On June 29th, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released updated rules to combat deceptive advertisements and endorsements. Along with new endorsement guidelines and answers to FAQs, these new rules mark a potential new era of FTC enforcement for advertisers who participate in online marketing. There have been huge shifts in the social media advertising landscape … Continue Reading
Cannabidiol (“CBD”) oil, a product that can be derived from hemp or marijuana plants, is an undeniably hot commodity right now. You may have seen CBD gummies, CBD topical creams, and even CBD-infused pillows for sale at your local store. At this point you are wondering if your broadcast station can advertise these products. CommLawBlog … Continue Reading
Last month I participated in a webinar with my colleague Dan Kirkpatrick where we addressed the issue of advertising controversial products. While the topic of marijuana advertising (which we discussed in our webinar) gets much attention these days–especially with the recent decision by CBS to turn down a cannabis ad for the Super Bowl–we also … Continue Reading
Mark your calendars because the time has come: as of June 11 the FCC announced yesterday that its Open Internet rules (better known as “net neutrality”) will cease and new FCC rules governing the Internet will take effect. This was the latest in a series of procedural milestones in the net neutrality debate. In a … Continue Reading
The fight over the Open Internet (better known as net neutrality) continued Thursday with the Federal Communications Commission voting to reverse the 2015 Title II Order, which reclassified broadband Internet access as a “telecommunications service.” This decision means that the Internet will return to its pre-2015 Title I “information service” classification (For a history of how … Continue Reading
With the voice of experience, the FCC’s sister Commission provides support, criticism. As we alerted you a couple of months ago, the FCC is in the process of crafting rules intended to protect the private/propriety information (PI) of those of us accessing the Internet through Internet Service Providers (ISPs). If eventually adopted, the rules would … Continue Reading
The FTC has green-lighted Nielsen's proposed take-over of Arbitron, but it is insisting that the parties enter into a consent agreement, and it's looking for public comment on the terms of that agreement.… Continue Reading
If you've got a website, you could have a problem. Welcome to the COPPA Rule, a complicated FTC regulation with (a) potentially expensive ramification, and (b) some new provisions about to take effect.… Continue Reading
Hoping to shape the development of national - and possible international - consensus on the privacy protections to which on-line consumers should be entitled, the Obama Administration has proposed a "Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights".… Continue Reading
Until a customer complains, the phone company has no way of knowing whether charges are legitimate. This leaves it up to customers to review their bills.… Continue Reading
Under federal antitrust law, mergers or acquisitions which exceed certain specified dollar thresholds must be submitted for governmental scrutiny before they can be closed. The thresholds for 2011 have just been announced.… Continue Reading
Get set: the big, yellow, sticky "Energy Guide" label is coming to your next TV. And, thanks to the FTC, it will be big, and yellow . . . and sticky.… Continue Reading
Net neutrality enforcement authority will be assigned eventually. Like a handful of chips thrown into the air on a casino floor, no part of government's power will be left un-gathered and unused. The only question left is who will pick them up.… Continue Reading
Comment/reply comment deadlines have been set in the "robocall" proceeding in which the FCC is looking to clamp down on unsolicited automatic calls.… Continue Reading
You would think marketing experts would realize that making you crawl off your couch to field a prerecorded phone solicitation is a poor way to generate loyal customers. But the practice persists.… Continue Reading
