FCC Requires Consumer Broadband Labeling
On November 17, 2022, the FCC issued new broadband labeling rules that require Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to publish broadband "nutrition labels" in a standardized format informing customers of the pricing, performance, fees, data allowances and other details of each of their currently available broadband offerings offered to mass market residential and small business customers. The rules, which apply to both fixed and mobile broadband services, must be disclosed to customers at the point of sale.
U.S.-China Relationship: Assessing the Risk of Marketing Electronics Made Outside the United States
Just weeks after President Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met face-to-face to restore dialogue between the two countries, the Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules that could limit national security threats posed by Chinese-made communications and electronic devices. The FCC said last week it adopted the new rules "to further secure our communications networks and supply chains from equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to national security."
Proposed Rulemaking: FTC Dials in on Business Opportunities
At its most recent open meeting, the Federal Trade Commission voted unanimously to issue an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, seeking public comment on whether to modify or expand its Business Opportunity Rule. The Business Opportunity Rule, first adopted in 2012, requires sellers of "business opportunities" to be able to substantiate any earnings claims they make, and to make certain enumerated disclosures pertaining to the potential transaction.
Payment Processors: Are You Prepared to Uncover "Dark Patterns"?
Risk management personnel who underwrite e-commerce merchants should have some basic understanding of the types of online merchant marketing and sales practices that are deceptive and misleading. More than a decade of law enforcement actions by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against payment processors that failed to act on red flags—high chargebacks, consumer complaints, shell companies with straw owners, and other evidence of consumer harm—provide a catalog of merchant activities that regulators do not want processors to support.