FTC: Watch articles from September 2001

FTC: Watch archives from September 2001

Merger watch.(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... When four Federal Trade commissioners met on August 1 to decide the fate of PepsiCo's acquisition of Quaker Oats Co., the only representative of Bush Administration antitrust policy participating in the discussion was Deputy Competition Bureau...

FTC 6(b) generic drug competition study produces 130 boxes.(boxes of documents)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Seventy six drug companies responding to compulsory FTC questionnaires about abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs)-- 21 brand name, 50 generic and 5 brand name with generic subsidiaries -- have provided the agency with 13 0 boxes of...

FTC staff advisory opinions.(electronic signatures, consumer credit reports, country of origin claims)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... * ESIGN & consumer credit reports Electronic signatures, contracts or other records relating to transactions may not be denied legal effect, validity or enforceability just because they are in electronic format. That's what FTC staff told...

GAO report: FTC can't resolve most franchise complaints Small business group wants new law.(American Franchisee Association)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Saying that "92% of franchise complaints involve issues that the FTC cannot address," the American Franchisee Association (AFA) is pushing for a Small Business Franchise Act. Between 1993 and 1999, 92% of complaints reported to the FTC...

Rival Senate telecom competition bill.(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Early last month, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ernest Hollings (D-S. Car.) and Sen. Conrad ("Call your office") Burns (R-Mont.) introduced the "Telecommunications Competition Enforcement Act of 2001" (S. 1364) that would, if enacted,...

James launches new merger review program.(Charles James, Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... A new Antitrust Division program that includes procedural agreements for merger reviews will start this month, Assistant Attorney General for Anti-trust Charles James told antitrust lawyers at the ABA Antitrust Section's summer show in Chicago....

New twists in long running Microsoft show : DOJ & states drop Microsoft structural remedy, illegal tying charges.(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... The Justice Department said it will not try to break-up Microsoft or pursue allegations of illegal tying because it wants to "streamline the case with the goal of securing an effective remedy as quickly as possible." The decision arrived...

In other Microsoft developments.(Antitrust Division files brief opposing Microsoft petition)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... In other Microsoft developments evelopments, on August 17, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied Microsoft's motion for a stay of the mandate pending a petition for a writ of certiorari. "Microsoft must show that the...

DOJ drops merger challenge after 3D, DTM agree to license RP patents.(3D Systems Corp.; Rapid Prototyping)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... 3D Systems Corp. and DTM Corp. agreed to license their Rapid Prototyping (RP) patents to a U. S.-approved company that will compete in the U.S. market, in order to persuade the Justice Dept. to drop its June 6 legal challenge to 3D's purchase...

WorldCom, DOJ seek narrower hold separate order and to appoint trustee.(acquisition of Intermedia Communications)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Late last month, the Antitrust Division, WorldCom, and Intermedia Communications filed a joint motion to modify the Hold Separate Stipulation and Order that was entered on May 30 in connection with WorldCom's acquisition of Intermedia...

Business Review Letter: Texas eye doctors' JV.(Rio Grande Eye Associates)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Eight Texas ophthalmologists can safely form a joint venture to offer their services as a group to third-party payers after the Justice Dept. gave its blessings in a business review letter. The Antitrust Division will not challenge 'Rio...

Business Review Letter: Endoscopy accessory products agreement.(Olympus America Inc and C.R. Bard Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Olympus America Inc. and C.R. Bard Inc. can proceed with a proposed dealer and sales agency agreement for "endoscopy accessory products" without fear of challenge after the Antitrust Division said that the proposal is "unlikely to create or...

Business Review Digest available.(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... The DOJ Digest of Business Reviews, 2000 edition, includes the following no intention to challenge epistles: 00-1: Midwest Behavioral Healthcare LLC (2/4/ 00) - Analysis of new behavioral healthcare network created by MBH. 00-2:...

Another aviation deal flies low in the Senate.(British Airways PLCand American Airlines Inc. form alliance)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Another aviation deal flies low in the Senate: Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) and Ranking Member Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) said that they are keeping an eye on the recent decision by British Airways and American...

Internet privacy (I).(DeLise v. Fahrenheit Entertainment, Inc case information)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Internet privacy (I): A California woman has sued Fahrenheit Entertainment, Inc. and its label, Music City Records, to enjoin them from allegedly selling music compact discs that will not work on standard audio CD players found on millions of...

Internet privacy (II).(Judges internet privacy rights)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Internet privacy (II): Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Alex Kozinski is leading a fight against a U.S. Judicial Conference proposal to require all judiciary employees -- including judges -- to waive their privacy rights when using "office...

FTC state electric dereg study.(Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... FTC state electric dereg study: The FTC staff has completed a study comparing the experiences of 12 different states with electricity deregulation, and the report is now before the Commission. FTC staff have made new recommendations, and,...

FTC consumer chief on health fraud.(Howard Beales )(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... FTC consumer chief on health fraud: As we went to press, FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Chief Howard Beales was expected to testify before the Senate Aging Subcommittee on September 10 about "health fraud and the elderly," such as marketing...

And then he said: "There are no pure segments in the American economy".(Rep. Frank Lucas quote)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... And then he said: "There are no pure segments in the American economy." "Whether it's the things we do to subsidize airports or highways, we are subsidizing industries all across the board." - Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) defending federal...

Low-key settlement for hyperactivity drug.(Natural Organics settlement information)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Natural Organics, an herbal medicine company accused of selling its Pedi-Active A.D.D. formula as a cure for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder agreed to withdraw its claims under a settlement reached with the FTC. ADHD is a behavioral...

Going Postal!(Vocational Guides Inc and Federal Trade Commission court case)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... It's not easy to be a postman; that's the message of a settlement between the FTC and Vocational Guides Inc, of Nashville, Tenn.. VGI has agreed to stop claiming that it has an in with the Postal Service and that, for a small fee, it can help...

Slotting fees: private lawsuit, FTC study, Senate scrutiny, opposition to Nestle/Ralston.(brief industry news)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Senate Small Business Committee Ranking Member Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) met with FTC Chairman Tim Muris on July 31 to emphasize his concerns that slotting fees can result in small businesses' products being excluded from retail shelves....

Pharmacists win injunction against discount drug card.(court cases information)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... "If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's more often than not, a duck." --U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman In a swift oral decision last Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Friedman granted a request by the National...

Holding company out $350,000 for former phone billing subsidiaries.(New Century Equity Holdings Corp)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Following a two year FTC investigation, New Century Equity Holdings Corp. will cough up $350,000 and two of its former subsidiaries will provide consumers with refund information, settling FTC allegations that it illegally "crammed"...

Court holds credit repair attorneys in contempt of 1999 order.(Credit Restoration Corp. of America, Inc)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... A federal District Court Judge in California has held ex-attorney Richard Murkey, his company Credit Restoration Corp. of America, Inc. (CRCA), and practicing attorney Keith Gill in civil contempt for violating a 1999 court order that banned...

Alleged spammers agree to play it straight.(Get Out From Under.com )(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Spammers who allegedly misled consumers into providing personal identifying information such as credit card information agreed to not misrepresent their products and services via the Internet to settle FTC charges that their business methods...

FTC to liver Rx marketers: back up those beefy claims.(Liverite Products )(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Liverite Products and its principals will hand over $60,000 and get reliable evidence before claiming that the beef liver extract "liverite" helps all manner of liver disorders, from hangovers to hepatitis, thus curing FTC charges that their...

3 more Bigsmart defendants settle.(multi-level Internet marketing schemes)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 10, 2001... Three Internet operators will stay clear of multi-level Internet marketing schemes to resolve FTC charges that they were involved in Bigsmart's Internet shopping mall investment scheme that allegedly was a front for an illegal pyramid...

Madagascar sounds nice until you see the phone bill.(Federal Trade Commission's suit filed against online phone operator Hillary Sheinkin)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... An online pom operator will pay $26,000 and make sure all her charges are authorized to settle FTC charges that she slapped large, unauthorized international phone fees on visitors after rerouting their Internet connections via Madagascar. ...

Internet auctioneers face $200,000 bond.(Computers By Us)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Online computer auctioneers will each post a $200,000 performance bond and mail goods on time to settle FTC charges that they delivered the computers to winning bidders either late or not at all. Computers By Us and its principals have also...

Career change for advance fee credit loan marketer.(Mark Alan Conway, HomeLife Credit Services)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Mark Alan Conway, d/b/a HomeLife Credit Services, will find a new job other than marketing and selling credit-related services. His agreement resolves FTC allegations that he illegally promised consumers that he could obtain loans and credit...

You have been selected to win a vacation.(Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against Epic Travel, Epic Resorts)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Epic Resorts and its subsidiary Epic Travel will refund money to their customers who requested but didn't see any refunds within a 30-day cancellation period to assuage FTC charges that they violated the FTC Act and Telemarketing Sales Rule by...

Aventis divestiture trustee seeks OK for Schering to buy Refludan assets.(Ferghana Partners)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Ferghana Partners, the FTC-appointed divestiture trustee for the Hoechst AG, Rhone-Poulenc S.A. merger (renamed Aventis S.A.) requested FTC approval for Germany's Schering AG to buy the "Refludan Assets." Schering is currently in...

FTC OK's Lafarge divestiture & hold separate/trustee agreements.(Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... The Commission approved the divestiture of Lafarge's "Great Lakes Assets" to Brazil's S.A. Industrias Votorantim, and approved the 'Hold Separate and Trustee agreements' developed by Lafarge, William M. Troutman and Daniel E. Somes. ...

New defendants in subprime lending case.(Federal Trade Commission's lawsuit against First Alliance Corp., First Alliance Mortgage Co.)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... The FTC has added Brian Chisick as an individual defendant and his wife Sara Chisick as a relief defendant to its subprime lending complaint with First Alliance Mortgage Companies & First Alliance Corp. -- after finding out through the...

Final orders.
September 10, 2001... Lafarge S.A./Blue Circle Industries PLC; Lafarge S.A File No. 001-0112, C-4014 Contact: Roberta Baruch, 202-326-2861 Value Vision International, Inc. FTC File No. 002-3308 Contact: Daniel Kaufman, 202-326-2675 Michael Forrest,...

Calendar.
September 10, 2001... September 12 - FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle will speak at the PCIA GlobalXChange 2001 Conference, "Ensuring Privacy and Security - Is it Possible?," sponsored by the Personal Communications Industry Association Foundation; at the Los Angeles...

A court computer randomly selected U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.(Microsoft anti-trust case)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... A court computer randomly selected U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, a 1997 Clinton appointee, to preside over the relief portion of U.S. v. Microsoft, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia having sent District Judge...

Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White's Christine C. Wilson.(appointed executive assistant to Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy J. Muris)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Howrey, Simon, Arnold & White's Christine C. Wilson is now executive assistant to FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris. Wilson previously advised former Assistant AG for Antitrust James F. Rill (who also co-chaired International Competition Policy...

Hunton & Williams litigation.(partner D. Bruce Hoffman hired by the Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... Hunton & Williams litigation, antitrust & intellectual property team partner D. Bruce Hoffman is now an FTC Competition Bureau associate director.

On August 9, Gardner, Carton & Douglas partner Roxane C. Busey.(appointed ABA Antitrust Section Chairman, Federal Trade Commission)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... On August 9, Gardner, Carton & Douglas partner Roxane C. Busey took over from Ky Ewing as ABA Antitrust Section Chairman. The ABA Antitrust Section has 3 0 committees.

The FTC cleared former Acting Assistant Director to the FTC Competition Bureau Director Marimichael O. Skubel.(ethics clearance requested)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... The FTC cleared former Acting Assistant Director to the FTC Competition Bureau Director Marimichael O. Skubel to participate in an undisclosed FTC investigation. Skubel said in her request for FTC ethics clearance that she had never been...

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the nomination of Sharon Prost.(Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit)(Brief Article)
September 10, 2001... The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the nomination of Sharon Prost as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prost was staff assistant to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Merger watch.(Phillips Petroleum Corp., Tosco Corp. merger gets approval)
September 24, 2001... "Clearance of this particular merger should not be viewed as a signal that the Commission's merger enforcement standards' have changed." FTC officials have said repeatedly over the years that the agency really should do a better job of...

Look for more "state action," Noerr-Pennington cases.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... One of the signature issues at the FTC when Chairman Tim Muris was last there, in the 1980s, was attacks on collaboration between and among competitors under color of the "state action" and Noerr-Pennington doctrines. The first is an...

Microsoft/Justice Dept. agree to disagree.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... In U.S. v. Microsoft, the Justice Dept. and the several states on the plaintiff's side would like U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to impose remedies that will "unfetter" the market, deny Microsoft "the fruits" of its Sherman...

FTC. Antitrust Division FY 2002 funding : HSR filing fees may not cover FY 2001.
September 24, 2001... The Senate approved the administration's full $156.27 million FY2002 budget request for the FTC FY that, and the House was hardly in dispute, approving $156 million. The Senate approved $130 million for the Antitrust Division while the House...

Farmers want competition title in Senate farm bill.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The National Farmers Union asked the Senate to include a competition title in the next farm bill to help preserve U.S. family agricultural production, in a September 13 letter. Of nine titles included in the 1996 Farm Bill, none specifically...

Australian trustbusters take on former telecom monopolist.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The former Australian government-regulated telecommunications company Telstra is disadvantaging rivals by not providing wholesale broadband 'asymmetrical digital subscriber line' (ADSL) services, the Australian Competition and Consumer...

FTC consumer chief talks to Senate on health fraud and the elderly.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Despite federal and state enforcement actions, bogus health claims remain common, and hit the elderly particularly hard, FTC Consumer Protection Chief J. Howard Beales testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on September 10. ...

Japanese executive indicted for participating in color cartel.(Tamon Tanabe )(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... A federal grand jury in Dallas indicted a Japanese company and Japanese executive for running a global cartel for the food flavor enhancer nucleotides. The indictment charges that Ajinomoto Co. Inc., and its executive Tamon Tanabe conspired to...

Scrap metal bid-rigging scrapped.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... A former Cleveland scrap metal company executive will pay a $1 million fine for conspiring to allocate suppliers and rig bids for ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal in Northeast Ohio. The Justice Dept. filed a four-count criminal case for...

Canadian railway tile bid rigging.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The Canadian company 1256384 Ontario Limited rigged tactile tile bids to the Long Island Railroad, according to charges filed in U.S. District Court in New Hampshire on September 17. Ontario Ltd. allegedly conspired during 1998 with unnamed...

Three execs will serve Jail time : NY school food big riggers fined $4.2 million.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... U.S. District Court in Manhattan Judge Jed S. Rakoff sentenced three executives and two food distribution companies to pay $4.23 million in restitution/fines for rigging bids on $200 million worth of New York City Board of Education (NYCBOE)...

Food company pleads guilty to rigging NY contract bids.(Jacobson Produce Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... A New York (NY) food distribution company, Jacobson Produce Inc., and its co-owner, Kenneth Jacobson pled guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to rigging bids for the supply of food to the New York City Dept of Citywide Administrative...

The answer is: an antitrust exemption.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The answer is: an antitrust exemption. What's the question? Cornell University Prof. Emeritus Fred Kahn reminds us that not long ago, faced with too much passenger demand, the major airlines were asking Congress for an antitrust exemption so...

The answer is: a merger.(companies sue Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The answer is: a merger. What's the problem? In 2000, interactive television schedule service Gemstar acquired TV Guide, a competing provider of interactive television schedules without objection from the Justice Dept.'s Antitrust Division. The...

It's your money.(Congress has yet to pass appropriations bill)(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... It's your money: As seems to happen every year like clockwork, Congress had not, as of Monday morning, September 24, passed the appropriations bill that funds, among others, the State Dept., the Commerce Dept., the Justice Dept. and the FTC....

Online fraud.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Online fraud: FTC Consumer Protection Bureau investigator Emile Loza has published a 44 page article on "Internet Fraud: FTC prosecutions of online conduct," in Communications and the Law. Loza analyzes 182 FTC Internet fraud cases against 593...

Investigative journalism at the FTC.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Investigative journalism at the FTC: California Congressman Gary Condit (D) has, regrettably, disappeared from the headlines, but we should remember that he was once an important story. Journalistic juices flowed like wine, or at least like...

From the FOIA files.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... From the FOIA files: the agency has denied access to documents concerning the following companies because they were obtained in a law enforcement investigation and/or disclosure would interfere with a law enforcement investigation: Sundance...

Return of the criminal defense lawyers.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Fifteen years ago, members of the District of Columbia criminal defense bar organized a walkout to increase the ridiculously low fees they were being paid under the Criminal Justice Act, which provides lawyers for indigent defendants. The FTC...

Canadian telemarketers stop plugging British bonds in the U.S.(B.B.M. Investments Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... A Canadian company and its owner will permanently stop marketing foreign lottery-related goods or services to settle FTC charges that they targeted U.S. citizens in a lottery-bond scam. B.B.M. Investments, Inc., (B.B.M.), and its owner,...

Supermarket divestiture approved.(Unified Western Grocers)(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The Commission approved Unified Western Grocers' application to sell Albertson's Store No. 1609, in Apple Valley, California, to Ralph's Grocery Company, as required by the FTC's order with Albertson's/American Stores. REFERENCE: FTC...

The following orders are final.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Warner Communications, Inc. (The Three Tenors) File No.001-0231; Contact: Joseph Simons, 202-326-3667 Natural Organics, Inc. File No. 972-3175 Contact: Matthew Gold, 415-848-5176

Calendar.
September 24, 2001... September 24 - Former FTC Competition Bureau Director Molly Boast will speak at a PLI Intellectual Property Law Program on "Licensing Antitrust: A View from the Antitrust Enforcement Agencies"; New York City; 12:15pm September 28 - U.S. v....

FTC Policy Planning staff member Gall Levine.
September 24, 2001... FTC Policy Planning staff member Gall Levine, husband Ian Gershengorn and son Caleb announce the arrival of Ari Lev Gershengorn on Monday, August 20. Happy birthday, kid.

The American Antitrust Institute has appointed Dr. Diana Moss.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... The American Antitrust Institute has appointed Dr. Diana Moss, most recently in charge of the Federal Energy Regulation Commission's competition analysis and an adjunct professor of public policy at the Georgetown University Graduate Public...

Susan Creighton.(joins FTC as deputy Competition Bureau director)(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Susan Creighton, formerly a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Palo Alto, has joined the FTC as a deputy Competition Bureau director, specializing in litigation -- as does another deputy director, Sean Royall, about whom we reported...

Trans-Atlantic convergence update.
September 24, 2001... Trans-Atlantic convergence update: September 22, American Antitrust Institute President Bert Foer hosted a party for European Commission (EC) Competition Commissioner Marlo Monti and EC Competition Director General Dr. Alexander Schaub,...

Monti's schedule called for him to meet with Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl.(Brief Article)
September 24, 2001... Monti's schedule called for him to meet with Senate Antitrust Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.) and Ranking member Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) on September 25. Monti and Schaub were also slated to meet with FTC Chairman Tim Muris and Assistant...

Finally, this note arrived by e-mail from overseas addressed "to friends from United States".
September 24, 2001... Finally, this note arrived by e-mail from overseas addressed "to friends from United States": "I'm sharing your grief and sure that the American people will overcome this tragedy." - Bulent Gokdemi, Turkish Competition Authority.