Notícias
Statement on FTC Win Securing Temporary Block of IQVIA’s Acquisition of Propel Media
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The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted on December 29, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent IQVIA Holdings Inc. (IQVIA) from acquiring Propel Media, Inc. pending the Commission’s administrative proceeding seeking to permanently block the proposed deal.
In response, Bureau of Competition Director Henry Liu issued the following statement:
“To close out 2023, the FTC secured another significant victory that temporarily blocks an anticompetitive merger that would raise health care prices for consumers. The federal court’s order in IQVIA is also a win for the FTC as it continues to challenge anticompetitive deals involving health care and emerging technology platforms. We are pleased with the federal court’s decision and look forward to continuing to fight to permanently enjoin this anticompetitive deal via the Commission’s administrative proceedings.
Congratulations to the Mergers I Division on this important initial victory and thank you to all the staff who worked on this case.”
On July 17, 2023, the FTC sued to block IQVIA’s acquisition of Propel Media alleging in an administrative complaint that the proposed acquisition would give IQVIA a market-leading position in programmatic advertising targeted to doctors and other health care professionals. The Commission also authorized FTC staff to seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in federal district court to prevent IQVIA from consummating its acquisition of Propel Media, pending the agency’s administrative proceeding.
After a nearly two-week evidentiary hearing and closing arguments in late November and December 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos issued an order granting the FTC’s motion for preliminary injunction on December 29, 2023. The administrative trial is scheduled to begin on January 18, 2024.
The IQVIA federal court order is the fourth merger victory for the FTC in less than a month as the Commission seeks lower health care costs by preventing anticompetitive deals. In December 2023, the FTC also secured victories in its challenges against Illumina’s acquisition of Grail, John Muir’s takeover of San Ramon Regional Medical Center from Tenet Healthcare, and Sanofi’s acquisition of Maze Therapeutics’ Pompe disease drug. The IQVIA order also comes several weeks after the FTC’s successful challenge of several drug products as improperly or inaccurately listed in the Food and Drug Administration’s Orange Book.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about how competition benefits consumers or file an antitrust complaint. For the latest news and resources, follow the FTC on social media, subscribe to press releases and read our blog.
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IQVIA Holdings/Propel Media, In the Matter of
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Fonte: FTC
FTC Now Accepting Submissions for Voice Cloning Challenge
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- Consumer Protection
- Bureau of Consumer Protection
- Technology
- Artificial Intelligence
- Office of Technology
The Federal Trade Commission today began accepting submissions for its Voice Cloning Challenge, which is aimed at promoting the development of ideas to protect consumers from the misuse of artificial intelligence-enabled voice cloning for fraud and other harms.
The exploratory challenge, announced in November, is focused on encouraging multidisciplinary approaches—from product to policies to procedures—for preventing, monitoring, and evaluating malicious use of voice cloning technology.
The FTC will accept submissions online until January 12, 2024. Information on how to submit a proposal for the challenge as well as complete rules can be found on the challenge website. The challenge winners will be announced in early 2024.
The FTC encourages anyone with ideas to go the Voice Cloning Challenge website and share their entries during the open submission period.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
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FTC Announces Exploratory Challenge to Prevent the Harms of AI-enabled Voice Cloning
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Fonte: FTC
California-based Lead Generator Agrees to Settlement Banning It from Making or Assisting Others in Making Telemarketing Calls, Including Robocalls
Response Tree used deception and dark patterns to trick consumers into providing personal information that was used to facilitate millions of illegal telemarketing calls
Tags:
- Consumer Protection
- Regional Offices
- Bureau of Consumer Protection
- Western Region Los Angeles
- Mortgages
- Do Not Call
- dual enforcement/DOJ
- robocalls
California-based lead generator Response Tree LLC and its president, Derek Thomas Doherty, will be banned from making or assisting anyone else in making robocalls or calls to phone numbers on the FTC’s Do Not Call (DNC) Registry under a proposed order settling Federal Trade Commission charges that they operated more than 50 websites designed to trick consumers into providing their personal information for supposed mortgage refinancing loans and other services.
The defendants allegedly sold the personal information of hundreds of thousands of consumers as leads to telemarketers who used them to make millions of illegal telemarketing calls, including robocalls, to consumers nationwide.
Telemarketing campaigns allegedly assisted and facilitated by the defendants’ illegal lead generation operations were used to sell a multitude of products and services, including solar panels, hearing aids, and extended auto warranties. These campaigns, which made robocalls and calls to numbers on the DNC Registry, were illegal, as the telemarketers did not have consumers’ consent to be called, according to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice on referral from the FTC.
“Response Tree fueled millions of illegal telemarketing calls by tricking consumers into turning over their personal information and selling that information to telemarketers,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will continue to target every corner of the illegal telemarketing ecosystem to protect consumers and hold wrongdoers accountable.”
The complaint alleges that the defendants’ websites—including PatriotRefi.com, AbodeDefense.com, and TheRetailRewards.com—were actually “consent farms” that used deceptive and manipulative “dark patterns” to induce consumers to provide their personal information, obscuring hard-to-find and inadequate disclosures about how the information would be used. The defendants claimed that, in providing this information, the consumers consented to receive telemarketing calls. Third parties then bought the defendants’ leads and used the personal information to conduct illegal telemarketing campaigns, according to the complaint.
Through their PatriotRefi.com website, for example, the defendants allegedly duped consumers into providing their personal information under the guise of requesting a quote for a home mortgage refinance loan. After consumers input their personal information and clicked a button labeled “GET YOUR FAST FREE QUOTE,” the defendants captured the information and stored it in a database to sell to telemarketers and others.
Many or all consumers who provided their personal information to PatriotRefi.com never received home refinance quotes, according to the complaint. Instead, PatriotRefi.com was designed to compile lead lists by harvesting and selling consumers’ personal information without consumers’ informed consent. The complaint further alleges the defendants sold the leads they obtained, knowing that they did not obtain the requisite consent to receive telemarketing calls, including robocalls.
According to the complaint, at their peak, the defendants’ consent farm operations offered an average of 10,000 “real-time” leads for sale every day, and on some days had up to 50,000 illegally farmed leads for sale. In all, between 2019 and 2022, Response Tree and Doherty sold millions of deceptively collected leads.
The proposed ordersettling the complaint, which must be approved by the court before it can go into effect, bans the defendants from initiating or helping anyone else initiate telemarketing robocalls. It also bans them from calling, or assisting anyone else in calling, phone numbers on the DNC Registry and from selling, transferring, or disclosing consumer information in connection with lead generation activities.
The order also imposes a $7 million judgment against the defendants, which will be suspended based on their inability to pay. If they are later found to have misrepresented their financial condition, however, the full amount will immediately become due.
The Commission vote approving the complaint and stipulated final order and referring it to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for filing was 3-0. The DOJ filed the complaint and proposed final order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Central District of California.
The staff attorneys on this matter are Karina A. Layugan, Matthew H. Fine, and Jeffrey Tang of the FTC’s Western Region Los Angeles office.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
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Fonte: FTC
XCast Labs Will Be Banned from Supporting Illegal Telemarketing Practices to Settle FTC Charges It Assisted and Facilitated in Sending Hundreds of Millions of Illegal Robocalls
VoIP service provider also must screen current and potential clients to ensure they are complying with FTC’s telemarketing rules or terminate contracts with them
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Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider XCast Labs, Inc., agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it funneled hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls through its network, even after receiving multiple warnings about the unlawful conduct.
Under the proposed court order, XCast Labs will be required to implement a screening process and end its relationships with firms that are not complying with telemarketing-related laws. The Department of Justice litigated the case and filed the proposed order on the FTC’s behalf.
“XCast was warned several times that illegal robocallers were using its services and did nothing,” said Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “Companies that turn a blind eye to illegal robocalling should expect to hear from the FTC.”
“Today’s order is another example of the Justice Department’s efforts to protect American consumers from illegal robocalls and to stop telecommunications providers from enabling those calls,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We will continue to work with the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the Telemarketing Sales Rule.”
XCast Labs, headquartered in Los Angeles, is a nationwide provider of VoIP technology, providing services that allow its customers to send and receive phone calls, including robocalls, over the internet. Telemarketers who blast illegal robocalls typically use VoIP service providers like XCast Labs to transmit their calls.
According to the May 2023 complaint, the FTC sent letters to several VoIP providers, including XCast Labs, in early 2020 warning them that assisting and facilitating illegal telemarketing or robocalling is against the law. XCast Labs received dozens of “traceback” inquiries from US Telecom’s Industry Traceback Group regarding suspected illegal calls that originated on XCast Labs’ network, as well as inquiries from law enforcement agencies about transmission of suspected illegal traffic on the XCast Labs network.
Even after receiving these direct warnings, XCast Labs transmitted illegal robocalls to consumers. The FTC also discovered that many of these suspect robocalls were part of organized campaigns to generate telemarketing leads by impersonating officials from the Social Security Administration.
The proposed order, to which XCast Labs has agreed, prohibits the company from violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule in the future. It also bans XCast Labs from assisting and facilitating any high-risk customer, including those that are engaged in initiating, causing, or transmitting telemarketing robocalls or calling numbers on the DNC Registry and any telephone call using Caller ID spoofing to display a phone number that the calling party does not have the legal authority to use.
Next, the order permanently bars XCast Labs from providing VoIP services to any company with which it does not have an automated procedure to block calls that display invalid Caller ID phone numbers or that are not authenticated through the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN Authentication Framework. Further, the order requires XCast Labs to screen current and prospective VoIP customers to ensure they are not violating telemarking-related laws and terminate relationships with any customer that does not pass the screening process.
Additionally, the order requires XCast Labs to pay a $10 million civil penalty, which will be suspended based on its inability to pay. If the company is later found to have misrepresented its financial condition, the full amount will immediately become due.
The Department of Justice filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for Central District of California.
Thomas Biesty and Frances Kern of the Bureau of Consumer Protection were the primary FTC staff on this matter.
NOTE: Consent order the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court judge.
The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. Learn more about consumer topics at consumer.ftc.gov, or report fraud, scams, and bad business practices at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Follow the FTC on social media, read consumer alerts and the business blog, and sign up to get the latest FTC news and alerts.
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Fonte: FTC
La CNMC multa a Luminora por favorecer el acceso de sus instalaciones de renovables a la red eléctrica frente a un competidor
02 Ene 2024
nota de prensa
- Las promotoras de renovables acceden a la red transporte, propiedad de Red Eléctrica (REE), a través de un punto de acceso o “nudo”.
- Luminora, en su condición de Interlocutor Único de Nudo (IUN), tramitaba las solicitudes de acceso de varias instalaciones a un nudo de REE.
- Abusó de su posición de dominio para conseguir el acceso de sus propias instalaciones y no tramitó las de un competidor.
La Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) ha sancionado a Luminora Solar Doce, S. L. con 384.672 euros por haber priorizado los trámites de sus instalaciones de renovables ante Red Eléctrica (REE) frente a los de un competidor. Se trata de un abuso de su posición de dominio, una infracción del artículo 2 de la Ley 15/2007, de 3 de julio, de Defensa de la Competencia (LDC) (S/0003/23: LUMINORA).
En junio de 2022, la CNMC ya sancionó a Enel Green Power España (nota de prensa) con 4,9 millones de euros por una conducta similar.
Renovables y acceso a la red
Las promotoras de instalaciones de generación de energía renovable acceden a la red de transporte a través de unos puntos de acceso —nudo, en el argot técnico—. La capacidad de cada nudo es limitada, por lo que Red Eléctrica de España, S.A. (REE), como gestor de la red, asigna el acceso en función de la capacidad libre.
Cuando Luminora cometió los hechos, la normativa exigía a las promotoras interesadas en acceder a un nudo designar a una de ellas como interlocutor —Interlocutor Único de Nudo (IUN), en el argot técnico— ante REE para tramitar las solicitudes.
El Interlocutor Único de Nudo tenía una posición de dominio al disponer de discrecionalidad para asignar el orden y la coordinar las solicitudes ante REE. Por eso, su labor debía basarse en la buena fe y garantizar un derecho de acceso equitativo y no discriminatorio a todas las instalaciones de renovables.
Origen del sancionador
La investigación tuvo su origen en una resolución de la Sala de Supervisión Regulatoria de la CNMC por un conflicto de acceso (CFT/DE/134/20). La CNMC determinó que Luminora había actuado de forma improcedente como IUN del nudo Fausita 400 KV frente a un competidor.
La Dirección de Competencia inició una investigación (nota de prensa) por un posible abuso de su posición de dominio en ese nudo, conducta prohibida por el artículo 2 de la Ley de Defensa de la Competencia.
Conducta abusiva de Luminora
Luminora abusó de su posición de dominio como IUN, cuya designación había solicitado ella misma, y no incluyó las instalaciones de su competidor en las distintas solicitudes coordinadas enviadas a Red Eléctrica, contraviniendo sus obligaciones. Incluso se negó a hacerlo pese a requerírselo REE.
El competidor tuvo que plantear un conflicto ante la Sala de Supervisión Regulatoria y no obtuvo acceso al nudo hasta su resolución, más de un año después de su primera solicitud.
Sanción a Luminora
La multa asciende a 387.672 euros por una infracción muy grave del artículo 2 de la LDC consistente en un abuso de posición de dominio en el nudo afectado.
Además de declararse la responsabilidad Luminora como autora de las prácticas sancionadas, se ha declarado la responsabilidad solidaria de su sociedad matriz Soltec Development, S. A. a los efectos del pago de las multas.
Contenido relacionado:
- S/0003/23: LUMINORA
- CFT/DE/134/20
- Nota de prensa (14/03/2023): La CNMC investiga a la empresa de generación eléctrica Luminora y a su matriz Soltec por un posible abuso de posición dominante
- Nota de prensa (14/06/2022): La CNMC multa con 4,9 millones a Enel Green por abusar de su posición de dominio en dos nudos de acceso a la red de transporte de energía eléctrica
Documento no oficial, destinado a los medios de comunicación, y que no vincula a la CNMC. Reproducción permitida solo si se cita la fuente.
Fonte: CNMC
Casos
FTC
IQVIA Holdings/Propel Media, In the Matter of
On July 17, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block IQVIA Holdings Inc. (IQVIA) from acquiring Propel Media, Inc. (PMI), alleging in an administrative complaint that the proposed acquisition would give IQVIA a market- leading position in programmatic advertising for health care products, namely prescription drugs, to doctors and other health care professionals. The Commission also authorized FTC staff to seek a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in federal district court to prevent IQVIA from consummating its acquisition of PMI, pending the agency’s administrative proceeding.
After a nearly two-week evidentiary hearing and closing arguments in late November and December 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Edgardo Ramos issued an order granting the FTC’s motion for preliminary injunction on December 29, 2023.
Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
January 3, 2024
FTC Matter/File Number
2210196
Docket Number
9416
Case Status
Pending
XCast Labs, Inc., U.S. v.
The FTC sued to stop a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider, XCast Labs, Inc., that continued to funnel hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls through its network, even after receiving multiple warnings.
On January 2, 2024, XCast Labs, Inc., agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it funneled hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls through its network, even after receiving multiple warnings about the unlawful conduct.
Under the proposed court order, XCast Labs will be required to implement a screening process and end its relationships with firms that are not complying with telemarketing-related laws. The Department of Justice litigated the case and filed the proposed order on the FTC’s behalf.
Type of Action
Federal
Last Updated
January 2, 2024
FTC Matter/File Number
222 3097
Docket Number
23-cv-03646
Case Status
Pending
Response Tree, LLC
On January 2, 2024, the Department of Justice on referral from the FTC filed a complaint alleging that California-based lead generator Response Tree LLC and its president, Derek Thomas Doherty operated more than 50 websites designed to trick consumers into providing their personal information for supposed mortgage refinancing loans and other services. These telemarketing campaigns, which made robocalls and calls to numbers on the DNC Registry, were illegal, as the telemarketers did not have consumers’ consent to be called.
Under a proposed order settling the FTC’s charges, Response Tree and Derek Thomas Doherty will be banned from making or assisting anyone else in making robocalls or calls to phone numbers on the FTC’s Do Not Call (DNC) Registry.
Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
January 2, 2024
FTC Matter/File Number
2123087
Case Status
Pending