; staff contacts are Allison Brown, 202-326-3079; and Ellen Finn, 202-326-3296.)

• The Commission has approved the publication of a Federal Register notice announcing a final amendment to Appendix F of its Appliance Labeling Rule (16 C.F.R. Part 305). This amendment eliminates the "Front-Loading" and "Top Loading" sub-categories for clothes washers. The Commission believes that continued use of these terms may confuse consumers and hinder their ability to identify highly energy-efficient clothes washers, and may impair efforts of the Department of Energy/Environmental Protection Agency "Energy Star" program to promote high-efficiency washers.
  
  The vote to approve the Federal Register notice, which will be published shortly, was 5-0. (FTC File No. R611004; staff contact is James G. Mills, 202-326-3035.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC's web site at https://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580; 877-FTC-HELP (877-382-4357); TDD for the hearing impaired 1-866-653-4261. To find out the latest news as it is announced, call the FTC NewsPhone recording at 202-326-2710.