FTC aQuantive probe is 'routine', Microsoft says
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Addled marketplace Microsoft has acknowledged that the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing its proposed $6bn acquisition of aQuantive, an online advertising company. "As part of the normal regulatory review process, the FTC has opened a routine, 30-day review period following the filing we submitted on the aQuantive acquisition," a Microsoft spokesman told The Register.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission will wade into an emerging debate on the nature of identity crime when it releases its latest ID theft statistics at the RSA Conference in San Francisco next week. The data, set to be released on Wednesday, will be based on information compiled by the FTC's Consumer Sentinel complaint database, said Claudia Bourne Farrell, an FTC spokeswoman. The Consumer Sentinel data is based on "anecdotal ... data that has been self-reported to the FTC by consumers," Farrell said. The FTC is preparing a more comprehensive ID fraud survey, similar to one it published in 2003, which is expected to be released in the coming months. Still, the FTC's Consumer Sentinel report is based on a large amount of data. In 2005, for example, consumers logged more than 650,000 complaints, accounting for about $680 million in losses. The FTC's numbers will come at a time when there is some debate about whether ID theft is actually on the rise. Using a methodology developed for the 2003 FTC survey, Javelin Strategy & Research reported Thursday that this type of fraud actually dropped in 2006. The total cost of identity fraud was down 12 percent last year, totalling $49.3 billion in losses, according to Javelin. Nationwide, there were about 500,000 fewer victims, year-over-year, the research company said. Javelin's results run "contrary to all the trends we are seeing in the market," said Gartner analyst Avivah Litan. "In fact, the U.K. banks just released a study showing their identity theft-related fraud is up nearly 20 percent," she said.
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Identity theft complaints remained a top priority for  U.S. consumers last year, the FTC says.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)&#160;has settled a complaint with a Web-based company it accused of selling people&#39;s telephone records without permission, the agency said Monday.
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The FTC today issued a report assessing whether and how a system that rewards members of the public for tracking down spammers would or could help improve enforcement of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2002
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WASHINGTON, Feb. 16  /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pure Salmon Campaign learned today that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) initiated a formal law enforcement investigation against Salmon of the Americas, Inc.
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Early this morning, The New York Times reported that the US Federal Trade Commission would be expanding its otherwise normal investigation into the prospective merger deal between contextual advertising giant Google and display advertising giant DoubleClick, by issuing Google a "second request" for more information late last week.  Analysts are saying the FTC may be acting on the behest of none other than Microsoft.
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While Microsoft is not specifically citing any cause, reported issues with the Xbox 360's online Xbox Live service seem to have been resolved as of Wednesday morning.
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com. As IT landscapes are in a constant flux, SAP advised that these security checks need to be undertaken at regular intervals. SAP Security Optimization is part of SAP Active Global Support&#39;s portfolio of customer services.
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TOKYO -- Lawyers for Microsoft met with investigators from the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) on Friday to clarify the commission's position in an ongoing dispute over Microsoft's software licensing practices in Japan.
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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday filed a legal complaint against two companies that allegedly infected computers with spyware and pop-up advertising, then tried to sell their owners spyware-blocking software.
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The Web site of a law firm employing the husband of U.S. Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras contradicts an FTC explanation that Majoras has no conflict of interest in reviewing DoubleClick&#39;s $3.1 billion acquisition by Google, two privacy groups said Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - An operation that allegedly installed illegal spyware on computers will give more than US$2 million to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint. The FTC has obtained a settlement order against Enternet Media Inc., Conspy & Co. Inc., Lida Rohbani, Nima Hakimi and Baback Hakimi, all based in California, the agency announced Wednesday. The defendants distributed software called Search Miracle, Miracle Search, EM Toolbar, EliteBar and Elite Toolbar, the FTC said. In an order issued by Judge Christine Snyder of the U.S District Court for Central California, the defendants are prohibited from interfering with computer use, such as distributing software code that tracks Internet activity, changes browser settings and inserts new advertising toolbars onto browsers. The defendants also are permanently prohibited from making misleading representations regarding the performance, features, and cost, of any software, including misrepresenting that the code is an Internet browser upgrade or other computer security software, music, song, lyric or cell phone ring tone. The Web sites of the defendants and their affiliates caused installation boxes to pop up on consumersâ computer screens, the FTC said in its complaint. In one variation of the scheme, the boxes offered a variety of freeware, including music files, cell phone ring tones, photographs, wallpaper and song lyrics. In another, the boxes warned that consumersâ Internet browsers were defective, and offered free browser upgrades or security patches. Users who downloaded the supposed freeware or security upgrades did not receive what they were promised, Instead, their computers were infected with spyware that interfered with their computers and was difficult to uninstall, the FTC said. The defendants' software tracked Internet activity, changed home-page settings and inserted a large frame onto browser windows that displayed advertisements, the FTC said. At the FTCâs request, the court froze the operationâs assets last fall and ordered it shut down. The settlement requires the defendants to give up just over $2 million of their spyware-related profits and includes a suspended judgment of $8.5 million. The FTC brought the case with assistance from Microsoft Corp., Webroot Software Inc. and Google Inc., the agency said.
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The FTC is taking a closer look at Google's latest catch.
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Google's proposed $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick is the target of a formal FTC investigation, focusing on privacy issues and on the possibility that the merger raises antitrust issues.
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The acquisition by Microsoft and Time Warner of a company with a significant portfolio of patents covering digital rights management technologies generates scrutiny by European antitrust regulators. The main focus of the investigation: Microsoft. By Wendy M. Grossman.
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The Federal Trade Commission and other law enforcers face three hurdles in having a reward system for anti-spam investigations, according to a new FTC report.