Consumer Protection Law Commons^™

Are State Consumer Protection Acts Really Little-Ftc Acts?, Henry N. Butler, Joshua D. Wright

Faculty Working Papers

ABSTRACT: State Consumer Protection Acts (CPAs) were designed to supplement the Federal Trade Commission's mission of protecting consumers and are often referred to as "little-FTC Acts." There is growing concern that enforcement under these acts is not only qualitatively different than FTC enforcement, but may be counterproductive for consumers. This article examines a sample of CPA claims and compares them to the FTC standard. It identifies qualitative differences between CPA and FTC claims by commissioning a "Shadow Federal Trade Commission" of experts in consumer protection. The study finds that many CPA claims include conduct that would not be illegal under …

Revitalizing Section 5 Of The Ftc Act Using “Consumer Choice” Analysis, Robert H. Lande

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper makes two points. First, Section 5 of the FTC Act, properly construed, is indeed significantly broader and more encompassing than the Sherman Act or Clayton Act. Section 5 violations include incipient violations of the other antitrust laws, and also violations of their policy or spirit.

Second, the best - and probably the only - way to interpret Section 5 in an expansive manner is to do so in a way that also is relatively definite, predictable, principled and clearly bounded. This best can be done if Section 5 is articulated using the consumer choice framework. Without the discipline …

Are Artificial Tans The New Cigarette? How Plaintiffs Can Use The Lessons Of Tobacco Litigation In Bringing Claims Against The Indoor Tanning Industry, Andrea Y. Loh

Michigan Law Review

Indoor tanning salons have grown significantly in popularity during recent years. Scientific research has revealed a strong link between skin cancer and ultraviolet light exposure from indoor tanning lamps. Despite such dangers, federal regulations place minimal restrictions on the labeling of indoor tanning lamps. Indoor tanning salons work vigorously to dispel notions of a link to skin cancer, often falsely promoting various health benefits of indoor tanning. The first lawsuit for injuries resulting from indoor tanning was recently filed against an indoor tanning salon, and other such litigation is poised to follow. This Note examines three potential tort claims against …

Most Favored Nation Clauses, Jonathan Baker, William Kopit, Thomas Overstreet, Robert Mcnair, Jr., Steven Snow

Presentations

Event description The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice will commence public hearings in Washington, D.C. on February 26, 2003 on the implications of competition law and policy for health care financing and delivery. The hearings will broadly consider the impact of competition law and policy on the cost, quality, and availability of health care, and the incentives for innovation in the field. Specific subjects to be considered include hospital mergers, the significance of non-profit status, vertical integration, quality and efficiencies, the boundaries of the state action and Noerr-Pennington doctrines, monopsony power, the adequacy of existing remedies for anticompetitive …

Cyberjacking, Mouse Trapping, And The Ftc Act: Are Federal Consumer Protection Laws Helping Or Hurting Online Consumers?, Kenneth Sanney

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Only the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) can bring a federal cause of action against a company whose business practices or actions deceive consumers. However, the FTC's power is limited; it can intervene on behalf of consumers only when there is a pattern of misconduct by the business that threatens the public interest. But where the scams themselves are difficult to spot, patterns may be virtually impossible to establish. Moreover, even successful FTC actions may yield little in the way of preventative or compensatory benefit for the individual user.

My aim in this Note, therefore, is to offer one possible means …

Online Auction Fraud: Are The Auction Houses Doing All They Should Or Could To Stop Online Fraud?, James M. Snyder

Federal Communications Law Journal

In April 1998, the FTC released a consumer alert pertaining to the increasing problem of online auction fraud. As the number of online auction participants increased, online auction fraud was becoming more prevalent. The FTC requested comments regarding methods that would be appropriate for curbing the increase in consumer deception. Many in the online auction industry proposed voluntary self-regulation. This Note exposes the inadequacy of industry self-regulation by analogizing online auction abuse with the misuse and near downfall of the 900-number industry. This Note proposes that only a regime of strict industry guidelines that the FTC initiates will halt online …

Consumer Privacy On The Internet, Andrew Shen

Richmond Journal of Law & Technology

If we do not bear the loss of this privacy then the prices would be passed along to consumers anyway. We're between a rock and a hard place there's nowhere that we can go. But I think we can be more optimistic than that and I think we can preserve privacy and I think we can further growth of electronic commerce. So let me begin with the consumer perspective. I would like to start with a trend that Mike has already done a good job of starting us out on, and that is the current popularity of personalization and customization. …

When Is Property Intellectual: The Leveraging Problem Essays, Mark R. Patterson

Faculty Scholarship

Patents and copyrights protect inventions and expression; they do not protect products. This distinction, I argue in this essay, is a key to the antitrust problem of the "leveraging" of intellectual property. In a typical leveraging case, the manufacturer of a durable good, like a copier or computer, refuses to sell replacement parts for its equipment unless the purchaser also hires the manufacturer to service the equipment. Such a practice can be illegal under antitrust law, but when the leveraging products-in this example, replacement parts-are protected by patent or copyright, the manufacturer will often claim that the leveraging is a …

Developing Rational Standards For An Advertising Subsitution Policy, Charles Shafer

All Faculty Scholarship

American annual consumer expenditures of nearly two trillion dollars involve approximately sixty-four percent of the country's Gross National Product. A substantial portion of those consumer purchases result in some sort of dissatisfaction. The term 'consumer dissatisfaction’ represents a large continuum of feelings ranging from mild disappointment to all consuming rage. Consumer dissatisfaction is a serious societal problem for a variety of reasons. It indicates a misallocation of scarce resources. It can be a significant factor in producing the perception that the economic and political institutions are unfair, ineffective, or unresponsive. That perception can have wide ranging political ramifications. Finally, it …

Credit Life And Disability Insurance Disclosures Under Truth-In-Lending: The Triumph Of Form Over Substance, John M. Sheffey

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Deceptive Practices In The Marketplace: Consumer Protection By New York Government Agencies, William F. Mulroney

Fordham Urban Law Journal

The past several years have witnessed considerable growth in the power and number of New York governmental consumer protection agencies. New and potent statutory powers have been granted to the Attorney General. At the local level, cities, counties, and towns have created consumer agencies and granted many of them enforcement and rulemaking powers. Legislation on all levels of state government regulates an increasing number of commercial activities for the protection of consumers. That legislation has likewise led to greater cooperation among state and local consumer agencies. This Comment will examine the structures and powers of the various New York State …

The Freedom Of Information Act And Vaughn V. Rosen, Robert Vaughn

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

INTRODUCTION: Beginning in the summer of 1969, large numbers of law students were mobilized by Ralph Nader for intensive studies of federal agencies. These projects culminated in a number of critical reports focusing on the Federal Trade Commission, the Interstate Commerce Commission, the National Air Pollution Control Administration, and the Food and Drug Administration.' The project participants encountered the bureaucratic roadblocks which citizens commonly face in attempting to invoke the Freedom of Information Act.

Advertising Regulation: The Contemporary Ftc Approach, Gerald J. Thain

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article deals with the Federal Trade Commission's traditional activities of adjudication and rule-making by discussing expansion of theories of violation, standards of proof and remedies in advertising cases brought under section 5 of the FTC Act. Specifically, the article discusses pending cases and the FTC's involvement in deceptive advertising, the "Unfairness Doctrine," and the problems associated with advertising targeted at children. The article then evaluates the FTC's alternative approaches to adjudication and rule-making through its substantiation program and stance on counter-advertising.

Some Reflections On Free Entry And The Rate Ceilings Under The Uniform Consumer Credit Code, Frank W. Smith Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

"Consumer protection" in recent years has become one of the great populist concerns, particularly in the area of consumer credit. As one should expect, however, there has been no unanimity as to who should be protected from what, or from whom, nor as to the means of providing such protection. Some feel that consumer protection still means "self-protection" in the existing system-let the buyer beware-and view consumer education in a broad sense as perhaps the most important aspect of providing protection. Others view consumer protection as a matter outlawing or regulating abusive practices and giving the consumer more rights. Some …

Corrective Advertising And The Ftc: No, Virginia, Wonder Bread Doesn't Help Build Strong Bodies Twelve Ways, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note will outline the development and theory of corrective advertising. In particular, it will discuss the residual effects of deceptive advertising, which are the basis for a corrective remedy. The Commission's statutory authority to require corrective advertising will then be explored: the analysis will compare corrective advertising with other types of affirmative disclosure required by the Commission and relate it to the present use of divestiture as a trade regulation remedy. Finally, the possible public benefit accruing from corrective advertising will be considered, along with some thoughts on what policies the FTC should pursue in order to maximize that …

Cox, Fellmeth, Schulz: The Consumer And The Federal Trade Commission, Ernest Gellhorn

Michigan Law Review

A Review of The Consumer and the Federal Trade Commission by Edward Cox, Robert Fellmeth, and John Schulz

Foreword, Arthur H. Travers Jr.

Publications

No abstract provided.

Consumer Credit In The Ghetto: Ucc Free Entry Provisions And The Federal Trade Commission Study (Business In The Ghetto), James J. White

Other Publications

Like the former speakers, I will not speak on the topic for which I was scheduled. Instead I am going to talk about two things which are not closely related to one another but which are both related to the profitability of the retail sale of goods and credit in the ghetto. I propose to leave the law on consumer credit to Mr. Dostert and Professor Hogan. First I wish to say a word on the so-called "free entry" aspects of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code; then I will comment on the Federal Trade Commission study.

Legislation--The Fair Packaging And Labeling Act: Its Legislative History, Content, And Future, Wesley E. Forte

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA), which became effective on July 1, 1967, was designed to protect consumers by requiring informative labeling and nondeceptive packaging for consumer commodities. The statute has been described as "an information bill. The first part is information largely about the label .... The second part of the bill is really, in a way, to try to eliminate the confusion in words so we have a common terminology, so we all speak the same language.... It is like establishing an alphabet ... in size designations." The author seeks to provide an insight into the new …