U.S. Federal Trade Commission - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• Experts: AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile may not be dead yet

  The U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit opposing AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile USA may not mean the end of the deal, according to some experts.

• FTC targets online business listing operation

  A U.S. judge has temporarily halted a European operation that has allegedly taken millions of dollars from small businesses, churches and nonprofit organizations for unwanted listings in online business directories, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said.

• Commerce Department will push privacy codes of conduct

  U.S. privacy codes of conduct drafted by businesses, consumers and privacy advocates working together will work better than government regulation or legislation, a top official with the U.S. Department of Commerce said Thursday.

• House panel approves data breach notification bill

  A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee has voted to approve a bill that would require companies to notify affected customers about data breaches and would require businesses holding personal information to establish data security programs.

• Study: Ad networks not honoring do-not-track promises

  Some online advertising networks continue to track Web users after tracking opt-out requests, even though the networks have promised to honor those questions, according to a new study from Stanford University's Center for Internet Society.

• Senators push for privacy, data security legislation

  Democratic members of a Senate committee promised Wednesday to push hard for new online privacy protections and for legislation that would require companies to put security monitoring tools on their networks.

• Report: US FTC preparing to serve subpoenas to Google

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is preparing to serve subpoenas to Google as a first step in a broad antitrust investigation of the search engine and advertising giant, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

• Facebook facial recognition flap gains momentum

  Now that Connecticut Attorney General George has joined the brouhaha around Facebook's new facial recognition feature, it's possible the flap could get bigger.

• Privacy groups push for U.S. Facebook probe

  The privacy flap over Facebook's new facial recognition service has gained some momentum.

• FTC settles with DVD seller over fake reviews

  A company marketing guitar and other instructional DVDs will pay US$250,000 for allegedly fake reviews posted by the company's affiliate marketers, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Friday.

• FTC settles with online retailer that faked UK location

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has reached a settlement with a California-based Web retailer that allegedly deceived U.K. customers into believing they were protected by their country's consumer trade laws by selling them merchandise through websites with URLs ending in .co.uk, the agency said Thursday.

• Senators: New smartphone tracking law needed

  The U.S. Congress needs to pass new laws to protect smartphone customers from having their locations tracked by operating systems and applications, members of a Senate subcommittee said Thursday.

• FTC targets 'free' trial offers from Canadian entrepreneur

  The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against a Canadian entrepreneur and a group of Web-based businesses that promised customers free offers, but allegedly raked in more than US$450 million by then charging for products and services they did not purchase.

• Dropbox drops the ball on data security

  Dropbox, a provider of cloud-based data storage services, is in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission over claims that it lied and intentionally deceived customers into believing that their data is more private and secure than it really is. Whether Dropbox was deliberately misleading, or just failed to clearly communicate policy changes, the complaint filed with the FTC illustrates concerns over online data security.

• Appeals court throws out Rambus patent ruling

  A U.S. appeals court has ruled on two patent lawsuits that pit Rambus against two competing DRAM makers, sending both cases back to district courts for reconsideration.