Legal News for Acquirers, TPAs and Merchants
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Subscription Billers Beware
By Bradley O. Cebeci A proposed settlement announced by the FTC this week signals a new enforcement strategy against negative option marketers that engage in unfair or deceptive practices in connection with automatic renewal billing…
AMG Does Not Mean A Free Ride For Deceptive Marketers
By Bradley O. Cebeci As we have recently reported, the United States Supreme Court’s decision in AMG Capital Management cut off the FTC’s ability to use section 13(b) of the FTC Act—which facially allows the FTC to seek only injunctive…
The Uncertain Future of FTC’s Ability to Seek Equitable Monetary Relief
By Bradley O. Cebeci On April 22, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in AMG Capital Management LLC v. FTC overruling four decades of judicial decisions holding that section 13(b) of the FTC Act authorizes courts to require law violators…
Marketing CBD Products in a Landscape of Uncertainty
By Bradley O. Cebeci and Jennifer Cho The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production at the federal level. Yet hemp products intended for human or animal consumption remain subject to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and FDA…
A Warning to Online Marketers: Choose Your Partners Wisely!
By Bradley O. Cebeci and Jennifer Cho The Federal Trade Commission recently filed an enforcement action and proposed settlement against two Nevada companies—Seed Consulting, LLC and Credit Navigator, LLC—and their principals, alleging…
FTC Zooms in on Zoom’s Misrepresentations Regarding Privacy
By Bradley O. Cebeci and Jennifer Cho When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the way we live, work, learn and socialize shifted dramatically. Rather than showing up in the classroom or in the office, or meeting at a local restaurant on the…
FTC Warns: Gift Cards Are For Gifts, Not Payments
By Bradley O. Cebeci and Jennifer Cho Based on data collected by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), gift cards have topped the list of reported fraud payment methods every year since 2018. Indeed, gift cards continue to be the most common…
CBD Marketers Beware: FTC Is Cracking Down…
By Bradley O. Cebeci and Jennifer Cho The FTC is cracking down on deceptive marketing of CBD products. Last year, the FTC issued administrative complaints against six merchants of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range…
First Data Will Pay $40.2 Million to Settle FTC Transaction Laundering Charges
First Data Merchant Services LLC ("First Data") and its former executive, Chi “Vincent” Ko ("Ko"), will pay more than $40.2 million to settle Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") charges they knowingly processed payments and laundered, or…
RevenueWire Settles Credit Card Laundering Charges
The Federal Trade Commission has announced a proposed settlement with Canadian company RevenueWire, Inc. and its CEO, Roberta Leach for alleged violations of the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). The settlement requires them to…
Negative option conundrum: whose rules to follow?
Online marketers who use negative option continuity billing models are subject to strict disclosure requirements under both federal and state consumer protection laws, and are favorite targets of the Federal Trade Commission and state…
Cat chases dog, cheese eats mouse, ISO sues FTC: strange times in payments
Notwithstanding the DOJ’s abandonment of Operation Chokepoint in 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has continued to treat ISOs as gatekeepers to the payments system, threatening them with liability where they fail to adequately…
COPPA compliance for advertisers, websites, mobile apps and other online services
Whether you are an advertiser or online service provider, you must adapt to survive in an increasingly regulated and rapidly changing digital media environment. With an estimated 175,000 kids going online globally for the first time…
Privacy Shield Compliance: Necessary Reading For US Companies Doing Business In The EU
On December 3, 2019, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced settlements with four companies related to allegations that they deceived consumers over participation in the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework. The companies include Click…