[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 179 (Thursday, September 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57043-57044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23595]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 102 3206]
Andrew N. Finkel; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid
Public Comment
AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.
ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.
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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or
practices or unfair methods of competition. The attached Analysis to
Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft
complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent
agreement--that would settle these allegations.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 10, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Andrew N. Finkel, File
No. 102 3206'' on your comment, and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/acnepwnerconsent, by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment
on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex
D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stacey Ferguson (202-326-2361) or
James A. Prunty (202-326-2438), FTC, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 38 Stat. 721, 15 USC 46(f), and Sec. 2.34 the
Commission Rules of Practice, 16 CFR 2.34, notice is hereby given that
the above-captioned consent agreement containing a consent order to
cease and desist, having been filed with and accepted, subject to final
approval, by the Commission, has been placed on the public record for a
period of thirty (30) days. The following Analysis to Aid Public
Comment describes the terms of the consent agreement, and the
allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of the full text of
the consent agreement package can be obtained from the FTC Home Page
(for September 8, 2011), on the World Wide Web, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm. A paper copy can be obtained from the FTC Public
Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington,
DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-2222.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before October 10,
2011. Write ``Andrew N. Finkel, File No. 102 3206'' on your comment.
Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on the
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable,
on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the Commission tries to
remove individuals' home contact information from comments before
placing them on the Commission Web site.
Because your comment will be made public, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number,
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive health information, like medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information
which is obtained from any person and which is privileged or
confidential,'' as provided in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C.
46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, do
not include competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales
statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing
processes, or customer names.
If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the
public interest.
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\1\ In particular, the written request for confidential
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/acnepwnerconsent by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you
also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``Andrew N. Finkel, File
No. 102 3206'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail or deliver
it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the
Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex D), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight service.
Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that
it receives on or before October 10, 2011. You can find more
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
[[Page 57044]]
Analysis of Agreement Containing Consent Order to Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent
order from Andrew N. Finkel (``respondent'').
The proposed consent order (``proposed order'') has been placed on
the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by
interested persons. Comments received during this period will become
part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will
again review the agreement and the comments received, and will decide
whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take appropriate
action or make final the agreement's proposed order.
This matter involves the advertising of a mobile software
application (``app'') called Acne Pwner which respondent developed and
sold in Google's Android Marketplace. Respondent claimed that Acne
Pwner effectively treats acne. The instructions for this app directed
consumers to hold the light-emitting display screen next to the area of
skin to be treated for a few minutes each day.
The Commission's complaint alleges that respondent violated
Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act by claiming, without substantiation,
that the app provided an effective treatment for acne.
The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent
respondent from engaging in similar practices in the future. Part I of
the order prohibits respondent from making any representation that Acne
Pwner, or any other device as defined by Section 15 of the FTC Act,
provides effective treatment for acne, unless respondent has competent
and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate that claim.
Part II of the order requires respondent to have competent and
reliable scientific evidence before making any safety, performance,
benefits, or efficacy claim about any device.
Part III of the order requires respondent, within 15 days of the
date the order becomes final, to pay the Commission $1,700.
The remaining parts of the proposed order are standard provisions
regarding recordkeeping, dissemination of the order to officers and
employees, prior notification to the Commission of corporate changes,
notification of new employment, filing of compliance reports, and
sunsetting of the order.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
proposed order, and it is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the agreement and proposed order or to modify in any
way their terms.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-23595 Filed 9-14-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P