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A recap of 2017: FTC’s Annual Highlights By Carol Kando-Pineda No matter what you call it – facts and figures, the boxscore, or a report from the stat-o-sphere – a recap is a great way to get the lay of the land. Which brings me to the FTC’s Annual Highlights, a short but detailed summary of the Commission’s 2017 efforts to promote competition and protect consumers. Read more > FTC staff sends warranty warnings By Lesley Fair When the screen goes blue And the car breaks down And the smartphone keeps rebooting eternally Consumers won’t be afraid No, they won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand by your warranty. With apologies to R&B legend Ben E. King, when consumers buy a product with a warranty, it’s with the expectation that businesses will stand by what the sell. But standing by your warranty won’t do customers much good if you disregard the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. The FTC staff just sent warning letters to six companies, raising questions about statements the companies are making that appear to tie warranty coverage to consumers’ use of authorized parts or service, a practice that may violate both the Warranty Act and the FTC Act. Read more > WASHINGTON—U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) today announced the launch of our new website, E-Verify.gov. This is the authoritative source for information on electronic employment eligibility verification. E-Verify.gov is for employers, employees and the general public. The user-friendly website provides information about E-Verify and Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, including employee rights and employer responsibilities in the employment verification process. E-Verify.gov allows employers to enroll in E-Verify directly and permits current users to access their accounts. Individuals with myE-Verify accounts can also access their accounts through E-Verify.gov. “For the past decade, E-Verify has been the cornerstone of our continued commitment to helping employers maintain a legal workforce,” said USCIS Director L. Francis Cissna. “E-Verify.gov now allows users to better understand and navigate through the employment verification process.” E-Verify is a free, easy-to-use internet-based system. Employers can access E-Verify anytime, anywhere directly from a web browser. Nearly all employees are confirmed as work-authorized instantly or within 24 hours. The system, which has nearly 800,000 enrolled employers, compares information from an employee’s Form I-9 to records available to the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration to verify authorization to work in the U.S. On April 18, 2017, President Trump signed the Buy American and Hire American executive order to help reduce illegal immigration and preserve jobs for U.S. workers. To support these objectives, USCIS encourages all U.S. employers to verify all new hires through E-Verify.   For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis and @EVerify), YouTube (/uscis), Facebook (/uscis), and Instagram (@USCIS). FTC to Launch Campaign to Help Small Businesses Strengthen Their Cyber Defenses The Federal Trade Commission is launching a national education campaign to help small businesses strengthen their cyber defenses and protect sensitive data that they store. As outlined in a new Staff Perspective report, the FTC will develop and distribute reader-friendly educational materials with information about cybersecurity that small businesses need. The effort grew out of the Small Business & Cybersecurity Roundtables that the FTC hosted last year with small business owners and non-profit organizations, employees, and managers to learn about the challenges they face when dealing with cyber threats and security and ideas for how the government can help them. “Small businesses understand the importance of cybersecurity and the need to protect their networks and data, but many feel overwhelmed about how to address the myriad of cyber threats they face,” said Tom Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Our new campaign aims to help these small businesses with targeted, plain-language advice on everything from protecting against phishing scams to tips on what to look for when choosing a cybersecurity vendor.” The campaign will build on the work the FTC has already done under Acting FTC Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen. This includes the small business cybersecurity roundtable discussions and the launch of a website in 2017 aimed at helping small businesses avoid scams and protect their networks and data. The FTC also has developed several cybersecurity publications aimed at businesses of all sizes including our business guides Start with Security, Data Breach Responseand Protecting Personal Information and our Stick with Security blog series. Among the issues that small business owners identified during the roundtable discussions are how to avoid phishing schemes, ransomware attacks and tech support scams, as well as cybersecurity basics. Small business owners also wanted information about how to protect company mobile devices, and a list of questions they should ask vendors to ensure their systems are secure. To address these concerns, the FTC is creating up to a dozen sets of information on issues of importance to small business owners that will include training modules and videos. Potential topics include phishing, ransomware, email authentication, cloud security, tech support scams, vendor security, how to compare offers of web hosting services, understanding the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity framework, and others. In addition, the FTC will work with other government agencies to help develop more consistent messaging about cybersecurity and expand its work with the private and non-profit sectors to help get the materials developed by the FTC to more small businesses. FTC Acting Chairman Releases 2017 Annual Highlights Federal Trade Commission Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen released the agency’s 2017 Annual Highlights today, detailing its continued efforts to protect American consumers and promote competition without unnecessarily burdening legitimate businesses. “This year, the FTC has pressed forward with aggressive agendas for enforcing the nation’s consumer protection and competition laws,” said Acting Chairman Ohlhausen. “The Commission also made major strides in other key areas, such as promoting economic liberty and helping military consumers and small businesses.” The FTC’s Enforcement Highlightssummarize the notable cases agency brought during the past year in sectors ranging from health care and technology to telemarketing and student debt, as well as other consumer products and services. Health Care In 2017, the FTC continued to promote competitive health care markets by challenging harmful mergers and seeking to stop anticompetitive business conduct. For instance, the Commission successfully challenged a merger that would have allowed certain physicians in North Dakota to raise rates. The agency also brought cases involving a variety of anticompetitive conduct by pharmaceutical companies, including its first federal court monopolization case alleging an abuse of government processes. In a significant victory for the Commission, the pharmaceutical company Mallinckrodt ARD Inc. agreed to pay $100 million to settle FTC charges that it illegally acquired the rights to develop a drug that threatened its U.S. monopoly over a medication used as a treatment for infantile spasms. Technology The Commission continued its efforts to promote competition in technology markets as a way to stimulate innovation and growth in the economy, increase quality, and decrease prices. In 2017, the Commission took action to preserve competition in the worldwide market for fibre channel switches, which are part of storage area networks that transfer data between servers and storage arrays in data centers. On the consumer protection front, the FTC continued its efforts to combat unwanted telemarketing calls, protect consumers’ privacy and data security, ensure truthful marketing on social media platforms, and fight tech support imposter scams. For example, the case against satellite TV provider Dish Network for violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule resulted in a groundbreaking civil penalty. After eight years of litigation by the FTC, Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Attorneys General of California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Ohio, the Court imposed a record-setting $280 million civil penalty against Dish. In 2017, the FTC continued to prioritize privacy and data security, announcing nine privacy and three data security cases. For instance, the Commission and 32 State Attorneys General reached a settlement with the computer manufacturer Lenovo after challenging the company’s privacy practices. In addition, the FTC and the New Jersey Attorney General reached a $2.2 million settlement with VIZIO, Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers and sellers of internet-connected “smart” televisions, over charges that the software on its TVs collected viewing data on 11 million consumer TVs without consumers’ knowledge or consent. The Commission brought its first ever case against social media influencers, charging the owners of the CSGO Lotto site with deceptively endorsing the online gambling service CSGO Lotto, while failing to disclose they jointly owned the company. The Commission also sent more than 90 educational letters to influencers and brands to persuade them to comply with truth-in-advertising principles in the FTC’s Endorsement Guides. The Commission also led a federal, state, and international effort to combat tech support scams, which resulted in 16 new enforcement actions. Getting Money Back for Consumers In 2017, the FTC distributed over $269 million in redress directly to more than 3 million consumers and supported refund programs administered by FTC defendants that delivered more than $5 billion in refunds. In a global settlement with the FTC and the DOJ, Western Union agreed to return $586 million to consumers to settle charges that the company didn’t adequately protect them from fraud, and didn’t properly discipline problem agents. In addition, a federal court finalized the FTC’s settlement with Volkswagen by ensuring that all consumers who purchased a TDI diesel engine vehicle will be fully compensated for their losses. International Law Enforcement The FTC worked on nearly 100 investigations and enforcement actions with competition, consumer protection, and privacy agencies in other countries to halt deceptive and anticompetitive business practices that affect U.S. consumers. With DOJ, it revised the agencies’ International Antitrust Guidelines, which provide guidance to businesses and practitioners on the agencies’ international enforcement policy on competition matters, and entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to enhance consumer protection enforcement cooperation. The Policy Highlights note that FTC Staff hosted 24 workshops and conferences that explored issues such as developments in the health care industry, competition issues such as prescription drug markets and other technology-related issues including how technology impacts connected and autonomous motor vehicles, students, and financial services and payment systems. FTC staff also filed 11 advocacy comments with state and federal decision makers to promote competition and consumer protection principles. Economic Liberty The Economic Liberty Task Force, convened by Acting Chairman Ohlhausen, convened by Acting Chairman Ohlhausen, expanded the FTC’s cooperation with state and federal leaders to identify and eliminate unnecessary or overbroad occupational licensing restrictions that threaten economic liberty and harm competition, which may lead to higher prices, lower quality, and reduced consumer access to services. As the Task Force highlighted via the Voices for Liberty project, many state-based restrictions are particularly harmful to military spouses in licensed occupations, because their families relocate frequently across state lines, which requires the military spouse to obtain a new license in order to work. International Policy The agency continued its leadership in international policy, leading acclaimed International Competition Network projects on merger review and procedural fairness and working with the Department of Commerce to conduct a successful first Annual Review of the European Union-United States (EU-U.S.) Privacy Shield cross-border data transfer mechanism. agency also brought its first three cases to enforce the Privacy Shield framework. Finally, the Education and Outreach Highlights summarize the agency’s efforts to help businesses understand their legal responsibilities and consumers stay informed about ways to avoid fraud and deceptive business practices. Last year, the agency published 212 blog posts for consumers in English, 116 blog posts for consumers in Spanish, 132 blog posts for businesspeople and attorneys, and 18 competition blog posts. Popular blog posts covered the Equifax data breach, Equifax imposters, free credit freezes and choosing between a fraud alert or credit freeze as well as posts about imposters – some who made calls with a spoofed FTC phone number and others who misused the Publishers Clearing House name. More statistics are available in the Stats & Data 2017 infographic. Archives of past FTC Annual Highlights and Reports are also available online. FTC Staff Warns Companies that it is Illegal to Condition Warranty Coverage on the Use of Specified Parts or Services The Federal Trade Commission staff has sent warning letters to six major companies that market and sell automobiles, cellular devices, and video gaming systems in the United States. The letters warn that FTC staff has concerns about the companies’ statements that consumers must use specified parts or service providers to keep their warranties intact. Unless warrantors provide the parts or services for free or receive a waiver from the FTC, such statements generally are prohibited by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, a law that governs consumer product warranties. Similarly, such statements may be deceptive under the FTC Act.  Each company used different language, but here are examples of questionable provisions: The use of [company name] parts is required to keep your . . . manufacturer’s warranties and any extended warranties intact. This warranty shall not apply if this product . . . is used with products not sold or licensed by [company name]. This warranty does not apply if this product . . .  has had the warranty seal on the [product] altered, defaced, or removed. “Provisions that tie warranty coverage to the use of particular products or services harm both consumers who pay more for them as well as the small businesses who offer competing products and services,” said Thomas B. Pahl, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.  FTC staff has requested that each company review its promotional and warranty materials to ensure that such materials do not state or imply that warranty coverage is conditioned on the use of specific parts of services. In addition, FTC staff requests that each company revise its practices to comply with the law. The letters state that FTC staff will review the companies’ websites after 30 days and that failure to correct any potential violations may result in law enforcement action.  The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate  Have the Chills? Itching Pain? It Might Be Shingles Shingles aren't contagious, but your medical history, ability to fight diseases, and age can affect your risk of getting the disease. It's caused by the same virus present in chickenpox and can begin with fevers, chills, and headaches, similar to a seasonal cold or flu. 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