Ramirez, Brill Sworn In as New Federal Trade Commissioners

This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

Edith Ramirez and Julie Brill were sworn in as new Federal Trade Commissioners by FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz on April 5 and 6, respectively. Ramirez filled an open position on the Commission, and Brill now occupies the vacancy created by the departure of Pamela Jones Harbour. Harbour, whose term ended last September, resigned effective April 6.

Prior to joining the FTC, Ramirez was a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP in Los Angeles. Before joining Quinn Emanuel, she was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, in Los Angeles and clerked for the Hon. Alfred T. Goodwin in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Ramirez’s term will expire on September 25, 2015.

Brill comes to the FTC from the North Carolina Department of Justice, where she served as Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection and Antitrust. Prior to her move to the North Carolina Department of Justice, Brill was an Assistant Attorney General for Consumer Protection and Antitrust for the State of Vermont for over 20 years. Brill’s term will expire on September 25, 2016.

Further information about the swearing in of Commissioner Ramirez appears here on the FTC website. Further information on the swearing in of Commissioner Brill appears here.

A statement from Commissioner Harbour on her resignation appears here.

Two Intended FTC Nominees Announced by White House

This posting was written by Jeffrey May, Editor of CCH Trade Regulation Reporter.

Update: Nominations for the two FTC Commissioners were sent to the Senate on November 17. Julie Brill was nominated to serve a seven-year term from September 26, 2009. She would succeed Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour. Edith Ramirez was nominated for a seven-year term from September 26, 2008, to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Commissioner Deborah Platt Majoras in March 2008 The announcement appears here on the White House website.

The Obama Administration announced on November 16 two candidates to serve as Federal Trade Commissioners.

The President named Julie Brill, Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection for North Carolina, and Edith Ramirez, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP. Both are Democrats.

The White House announcement did not specify which potential nominee would fill the vacancy created by the departure of Deborah Platt Majoras in March 2008 and which candidate would replace Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour, an Independent whose term expired on September 26.

Before joining the North Carolina Department of Justice in February 2009, Brill was an Assistant Attorney General for Consumer Protection and Antitrust for the State of Vermont for over 20 years. Prior to her career in law enforcement, Brill was an associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York and clerked for Vermont Federal District Court Judge Franklin S. Billings Jr. She is an adjunct faculty member at Columbia Law School.

Ramirez is a graduate of Harvard Law School, where she worked on the Harvard Law Review with President Obama. She served as a law clerk to the Honorable Alfred T. Goodwin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In her current practice, Ramirez specializes in intellectual property and complex litigation matters.

A White House announcement on nominees for the FTC has been expected for weeks. A September 8 posting on Trade Regulation Talk discussed speculation concerning these nominations.

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz had commented at Fordham University’s International Antitrust Law Conference on September 24 that it was highly likely that the nominees would be named soon. Chairman Leibowitz went on to say that the Commission was working well despite the absence of a fifth member.

In addition to Leibowitz and Harbour, the two other current members of the Commission are Republicans William E. Kovacic and J. Thomas Rosch. Kovacic’s term expires in September 2011, and Rosch’s term expires one year later.

At the same time as the FTC candidates were named, the White House announced nominees for ambassadors to Nepal and Trinidad and Tobaggo. A nominee for the federal co-chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission was also announced.

“These individuals bring a depth of experience to their respective roles, and I am confident they will serve my administration and the American people well," Presidet Obama said. "I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

Text of the announcement appears here on the White House website.

Administration Reportedly Considering Two for FTC Vacancies

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

The Obama Administration is considering two candidates for open positions on the Federal Trade Commission, according to a story published by Reuters on September 3.

There has been an open position on the Commission for the last 18 months—since Deborah Platt Majoras resigned in March 2008. The term of Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour expires this month. She is not expected to be nominated for another term.

The two candidates reportedly under consideration are Julie Brill, Senior Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Consumer Protection for North Carolina, and Edith Ramirez, a partner with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, LLP, a 400-plus lawyer firm based in Los Angeles.

Brill, a graduate of Princeton University and New York University School of Law, previously served as Assistant Attorney General of the Consumer Protection Division of the Vermont Attorney General’s Office. She has received several honors in her government service, including Privacy International’s 2001 Brandeis Award for work on privacy issues and the 1995 National Association of Attorneys General Marvin Award for leadership in advancing the goals of the organization. Brill is a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School.

Ramirez is a graduate of Harvard-Radcliffe College and Harvard Law School, where she worked on the Harvard Law Review with President Barack Obama. In her law practice, she has handled a broad range of complex business litigation, including matters involving copyright and trademark infringement, antitrust, and unfair competition. She served in the Obama presidential campaign as Director of Latino Outreach in California.

The Federal Trade Commission is headed by five Commissioners, nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate, each serving a seven-year term. No more than three Commissioners can be of the same political party. Currently, the Commission is chaired by Democrat Jon Leibowitz. The other members are Commissioner Jones Harbour, an Independent, and Republicans William E. Kovacic and J. Thomas Rosch.

The Reuters story appears here.

Ad Industry Groups Announce Principles for Online Collection of Consumer Data

This posting was written by William Zale, Editor of CCH Advertising Law Guide and Do's and Don'ts in Advertising.

A group of the nation's largest media and marketing trade associations today released self-regulatory principles to protect consumer privacy in ad-supported interactive media.

The seven principles are designed to require advertisers and websites to clearly inform consumers about data collection practices and enable them to exercise control over that information.

This unprecedented collaboration represents the entire marketing-media industry and includes the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB).

The CBBB, a leading organization dedicated to advancing marketplace trust, has agreed, along with the DMA, to implement accountability programs to promote widespread adoption of the seven principles.

FTC Commissioner’s Comments

“Consumers deserve transparency regarding the collection and use of their data for behavioral advertising purposes,” said FTC Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour. “I am gratified that a group of influential associations—representing a significant component of the Internet community—has responded to so many of the privacy concerns raised by my colleagues and myself. These associations have invested substantial efforts to actually deliver a draft set of privacy principles, which have the potential to dramatically advance the cause of consumer privacy.”

The Commissioner commended the organizations for taking the important first step. “I am hopeful that successful implementation will follow,” Harbour said. “In the meantime, I encourage the entire privacy community to continue a dialogue that places the interests of consumers first.”

Seven Principles

The principles are designed to address consumer concerns about the use of personal information and interest-based advertising while preserving the innovative and robust advertising that supports the vast array of free online content and the ability to deliver relevant advertising to consumers. This self-regulatory program consists of the following seven principles.

• The Education Principle calls for organizations to participate in efforts to educate individuals and businesses about online behavioral advertising. To this end, the digital media industry intends, in a major campaign that is expected to exceed 500 million online advertising impressions, to educate consumers about online behavioral advertising, the benefits of these practices and the means to exercise choice, over the next 18 months.

• The Transparency Principle calls for clearer and easily accessible disclosures to consumers about data collection and use practices associated with online behavioral advertising. It will result in new, enhanced notice on the page where data is collected through links embedded in or around advertisements, or on the web page itself.

• The Consumer Control Principle provides consumers with an expanded ability to choose whether data is collected and used for online behavioral advertising purposes. This choice will be available through a link from the notice provided on the web page where data is collected. The Consumer Control Principle requires “service providers,” a term that includes Internet access service providers and providers of desktop applications software such as web browser “tool bars” to obtain the consent of users before engaging in online behavioral advertising, and take steps to de-identify the data used for such purposes.

• The Data Security Principle calls for organizations to provide reasonable security for, and limited retention of data, collected and used for online behavioral advertising purposes.

• The Material Changes Principle calls on organizations to obtain consent for any material change to their online behavioral advertising data collection and use policies and practices to data collected prior to such change.

• The Sensitive Data Principle recognizes that data collected from children and used for online behavioral advertising merits heightened protection, and requires parental consent for behavioral advertising to consumers known to be under 13 on child-directed websites. This principle also provides heightened protections to certain health and financial data when attributable to a specific individual.

• The Accountability Principle calls for development of programs to further advance these principles, including programs to monitor and report instances of uncorrected non-compliance with these principles to appropriate government agencies. The CBBB and DMA have been asked and have agreed to work cooperatively to establish accountability mechanisms under the principles.

The complete document appears here at the CBBB website.

Further details will be reported in CCH Advertising Law Guide, Do’s and Don’ts in Advertising, and CCH Privacy Law in Marketing.