Xanga settles with FTC for &#36;1 million
622137
The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday announced its largest-ever settlement involving the Children Online Privacy Protection Act.
545152
InfoWorld - An online advertiser that drove traffic to its Web sites by sending out spam with misleading subject lines has agreed to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)Â complaint charging that it failed to tell consumers they had to spend money to receive so-called free products, the FTC announced Wednesday.
426906
Engadget.com has resolved a dispute with the software giant over proprietary content.
143884
(InfoWorld) - More than two years after a security researcher first called attention to Sony BMG's use of a stealth program to enforce digital rights management on its music CDs, the company reached a deal with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the incident, the FTC announced on Tuesday. In a deal that was approved by a 5-0 vote by the FTC, Sony agreed to clearly disclose limitations on consumers' use of its music CDs and promised not to collect information for marketing or install software without consumers consent, the FTC said. The company also agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for computers damaged by the program, the FTC said. The settlement marks an end to a long and embarrassing incident for the company, which began when Mark Russinovich, an expert on Windows security of WinTernals Software, now part of Microsoft, published the results of his investigation into a rootkit that had infiltrated his Windows machine. Russinovich's research uncovered a stealth program, dubbed "XCP," distributed on CDs from Sony BMG that silently installed and concealed itself on the machines of customers who played the CD. The revelation and Sony's awkward response to it -- first denying that there was any problem with the XCP program, then making halting efforts to release programs to remove XCP -- set of a chorus of criticism on blogs and in the mainstream press. Subsequent investigation revealed that the XCP program was poorly conceived, hastily written and could be used by hackers to conceal their own malicious programs on systems that had the XCP program installed. Eventually, Sony posted a software removal program for the XCP and conducted a widescale recall of XCP enabled CDs. But the incident was a watershed, prompting discussions of the competing interests of copy protection by corporations and consumers' right to privacy. In the consent agreement announced today, the FTC said that "the installation of software without consumer consent that exposed consumers' computers to security risks was unfair and violated federal law." Hiding the software and failing to provide a way to remove it were also violations of U.S. law, the FTC said. The company will have to offer its removal program for another two years and will have to continue allowing customers to exchange CDs with the concealed software purchased before December 31, 2006. The company will also have to provide retailers with financial inducements to return XCP infected CDs and allow the FTC to continue to monitor its compliance with the consent decree.
602089
Children&#39;s television networks owned by Viacom and Disney have agreed to pony up $1 million and $500,000, respectively, to end Federal Communications Commission investigations into whether
573591
Tangled web An internet hijacker who allegedly registered 5,500 copycat web addresses in a bid to divert lost surfers onto a porno site has agreed to hand over $164,000 to settle charges brought against him by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).â¦
551543
Statement confirms that the FTC is investigating proposed $3.1 billion purchase of online advertising network DoubleClick.
476632
WASHINGTON - A complete rewrite of the U.S. copyright system was just one proposal aired Thursday during a contentious series of panel discussions at a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) workshop on peer-to-peer technology.
176080
The PIMCO mutual fund group's adviser and two affiliates will pay &#36;11.6 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges involving improper "revenue-sharing" payments to brokers, said a source familiar with the case on Wednesday.
294247
Viacom Inc. will pay $1 million and The Walt Disney Co. $500,000 to settle charges they violated rules for airing commercials during children&#39;s programs, federal regulators said Thursday.
714418
(InfoWorld) - An Internet business that sold people's telephone and credit-card records has agreed to settle charges that it violated U.S. law, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Thursday. Integrity Security & Investigation Services and its owner, Edmund Edmister, will give up $2,700, the entire amount the company earned from selling phone records and credit card transaction reports, the FTC said. The settlement also bars the company from obtaining and selling confidential phone and credit account records unless authorized by law or court order. The FTC in MayÂ filed federal court complaintsÂ against five Web-based operations allegedly engaged in pretexting, attempting to obtain phone or other personal records from companies by pretending to be the targeted customer. Integrity Security & Investigation Services is the first firm to settle with the FTC; charges are still pending against the four remaining companies. The U.S. Congress has beenÂ investigating pretextingÂ since early this year, but the practice gained national attention last month whenÂ Hewlett-Packard officials revealedÂ pretexting had been used to gain access to the phone records of employees, board members and journalists. Private investigators employed by HP allegedly used pretexting in an investigation of board leaks in 2005 and 2006. The agency dismissed charges against F. Lynne Moseley and Tracey Edmister, Integrity Security & Investigation Services corporate officers. The FTC determined they played no role in operating the business.
760381
Porn marketer agrees to pays $465,000 in penalties, says FTC.
436163
The operator of two computer privacy services agrees to pay up to $1 million to settle charges of using deceptive marketing techniques and selling personal information.
657945
The group set up by the Recording Industry Association of America to collect royalties for performers and record companies has reached an agreement with the Digital Media Association whose members include large music webcasters, to cap royalty fees at $50,000 per webcaster per year.
75874
Microsoft, Yahoo and Google agreed to pay a combined $31.5 million to settle federal civil allegations that they had accepted ads for illegal gambling.
216882
The US Department of Labor announced Wednesday that it had reached a $1.9 million settlement with a contractor for Target Corp. after finding that the contractor had not paid overtime
31144
An online advertiser that drove traffic to its Web sites by sending out spam with misleading subject lines has agreed to settle a U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC)&#160;complaint charging that it failed to tell consumers they had to spend money to receive so-called free products, the FTC announced Wednesday.The settlement requires Member Source Media to disclose the costs and obligations associated with the advertised products and services, and bars the company from sending e-mail that violates the CAN-SPAM Act, which regulates the sending of unsolicited e-mail. The company must also pay $200,000 in civil penalties, according to the settlement approved Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.Member Source Media -- doing business as ConsumerGain.com, PremiumPerks.com, FreeRetailRewards.com, and GreatAmericanGiveaways.com -- and the company&#8217;s owner, Chris Sommer, used deceptive spam and online advertising to lure customers to its Web sites, the FTC alleged.The company used e-mail subject lines such as, &quot;Congratulations. You&#39;ve won an iPod Video Player,&quot; &quot;Here are 2 free iPod Nanos for You: confirm now,&quot; and &quot;Second Attempt: Target Gift Card Inside,&quot; the FTC said in a press release. The company&#39;s Web-based ads contained similar offers: &quot;CONGRATULATIONS! You Have Been Chosen To Receive a FREE GATEWAY LAPTOP.&quot;When consumers arrived at Member Source Media&#39;s Web pages, they were led through a series of ads for goods and services from third parties.To qualify for their &quot;free products,&quot; consumers would have to first wade through pages of &quot;optional&quot; offers. Once they navigated those pages, they had to participate in a series of third-party promotions requiring them to do things such as purchase products, subscribe to satellite television service, or apply for multiple credit cards, the FTC said.Member Source Media&#39;s failure to disclose material facts was deceptive and violated the FTC Act, the FTC said. In addition, the agency charged that deceptive subject lines in Member Source Media&#39;s spam e-mails violated the federal CAN-SPAM Act.The settlement requires that Member Source Media clearly disclose in its ads and on its Web pages that consumers have to spend money or incur other obligations to qualify for a free product or service. The settlement also requires the company to provide a list of the obligations a consumer is likely to incur to qualify for their chosen item -- such as applying for credit cards or purchasing products.