Compliance with Online Endorsement Guidelines
With increasing regularity, business are turning to social media and professional bloggers to promote their products and services. There are, however, FTC Guidelines that set forth clear legal and...
View ArticleCourt Finds Texas Hold ’Em Poker is a Game of Skill
A federal judge in New York recently held that Texas Hold ‘Em poker is a game of skill and therefore not gambling under federal law. This is the first time a federal court has held that poker is not...
View ArticleBehavioral Advertising and Data Collection Remain in FTC Spotlight
Recent indications are that the FTC intends to issue a comprehensive report in 2013 regarding the ability of various companies, including ISPs, to track the activities of Internet users. According to...
View ArticleNAI Announces Release of Draft Revised Data Collection Code of Conduct
Earlier this week, the Network Advertising Initiative announced the release of a draft revised code of conduct for public comment that would require those delivering targeted advertising to provide...
View ArticleFTC Staff Updates Advertising Disclosure Guidelines
On March 12, 2013, the Federal Trade Commission released guidance that updates its 2000 guidance for online advertising disclosures entitled “Dot Com Disclosures.” The new guidance accounts for new...
View ArticleAre You Prepared for the New TCPA Express Consent Rules?
Beginning October 16, 2013, with limited exception, prior express written consent will be required for certain telemarketing calls or text messages, specifically, autodialed and pre-recorded calls to...
View ArticleNew Mortgage Disclosure Rule Finalized by CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has finalized new, streamlined mortgage disclosures that are intended to improve the way consumers receive information about mortgage loans, both at...
View ArticleRegulators Increase Oversight of Virtual Currencies
A virtual currency is a medium of exchange without government backing that can be circulated over the Internet. The Obama administration has made oversight of virtual currencies such as Bitcoin a...
View ArticleRockefeller Introduces Data Broker Bill
Late last year, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) – chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee - released a report warning about the purported harms of data brokers and encouraging oversight from...
View ArticleIllinois Attorney General Files Lawsuit Against Lender Asserting Violations...
The Illinois Attorney General has recently filed the first lawsuit by an AG of its kind. The action is one against a small loan lender alleging violations of the Dodd-Frank prohibition of unfair,...
View ArticleCFPB Proposes Rule Benefitting Companies that Limit Data Sharing
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) has proposed a rule to promote more effective privacy disclosures from financial institutions to their customers. The rule would allow companies that...
View ArticleNAD Rules Online Reviews Not Sufficient To Substantiate Advertising Claim
The National Advertising Division (“NAD”) recently decided that an advertiser’s use of aggregated online consumer reviews was not sufficiently reliable and representative to support a claim that its...
View ArticleNew York Court Rules That Bulletin Board-Style Online Forum Suggests Posts...
On June 26, 2014 in the matter of Nanoviricides, Inc. v. Seeking Alpha, Inc., the New York Supreme Court for the County of New York held that a negative anonymous online forum post about a company was...
View Article“Revenge Porn” Issue Gains Traction As Bill Passes New York Senate
The New York State Senate recently passed legislation (S5946A) that would make it a crime to distribute “revenge porn.” In short, “revenge porn” is a form of cyber bullying . It is the practice of...
View ArticleUse of Privacy Service Leads to In Rem Jurisdiction in Anticyberquatting...
On August 7, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia held that a cybersquatting complainant established that it could not obtain personal jurisdiction over a typosquatting...
View ArticleClass Action Lawsuit Alleges Whey Protein Manufacturers Engaged in “Protein...
On August 25, 2014, a class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on behalf of consumers that purchased the protein supplement “Body Fortress Super...
View ArticleFormer Employee Faces Trade Secrets Lawsuit Over Maintaining LinkedIn Contacts
On September 16, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California declined to dismiss a California trade secrets claim against a man who kept his LinkedIn contact information after...
View ArticleCalifornia Anti-SPAM Decision Clarifies Rule on Issue of Identifying Sender...
The California Court of Appeal ruled in a putative class action, Rosolowski et al. v. Guthy-Renker LLC, that a commercial email header does not violate California’s anti-SPAM statute “merely because it...
View ArticleFTC Alleges “Free” Credit Report Marketers Violated Restore Online Shoppers’...
The Federal Trade Commission has stopped an online scheme that allegedly lured consumers with “free” access to their credit scores and then billed them a recurring fee of $29.95 per month for a credit...
View ArticleBuried Terms Do Not Create Proper Notice of Browsewrap Agreement
On December 19, 2014 in the matter of Hussein v. Coinabul LLC, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that a company selling gold for Bitcoin online could not enforce its...
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