Business Blog
Deceptive earnings claims: Would a new Rule help protect prospective entrepreneurs?
For many money-making ventures, the only people who seem to make money are the promoters pitching the venture. That’s the lesson of decades of FTC litigation challenging unsubstantiated earnings claims. And yet despite an aggressive enforcement program, the marketplace remains rife with dubious representations. The FTC is considering a new rule to address deceptive or unfair earnings claims and has published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. We’re interested in what you have to say.
The Notice cites dozens of cases dating from the 1940s to this year in which the FTC and other agencies have challenged false or unsubstantiated money-making promises. The scope of questionable ventures is broad. The Notice cites misleading claims for coaching programs, multi-level marketing plans, franchises, chain referrals, jobs, and gig and e-commerce opportunities, to name just a few.
You’ll want to read the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for details. We’ve listed 26 specific topics about which we’re seeking feedback, but those are just to get the discussion started. We’re interested in all relevant issues or concerns and especially welcome any research or factual data.
Once the Notice runs in the Federal Register, you’ll have 60 days to file your public comment online or on paper. (The Notice explains the process for submitting comments.) We look forward to your perspectives on the subject.
It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
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