The FTC has been active this past week in providing guidance, including announcing a request for public comments and providing guidance on referrals for criminal regulatory offenses. It has also received a grant to improve its data processing and announced a proposed order against an e-commerce business opportunity scheme operator. These stories and more, after the jump.
Monday, July 28, 2025
Bureau of Consumer Protection; Health Care; Children
- The FTC announced a request for public comments regarding gender-affirming care for minors. This initiative is part of the FTC's ongoing efforts to understand and address the implications of such healthcare practices on consumer protection and competition; the FTC previously hosted a workshop on unfair or deceptive trade practices in gender-affirming care for minors on July 9, 2025. The FTC seeks public comments on the availability, accessibility, and marketing of gender-affirming care for minors. This includes evaluating whether consumers (in particular, minors) have been harmed and whether medical professionals or others may have violated Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act by failing to disclose material risks associated with gender-affirming care or making false or unsubstantiated claims about the benefits or effectiveness of gender-affirming care. The FTC is interested in comments related to: the impact of gender-affirming care on minors and their families, the role of healthcare providers and insurers in facilitating or restricting access to such care, and the marketing strategies employed by providers of gender-affirming care. The public will be able to submit comments at Regulations.gov until September 26, 2025.
Bureau of Consumer Protection; Bureau of Competition; FTC Operations; Data Processing
- The FTC received a $14.6 million Technology Modernization Fund (TMF) grant aimed at enabling the agency to enhance its in-house data processing capabilities and improve the way it analyzes data used in its investigations. The TMF provides grants to federal agencies to modernize IT projects that have a high likelihood of success and generate savings and other benefits for taxpayers. The FTC will use the grant to develop a cloud-based analytics platform that leverages AI tools and to train staff to handle complex data analysis in-house. The agency hopes to reduce the amount of time it takes to sift through data and save money by reducing the agency's reliance on outside contractors.
Tuesday, July 29, 2025
FTC Operations; Department of Justice
- The FTC provided guidance in the Federal Register on the factors it will consider when deciding whether to refer alleged violations of criminal regulatory offenses to the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") for prosecution. Executive Order 14294, Fighting Overcriminalization of Federal Regulations, directed each agency to "publish guidance in the Federal Register describing its plan to address criminally liable regulatory offenses" within forty-five days (from June 23, 2025). The Commission has promulgated a small number of regulations, such as the Wool, Fur, and Textile Rules, where the authorizing statute provides for a criminal penalty in certain circumstances. The Commission will consider several factors when deciding whether to refer an alleged violation of a regulation to the DOJ for criminal prosecution, including: "(a) the harm or risk of harm, pecuniary or otherwise, caused by the alleged offense; (b) the potential gain to the putative defendant that could result from the alleged offense; (c) whether the putative defendant held specialized knowledge, expertise, or was licensed in an industry related to the rule or regulation at issue; and (d) evidence, if any is available, of the putative defendant's general awareness of the unlawfulness of his conduct as well as his knowledge or lack thereof of the regulation at issue."
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Bureau of Consumer Protection; E-Commerce; Online Advertising and Marketing; Artificial Intelligence
- The FTC obtained a permanent ban preventing an operator from engaging in any future business activities related to e-commerce. Additionally, FBA Machine (formerly Passive Scaling) and its owner Bratislav Rozenfeld (also known as Steven Rozenfeld and Steven Rozen) must also surrender financial accounts and proceeds from the real estate sale, which will be used for consumer redress. The proposed order resolves allegations that the operator ran a scheme that falsely promised significant earnings through e-commerce business opportunities. Specifically, the FTC alleged that the operator falsely guaranteed that consumers could make money operating online storefronts on e-commerce platforms using AI-powered software. The FTC filed suit in June 2024 and according to the FTC's investigation, the claims made by the operator were misleading and lacked substantiation. The proposed order includes a total monetary judgment of $15.7 million, which is partially suspended based on the defendants' inability to pay the full amount. The Commission approved the stipulated final order by a vote of 3-0. Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court Judge.
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