FTC: Watch articles from July 2001

FTC: Watch archives from July 2001

FTC advances where FDA retreats.(United States. Federal Trade Commission)(United States. Food and Drug Administration)
July 2, 2001... Two weeks ago, as one of his first public acts, FTC Chairman Timothy Muris appeared at a press conference to promote and support a series of consent agreements with firms and individuals accused of using the Internet to market quack health...

Microsoft verdict - the spin is in.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Microsoft Chief Software Engineer Bill Gates "The ruling lifts' the cloud of breakup over the company, reverses the tying claim, and says clearly that we did not attempt to monopolize the browser market." U.S. Attorney General John...

FTC to Congress: we have a new rule to accelerate 2nd request disputes.(Rules of Practice)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... The FTC has told Congress that its amended Rules of Practice for second requests will speed up agency review of disagreements between merging parties and agency staff. The new Rule 2.20 (b) (4), requires the FTC General Counsel --...

Robertson, Wyden denounce oil companies; DAG sues ExxonMobil for $10 Billion.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Independent oil supplier and station owner DAG Enterprises, Inc. has upped the ante in its December 1999 law suit alleging that Exxon Mobil conspired to sustain high gasoline prices by preventing DAG from bidding on the 1,740 Northeast gas...

Senate antitrust agenda for rest of 2001.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... The Senate Antitrust Subcommittee will now focus on promoting competition in: (a) the aviation industry; (b) telecommunications, cable & satellite video markets; (c) oil markets; (d) health care; (e) education; and (f) international markets....

FTC, Commerce Dept.: don't amend E-Sign.(Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Congress does not need to amend the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act, FTC Associate Director of Marketing Practices Eileen Harrington testified before the House Financial Service Committee on June 28. The...

Merger watch.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Merger watch: FTC Chairman Timothy Muris and Competition Bureau Director Joseph Simons confirm that they are recused from the FTC's review of the proposed $13.8 billion merger of PepsiCo and Quaker Oats. Their previous law firms represent the...

Microsoft watch (I).(Iowa State Attorney General Tom Miller's office use Microsoft's Windows operating system)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Microsoft watch (I): Iowa AG not total Microsoft monopoly: All the personal computers in Iowa State Attorney General Tom Miller's office use Microsoft's Windows operating system, but the office networks its machines with products made by Novell...

Microsoft watch (II).
July 2, 2001... Microsoft watch (II): DC Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kenneth W. Start argues that the Microsoft case must go the Supreme Court in a new paper "Is Microsoft Still A Monopoly?" published by the Progress & Freedom Foundation (PFF) www.ppforg....

Microsoft watch (III).(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Microsoft watch (III): Now that the DC Circuit has concluded that (a) Microsoft is a monopoly and (b) broke the law, the Microsoft lobby group coyly titled the "Freedom to Innovate Network" is encouraging liberty and technology lovers...

Microsoft watch (IV).(corporate monopolies)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Microsoft watch (IV): Legal precedents for structural remedies of illegal monopolies are few, but the Supreme Court's 1968 reversal of Judge Wyzanski's 1953 opinion in US v. United Shoe Machinery Corp. is illuminative [FTC: WATCH No. 517, March...

Gem Star unworried by "narrow" DOJ request.(Department of Justice, Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., antitrust laws)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Gem Star unworried by "narrow" DOJ request: Following a June 8 Reuters story that the Justice Dept. "is investigating whether Gemstar-TV Guide International violated U.S. antitrust laws in its bid to dominate the market for interactive TV...

Closed investigations.(matted in brief, Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Closed investigations: The FTC's Competition Bureau has closed a nonpublic investigation "to determine whether Louisiana-Pacific Corp., and others, have engaged in unfair methods of competition in connection with the marketing or sale of...

Anti-reg web warriors march into DC.(eBay and Orbitz form NetChoice lobby group)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Anti-reg web warriors march into DC: Internet auction site eBay, airline reservation joint venture Orbitz and other online merchants have formed a lobby group, NetChoice, to "defend Web businesses against efforts to stifle Internet-based...

Monti pooh-poohs discord.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Monti pooh-poohs discord: Despite the apparent politicization of the GE-Honeywell merger, European Commission Competition Commissioner Mario Monti says that "EU/US cooperation in the antitrust field has become something of a model for...

GLB Act doesn't trump North Dakota law.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... GLB Act doesn't trump North Dakota law: North Dakota's financial privacy law is not preempted by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act (GLB Act) the Commission informed North Dakota Banking and Financial Institutions Dept....

Mortgage suit evidence sought.(First Alliance Corporation)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Mortgage suit evidence sought: In October, the Commission filed a complaint in federal district court alleging that First Alliance Corporation and its California and Minnesota subsidiaries, the First Alliance Mortgage Companies, misled...

Online auction fraud.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Online auction fraud: House Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) has sent letters to the CEOs of Yahoo, eBay and Amazon.com asking what the market is doing to curb online auction fraud, specifically the practice of 'shilling,' where...

DOJ budget bill.(United States Department of Justice)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... DOJ budget bill: On June 19, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner (RWisc.) and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) introduced HR 2215, a bill to authorize appropriations for the Justice Dept. for FY 2002. The House Judiciary Committee...

New antitrust books.(Review)
July 2, 2001... New antitrust books: "The 2000 Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments" surveys and describes significant developments during late 1999, 2000, and early 2001. ABA Antitrust Section members pay $84.95, non-members $99.95 (PC 5030119). Order...

Appeal may revive predatory pricing case against American Airlines.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Charges that American Airlines engaged in predatory pricing are not dead yet as the Antitrust Division prepares to appeal the dismissal of US v. American Airlines by a federal court in April. According to the government's charges, American had...

International conspiracy leads to U.S. jail : Akzo Executive guilty in price-fixing case.(Erik Anders Brostrom, Department of Justice)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Erik Anders Brostrom will spend the next three months in jail after pleading guilty to Justice Dept. charges of participating in an international price-fixing conspiracy. In addition, Brostrom will pay $20,000 and Dutch chemical company Akzo...

Merger won't fly without divestiture of maintenance ops.(Aircraft Service International Inc., Signature Flight Support Corp., Department of Justice)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Signature Flight Support must divest itself of Aircraft Service International Group (ASIG), a subsidiary of Ranger Aerospace, to settle the government's challenge to Signature's proposed acquisition of Ranger. The proposed order was filed,...

Bank ordered to prune branches.(BB and T Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Banking corporation BB&T will divest itself of eight branches with more than $200 million in deposits and loans. BB&T agreed to the divestiture as a condition of its merger with F&M National Bank. All of the branches are located in Virginia or...

The enemy of my enemy : Justice approves anti-fraud venture.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Mail-order cheaters, beware. The Antitrust Division has approved the Promotion Marketing Association's plan to expand its fraud database by adding a mail-order fraud component for its members. PMA, a New York-based organization of marketing...

A textbook case for Justice.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... A little learning was a dangerous thing for two of the world's largest publishing companies. Thompson Corporation and Harcourt General Inc., both leaders in the college textbook and computer-based testing fields, will divest assets if a...

Clean water, dirty dealing.(Steele-Nickes and Associates Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... A Georgia wastewater treatment company has been charged by the Justice Department with rigging bids for equipment and services to Alabama and Georgia wastewater treatment facilities. Steele-Nickes & Associates Inc., of Marietta Georgia, is the...

DOJ Sabre rattling ends with agreement to re-do the deal.(Sabre Inc. and Electronic Data Systems)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... A restructuring of the proposed deal between Sabre Inc. and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) has made it acceptable to the Antitrust Division. Sabre backed off its proposal to acquire SHARES, an airline reservation system, from EDS after the...

WorldCom in compliance.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a Certificate of Compliance to WorldCom Inc, and Intermedia Communications, ending a process that began in November. The 60-day comment period for the order of divestiture passed...

Largest Canadian divestiture order ever : French & British cement & lime makers to divest 3 U.S. & Canadian assets.(Lafarge S.A. and British corporation Blue Circle)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... French cement maker Lafarge S.A. and British corporation Blue Circle have agreed to divest Blue Circle's cement businesses serving the Great Lakes Region and Syracuse, New York area; and its lime business in the southeast U.S. to win FTC...

Firms refund 'rebate' check that was part of Internet directory scheme.(Telco Billing Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Three companies and their principals agreed to make refunds, disclose consequences of depositing rebate checks and avoid making deceptive claims to settle FTC charges that they used bogus 'rebate' checks to lure consumers into signing up for...

FTC locks horns with rhinopoint.com.(Rhinopoint.com)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division has entered a stipulated preliminary injunction order prohibiting misrepresentations, freezing assets and forbidding the use of consumer data after the FTC filed a...

Curing Internet Health/BizOps Fraud.(Streamline International)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Streamline International manages to combine several of the worst aspects of internet scams, according to a complaint filed by the FTC in federal court for the Southern District of Florida. The company allegedly poses as a legitimate multilevel...

Alleged pyramid fit for a pharaoh instead gets an asset freeze.(SkyBiz.com)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... One of the biggest pyramid schemes in history has been excavated, charges the FTC. SkyBiz.com, an internet business company, allegedly bilked consumers in 200 countries out of more than $175 million. The company operated on six continents, with...

The following orders are final.(Gateway Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Gateway, Inc. Chairman Timothy J. Muris did not participate File No. 992-3276 Contact: Linda K. Badger, 415-848-5151 Juno Online Services, Inc. File No. 002-3061 Contact: Laura M. Sullivan, 202-326-3327 FTC June 29 press release...

Calendar.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... July 7 - FTC Commissioner Thomas B. Leary will speak at the Western Economics Association International, 76th Annual Conference, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, Embarcadero Center, San Francisco; 10:15am July 18 - FTC Commissioner arson...

Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Charles A. James and Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Charles A. James and Solicitor General Theodore B. Olson did not participate in the Justice Dept.'s decision to appeal the verdict in the American Airlines predatory pricing case. Olson's former law...

Constance K. Robinson.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Constance K. Robinson remains as Antitrust Division Director of Operations and Merger Enforcement, while Debbie Herman who joined the Division from Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue is one of three deputy assistant attorney generals together with John...

FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris.(Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz as Director of the Office of Policy Planning)(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris has named Rafael Edward (Ted) Cruz as Director of the Office of Policy Planning, M. Sean Royall, from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, as Deputy Director, and Alden Francis Abbott as Assistant Director of Policy &...

Georgetown University Economics Professor Steve Salop.(Brief Article)
July 2, 2001... Georgetown University Economics Professor Steve Salop and former FTC Economics Bureau Chief Jonathan Baker joined the American Antitrust Institute's Advisory Board, while George Washington University Professor Bill Kovacic resigned to become...

Merger watch: jingo bells.
July 16, 2001... Jingo - One who vociferously supports one's country, especially one who supports a belligerent foreign policy - The American Heritage[R] Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition; 2000 Question: What do the following mergers have...

Texas-based Valero Energy Corp.
July 16, 2001... Merger briefs: Texas-based Valero Energy Corp. says the FTC has asked for more information about its proposed $6 billion purchase of Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. The company has been talking with the agency since its original filing on May...

Quaker Oats gave PepsiCo.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Quaker Oats gave PepsiCo an extra 30 days to divest its 'All Sport' beverage brand to help the companies win FTC approval for their proposed $13.8 billion merger. FTC officials are reportedly concerned about Pepsi's ability to leverage Quaker...

The FTC gave global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.(Aurora Biosciences Corp., Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... The FTC gave global biotechnology company Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. antitrust clearance to buy Aurora Biosciences Corp.

Appeals court upholds finding that Abbott violated Sherman Act, but denies damages.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Abbott and BioWhittaker violated the Sherman Act by entering into an exclusive supply agreement that withheld the raw supplies needed by small biotechnology company Microbix, ruled the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. The decision...

DOJ approves offshore drilling merger.(Pride International Inc., Marine Drilling Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... The Antitrust Division has granted an early termination of the waiting period for Pride International, Inc.'s purchase of Marine Drilling Companies, Inc. for $1.6 billion according to the companies. Houston-based Pride runs a fleet of more...

Beales backs 'rent-to-own' legislation.(Howard Beales III)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
July 16, 2001... In his first Congressional appearance, FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Chief J. Howard Beales III testified that he would not oppose legislation requiring the FTC to write rules to protect rent-to-own consumers. Speaking at the House Financial...

Household goods movers under scrutiny.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... The federal/state enforcement model set up by the Telemarketing Act may offer a useful framework for solving the regulatory difficulties in the household goods moving industry, according to an official of the FTC's Consumer Protection Bureau....

FTC staff advisory opinions : Car dealers and cooling-off Rule; Unfairness doctrine inapplicable to private contracts.(Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... The 'unfairness doctrine' does not apply to "private contractual disputes," the FTC staff advised an Illinois lawyer who asked whether the FTC considers the refusal of a local dealership to accept his client's rightful revocation of a car he...

FTC public conference to study petroleum price fluctuations.
July 16, 2001... The FTC will host an "initial public conference" on August 2 to study what exactly shapes U.S. prices for refined petroleum products and to target issues for in-depth public hearings in the fall. Topics include: supply of crude oil,...

Echostar Wars.
July 16, 2001... Some merger proposals are so outlandish that you wonder why they were put forward. Today's case in point is the effort by EchoStar Communications to acquire its much bigger satellite-television rival, Hughes Electronic. Hughes, a subsidiary of...

Microsoft watch (I).(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Microsoft watch (I): Although New Mexico is settling with Microsoft, the remaining state AG's are standing firm. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller showed no signs that any of the other states will drop out anytime soon. Miller noted that...

Microsoft watch (II).(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Microsoft watch (II): The Justice Dept. and remaining states have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to expedite its remand of the Microsoft case to a district court judge (to be named later). "As the Court recognized in...

Microsoft watch (III).(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Microsoft watch (III): Newsbytes reports (July 5) that Hong Kong's e-government system, designed to increase public access to government services, doesn't treat all visitors equally. Designed and built by Hutchison Global Crossing and Compaq...

Ex-competition official cleared for '98 case.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Ex-competition official cleared for '98 case: FTC ethics official Christian S. White has authorized former FTC Competition Bureau Assistant Director Howard Morse to participate in a September 1998 FTC divestiture order with Roche. At that time,...

Senate remains troubled by airline consolidation.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Senate remains troubled by airline consolidation: Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) and Ranking Member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) urged the Justice Dept. to closely scrutinize the shaky $12.3 billion United and US Airways...

Hatch-Waxman Act overhaul.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Hatch-Waxman Act overhaul: Congress should revisit the 180 day generic exclusivity provision in the 1984 Drug Price Competition & Patent Term Restoration Act (Hatch-Waxman Act) House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.)...

Broadband competition amendment in limbo.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Broadband competition amendment in limbo: As the advertising campaign for and against the "Internet Freedom & Broadband Deployment Act," (H.R. 1542) heats up, the House Energy and Commerce Committee is waiting for the House leadership to take...

Photogenic federal judges needed.(cameras in federal courts)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Photogenic federal judges needed: Standing in front of the U.S. Supreme Court last month, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) announced a 'Sunshine in the Courtroom Act' that would allow federal judges to permit...

Quote.(President Bush on energy purchases)(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Quote: "[W]e hope industry joins with government in making these wise decisions. That's happening..... Imagine the economies of purchase that will take place when the federal government and industry starts [sic] making wise decisions about the...

"The Department's Antitrust Division continues its thorough analysis of the United Airlines-US Airways transaction.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... "The Department's Antitrust Division continues its thorough analysis of the United Airlines-US Airways transaction, and remains ready to continue discussions with the parties to move its review toward a conclusion," - Justice Department...

AOL-TW seeks FTC nod for ISPs Juno & HSA access to its cable; Open source group complains HSA has ties to AOL-TW.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... As required by an FTC merger order, America Online Time Warner Counsel Robert D. Joffe has requested that the FTC approve AOLTW's application to provide high-speed Internet services from Juno Online Services (Juno) and High Speed Access Corp....

Netpliance settles three federal charges.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Netpliance will hand over $100,000, reimburse wrongly charged customers and avoid future deceptive sales and billing practices to settle FTC charges that it violated the Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, the Truth-In-Lending Act and...

Weird Science : FTC ends ValueVision claims.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Lose body fat while you're sleeping! Lose 50 pounds in 12 weeks! It will quite literally melt the fat off of you! Claims like these have always been associated with televised shopping networks. Thanks to a proposed settlement between the FTC...

FTC alleges medical billing scam.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Data Medical Corporation has reached a settlement with the FTC, which had charged it with selling fraudulent business opportunities to consumers. Promising minimum earnings of $23,400 per year for customers to use their home computers to...

FTC inks out alleged toner scam.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Pacific Office Systems went from tony to tacky this week, settling FTC accusations that the firm engaged in fraudulent business activities and violated the telemarketing rule. The California company, run by Suzette and Leslie Oppenheim, sold...

Herbal remedies : Is FTC Flavor-of-the-Month unsafe?(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... Comfrey, a plant grown for centuries for its supposed medical effects, is the secret ingredient in two new FTC internet medical scam suits. Christopher Enterprises, a Utah based provider of herbal medications, and California company Western...

FTC extends Baxter divestiture order license provision.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... The divestiture trustee overseeing the FTC order for Baxter International's acquisition of Immuno International AG, Dr. Daniel Tripodi, has requested another year for Haemacure to obtain all necessary FDA approvals to manufacture Fibrin...

FTC moves to dismiss two telemarketing defendants.(Brief Article)
July 16, 2001... The FTC authorized staff to seek a court dismissal of two defendants, Arudchelvam Nagamuthu and Julie Turgeon, in its case against Gains International Marketing alleging that three Canadian telemarketing companies and three individuals...

Calendar.
July 16, 2001... July 18 - FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle will participate in a panel on Privacy and the Internet at the 2001 Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference; Big Sky Resort, Big Sky, Montana; 8:00am July 20 - FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris will deliver...