FTC: Watch articles from March 2001

FTC: Watch archives from March 2001

Up periscope!(U.S. Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... A change of administrations in Washington, D.C., particularly a change of which party controls the executive branch, is always an opportunity for special interests to try to insinuate themselves into policy decisions, directly or indirectly....

HSR filings down 70% in February 100+ filings in last 2 hours of January.(mergers and acquisition information)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... In the final two business hours of January, parties filed more than one hundred Hart-Scott-Rodino Act notices of intent to merge or acquire companies with the FTC, according to Premerger Notification Office Director Marian Bruno. Just in...

House antitrust "technical" act abolishes public depositions.(Antitrust Technical Corrections Act of 2001)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... The House Judiciary Committee's "Antitrust Technical Corrections Act of 2001" (H.R. 809) would repeal an eighty-eight year old provision requiring that depositions for government antitrust cases be conducted in public H.R. 809 would repeal...

Kohl & DeWine bill would limit major airlines' slot control at two airports.(Mike DeWine and Herb Kohl)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) said Last week that they plan to introduce the "High Density Airport Competition Act of 2001," limiting the number of takeoff and landing slots that major...

News you can use: books; also, international info sharing anxieties.(U.S. Federal Trade Commission management information)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Fears that foreign or domestic parties will be penalized if they don't grant waivers of confidentiality for U.S. merger review are not true, FTC Assistant Director for International Antitrust Randy Tritell told participants at an ABA...

Pitofsky: no gas price collusion evidence; Tauzin: accusations just a campaign stunt.(FTC investigation into gasoline price hikes)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... In response to House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin's (R-La.) request for an update on the agency's Midwest gasoline price hikes investigation [FTC: WATCH No. 561, February 26], FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky has informed...

FTC staff opinion letters: Home Insulation Rule & Franchise Rule.(Letter to the Editor)
March 12, 2001... The FTC Labeling and Advertising of Home Insulation Trade Regulation Rule (the "R-Value Rule"; 16 CFR Part 460) requires the installation of loose fill insulation be at or above the required minimum settled thickness at every location, FTC...

FTC wants HOEPA protections expanded, finds subprime lending rising.(predatory lending legislation)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Subprime lending -- high rate, high fee loans to higher risk borrowers -- is growing fast, Consumer Protection Bureau Assistant Director Ronald G. Isaac testified before the California State Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance on February...

Pitofsky on the antitrust IP intersection.(FTC's Robert Pitofsky)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Has intellectual property policy gotten out of hand? FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky suggests that it has, that CSU v. Xerox is a leading indicator and that Townshend v. Rockwell Int'l Corp. and Integraph Corp v. Intel Corp. are other examples...

Antitrust goes global: a review.(book review)(Brief Article)(Review)
March 12, 2001... Antitrust Goes Global: What Future for Transatlantic Cooperation? Simon J. Evenett, Alexander Lehmann, and Benn Steil, editors Brookings/RIIA, 2000; 206 pp, $39.95 hardback, $16.95 paperback The transfer of Reuters' antitrust reporter David...

Air Cargo pact by Delta and Air France no threat to competition, says DOJ.(U.S. Department of Justice)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... A proposal by Delta Airlines and Societe Air France to jointly market air cargo services from the U.S., mostly to Europe, has won a go-ahead from the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. The joint venture -- in which Delta and Air France...

Bank divestiture will cure competitive defects in Michigan, says DOJ.(by Fifth Third Bancorp and Old Kent Financial Corporation)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Fifth Third Bancorp and Old Kent Financial Corporation will sell six branch offices in Western Michigan to avoid a clash with the Justice Department as it gets ready to make a "Yea" or "Nay" recommendation on the merger to the Board of...

On the wrong side of history : Microsoft, attacking Linux and open source, protests too much.(computer operating software management)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... [Ed. note: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently declared free (open source) software a threat to innovation,/FTC:WATCH No. 561] unlike Microsoft's free browser, Internet Explorer, which is simply an example of the fruits of the "freedom to...

Broadband competition bill back.(legislation information)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Broadband competition bill back: House Energy & Commerce Ranking Member John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) and Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) will reintroduce the broadband competition legislation that they introduced in the last Congress....

Airline pricing practices.(management information)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Airline pricing practices: On March 5, the Canadian Competition Bureau asked the Competition Tribunal for an order prohibiting Air Canada from engaging in alleged anti-competitive practices directed against low cost carriers West Jet and Can...

James nomination treads water.
March 12, 2001... James nomination treads water: The Senate Judiciary Committee will not be holding nomination hearings for Bush Administration nominee for assistant attorney general for antitrust Charles James anytime soon, say committee sources. The voluminous...

Microsoft: "can your palm settle FTC charges?".
March 12, 2001... Microsoft: "can your palm settle FTC charges?" On February 26, the FTC confirmed Wall Street Journal reports that it is investigating whether Microsoft violated federal advertising law with a print ad campaign comparing its Microsoft powered...

HIPAA hops back a step.
March 12, 2001... HIPAA hops back a step: The Health & Human Services Dept. has reopened the proposed healthcare privacy rules implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act for an additional 30-day public comment period, HHS Secretary...

Online privacy - you mean us?
March 12, 2001... Online privacy - you mean us? The online privacy rights group Junkbusters recently asked more than 50 corporate CEOs, including AT&T, Dell Computer, Ford Motor Co., IBM and Intel, if they would mind having themselves profiled (just for...

New privacy bills.
March 12, 2001... New privacy bills: Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) introduced two privacy related bills in the Senate on March 1. The "Financial Institution Privacy Protection Act of 2001" (S.450) would amend the Gramm Leach Bliley Act to provide more protection...

Computer information security.
March 12, 2001... Computer information security: House Energy and Commerce Committee Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman James Greenwood (R-Pa.) has asked 15 federal agencies, including the FTC if they are complying with the Government Information...

Natural gas.
March 12, 2001... Natural gas: Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-La.) wants new hemispheric agreements encouraging natural gas exploration and production. But House Telecom Subcommittee ranking Member Edward Markey (D-Mass.) reminded...

FTC gummed up Wrigley's plans.
March 12, 2001... FTC gummed up Wrigley's plans: According to a March 8 Reuters report, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. wanted to join the bidding for Nabisco's gum and mint business, but didn't because the FTC posed an antitrust barrier. "It came down to FTC...

Sports competition.
March 12, 2001... Sports competition: EU competition chief Mario Monti says that negotiations among European football clubs (in the U.S., think "soccer") to create a scheme governing the length of player contracts "have come to a positive conclusion." That's...

Toll-free consumer hotline FTC stings largest U.S. subprime lender.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... The FTC has filed a complaint in federal court charging a large U.S. subprime lender with systematic and widespread abusive lending practices [see story elsewhere this issue on FTC predatory lending testimony]. The FTC asked the court to...

FTC files disgorgement complaint against alleged "protection" racketeers.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... The FTC worked with the British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to file a Sect. 13(b) civil complaint against a host of companies and individuals allegedly peddling bunkum credit card "protection"...

Crescent Publishing preliminary injunction.
March 12, 2001... U.S. District Court Judge Lewis A. Kaplan issued a preliminary injunction against the Crescent Publishing Group, Inc. (until trial of a complaint brought by the FTC and New York State) that bars the defendants from doing business online without...

Display rack franchiser to follow Rule.(Federal Trade Commission Franchise Rule)(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Automatic Merchandising Corporation and its owner Alan Manning will observe the FTC's Franchise Rule in future to settle FTC charges that they fudged pre-sale disclosures of their breath mint display rack business opportunities. The suit...

Enerjet Corp. feels the heat of the FTC Appliance Labeling Rule.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Enerjet Corporation (Enerjet) will donate $10,000 to the federal budget surplus to settle FTC charges that its brochures violated the Appliance Labeling Rule by exaggerating the energy efficiency of some boilers and not labeling them properly....

Office suppliers to post $200,000 before telemarketing again.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Corporate Supplies, and its principals, Larry Sarchenko and Robert Henkel agreed to pay a civil penalty $20,000 and post a $200,000 performance bond before telemarketing again to settle FTC charges that they ran a disingenuous office supply...

Medical billing telemarketers receive TRO.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... A federal district court has halted a work-at-home medical billing telemarketing scheme pending trial of an FTC complaint that the defendants drew a very long bow with marketing claims that consumers could earn up to $1,500 per week by...

Infinity's 1996 permanent injunction order modified.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... The Commission has modified a 1996 stipulated order for permanent injunction against Infinity Corporation and Gregory Duvall that settled an FTC complaint that they deceptively marketed medical billing franchises. The parties agreed to...

Verity complaint amended.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... On February 27, the Commission amended its illegal Internet billing complaint against Verity International Ltd., et al. [FTC: WATCH No. 560, February 12] to: (a) clarify that it covers unfair and deceptive practices prior to the direct billing...

Ty Anderson dismissed as defendant in "top ten dot con" case.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... The Commission has dismissed Ty Anderson as a defendant in its case charging him, together with three other defendants, with deceptive use of modem dialing software. The software allegedly redirected Internet users from their usual Internet...

The following order is final.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... The following order is final: Indigo Investment Systems, Inc. File No. 002-3015 Contact: Janet M. Evans, 202-326-2125

Calendar.
March 12, 2001... March 14 - FTC Commissioner Mozelle Thompson will participate in a panel discussion, Utilizing International Cooperation to Extend the Reach of the Guideline, at a Joint OECD-Private Sector Workshop - Consumers In the Online Marketplace,...

Former FTC Program Advisor for Food and Drug Advertising Elizabeth Toni Guarino.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Former FTC Program Advisor for Food and Drug Advertising Elizabeth Toni Guarino has joined the Washington, D.C. office of Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. She was most recently vice president, general counsel of the Grocery Manufacturers of...

Former FTC Competition Bureau attorney Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Former FTC Competition Bureau attorney Jeffrey S. Jacobovitz has been named Chairman of Kutak Rock LLP's Antitrust Group in Washington, D.C.

Western Michigan University Haworth College of Business Prof. Norman W. Hawker.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... Western Michigan University Haworth College of Business Prof. Norman W. Hawker, a lawyer with experience in private practice and as an assistant attorney general in Michigan, will become an aai research fellow beginning May 1.

New York Law School Professor Rudolph J.R. Peritz.(Brief Article)
March 12, 2001... New York Law School Professor Rudolph J.R. Peritz, author of Competition Policy in America: History, Rhetoric, Law; and co-editor with Eleanor Fox and Lawrence Sullivan of Antitrust in Global Perspective (2nd ed. forthcoming) will become a...

Consummated software merger to be challenged; slotting fee case stuck in black hole.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The FTC is preparing to challenge a healthcare software merger involving First Data Corp. and J.B. Laughrey, Inc. after letting it pass without conditions, FTC: WATCH has learned. According to informed sources, some of the potential...

Sensenbrenner: lets have an antitrust commission and let's see about milk price-fix compacts.(James Sensenbrenner )(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... When Richard Nixon did it in 1969, it was called the Kirpatrick Commission to study the FTC, named for Miles W. Kirkpatrick, its leader who subsequently became FTC chairman. When Jimmy Carter did it in 1978, it was called the Presidential...

Senate continues to fret over airline mergers.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) and Ranking Member Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) introduced the "High-Density Airport Competition Act of 2001," -- that would amend the Clayton Act by making it unlawful for any air carrier with...

Consumer coalition wants $100 million disgorged from Bristol Myers Squibb.(Stop Patience Abuse Now)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Following a March 13 federal district court ruling that requires Bristol-Myers Squibb to delist its Buspirone metabolite patent from the Food & Drug Administration's "Orange Book" for improper listing -- the Stop Patient Abuse Now (SPAN)...

FTC closes divestiture order investigation.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The FTC has closed its investigation into whether RHI AG's acquisition of Global Industrial Technologies, Inc. (GIT) violated Section 5 of the FTC Act, or Section 7 of the Clayton Act, and modified its December 1999 consent order with RI-II AG/...

The role of economics in recent FTC cases.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... FTC Economics Bureau Director Jeremy I. Bulow says that the economists agree with the lawyers in the Competition Bureau about 75% of the time and strongly endorses Commission actions against alleged Hatch-Waxman act abuses by drug companies....

E-Commerce antitrust workshop in May.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The FTC will host a public workshop to explore competition issues raised by business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce on May 7 and 8. FTC Policy Planning Deputy Director Bill Cohen told FTC: WATCH that the agency...

Online profiling workshop.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... What did the FTC learn at its March 13 online profiling workshop? That there appears to be an information gap about how businesses merge and exchange personal consumer data, FTC Financial Practices Division Assistant Director Jessica Rich told...

Agency endorses FRS HOEPA plans.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The Commission approved the Federal Reserve System's Board of Governors' proposals to expand and strengthen the 1994 Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) in a recent comment. The FTC is concerned about the steep rise of predatory...

FTC suggests Congress overhaul FDCPA.(Fair Debt Collection Practices Act )(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Once again, the FTC has several suggestions for amending the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), in its 23rd Annual Report to Congress. First, Congress should amend Section 809 to require written notices be clear and conspicuous,...

Cartel behavior: big stakes -- Do you trust your co-conspirators? How about your lawyers?
March 26, 2001... In a triple-barreled salvo aimed at corporate and individual cartel actors and their attorneys, Antitrust Division Criminal Enforcement Chief Scott D. Hammond, earlier this month described the success of the Division's Antitrust Amnesty Program...

Anchor pleads guilty to price-fixing, agrees to pay $600K fine.(Anchor Industrial Products Inc.)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Anchor Industrial Products Inc. of Franklin, Ohio, has agreed to plead guilty and cough up $600,000 in fines for its role in an international conspiracy to fix the price of carbon cathode block, a product known for its strength and resistance...

NY food firm and top execs plead guilty to bid-rigging on NYC produce contracts.(DiCarlo Distributors )(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... A Long Island NY food distribution company and its president and vice president have agreed to plead guilty to rigging bids for produce sold to the New York City Board of Education. DiCarlo Distributors and president Vince DiCarlo of East Islip...

Gas/electric utility merger settlement called first-of-its-kind in power convergence.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... When the parents of Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. and the Detroit Edison Co. decided to converge their operations in a new company to be called DTE Enterprises, FTC antitrust investigators pointed out that in several areas in southeastern...

Alleged website crammers refund unauthorized charges.(Mercury Internet Services)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Mercury Internet Services, and its principal, Neal D. Saferstein will offer consumers refunds for phone charges that they did not authorize to settle FTC allegations that they billed consumers for so called "free" trial Web sites. The...

FTC stomps on "stamp out" job fraud.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Lots of folks are looking for work right now, and the FTC brought five more law enforcement actions against nine companies and seven individuals who allegedly flogged their materials as enabling consumers to score high on required exams and...

Amended credit card insurers complaint.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The Commission authorized FTC staff to amend their complaint with First Capital Consumer Membership Services, Inc. and Forum Marketing Services, Inc. for alleged credit card protection fraud. The amended complaint adds the Forum defendants...

Dow Chemical and Union Carbide trustee.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The Commission appointed Richard M. Klein as monitor trustee, and approved a trustee agreement in the Dow Chemical and Union Carbide Corp matter that requires Dow divest its ethyleneamines, ethanolamines and methyldiethanolamine ("MDEA")-based...

Boeing-Hughes monitor trustee agreement.(Boeing/Hughes Space and Communications)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The Commission has approved a trustee agreement for the Boeing/Hughes Space and Communications order providing the monitor trustee Massachusetts Institute of Technology aeronautics and astronautics Professor and former Air Force Secretary...

El Paso and Coastal request approval for 5 divestitures.(El Paso)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... As required under the January 29 proposed consent agreement, El Paso/Coastal requested Commission approval to divest: (1) a 0.48% interest as a general partner in the Iroquois Gas Transmission System to NJNR Pipeline Company; (2) 5.96% interest...

The following orders are final.
March 26, 2001... El Paso Energy Corp/The Coastal Corp - modified consent order with modifications concerning the Development Fund for the Green Canyon/Tarpon pipeline acquirer. REFERENCE: March 23 FTC press release Docket No. C-3996 Contact:...

FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky.(announces his resignation)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky notified FTC staff by email last week that his resignation will be effective no later than the date that the Bush administration's nomination for FTC Chairman, George Mason University Professor Timothy Muris, is...

The Senate Judiciary Committee has announced the membership of the 107th Congress's Antitrust.(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... The Senate Judiciary Committee has announced the membership of the 107th Congress's Antitrust, Business Rights, and Competition Subcommittee. The subcommittee has expanded from seven to ten members. Mike DeWine, (R-Ohio) is again chairman and...

Amherst University Economics Professor William "Geoff" Shepherd.(selected to)(American Antitrust Institute Advisory Board)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Amherst University Economics Professor William "Geoff" Shepherd joined the American Antitrust Institute Advisory Board. Prof. Shepherd edits the Review of Industrial Organization and authored the Economics of Industrial Organization (4th ed.,...

Former FTC General Counsel James M. "Mit" Spears.(joins Ropes and Gray as partner)(Brief Article)
March 26, 2001... Former FTC General Counsel James M. "Mit" Spears and former kinkos.com General Counsel Kathleen M. Delaney are now partners in Ropes & Gray's Washington, D.C. office.

Who are who at the Antitrust Division.(Illustration)
March 26, 2001... Who are who at the Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division 950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20530-0001 Telephone Area Code 202 [*] Head Secretary [**] Administrative assistant ...