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Federal Trade Commission and the Act

Better Essays

| Federal Trade Commission and the Act | Prepared for ASCM630.9040, Professor Charles Carey |

Candy Mott-Harris
3/26/2012
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Contents

ABSTRACT 2 HISTORY OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION ACT 2 FALSE AND DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING 5 BAIT AND SWITCH ADVERTISING/TACTICS 8 CONSUMER FRAUD 10 IDENTIFYING, VERIFYING AND PREVENTING DECEPTION 12 CLOSING STATEMENTS ABOUT THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 13 BIBLIOGRAPHY 14

ABSTRACT

The paper will serve as a historical background overview of how the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC) came into existence. The paper will also break down the key components for which the FTC covers, such as deceptive advertising, baiting and switching and consumer fraud. There will be examples …show more content…

One of the key components was that now, civil penalties could be assessed for failure to follow FTC’s orders, such as cease and desist orders, should the respondent ignore the order. Previously, they would just be sanctioned. In addition, the amendment to Section 5 was to include unfair and deceptive acts or practices. Prior to this passage of the Wheeler-Lea Act, it was the burden of the FTC to prove unfair methods of competition. The Wheeler-Lea Act expanded on the food and drug advertising, as well. (Brown, 1947) Over the next few decades, the FTC saw changes, many fleeting and few with staying power. There were also staffing issues from the 1930s to present. In addition, at one point in time, when the FTC was tasked with enforcing labeling and identification, especially within the textiles and furs industry, many felt that the FTC overzealously pursued labeling claims. FTC also saw other challenges such as scathing reviews by critics consistently accusing the FTC of falling short. From 1933 through 1935, there were significant turnovers of leadership areas including the Commissioner’s position. Critics would claim that the Commission had become complacent after the existing board remained in place from 1935 to 1945. (Federal Trade Commission, 2004) William Brown wrote that “The changes,” as a result of the passage of the Wheeler-Lea Act, “added certain teeth to the law and made

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