🠈 Federal Trade Commission 🠊
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission was created in 1914 by the administration of Woodrow Wilson. It built upon the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 and efforts to break up the monopoly held by Standard Oil
This page lists simply lists rulings that I encounter as I research the merger history of corporations and the history of companies in the Mountain West.
- 1996: The FTC blocked Rite-Aid's attempt to purchase Revco. It was then purchased by CVS the next year.
- 1997: The FTC blocked Staples acquisition of Office Depot
- 2009-10: The FTC issued Endorsement Rulings. Web sites are supposed to have a huge yellow block of text that warns people that the web site might make money if a web user buys stuff on line. (See bottom of page)
- 2010-12-01: The FTC challenged Labcorp's acquisition of Westcliff Medical Laboratories, Inc..
- 2011-06-01: FTC requires that Grifols sell plasma processing units before Talecris merger.
- 2012: FTC Blocked Omnicare's hostile take over of Pharmerica.
- 2013-10-22: The FTC Prohibits Aarons Rents from adding spyware to computers and they must disclose tracking devices.
- 2015-07-02: The FTC required that Dollar Tree sell 300 stores before acquiring Family Dollar.
- 2015-12-05: FTC challenged a merger between OfficeDepot and Staples.
- 2016-08-06: FTC sued 1-800 Contacts for coordinating keyword bidding with other contact lens makers.
Sample FTC Disclosure
In 2009: The FTC started requiring that web sites place a huge yellow block warning people not to click on a link if there is any change that the web site might profit from the link. This is my disclosure:
I wrote the disclosure below according the FTC guidelines and saw an immediate 80% drop in income:
FTC DisclosureThe Anti Trust Division of the Department of Justice also files suits.