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Federal Trade Commission

Avoiding the "Big Stick" Approach: Regulators Seek to Aid Transparency for App Developers

Christina Gagnier | Posted 04.12.2013 | Technology
Read More: Coppa, Mobile Applications, Apple, Kamala Harris, Federal Trade Commission, California Attorney General, Privacy, Technology News
Christina Gagnier

The issue is not necessarily that the information is being collected. The issue is that users must have information about what is being collected and be put in a position to make a meaningful choice about the tradeoff of using the application or not.

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Time to Stop Backroom Deals That Drive Up Drug Prices

Chris Meyer | Posted 04.09.2013 | Politics
Read More: Supreme Court, Prescription Drugs, Consumers Union, Federal Trade Commission, Hatch-Waxman-Act, Consumer Reports, Generic Drugs, Politics News
Chris Meyer

One way you can try to save at the pharmacy is choosing a generic version of the drug, instead of the brand-name medication. But some consumers may not have that option, especially when it comes to higher-priced prescriptions.

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No More Robocalls?

AP | By JENNIFER C. KERR | Posted 04.02.2013 | Technology
Read More: Do Not Call List, Google, Caller ID Spoofing, Computer Engineers, Ftc, National Do Not Call Registry, Do Not Call, Robocalls Scandal, Federal Trade Commission, Ap, Illegal Robocalls, Robocalls, Video, Technology News

WASHINGTON (AP) — There may one day soon be another way to fight those annoying prerecorded phone pitches known as robocalls. The Fed...

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New FTC Study: 25 Percent of Consumers Have Credit Report Errors

Bethy Hardeman | Posted 05.03.2013 | Business
Read More: Credit Score, Credit Report, Federal Trade Commission, Ftc, Business News
Bethy Hardeman

For years there's been an ongoing debate about accuracy of credit reports. Various studies have claimed that 3 to 25 percent of reports contain errors. Can credit report errors be a big deal? Yes, absolutely.

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Obama Expected To Name New Head Of FTC

Reuters | Posted 04.30.2013 | Politics
Read More: Ftc Head, Video, Edith Ramirez Federal Trade Commission, Ftc, Reuters, Edith Ramirez Ftc, Federal Trade Commission, Edith Ramirez, Politics News

WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama intends to name Edith Ramirez the chairwoman of the Federal Trade Commission, a White House of...

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Here's Where You're Most Likely To Get Scammed

The Huffington Post | Jillian Berman | Posted 02.27.2013 | Business
Read More: Florida Identity Theft, Fraud Complaints, Video, Identity Theft Florida, Federal Trade Commission Complaints, Identity Theft, Ftc, Business News, Florida Scams, Federal Trade Commission, Business News

Most people know Florida as the home of Disney World, sandy beaches and senior citizens enjoying their retirement. But Florida has another, more unsav...

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Debt Collector Threatened Dead Woman

The Huffington Post | Harry Bradford | Posted 02.22.2013 | Business
Read More: Debt Collection Harassment, Debt, Debt Collectors, Debt Collector Abuse, Debt Collector Illegal, Global Litigation Group, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Debt Collection, Allison Currie, Federal Trade Commission, Business News

A Houston woman has called a debt collector “cruel” and “despicable” after the collector threatened her sister. Her sister, she says, died ba...

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Google's Latest Privacy Snafu

Reuters | Alexei Oreskovic and Michael Sin | Posted 04.17.2013 | Technology
Read More: Iphone, Google, Video, Apps, Android, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Reuters, Google App Store, Smartphones, Facebook Privacy, Google Privacy, Federal Trade Commission, Facebook, Privacy, Technology News

By Alexei Oreskovic and Michael Sin SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc's privacy practices are drawing heat after an Australian softw...

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Your Credit Score May Be Wrong

AP | Posted 04.13.2013 | Business
Read More: Credit-Score-Mistake, Ftc, Credit-Score-Errors, Loans, Credit Scores, Credit Score, Federal Trade Commission, Business News

WASHINGTON — A government study says 20 percent of consumers had an error in a credit report issued by a major agency. The Federal Trade Commis...

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IRS Announces Crack Down

AP | CURT ANDERSON | Posted 02.07.2013 | Business
Read More: IRS Commissioner, Video, Irs, Id Theft Tax Fraud, Internal Revnue Service, Irs Tax Fraud, Identity Theft, Ftc, Federal Trade Commission, Irs Id Theft, Business News

MIAMI -- With tax filing season heating up, an aggressive Internal Revenue Service crackdown is targeting the growing problem of criminals who use sto...

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Debt Collection Reforms Are Past Due

Pamela Banks | Posted 04.09.2013 | Business
Read More: Debt, Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Debt Collection, Debt Collection Industry, Business News
Pamela Banks

Buying and selling debt has become a big business in the U.S. The FTC found that debt buyers typically purchase portfolios of debt for only four cents on the dollar, on average, and then collect on those debts for the full face value -- which nets them a huge profit.

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Tax Relief Scams: Where Crime Does Pay

Don McNay | Posted 04.08.2013 | Business
Read More: Elizabeth Warren, Payday Lending, Offer in Compromise, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Consumer Financial Protection Agency, Internal Revenue Service, Tax Scams, Tax Relief, Personal Finance, Beverly Hills, Don McNay, Business, Federal Trade Commission, Money, Business News
Don McNay

I saw a "pat on the back" news release from the Federal Trade Commission today: "FTC Settlement: Tax Relief Scammers Agree to Pay More Than $15 Million." If you go down a couple of sentences, it notes that the scheme bilked consumers out of $100 million. Crime does pay.

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Multiple Federal Agencies Ponder Relationship of Aggressive Patent Enforcement and Anti-Competition

Christina Gagnier | Posted 04.06.2013 | Technology
Read More: Uspto, SHIELD Act, Patent-Pool, Ftc, Peter DeFazio, Joe Leibowitz, Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Patent Licensing, Patents, Technology News
Christina Gagnier

The issue of defensive patent enforcement is starting to move beyond consumer technology products.

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The Most Misleading Product Claims

24/7 Wall St. | Michael B. Sauter, Samuel Weigley, Alexander E.M. Hess | Posted 01.26.2013 | Business
Read More: Center for Science in the Public Interest, Environmental Protection Agency, Video, Fruit Roll Ups, Pom, Ftc, Kia, Federal Trade Commission, Most Misleading Products, Business News

From 24/7 Wall St.: The Federal Trade Commission recently ruled that advertisements from juice maker POM Wonderful contained health claims that were m...

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Are Short Bill Titles a Form of Deceptive Advertising?

Brian Christopher Jones | Posted 03.26.2013 | Politics
Read More: Congress, False Advertising, Federal Trade Commission, Advertising, Ftc, Bills, Politics News
Brian Christopher Jones

In this age of tweets and texts, shorter is better. Short titles may serve useful purposes in that they could facilitate discussion and reference to legislation, but such titles often serve another perhaps less noble purpose.

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Seller Of Bogus 9/11 Coins To Pay Hefty Price

AP | Posted 01.20.2013 | New York
Read More: Chuck Schumer, September 11, Video, September-11-Anniversary, Ftc, Jerrold Nadler, National Collector's Mint, 9/11, Port Chester New York, Bogus 9/11 Coins, Federal Trade Commission, Bogus September 11 Coins, New York News

NEW YORK -- A company that sold Sept. 11 commemorative coins supposedly containing silver from ground zero has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle charge...

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Denied Business Credit? Work on These Five Things

Mary Ellen Biery | Posted 03.17.2013 | Small Business
Read More: Loan, Small Business, Credit, Federal Trade Commission, Default, Profitability, Small Business America, Small Business Credit, Small Business News
Mary Ellen Biery

If your company recently applied for business credit and was rejected, it's not alone.

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U.S. Gov't: Pleeease Stop Asking Us To Ban Competitors' Products

Reuters | Diane Bartz | Posted 03.11.2013 | Technology
Read More: Sales Ban, Video, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Federal Trade Commission, Sales Bans, Justice Department, Ftc, Reuters, Technology News

By Diane Bartz WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies that own a key patent, such as those that ensure mobile and other electronic devices wo...

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Identity Thieves Just Love Apple

Reuters | Mitch Lipka | Posted 03.09.2013 | Technology
Read More: Iphone, Fraud, Apple Identity Theft, Video, Apple, ID Theft, Identity Theft, Apple Store, Reuters, Stealing, Identity, Federal Trade Commission, Apple Products, Ipad, Technology News

By Mitch Lipka (Reuters) - Carol Stuber was going through her mail and stumbled on a bill that made no sense - $3,300 for goods purchas...

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Was 2012 the Year of Privacy?

Hemanshu Nigam | Posted 01.04.2013 | Technology
Read More: Consumer-Privacy-Bill-of-Rights, Online Privacy, Facebook Privacy, Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, Federal Trade Commission, Netflix-Facebook, Privacy, GPS Tracker, Technology News
Hemanshu Nigam

Privacy-based fears and concerns, legitimate or not, fueled many of the big privacy events in 2012. New technologies mean new privacy risks, and as technology continues to advance this coming year, we will see 2013 as the year of privacy on steroids.

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How Much Does It Cost To Beat The Feds? For Google, It Was A Drop In The Bucket

The Huffington Post | Gerry Smith | Posted 01.04.2013 | Technology
Read More: Google, Video, Google Search, Google FTC, Google Antitrust Settlement, Lobbying, Ftc, Google Competition, Scroogled, Technology News, FTC Google, Google Search Results, Federal Trade Commission, Google Shopping, Technology News

How much does it cost to get the feds off your back? For Google, the price was less than 1 percent of the cash in its pocket. Google stepped up...

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FTC Finds Google Rivals' Pain Is Users' Gain

The Huffington Post | Gerry Smith | Posted 01.07.2013 | Technology
Read More: Google, Google Search, Google FTC, Google Antitrust Settlement, Ftc, Google Competition, Scroogled, Technology News, Federal Trade Commission, FTC Google, Google Search Results, Google Shopping, Technology News

Google does indeed manipulate search results to favor some websites over others, federal regulators said in a much-awaited decision on Thursday. B...

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Government Finds No Evidence To Claim That Google Is Acting Like A Monopoly

AP | By MICHAEL LIEDTKE | Posted 03.05.2013 | Technology
Read More: Google, Video, Federal Trade Commission, Google Antitrust FTC, Google Antitrust, Ftc, Ap, Technology News

WASHINGTON -- Google is agreeing to license certain patents to mobile phone rivals and stop a practice of including snippets from other websites in it...

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Google May Not Be Off The Hook Yet

Reuters | Posted 02.17.2013 | Technology
Read More: Ftc Google Antitrust, Google, Video, Google FTC, Ftc, Reuters, FTC Google, Federal Trade Commission, Google Antitrust, Technology News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which had been expected to wrap up an anti-trust probe into Google within days, will now de...

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New Regulations Might Put A Stop To Kid-Friendly Apps

AP | By RICHARD LARDNER | Posted 02.16.2013 | Technology
Read More: Video, Parents-Families-Tech, Federal Trade Commission, Ftc, Ap, Technology News

WASHINGTON (AP) — A cellphone game for kids about U.S. geography, "Stack the States," gets rave reviews from parents. Its creator, Dan Russell-Pinso...

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