Subscription Sellers Take Note: New Tariffs Could Hit You Hard and Require You to Notify Customers
Every company will be impacted by the new import tariffs, as they increase manufacturing costs. However, companies selling on an autorenewal basis could disproportionately feel the impact and should proceed with caution before increasing prices.
Negative Option and Continuity Marketing
Join us as we spotlight select chapters of Venable's popular Advertising Law Tool Kit, which helps marketing teams navigate their organization's legal risk. Click here to download the entire Tool Kit.
The Federal Trade Commission, state attorneys general, and class action plaintiffs continue to scrutinize negative option and continuity offers, including automatic renewals, free-to-pay conversions, and continuity programs.
Key Takeaways from Venable's 11th Annual Advertising Law Symposium
Venable's Advertising and Marketing Group hosted its 11th Advertising Law Symposium at our offices in Washington, DC on March 20. The symposium brought together both business and legal professionals, including in-house counsel and marketing executives, to connect on trends, opportunities, and challenges in the industry. The sessions covered a breadth of interesting topics on the latest and greatest in advertising law.
If you couldn't make it, here are some themes that ran through some of the day's engaging conversations.
Cleo AI Settles with FTC for $17 Million for Alleged Misleading Practices and Autorenewal Violations
In one of the first settlements since the new administration took office, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a $17 million monetary judgment with Cleo AI to resolve allegations that Cleo violated Section 5 of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act (ROSCA). Cleo operated a personal finance mobile app that purportedly allowed consumers to take out "instant" or same-day cash advances. The vote to authorize the settlement was 2-0.
Do You Know Who You're Paying? FTC Lawsuit Against an Online Bill Pay Platform to Proceed
On March 21, a federal judge in Washington state denied Doxo Inc.'s motion to dismiss a complaint brought by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regarding Doxo's alleged deceptive advertising practices. The FTC's complaint alleges that Doxo, a third-party online bill pay platform, violated the FTC Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB). Doxo provides a third-party bill-paying platform that touts that customers can "pay and manage all [their] bills with one login."
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Nondelegation Case Implicating the Powers of Administrative Agencies
Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Federal Communications Commission v. Consumers' Research (consolidated with SHLB Coalition v. Consumers' Research), a case about the role of executive administrative agencies and congressional delegations of power to those agencies that could revitalize the long-dormant nondelegation doctrine.