UrthBox, Inc. and Behnam Behrouzi; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment, 14115-14117 [2019-06956]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 9, 2019 / Notices Legal authorization and confidentiality: The recordkeeping provisions of the Market Risk Capital Rule are authorized to be collected from SMBs pursuant to sections 9(6) and 11 of the Federal Reserve Act; 4 from BHCs pursuant to section 5(c) of the Bank Holding Company Act (BHC Act) 5 and, in some cases, section 165 of the DoddFrank Act; 6 from foreign banking organizations (FBOs) pursuant to section 8(a) of the International Banking Act 7 and section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act; and from SLHCs pursuant to section 10(b)(2) and (g) of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (‘‘HOLA’’).8 Sections 9(6) and 11 of the Federal Reserve Act authorize the Board to require state member banks to submit reports, as necessary. Section 5(c) of the BHC Act authorizes the Board to require BHCs to submit reports to the Board regarding their financial condition, and section 8(a) of the International Banking Act subjects FBOs to the provisions of the BHC Act. Section 10 of HOLA authorizes the Board to collect reports from SLHCs. The information collections under FR 4201 are mandatory. The information collected through the FR 4201 is collected as part of the Board’s supervisory process, and therefore is afforded confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 8 of the Freedom of Information Act (‘‘FOIA’’).9 In addition, individual respondents may request that certain data be afforded confidential treatment pursuant to exemption 4 of FOIA if the data has not previously been publically disclosed and the release of the data would likely cause substantial harm to the competitive position of the respondent.10 Determinations of confidentiality based on exemption 4 of FOIA would be made on a case-by-case basis. Consultation outside the agency: The Board has consulted with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of the Comptroller of Currency in confirming the burden estimates listed. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, April 4, 2019. Michele Taylor Fennell, Assistant Secretary of the Board. [FR Doc. 2019–06991 Filed 4–8–19; 8:45 am] amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with NOTICES BILLING CODE 6210–01–P 4 12 U.S.C. 324 and 248(a). U.S.C. 1844(c). 6 12 U.S.C. 5365. 7 12 U.S.C. 3106(a). 8 12 U.S.C. 1467a(b)(2) and (g). 9 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(8). 10 5 U.S.C. 552(b)(4). 5 12 VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:15 Apr 08, 2019 Jkt 247001 FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION [File No. 172 3028] UrthBox, Inc. and Behnam Behrouzi; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment Federal Trade Commission. Proposed consent agreement. AGENCY: ACTION: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order— embodied in the consent agreement— that would settle these allegations. DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 9, 2019. ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ‘‘Urthbox, Inc.’’ on your comment, and file your comment online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the webbased form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC–5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kerry O’Brien (415–848–5100), Western Region, Federal Trade Commission, 901 Market Street, Suite 570, San Francisco, California 94103. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The following Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent agreement and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained from the FTC Home Page (for April 3, 2019), on the World Wide Web, SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 14115 at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/ commission-actions. You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to consider your comment, we must receive it on or before May 9, 2019. Write ‘‘Urthbox, Inc.; File No. 1723028’’ on your comment. Your comment—including your name and your state—will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the https:// www.regulations.gov website. Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit your comments online through the https:// www.regulations.gov website. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ‘‘Urthbox, Inc.; File No. 1723028’’ on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC–5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580; or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by courier or overnight service. Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential information. In particular, your comment should not include any sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else’s Social Security number; date of birth; driver’s license number or other state identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment should not include any ‘‘trade secret or any commercial or financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential’’—as provided by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)— including in particular competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names. E:\FR\FM\09APN1.SGM 09APN1 14116 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 9, 2019 / Notices amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with NOTICES Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled ‘‘Confidential,’’ and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular, the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has been posted on the public FTC website—as legally required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)—we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website, unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel grants that request. Visit the FTC website at https:// www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws that the Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that it receives on or before May 9, 2019. For information on the Commission’s privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/ privacy-policy. Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment The Federal Trade Commission (‘‘Commission’’) has accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order as to UrthBox, Inc. (‘‘UrthBox’’) and Benham Behrouzi (‘‘respondents’’). The proposed consent order (‘‘order’’) has been placed on the public record for 30 days for receipt of comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the public record. After 30 days, the Commission will again review the order and the comments received, and will decide whether it should withdraw the order or make it final. This matter involves respondents’ endorsement and marketing practices relating to UrthBox’s snack box subscription service. UrthBox has offered consumers monthly subscriptions (one-, three-, and sixmonth subscriptions) to receive its snack boxes. Urthbox has required its customer to pre-pay the entire cost of the subscription term. VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:15 Apr 08, 2019 Jkt 247001 The complaint alleges that respondents violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act by misrepresenting that positive customer reviews of UrthBox and its snack boxes on the Better Business Bureau’s website and other third-party websites reflected the independent experiences or opinions of impartial customers, and by deceptively failing to disclose that some of those customers received compensation, including free snack boxes, to post those positive reviews. The complaint also alleges that respondents violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and Section 4 of the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act (‘‘ROSCA’’) by failing to adequately disclose key terms of its ‘‘free’’ snack box offer to prospective customers. Specifically, when the free trial period expired, UrthBox would automatically enroll consumers in a sixmonth subscription plan and would charge them the total amount owed for six months of shipments of snack boxes. The complaint also alleges that respondents violated ROSCA by failing to obtain consumers’ express informed consent prior to charging them for that ongoing subscription. The order includes injunctive relief that prohibits these alleged violations and fences in similar and related conduct. Part I prohibits misrepresenting an endorser of any good or service is an independent user or ordinary consumer of the good or service. Part II prohibits respondents from making misrepresentations in connection with the marketing or sale of any good or service with a negative option feature. The order defines the term ‘‘Negative Option Feature.’’ Part III prohibits any representation about any consumer, reviewer, or other endorser of any good or service without disclosing, clearly and conspicuously, and in close proximity to that representation, any unexpected material connection between such endorser and (1) any respondent, (2) any other individual or entity affiliated with the good or service, or (3) the good or service. The order defines the terms ‘‘Clearly and Conspicuously’’ and ‘‘Unexpected Material Connection.’’ Part IV requires respondents to take all reasonable steps to remove any demonstration, review, or endorsement, by any endorser with a material connection to any respondent, of any good or service currently viewable by the public that does not comply with Provisions I and III. Part V requires respondents, when they use endorsers to advertise or sell a good or service, to take certain steps to make sure the endorsements comply PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 with Parts I and III of the order. Such steps include clearly notifying endorsers of their representation and disclosure responsibilities and creating a monitoring system to review endorsements and disclosures. Part VI requires respondents to make certain disclosures when they market or sell any good or service with a negative option feature. Part VII prohibits respondents from using billing information to obtain payment for a good or service with a negative option feature without first obtaining the consumer’s express informed consent to do so. The order describes the steps respondents must take to obtain that expressed informed consent and also defines the term ‘‘Billing Information.’’ Part VIII requires respondents to provide consumers with a simple mechanism to avoid charges for a good or service with a negative option feature. The order describes what constitutes a simple mechanism, including that such mechanism must not be difficult, costly, confusing, or time consuming, and must be at least as simple as the mechanism the consumer used to initiate the charge. Parts IX and X require the corporate respondent, UrthBox, Inc., to pay $100,000 to the Commission, which the Commission will use to administer a fund for relief, including consumer redress unless direct redress to consumers is impracticable. Part XI requires respondents to provide customer information to the Commission so that it may efficiently administer consumer redress. Parts XII to XVI are reporting and compliance provisions. Part XII requires respondents to distribute the order to certain persons and submit signed acknowledgments of order receipt. Part XIII requires respondents to file compliance reports with the Commission, and to notify the Commission of bankruptcy filings or changes in corporate structure that might affect compliance obligations. Part XIV contains recordkeeping requirements for personnel records, advertising and marketing materials, and all records necessary to demonstrate compliance with the order. Part XV contains other requirements related to the Commission’s monitoring of the respondents’ order compliance. Part XVI provides the effective dates of the order, including that, with exceptions, the order will terminate in 20 years. The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the order, and it is not intended to constitute an official interpretation of the complaint E:\FR\FM\09APN1.SGM 09APN1 Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 68 / Tuesday, April 9, 2019 / Notices or order, or to modify the order’s terms in any way. By direction of the Commission. April J. Tabor, Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. 2019–06956 Filed 4–8–19; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750–01–P GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION [OMB Control No. 3090–0303; Docket No. 2019–0001; Sequence No. 7] Submission to OMB for Review; General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; Administrative Changes Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration (GSA). ACTION: Notice of request for public comments regarding a new OMB information clearance. AGENCY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the Regulatory Secretariat Division will be submitting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) a request to review and approve a new information collection requirement regarding OMB Control No. 3090–0303, Administrative Changes. DATES: Submit comments on or before: May 9, 2019. ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236, NEOB, Washington, DC 20503. Additionally submit a copy to GSA by any of the following methods: • Submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the OMB control number. Select the link ‘‘Submit a Comment’’ that corresponds with ‘‘Information Collection 3090– 0303, Administrative Changes.’’ Follow the instructions provided at the ‘‘Submit a Comment’’ screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and ‘‘Information Collection 3090–0303, Administrative Changes’’ on your attached document. • Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms. Mandell/IC 3090–0303, Administrative Changes. Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information Collection 3090–0303, Administrative Changes in all correspondence related to this amozie on DSK9F9SC42PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:15 Apr 08, 2019 Jkt 247001 collection. Comments received generally will be posted without change to https:// www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business confidential information provided. To confirm receipt of your comment(s), please check www.regulations.gov, approximately two to three days after submission to verify posting (except allow 30 days for posting of comments submitted by mail). FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Dana Bowman, Procurement Analyst, General Services Acquisition Policy Division, GSA, by phone at 202–357– 9652 or by email at dana.bowman@ gsa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A. Purpose This information requirement consists of information used by FAS to evaluate vendors’ offers, ordering activities when placing orders against the contract, and other FSS vendors to conduct market research when submitting proposals. A request for public comments published in the Federal Register at 79 FR 54125 on September 10, 2014 as part of a proposed rule under GSAR case 2013–G502. Three comments were received on the Information Collection (IC). The comments received questioned the impact and methodologies used to calculate burden estimates. In response, GSA provided clarification explaining the impact and the methodologies used to calculate burden estimates. The calculated burden estimates did not change as a result of the comments. Full responses to the inquiries are included in the Final Rule publication. B. Annual Reporting Burden The Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) does apply because the final rule contains eight (8) clauses and provisions with information collection requirements. However, one of the clauses does not impose additional information collection requirements to the paperwork burden previously approved under existing OMB Control Number. The remaining seven (7) clauses and provisions involve information collection requirements that have not previously been approved by OMB. The annual total public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to be 38,674 total hours ($1,819,998.44), including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Annual reporting PO 00000 Frm 00035 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 14117 burdens include the estimated respondents with one (1) submission per respondent multiplied by preparation hours per response to get the total response burden hours. The reinstated GSAR clause 552.238– 84 Discounts for Prompt Payment requires the offeror to provide the Government a discount for early payment, if applicable. Respondents: 14,674. Responses per respondent: 1. Total annual responses: 14,674. Preparation hours per response: 1.0 (1 hr.). Total response burden hours: 14,674. Cost per hour: $47.06. Estimated cost burden to the public: $690,558.44. The new GSAR clause 552.238–87 Delivery Prices requires the offeror to identify the intended geographic area(s)/ countries/zones that are to be covered. Respondents: 8,000. Responses per respondent: 1. Total annual responses: 8,000. Preparation hours per response: .50 (30 minutes). Total response burden hours: 4,000. Cost per hour: $47.06. Estimated cost burden to the public: $188,240.00. The new GSAR clause 552.238–95 Separate Charge for Performance Oriented Packaging requires the offeror to list any separate charge for preservation, packaging, packing and marking, and labeling of domestic and overseas HAZMAT surface shipments. Respondents: 8,000. Responses per respondent: 1. Total annual responses: 8,000. Preparation hours per response: .50 (30 minutes). Total response burden hours: 4,000. Cost per hour: $47.06. Estimated cost burden to the public: $188,240.00. The new GSAR clause 552.238–96 Separate Charge for Delivery within Consignee’s Premises requires the offeror to list any separate cost for shipping when the delivery is within the consignee’s premises (inclusive of items that are comparable in size and weight). Respondents: 8,000. Responses per respondent: 1. Total annual responses: 8,000. Preparation hours per response: .50 (30 minutes). Total response burden hours: 4,000. Cost per hour: $47.06. Estimated cost burden to the public: $188,240.00. The new GSAR clause 552.238–97 Parts and Service requires the offeror to include in the price list, the names and addresses of all supply and service E:\FR\FM\09APN1.SGM 09APN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 68 (Tuesday, April 9, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14115-14117]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-06956]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 172 3028]


UrthBox, Inc. and Behnam Behrouzi; Analysis of Proposed Consent 
Order To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid 
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint 
and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--
that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 9, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write: ``Urthbox, Inc.'' on 
your comment, and file your comment online at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your comment to 
the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), 
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 
20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kerry O'Brien (415-848-5100), Western 
Region, Federal Trade Commission, 901 Market Street, Suite 570, San 
Francisco, California 94103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid Public Comment 
describes the terms of the consent agreement and the allegations in the 
complaint. An electronic copy of the full text of the consent agreement 
package can be obtained from the FTC Home Page (for April 3, 2019), on 
the World Wide Web, at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before May 9, 2019. 
Write ``Urthbox, Inc.; File No. 1723028'' on your comment. Your 
comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, 
on the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online through the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Urthbox, Inc.; 
File No. 1723028'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your 
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of 
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), 
Washington, DC 20580; or deliver your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 
400 7th Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 
20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the Commission by 
courier or overnight service.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC 
website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for 
making sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or 
confidential information. In particular, your comment should not 
include any sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone 
else's Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license number 
or other state identification number, or foreign country equivalent; 
passport number; financial account number; or credit or debit card 
number. You are also solely responsible for making sure that your 
comment does not include any sensitive health information, such as 
medical records or other individually identifiable health information. 
In addition, your comment should not include any ``trade secret or any 
commercial or financial information which . . . is privileged or 
confidential''--as provided by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 
46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including in 
particular competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales 
statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing 
processes, or customer names.

[[Page 14116]]

    Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is 
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular, 
the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the 
comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request, and 
must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from 
the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has 
been posted on the public FTC website--as legally required by FTC Rule 
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC website, 
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements 
for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel 
grants that request.
    Visit the FTC website at https://www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and 
the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws that the 
Commission administers permit the collection of public comments to 
consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate. The Commission 
will consider all timely and responsive public comments that it 
receives on or before May 9, 2019. For information on the Commission's 
privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, 
see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject 
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order as to 
UrthBox, Inc. (``UrthBox'') and Benham Behrouzi (``respondents'').
    The proposed consent order (``order'') has been placed on the 
public record for 30 days for receipt of comments by interested 
persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the 
public record. After 30 days, the Commission will again review the 
order and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw the order or make it final.
    This matter involves respondents' endorsement and marketing 
practices relating to UrthBox's snack box subscription service. UrthBox 
has offered consumers monthly subscriptions (one-, three-, and six-
month subscriptions) to receive its snack boxes. Urthbox has required 
its customer to pre-pay the entire cost of the subscription term.
    The complaint alleges that respondents violated Section 5(a) of the 
FTC Act by misrepresenting that positive customer reviews of UrthBox 
and its snack boxes on the Better Business Bureau's website and other 
third-party websites reflected the independent experiences or opinions 
of impartial customers, and by deceptively failing to disclose that 
some of those customers received compensation, including free snack 
boxes, to post those positive reviews. The complaint also alleges that 
respondents violated Section 5(a) of the FTC Act and Section 4 of the 
Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act (``ROSCA'') by failing to 
adequately disclose key terms of its ``free'' snack box offer to 
prospective customers. Specifically, when the free trial period 
expired, UrthBox would automatically enroll consumers in a six-month 
subscription plan and would charge them the total amount owed for six 
months of shipments of snack boxes. The complaint also alleges that 
respondents violated ROSCA by failing to obtain consumers' express 
informed consent prior to charging them for that ongoing subscription.
    The order includes injunctive relief that prohibits these alleged 
violations and fences in similar and related conduct.
    Part I prohibits misrepresenting an endorser of any good or service 
is an independent user or ordinary consumer of the good or service.
    Part II prohibits respondents from making misrepresentations in 
connection with the marketing or sale of any good or service with a 
negative option feature. The order defines the term ``Negative Option 
Feature.''
    Part III prohibits any representation about any consumer, reviewer, 
or other endorser of any good or service without disclosing, clearly 
and conspicuously, and in close proximity to that representation, any 
unexpected material connection between such endorser and (1) any 
respondent, (2) any other individual or entity affiliated with the good 
or service, or (3) the good or service. The order defines the terms 
``Clearly and Conspicuously'' and ``Unexpected Material Connection.''
    Part IV requires respondents to take all reasonable steps to remove 
any demonstration, review, or endorsement, by any endorser with a 
material connection to any respondent, of any good or service currently 
viewable by the public that does not comply with Provisions I and III.
    Part V requires respondents, when they use endorsers to advertise 
or sell a good or service, to take certain steps to make sure the 
endorsements comply with Parts I and III of the order. Such steps 
include clearly notifying endorsers of their representation and 
disclosure responsibilities and creating a monitoring system to review 
endorsements and disclosures.
    Part VI requires respondents to make certain disclosures when they 
market or sell any good or service with a negative option feature.
    Part VII prohibits respondents from using billing information to 
obtain payment for a good or service with a negative option feature 
without first obtaining the consumer's express informed consent to do 
so. The order describes the steps respondents must take to obtain that 
expressed informed consent and also defines the term ``Billing 
Information.''
    Part VIII requires respondents to provide consumers with a simple 
mechanism to avoid charges for a good or service with a negative option 
feature. The order describes what constitutes a simple mechanism, 
including that such mechanism must not be difficult, costly, confusing, 
or time consuming, and must be at least as simple as the mechanism the 
consumer used to initiate the charge.
    Parts IX and X require the corporate respondent, UrthBox, Inc., to 
pay $100,000 to the Commission, which the Commission will use to 
administer a fund for relief, including consumer redress unless direct 
redress to consumers is impracticable.
    Part XI requires respondents to provide customer information to the 
Commission so that it may efficiently administer consumer redress.
    Parts XII to XVI are reporting and compliance provisions. Part XII 
requires respondents to distribute the order to certain persons and 
submit signed acknowledgments of order receipt. Part XIII requires 
respondents to file compliance reports with the Commission, and to 
notify the Commission of bankruptcy filings or changes in corporate 
structure that might affect compliance obligations. Part XIV contains 
recordkeeping requirements for personnel records, advertising and 
marketing materials, and all records necessary to demonstrate 
compliance with the order. Part XV contains other requirements related 
to the Commission's monitoring of the respondents' order compliance. 
Part XVI provides the effective dates of the order, including that, 
with exceptions, the order will terminate in 20 years.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
order, and it is not intended to constitute an official interpretation 
of the complaint

[[Page 14117]]

or order, or to modify the order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
April J. Tabor,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-06956 Filed 4-8-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P
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