Andrew Lustigman, Mary Grieco and Morgan Spina Publish Article in Bloomberg Law on How the New FTC Chair Is Likely to Keep Up Enforcement on Auto-Renewals

Andrew Lustigman, Chair of Olshan’s Advertising, Marketing & Promotions Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group, Chair of Olshan’s Intellectual Property Law Group and Co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Management & Protection Group Mary Grieco and associate Morgan Spina published an article in Bloomberg Law entitled “New FTC Chair Likely to Keep Up Enforcement on Auto-Renewals” In the article, Andy, Mary and Morgan offer predictions on the new regulatory landscape under the Trump administration as it relates to the Federal Trade Commission. They explain that businesses will need to navigate a matrix of state and federal laws concerning transparent pricing, subscription-based marketing and privacy concerns over the Trump years. “Newly minted FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has strongly advocated FTC enforcement against businesses. A prolific dissenter to actions under outgoing Chair Lina Kahn, Ferguson also made clear the FTC should stay in its lane and confine its actions to be consistent with its congressional mandates,” they write. The FTC’s new Negative Option Rule imposes penalties for misrepresentations in subscription-based sales, and the agency is also cracking down on fake or manipulated reviews, including those generated by AI. And while enforcement tactics may shift under the new administration, businesses should anticipate continued regulatory action against deceptive marketing and data privacy violations. FTC enforcement tactics regarding review manipulation will likely differ under the new administration as exemplified by a recent enforcement action against a seller of AI-generated testimonials and review technology was challenged for providing the means for marketers to publish false reviews.