Free Republic

An FTC lawsuit accuses the agriculture machinery giant of illegal repair restrictions that allegedly inflate costs and deny farmers timely equipment fixes. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with attorneys general from Illinois and Minnesota, filed a lawsuit against John Deere manufacturer Deere and Company on Wednesday, Jan. 15, charging the agriculture machinery giant with engaging in practices that allegedly force farmers to rely on its authorized dealers for critical equipment repairs. According to the FTC’s complaint, these alleged tactics have inflated costs for American farmers and deprived them of the ability to quickly fix the tractors and combines they...

It looks like the Federal Communications Commission under Brendan Carr won’t be the only agency looking to tear down the government-backed dystopian activities of website traffic cop NewsGuard. Federal Trade Commissioner Andrew Ferguson issued a statement Dec. 2 joining his colleague Commissioner Melissa Holyoak in urging the agency “to investigate online platforms for unfair acts or practices relating to their opaque, unpredictable processes for banning users and censoring content.” Ferguson stipulated that “we must vigorously enforce the antitrust laws against any platforms found to be unlawfully limiting Americans’ ability to exchange ideas freely and openly.” Part of Ferguson’s antitrust push...

It’s butter stupidity! Costco was forced to recall nearly 80,000 pounds of butter because the label failed to mention that the kitchen staple contains milk — and many social media users are rolling their eyes at the dairy dilemma. The FDA sent out an initial recall for 79,200 pounds of Kirkland Signature butter due to the undeclared allergen in October. Packages for both the salted and unsalted Kirkland Signature Sweet Cream Butter list cream as an ingredient, but do not include an allergy warning that the butter “Contains Milk.” The bizarre recall has left many internet users scratching their heads....

No one was sure what a Kamala Harris presidency would mean for Lina Khan, the controversial chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appointed by President Joe Biden. But with Harris, too, on her way out, and Republicans slated to take over the White House, we can probably say goodbye—and good riddance—to Khan's reign. With Khan heading the agency, the FTC has taken an aggressive stance against mergers and acquisitions, an aggressive stance against big tech companies, and an odd view of the agency's purpose and authority. "Khan has framed several regulatory issues in the dramatic terms of someone facing...

A federal rule banning fake online reviews is now in effect. The Federal Trade Commission issued the rule in August banning the sale or purchase of online reviews. The rule, which went into effect Monday, allows the agency to seek civil penalties against those who knowingly violate it. “Fake reviews not only waste people’s time and money, but also pollute the marketplace and divert business away from honest competitors,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said about the rule in August. She added that the rule will “protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and...

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hitting back at the slew of Democratic billionaires calling for a potential Kamala Harris Administration to fire the sitting chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)./i> “Let me make this clear, since billionaires have been trying to play footsie with the ticket,” the New York Democrat wrote in a post on X on Wednesday. “Anyone goes near [FTC Chair] Lina Khan and there will be an out and out brawl. And that is a promise.”Her comments came after billionaire investor Mark Cuban criticized Khan during an event on Tuesday, telling Semafor that “If it were me,...

Republican FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak published a statement on Thursday expressing concern with Big Tech facilitating content harmful to children, but also warning that the Biden-Harris FTC could take actions that result in the censorship of Americans’ online speech. “How social media companies view and treat users increasingly shapes civic discourse and determines the extent of Americans’ freedoms to participate in the modern public square,” Holyoak said. In 2020, during the Trump administration, the FTC issued orders to nine tech companies — Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, WhatsApp, Snap, Discord, Reddit, Twitter, and Amazon — seeking to examine their data practices and...

Khan’s FTC, which has opposed mergers that would have been waved through by previous FTC chairs, has seen mixed success. But her nomination by President Biden in 2021 was clearly a challenge to longstanding doctrines that allowed mega-corporations, including “Big Tech,” to consolidate power. She went so far as to call them “mob bosses” in a recent interview with TechCrunch. ... Meanwhile, the donors reportedly also expressed a dislike of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, whose term ends in June 2026.

An interview between Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and CNBC host Joe Kernen boiled over Friday morning, when the two sparred over Vice President Harris’s recent pledge to ban price gouging if elected in November. Harris unveiled her economic plans last week, including the proposed ban, which would give the Federal Trade Commission the ability to investigate companies that increase their prices during periods of higher inflation. “This could be another tool in toolbox,” Warren said of the proposal, before Kernen interrupted. “Senator how would this policy do that,” he asked. Warren replied, “I let you finish your argument, did you...

A federal judge in Texas on Tuesday barred a US Federal Trade Commission rule from taking effect that would ban employers from requiring their workers to sign non-compete agreements. The ban, which had been scheduled to go into effect nationwide on September 4, is now effectively blocked. US District Judge Ada Brown in Dallas said the FTC does not have the authority to ban practices it deems unfair methods of competition by adopting broad rules. “The Court concludes that the FTC lacks statutory authority to promulgate the Non-Compete Rule, and that the Rule is arbitrary and capricious. Thus, the FTC’s...

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), along with two other international consumer protection networks, announced on Thursday the results of a study into the use of “dark patterns” — or manipulative design techniques ... In an analysis of 642 websites and apps offering subscription services, the study found that the majority (nearly 76%) used at least one dark pattern and nearly 67% used more than one. Dark patterns refer to a range of design techniques that can subtly encourage users to take some sort of action or put their privacy at risk. They’re particularly popular among subscription websites and apps...

Today, the Federal Trade Commission issued a final rule to promote competition by banning noncompetes nationwide, protecting the fundamental freedom of workers to change jobs, increasing innovation, and fostering new business formation. “Noncompete clauses keep wages low, suppress new ideas, and rob the American economy of dynamism, including from the more than 8,500 new startups that would be created a year once noncompetes are banned,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “The FTC’s final rule to ban noncompetes will ensure Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.”...

Federal regulators on Tuesday enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from changing jobs within their industries. The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable. The FTC heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their...

A new report from the Federal Trade Commission suggests grocery giants used inflation and supply chain disruptions during the pandemic to drive their profits and keep raising prices. Now, the agency is urging Congress to take a closer look into grocery profits. The data shows food prices in the United States spiked 11% between 2021 and 2022, the largest annual increase in over 40 years. News4JAX asked local consumers about their current spending Friday. “Everything. Everything. Everything that I can think of that I need, you know, it’s expensive,” a consumer said. The prices at the grocery store are high....

“We’re excited to be co-chairing the president’s new Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing, which builds on the FTC’s far-reaching work to promote competition and tackle unlawful business practices that are inflating costs for Americans,” FTC Chair Lina Khan told reporters on a call Monday.

In October 2022, I shared a big announcement in the retail world: Two massive, U.S. grocery store chains, Kroger and Albertsons, had agreed to merge, in a deal worth nearly $25 billion:CNBC:Rival grocers Kroger and Albertsons on Friday announced plans to team up.The companies said Kroger agreed to buy Albertsons for $34.10 a share in a deal valued at $24.6 billion. Albertsons shares had closed Thursday at $28.63 after surging on reports that a deal was imminent.Kroger is the second-largest grocer by market share in the United States, behind Walmart, and Albertsons is fourth, after Costco. Together, Kroger and Albertsons...

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday announced that it filed a lawsuit to stop Kroger Company’s proposed $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons Companies, Inc. over concerns that the merger would create a monopoly. The FTC said that the deal, which is the largest proposed supermarket merger in U.S. history, is "anticompetitive" and will end competition between the two chains, which would lead to higher grocery prices and lower quality products. "Kroger’s acquisition of Albertsons would lead to additional grocery price hikes for everyday goods, further exacerbating the financial strain consumers across the country face today," FTC's Bureau of Competition Director...

Following a recent announcement that Amazon and iRobot have terminated their $1.4 billion merger agreement, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Associate Director for Merger Analysis Nathan Soderstrom released a statement expressing the Biden regulators’ pleasure at the dissolution. “We are pleased that Amazon and iRobot have abandoned their proposed transaction…The Commission’s investigation revealed significant concerns about the transaction’s potential competitive effects,” Soderstrom said in the statement. U.S. federal lawmakers, including Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, previously called on the FTC to block the merger in a joint letter. “iRobot is a powerful market incumbent, and Amazon, given its vast resources, history...

Biden punishing a censor-gone-rogue like Twitter removes all remaining doubt that the First Amendment is under attack by the government.President Joe Biden’s administration repeatedly insists it is not violating the First Amendment in its attempts to control Americans’ speech using Big Tech. The regime’s recent targeting of Elon Musk and Twitter via weaponization of the Federal Trade Commission, however, suggests otherwise. Why else would it punish the social media company as soon as its incoming CEO pledged to roll back censorship on his app?In light of a federal judge’s recent ruling that barred the Biden administration from colluding with Big...

Federal regulators are looking to crack down on fake reviews and other deceptive internet practices. The Federal Trade Commission proposed a new rule Friday that would ban paying for reviews, suppressing honest reviews, selling fake social media engagement and more. Businesses would also be prohibited from running company-controlled websites that claim to be independent, and other deceptive practices like “review hijacking,” which makes reviews for one product appear like they were written for significantly different ones. If the proposed rule is approved, following a 60-day public comment period, violators could face hefty penalties. “Our proposed rule on fake reviews shows...