Topic
Legal and regulatory actions by bodies like the FTC and ACCC against companies for deceptive, unfair, or harmful practices toward consumers.
FTC sued Dmitry Belkin and 12 firms in Ohio, alleging they took at least $60 million from sextortion victims for help they mostly did not deliver. The complaint is an allegation, but it gives anyone advising victims specific things to check in a paid helpline.
Reality
The Federal Trade Commission is close to sending civil investigative demands to frontier AI companies, a senior agency official told Semafor. Those demands carry subpoena-like force, and sending them would be the first test of whether the inquiry is more than signalling ahead of the midterms.
Reality
OpenAI, Anthropic and other AI developers are under FTC investigation over risks their technology may pose to consumers, the agency confirmed. Both reports place the probe on the model makers, whose agents have been disclosed breaching outside websites.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishersReality
FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson opened a Section 5 probe of Anthropic, OpenAI, METR and other AI labs and plans to compel executives' testimony. It comes a day after lab executives signed a White House self-regulation accord with him. Unlike the accord, the probe can compel records.
Reality
Louis Rossmann's Own Your Shit tour spent the summer pointing crowds at Section 1201 of the DMCA, the 1998 provision that makes bypassing a manufacturer's lock illegal. His nonprofit Fulu pays for doing it anyway.
Reality
Judge Cory Liu decided on the documents that TikTok told parents Restricted Mode kept graphic content out of a child's feed while its own moderation labels only made some of that content harder to find. Next month's trial covers what it owes.
Reality
August's consumer protection deal with 47 states is one of the largest in US history, and the law professor who read the terms argues that what it left out will shape youth safety more than the penalty.
Reality
Uber ended Nigeria and Uganda with no notice to riders or drivers, and the FCCPC is now asking what it still owed customers when the app stopped. EU platform rules would have set a 30-day notice period; Nigeria's law does not.
Reality
The Federal Court found renewals at up to five times the original price, a "free" tier that could not message anyone, and monthly prices missing their mandatory surcharge. Penalties come later.
Reality