Ad Law Access

Updates on advertising law and privacy law trends, issues, and developments

Judge Upholds FTC Staff Opinion that Avatar Calls are Prerecorded Messages under TSR

Yesterday, a D.C. district court upheld a recent opinion letter issued by FTC staff that extended robocalling restrictions to telemarketing calls that use so-called soundboard technology or “avatars.” This technology…

California Last State to Join Multistate Settlement of Western Union Fraud Schemes

Last week, California became the 50 th state to join the multistate settlement with Western Union over its alleged complicity in fraud-induced wire transfers. This followed Western Union’s $5 million agreement with 49…

FTC Highlights Deep-Sixing of FCC Privacy Rules in Bid for 9th Circuit Rehearing

In support of its request for an en banc rehearing of a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel decision in FTC v. AT&T over the jurisdictional boundaries between the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) and Federal…

Smart TV Manufacturer “Smarting” after $2.2 Million Privacy Enforcement

This week, the FTC announced a settlement with VIZIO, Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of “smart” TVs. The settlement, also with the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General, arises from claims by…

New FTC Acting Chair Maureen Ohlhausen Offers Insight into Consumer Protection Priorities

Just over one week after being named acting chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Maureen Ohlhausen delivered the keynote address at the American Bar Association’s biennial Consumer Protection Conference in…