Chair, Federal Trade Commission.
Retweets, Follows, & Likes ≠ Endorsements.
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Jun 17 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
1. @FTC has taken action against Adobe and two executives for pushing people into subscriptions and then making it absurdly hard to cancel.
Adobe ambushed users with hefty "early termination fees" and threw up obstacles when people tried to cancel.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. Some users who tried to cancel by contacting customer service would have their calls drop or disconnect and then have to re-explain everything all over again. Others would be stuck in an endless loop of transfers across various Adobe representatives.
1. @FTC's investigation into the Exxon-Pioneer deal revealed an elaborate campaign by Pioneer CEO Scott Sheffield to collude with OPEC officials and inflate oil prices.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. Global oil production has long been dominated by the OPEC cartel. If OPEC cuts production, Americans can get hit with high gas prices.
US production in the Permian Basin has emerged as a potential check on OPEC. But Sheffield has been trying to collude with OPEC rather than compete.
Apr 23 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
1. Today @FTC issued a final rule banning noncompetes for workers across the country.
The rule will ensure that Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.
ftc.gov/legal-library/…2. After proposing its noncompete rule last year, @FTC received over 26,000 comments from the public.
Over 25,000 of these public comments supported banning noncompetes.
1. This week @FTC published its report on grocery supply chain disruptions during the pandemic.
It found that big retailers pressured suppliers into giving them favorable access to goods, hurting smaller grocers and the communities that rely on them.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. These findings echo accounts I've heard from independent grocers and wholesalers, who say that big suppliers privilege big retailers and disadvantage smaller ones.
If we uncover discriminatory tactics that violate the law, we won't hesitate to act.
1. In recent years we've seen a flurry of dealmaking involving healthcare providers, including by private equity funds. We're seeking public comment to better understand the impact of these deals, including on the cost and quality of patient care.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. Medical professionals spanning ER doctors and registered nurses have shared with @FTC concerns about how private equity owners have slashed staffing and worsened care in ways that endanger patient health. My remarks lay out some of what we've heard.
1. Fraudsters are using voice cloning & other AI tools to impersonate individuals with eerie precision and at scale.
@FTC proposes to expand its impersonation rule to cover impersonation of individuals, so these fraudsters would pay hefty penalties.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…
@FTC 2. We are also finalizing the government & business impersonator rule. This will let us tackle scams where fraudsters pretend to be the IRS or other entities and demand money on threat of arrest or loss of benefits. These scams defraud Americans out of billions of dollars a year.
Jan 9 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1. Too often, data brokers track & sell Americans' location data—revealing not just where someone lives, but which doctors they visit and where they worship.
@FTC has taken action to ban data broker X-Mode/Outlogic from selling sensitive location data.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The Constitution protects Americans from unchecked government surveillance, including digital location tracking.
As my statement with @RKSlaughterFTC & @BedoyaFTC notes, Americans similarly deserve protection from unchecked corporate surveillance.
1. @FTC and the Connecticut AG have sued auto dealer Manchester City Nissan, as well as its owners and managers, for systematically deceiving customers about the price of cars and saddling them with junk fees for bogus add-ons.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The dealer doubly charged customers for services already covered. For example, a customer came in looking to buy a certified pre-owned car advertised for $15,700—but then the dealer added a $5,295.65 junk “inspection fee” for a car it had already inspected.
Nov 7, 2023 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
1. Wrongfully listed Orange Book patents by pharma companies can raise drug prices for Americans, harm fair competition, and delay better drugs.
Today @FTC challenged over 100 patent listings affecting products ranging from popular inhalers to EpiPens.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. Millions of Americans rely on inhalers to control their asthma. And even though some of the most popular inhalers have been on the market for decades, they can still cost patients hundreds of dollars a month.
1. Junk fees cheat American families out of tens of billions of dollars and stack the deck against honest businesses.
Today @FTC is proposing a rule that would ban these junk fees.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. All too often, people face junk fee shock when firms tack on mystery charges they did not know about, consent to, or factor into the purchase.
We see unnecessary fees for worthless products; unavoidable fees imposed on captive consumers; and surprise fees snuck in at the end.
Sep 26, 2023 • 14 tweets • 3 min read
1. Today @FTC and 17 state AGs filed a lawsuit detailing how Amazon uses punitive & coercive tactics to unlawfully maintain its monopolies. Amazon is exploiting its monopoly power to enrich itself while raising prices & degrading service for its customers. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The complaint details a set of allegations spanning a variety of unlawful tactics by Amazon.
Amazon deploys all of these tactics to pursue a common overarching goal: deprive rivals of the scale needed to meaningfully compete against Amazon.
1. Today @FTC sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP) and private equity firm Welsh Carson for engaging in a roll-up scheme to monopolize anesthesiology markets in Texas and drive up prices for patients and businesses.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The scheme was multi-pronged. First, USAP and Welsh Carson pursued serial acquisitions to buy out nearly every large anesthesiology practice in Texas. This included practices in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Amarillo, and Tyler—spanning 1,000 doctors and 750 nurses.
Jul 18, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
1. I was grateful to have the chance last week to meet with @WGAEast members to learn about the challenges they face and the role that consolidation and vertical integration have played in enabling the business practices now prompting writers to strike.
2. Writers note that a wave of mergers, coupled with the advent of streaming, have transformed what used to be open markets—with many studios, networks, & theaters—into a set of walled gardens. They say this model worsens pay & terms for writers and worsens content for viewers.
Jun 21, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
1. @FTC has taken action against @amazon for tricking users into signing up for Prime subscriptions—and then deliberately making it hard to cancel. We charge that these deceptive tactics violate the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The complaint details how Amazon sought to thwart users who tried to cancel their subscriptions. Internally Amazon called this process the “Iliad Flow”—analogizing the cancellation process to the epic tale of a brutal war. ftc.gov/system/files/f…
Mar 23, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
1. @FTC is proposing a rule to ban deceptive business tactics designed to trick or trap consumers into paying for unwanted subscriptions. The proposal would mandate “click to cancel,” requiring firms to make it as easy to cancel as they make it to sign up. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The proposal states that if consumers can sign up for subscriptions online, they should be able to cancel online, with the same number of steps. If consumers can open an account over the phone, they should be able to cancel it over the phone, without endless delays.
Mar 16, 2023 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
1. Social media platforms have become a key vector for fraud, where scams and deceptive ads proliferate.
Today @FTC voted out orders requiring @Meta, @tiktok_us, @YouTube, and others to produce information about their role in policing this fraud.
ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. We know that platforms are designed to amplify and personalize content, making it easy for scammers to spread false claims and target susceptible consumers.
In 2021 alone, Americans lost $770 million to fraud initiated on social media.
1. One in five US workers is bound by a noncompete clause, which restricts them from freely switching jobs, lowering wages and undermining fair competition.
Today @FTC proposed a rule to prohibit firms from imposing noncompete clauses on their workers. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. Noncompetes undermine core economic liberties. Evidence suggests noncompetes also suppress earnings and opportunity even for workers who are *not* subject to a noncompete. FTC economists estimate that noncompetes lower US workers’ collective income by $250-$296 billion.
Jan 4, 2023 • 9 tweets • 3 min read
1. @FTC has taken action against three firms for imposing noncompetes on their workers. As a result of these efforts, thousands of workers who'd been subject to noncompete restrictions can now freely switch jobs or start a competing business, without fear. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. One of the firms, Prudential, used noncompetes to prevent security guards it hired from leaving to work for a rival within 100 miles for 2 years after departing. Many guards earned near minimum wage. Prudential subjected them to a $100k penalty for violating the noncompete.
Oct 24, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
1. @FTC has taken action against @Drizly (a subsidiary of @Uber) and its CEO James Cory Rellas for security failures that led to a data breach exposing the personal information of around 2.5 million consumers. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. As the complaint notes, Drizly & Rellas were alerted to security problems 2 years before the breach, yet they failed to act. Instead, they stored key information on an unsecured platform, didn't monitor for security threats, and exposed customers to hackers & identity thieves.
Sep 29, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
1. Today @FTC sued giant pesticide manufacturers @Syngenta & @CortevaUS for a wrongful pay-to-block scheme that keeps prices inflated & hampers farmers from accessing cheaper generic alternatives. Our lawsuit is joined by a bipartisan 10-state coalition. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…2. The scheme, as alleged in the complaint, centers on Syngenta's and Corteva's efforts to illegitimately prolong their patent monopolies. Normally, when a patent expires, generic versions of the product enter the market. This pushes prices down.
Sep 27, 2022 • 10 tweets • 4 min read
1. Yesterday the White House Competition Council met with President Biden to share progress on a whole-of-government approach to promoting fair competition and protecting Americans from corporate abuse. Here are some of the actions @FTC has taken since the last convening:
2. In May, we put ed-tech companies on notice about their legal obligation to limit the data they collect & use from children. Kids do not forfeit their right to privacy as a condition of getting an education. ftc.gov/news-events/ne…
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