About Us
Most are familiar with the venerable Latin axiom, “caveat emptor” – let the buyer beware. Well, in today's world, the advertising and marketing of goods and services is no longer a free-for-all. Laws and regulations address what sellers can say, to whom, when and how – and what they can do with the information they collect. This blog looks at those rules and at how they are being enforced and interpreted.
Topics
Recent Posts
- Shape Up Substantiation or Tone Down Claims
- Redbox and Robert Bork
- FTC Approves COPPA "Safe Harbor" Program
- “App Law”: Development Continues
- Police Surveillance - There's An App For That?
- Prepare To Be Inundated? Supreme Court Affirms Federal Jurisdiction of TCPA Suits
- Nutella: Part of a Tasty Balanced Breakfast, Just Like Chocolate Syrup
- Redbox Revisited: Just What Is An Electronic Transaction?
- The Brave New World of Internet Domains
- Judge Orders Clorox to Bury Deceptive Kitty Litter Ad
M. Lily Woodland
mlw@avhlaw.com
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Lily practices in AVH’s Litigation and Regulatory group, defending consumer class actions and advising on advertising, marketing, gaming and other issues.
Showing 9 posts by M. Lily Woodland.
Shape Up Substantiation or Tone Down Claims
On Wednesday morning this week, the Federal Trade Commission announced a $40 million settlement with Skechers regarding claims that the company’s “toning shoes” would help people lose weight and strengthen and tone their buttocks, legs and abdominal muscles. Read More ›
FTC Approves COPPA "Safe Harbor" Program
Earlier this week, the FTC approved the Integrity Children’s Privacy Compliance Program, designed by Aristotle International, Inc., as a “safe harbor” program for purposes of implementing the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”). Website operators that participate in a safe harbor program are generally subject to the review and disciplinary procedures of that program, rather than formal investigation or enforcement action by the FTC. The Integrity Program marks the fifth safe harbor program approved by FTC under the COPPA rules and is the most recent development in an active period of agency review and implementation of COPPA. Read More ›
“App Law”: Development Continues
Earlier this week, the Federal Trade Commission sent letters to developers of six “background screening” applications, warning marketers and developers of the apps that providing information about criminal records may violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Read More ›
Prepare To Be Inundated? Supreme Court Affirms Federal Jurisdiction of TCPA Suits
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Mims v. Arrow Financial Services Ltd. last week put to rest the question of whether state courts are the “exclusive arbiters” of private rights of action under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The answer is a unanimous no, and the path is now clear for private plaintiffs to bring an action for violation of the TCPA in either state or federal court. Read More ›
The Brave New World of Internet Domains
Beginning tomorrow, you too can have your own domain! Perhaps. Read More ›
"Cereal Crimes" or Naturally Delicious?
Last Friday, General Mills Inc. joined the growing list of companies facing consumer class actions over “All-Natural” claims on food products. The complaint alleges that General Mills’ Original Kix Crispy Corn Puffs and Honey Kix Crispy Corn Puffs are advertised as containing “all natural corn” or “all natural corn & honey” but actually contain corn “derived from unnatural genetically modified plants.” Read More ›
FTC Slams Smartphone App for Privacy Violations
Protecting consumer privacy in the online world of “tracker cookies” and location-collecting smartphones has become a hot ticket issue for federal regulators. Read More ›
What Lockout? NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves Weigh In On Something Far More Important
The comment period for proposed voluntary principles regarding marketing food to children closed late last week amid industry concern over regulatory “overreach.” Congress in 2009 directed an interagency working group, representing FTC, CDC, FDA and USDA, to develop recommendations for the nutritional quality of food marketed to children and adolescents, ages 2-17. Read More ›
NAD Decisions: A Road Map to Class Litigation?
Many advertisers are familiar with the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, or "NAD." For decades, the NAD has provided a convenient, speedy and affordable forum for companies to resolve advertising disputes, without many of the downsides of litigation. Yet, as we explain in a recent article just published by Law360, the risk-benefit calculation may be changing. Read More ›