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28 Sep 2011 21:14

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Biz: Reebok’s EasyTone shoes didn’t exactly have a kick-butt day

  • claim In 2009, Reebok launched these shoes called EasyTones, which they said would help you exercise while merely walking around. They also claimed they would make your butt and legs get toned. Kim Kardashian wore them.
  • rebuttal However, consumers saw through these shady claims, as did the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, which led to a settlement for the fairly massive sum of $25 million bucks. Butt-toning never cost so much. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

01 Dec 2010 22:15

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Tech: Federal Trade Commission: We should have a “Do not track” button

  • positive In the wake of the Facebook scandal over Rapleaf, the FTC is recommending that there’s a “do not track” button for Web users.
  • negative They’re only recommending it, not pushing for legislation to make it happen. Instead, they plan to offer suggestions to companies. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Aug 2010 10:42

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Tech: How likely is it that the FTC is investigating Apple over Flash?

  • VERY they denied Wired’s FOIA request source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jun 2010 11:12

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Biz: Jeff Jarvis: The FTC’s favoring old journalism over innovation

  • If the FTC truly wanted to reinvent journalism, the agency would instead align itself with journalism’s disruptors. But there’s none of that here.
  • Journo-expert Jeff Jarvis • Regarding a recent Federal Trade Commission report on how to save journalism. He notes as sort of a  key fact that the entire document only mentions the word “blog” once, despite the fact that many blogs are as “real content” as you’re going to get. And the document, overall, seems skewed in favor of establishment journalism, with suggestions that could seriously damage innovation in the industry. “Here, the internet is not the salvation of news, journalism, and democracy. It’s the other side,” he writes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Dec 2009 10:48

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Tech: Intel gets to try on Microsoft’s antitrust shoes for a while

The FTC sued the company for apparently using its market dominance to hold rule of the chip market. Which they’ve been doing for like 20 years, really. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Nov 2009 01:07

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Tech: If you see a PC-hawking BlueHippo headed your way, run away fast

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  • The hippo is cute, but the company’s a scam. You’ve probably seen the infomercials for BlueHippo on late-night TV, offering to finance your computer on layaway if you’re broke. Well, the FTC did, too, and they suspected it was a scam, something the company proved in years of dealings. After a court case last year, the company only got more brazen, only shipping one computer out of the 35,000 ordered. And that one was apparently by accident. When the FTC declares a company a “money pit,” stay away.source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink

08 Oct 2009 09:36

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Politics: Everyone’s a marketer: Why the FTC’s new blogging rules stink

  • Regulating every last one of us in our tiny, imaginary boardrooms (in my mind, mine is mahogany-paneled and has a Häagen-Dasz fountain) is as ludicrous as not skipping past the advertisements on one’s DVR.
  • TheAwl.com co-founder Choire Sicha • Discussing in the New York Times why the FTC’s blogger marketing disclosure regulations are silly. His argument? We’ve reached a point where everyone is a marketer without even realizing it. Really? We thought it was to keep these guys in check. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Oct 2009 10:30

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Tech: If you want to pay us to big-up a product, do it before Dec. 1

  • $11,000 fine for bloggers who don’t disclose source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Aug 2009 11:12

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Biz, Tech: All those ads that target you are being targeted … by the FTC

  • Google and Facebook, among others, could feel the burn. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz has brought with him a rep as a reformer, having fought hard against spyware. The latest thing he wants to reform is something that drives the financial engine of the web: Behavioral-targeted advertising. Google uses it. Facebook uses it (sometimes very poorly). Lots of other people do too. And sometimes consumers don’t know when they’re getting targeted. That’s something Leibowitz is working on. Expect heads to roll. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Apr 2009 20:15

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Biz: Kellogg’s Mini-Wheats will not, in fact, make you smuharter

  • 20% Kellogg’s claim of the increased attentiveness their wheat/frosting cereal gave you. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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