Newsletters

03.15.18

Privacy, Disclosure Failures Cost Venmo in FTC Deal

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a deal with PayPal, Inc., settling charges that the company violated Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act by misleading consumers about the extent to which they could control the privacy of their Venmo transactions.


03.15.18

Embedded Tweet May Constitute Copyright Infringement

In a decision making headlines, a New York federal court judge held that a tweet embedded in news stories may constitute copyright infringement.


03.15.18

FTC Nominees Make Progress

The confirmation of four new members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)—including a chairperson—inched closer to reality after the Senate Commerce Committee approved the nominations.


03.15.18

FTC Makes Moves to Protect Senior Citizens

In an effort to protect older consumers, the Federal Trade Commission filed a pair of actions challenging sweepstakes and tech scams.


03.13.18

Warning That Cryptocurrency Exchanges May Be Unlawful Trading Platforms

On March 7, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a public statement warning that cryptocurrency coin exchanges were possibly operating as unlawful online trading platforms.


03.09.18

No Vicarious Liability Without Ratification, Ninth Circuit Rules

A trio of payday lenders and two marketing companies did not indirectly violate the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) by working with a lead generator that used an automated program to send text message ads, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled.


03.09.18

Second Circuit Takes Sting out of Flu Shot Suit

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that the Healthcare Exception to the TCPA applied to a case involving a healthcare provider that sent a text message with a flu shot reminder to a patient who provided his cellphone number for “treatment” purposes.


03.09.18

Florida Court: No ATDS, No TCPA Suit

Finding that the telephone system used by the defendant was not an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS), a Florida federal court dismissed a putative TCPA class action.


03.09.18

Too Soon to Dismiss TCPA Action, Court Decides

A Connecticut judge denied a motion to dismiss a putative TCPA class action, ruling that whether the faxes at issue were unsolicited remains in dispute.


03.09.18

FTC Addresses Possible Mechanisms to Address Erroneously Blocked Robocalls

As anyone familiar with the TCPA well knows, not all “robocalls” are treated equal—some are allowed, some are not, some are restricted to varying degrees and some are stopped before the phone even rings (i.e., they are blocked by carriers/call providers).