Federal Trade Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commission is proposing amendments to the premerger notification rules (``the rules'') to enable filing parties to provide Internet links to certain documents in lieu of paper copies, and to address ``stale filing'' situations, in which parties make premerger notification filings but then fail to comply with a Request for Additional Information and Documentary Material (``second request''). Section 7A of the Clayton Act (``the Act'') requires the parties to certain mergers and acquisitions to file notification with the Federal Trade Commission (``the Commission'' or ``FTC'') and the Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (``the Assistant Attorney General'' or ``DOJ'') and to wait a specified period of time before consummating such transactions. The reporting and waiting period requirements are intended to enable these enforcement agencies to determine whether a proposed merger or acquisition may violate the antitrust laws if consummated and, when appropriate, to seek a preliminary injunction in Federal court to prevent consummation. If either agency determines during the waiting period that further inquiry is necessary, it can issue a second request, which extends the waiting period for a specified period after all parties have complied with the request (or, in the case of a tender offer or a bankruptcy sale, after the acquiring person complies). The Commission is proposing a change to relieve the burden of complying with Items 4(a) and (b) of the Notification and Report Form (``the Form''). Currently, paper copies of annual reports, annual audit reports and regularly prepared balance sheets and copies of certain documents, such as 10Ks filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC''), must be provided in response to these Items. The proposed modification would allow filing persons to provide an Internet address linking directly to the documents required by Items 4(a) and (b) in lieu of providing paper copies. The Commission is also proposing an amendment to the rules to specify that an acquiring person's notification, and an acquired person's notification in certain types of transactions, shall expire after eighteen months if a second request to them remains outstanding.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

Due to requests for additional time to prepare more comprehensive comments in response to the issues that were addressed by the public workshop, an amendment is being issued to the Notice Announcing Public Workshop: Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity to extend the time period during which persons may submit written comments on the workshop until August 12, 2005.

The FTC proposes to revise an existing system of records titled ``Inspector General Investigative FilesFTC'' to comply with requirements established by the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The major change to the system is the addition of new routine uses to allow the disclosure of information to authorized officials within the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) and the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency (ECIE), who are charged with the responsibility for conducting qualitative assessment reviews of investigative operations for the purpose of reporting to the President and Congress on the activities of the OIG.

The Commission is seeking comment on whether the platinum section of the FTC's Guides for the Jewelry, Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries, 16 CFR part 23, should be amended to provide guidance on how to mark or describe non-deceptively products containing between 500 and 850 parts per thousand pure platinum and no other platinum group metals.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

The information collection requirements described below will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for review, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act (``PRA'') (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520). The FTC is seeking public comments on its proposal to extend through June 30, 2008, the current Paperwork Reduction Act clearances for information collection requirements contained in three Commission Rules. Those clearances expire on June 30, 2005.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') announces that the current ranges of comparability required by the Appliance Labeling Rule (``Rule'') for water heaters, room air conditioners, furnaces, boilers, and pool heaters will remain in effect until further notice. In addition, the Commission is revising Table 1 in Sec. 305.9 of the Rule to incorporate the latest figures for average unit energy costs published by the Department of Energy (``DOE'') this year and to update cost figures in Appendices H and I of the Rule. The Commission is also making technical amendments to Sec. 305.9 and Appendix E of the Rule to clarify the applicability of the cost figures in Table 1 to products covered by the Rule.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

The FTC and HHS are planning to host a public workshop, ``Marketing, Self-Regulation & Childhood Obesity,'' to explore self- regulatory marketing initiatives in the food and beverage industry that respond to concerns about childhood obesity. The event is open to the public and there is no fee for attendance. For admittance to the conference center, all attendees will be required to show a valid form of photo identification, such as a driver's license. The FTC will accept pre-registration for this workshop. Pre- registration is not necessary to attend, but is encouraged so that we may better plan this event. To pre-register, please e-mail your name and affiliation to the e-mail box for the workshop, at FoodMarketingtoKids@ftc.gov. When you pre-register, we collect your name, affiliation, and your e-mail address. This information will be used to estimate how many people will attend and better understand the likely audience for the workshop. We may use your e-mail address to contact you with information about the workshop. Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or other laws, we may be required to disclose the information you provide to outside organizations. For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission's Privacy Policy at https://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm. The FTC Act and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of this contact information to consider and use for the above purposes. Additional information about the workshop will be posted on the FTC's Web site at https://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/foodmarketingtokids/ index.htm.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

As required by law, the Federal Trade Commission (the ``FTC'' or ``Commission'') requests public comment on its implementation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (``COPPA'' or ``the Act''), 15 U.S.C. 6501-6508, through the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (``COPPA Rule'' or ``the Rule''). The COPPA Rule imposes certain requirements on operators of Web sites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age and other Web sites or online services that have actual knowledge that they are collecting personal information from a child under 13 years of age. The Commission requests comment on the costs and benefits of the Rule as well as on whether it should be retained, eliminated, or modified. The Commission also requests comment concerning the Rule's effect on: practices relating to the collection and disclosure of information relating to children; children's ability to obtain access to information of their choice online; and the availability of Web sites directed to children. At the end of the FTC's review, the agency will submit a report to Congress assessing the implementation of the Rule. All interested persons are hereby given notice of the opportunity to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the Rule. As explained in a separate document being published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, the Commission is also issuing a final amendment to the Rule to extend the sliding scale mechanism, which allows Web site operators to use e-mail with additional verification steps to obtain verifiable parental consent for the collection of personal information from children for internal use by the Web site operator, until the conclusion of this broader review.

The FTC intends to conduct a survey of consumers to advance its understanding of the incidence of consumer fraud and to allow the FTC to better serve people who experience fraud. The survey is a follow-up to the FTC's Consumer Fraud Survey conducted in 2003 and released in August 2004. Before gathering this information, the FTC is seeking public comments on its proposed consumer research. Comments will be considered before the FTC submits a request for Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), 44 U.S.C. 3501-3520.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in Count III of the complaint and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint that accompanies the consent agreement and the terms of the consent orderembodied in the consent agreementthat would settle these allegations.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Improvement Act of 1991 (FDICIA) directs the Commission to prescribe the manner and content of certain disclosures that must be used by depository institutions that do not have federal deposit insurance. The Commission seeks comment on these proposed disclosure rules for non-federally insured depository institutions.