Two notable news stories came out of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week.
The first was the resignation of FTC Commissioner Christine Wilson. According to this story form CNBC …
“Christine Wilson, the sole remaining Republican on the Federal Trade Commission, announced Tuesday she plans to resign, citing what she said was Democratic Chair Lina Khan’s “disregard for the rule of law and due process.”
Wilson announced her resignation, which she said will come “soon,” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Throughout Khan’s tenure at the helm of the commission, Wilson has frequently bemoaned her approach in remarks at public meetings and in speeches.
Wilson wrote in her op-ed that she has failed “to persuade Ms. Khan and her enablers to do the right thing, and I refuse to give their endeavor any further hint of legitimacy by remaining.”Khan, who has been one of the most prominent figures of the progressive antitrust movement, has advocated for a more expansive approach to enforcement, including by pursuing risky cases with the potential to push the bounds of current case law. That approach has made her unpopular with more conservative antitrust thinkers, including Wilson.”
To continue reading the full story on Wilson’s resignation, click here.
And the second item was the commission filing its first-ever charges against a company for review hijacking. According to this article from UPI …
For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission has filed charges against a company for so-called “review hijacking.”
“The FTC complaint, filed Thursday, alleges that the Bountiful supplement company manipulated product reviews on Amazon.
“Bountiful carried out this deceptive tactic by merging its new products on Amazon with different well-established products that had more ratings, reviews,” the FTC said in a press release Thursday.
Bountiful manufactures vitamins and nutritional supplements under the Nature’s Bounty and Sundown brand names.
The complaint alleges that Bountiful abused an Amazon feature that allows products to be displayed in “variation” relationships, where similar products with minor differences share reviews. By requesting variations for their newer products, Bountiful took advantage of products that had already received reviews, giving the impression that the new products were well-rated.”
To finish reading the full story on these charges for review hijacking, click here. You can also contact us here
