The interactive marketing space presents a unique set of legal challenges, including what jurisdiction to file a lawsuit in. Whatever the amount that is owed, considerations such as legal fees and costs, as well as the expenditure of time, often make it cost prohibitive to initiate formal legal action. Assuming that you have decided to initiate … Read more
Verizon is urging the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) to desist from imposing “anti-cramming” rules on the wireless telecommunications industry. “Cramming” is the practice of placing unauthorized, misleading or deceptive charges on one’s telephone bill. Crammers rely on confusing telephone bills in an attempt to trick consumers into paying for services they did not authorize or … Read more
Oftentimes, intellectual property (IP) is considered the most valuable asset of technology companies. As a result, timely action is necessary to ensure ownership and protection of a company’s intellectual property portfolio. The types of intellectual property focused upon in this article are trademarks, service marks, domain names, and trade secrets. Many technology start-ups are surprised … Read more
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) has significantly amended its regulations under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) which governs the use of pre-recorded calls or calls placed with an automated telephone dialing system. The TCPA places limits on unsolicited pre-recorded telemarketing calls to landline home telephones, and all autodialed or pre-recorded calls to wireless numbers, … Read more
On February 24, 2012 in the matter of Balsam v. Trancos, Inc., the California Court of Appeal held that: (1) commercial e-mail header information that uses a sender domain name that neither identifies the actual sender on its face, nor is readily traceable to the sender, constitutes misrepresentation in violation of California’s Anti-Spam Act; and … Read more
It has been approximately two years since the Federal Trade Commission published its “Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials – Changes Affecting Testimonial Advertisements, Bloggers, and Celebrity Endorsements.” As set forth in my recent article entitled “The One FTC Article You Must Read,” the Federal Trade Commission considers everyone in the advertising stream, including non-sellers, liable … Read more
If you are an affiliate or marketer, this is the one FTC article you must read on how FTC Rules are Affecting the Industry. Excerpt: The FTC clearly considers everyone in the stream liable for claims that they knew or should have known to be false and unsubstantiated. This includes networks. The lack of any … Read more
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has halted an online operation that allegedly debited consumers’ bank accounts without their consent when consumers visited the defendants’ websites seeking payday loans. The court also froze the defendants’ assets, pending further court proceedings. According to the Commission’s complaint, the defendants’ websites, such as … Read more
At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ordered Swish Marketing, Inc. to pay more than $4.8 million for misleading hundreds of thousands of payday loan applicants into paying for an unrelated debit card. For some time, the Commission has been closely monitoring payday … Read more
On July 7, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced an updated regulatory review schedule of numerous rules and guides in order to keep pace with the current technological landscape and rapidly evolving marketplace, while at the same time promoting greater efficiency and transparency. For the first time, the FTC is seeking public comments on … Read more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) continues its assault on Internet-based false and deceptive advertising, including enforcement of recently published guidelines concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials. On May 31, 2011, the FTC announced its first settlement with an individual consumer charged with deceptive representations made in relation to a product or service testimonial. The … Read more