[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 185 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57614-57616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24220]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 142 3132]
Carrot Neurotechnology, Inc.; 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. The attached
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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 19, 2015.
ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/carrotneurotechconsent online or on
paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Carrot
Neurotechnology, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1423132'' on your
comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/carrotneurotechconsent by following the
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment
on paper, write ``Carrot Neurotechnology, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File
No. 1423132'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D),
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center,
400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC
20024.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Mandel, Bureau of Consumer
Protection, (202) 326-2491, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC
20580.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34,
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing 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 17, 2015), on the World Wide Web
at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before October 19,
2015. Write ``Carrot Neurotechnology, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No.
1423132'' 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 privileged or confidential,'' as discussed 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/carrotneurotechconsent 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 ``Carrot Neurotechnology,
Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1423132'' on your comment and on the
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex
D), Washington, DC 20024. 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 19, 2015. 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.
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order as to Carrot
Neurotechnology, Inc., Adam Goldberg, and Aaron Seitz (hereafter
``respondents'').
The proposed consent order (``order'') has been placed on the
public record for 30 days for receipt of comments by interested
persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the
public record. After 30 days, the Commission will again review the
order and the comments received, and will decide whether it should
withdraw the order or make it final.
This matter involves the respondents' advertising for the Ultimeyes
software application. The Commission's complaint alleges that the
respondents violated Sections 5(a) and 12 of the Federal Trade
Commission Act (``FTC Act''), 15 U.S.C. 45(a), 52, by representing,
either falsely or without adequate substantiation, that Ultimeyes
substantially improves users' vision, including that it: improves the
vision of users, including people of all ages, genders, and visual
abilities; improves vision with real world benefits,
[[Page 57616]]
including benefits across a broad range of activities ranging from
athletics to more routine lifestyle activities, such as reading,
watching TV, and driving; improves vision on average by 31% and two
lines on the Snellen eye chart, and improves contrast sensitivity by
100%; and reverses, delays, or corrects aging eye or presbyopia,
including, but not limited to, by improving night vision, improving
users' ability to read in dim light, and diminishing the need for
glasses or other visual aids. The complaint also alleges that the
respondents violated Sections 5(a) and 12 by making the false or
misleading representation that scientific testing proves that Ultimeyes
improves vision in the above ways.
The order includes injunctive relief that prohibits these alleged
violations and fences in similar and related violations. The order
applies to marketing claims for any Covered Product or Service, defined
as any Device within the meaning of Sections 12 and 15 of the FTC Act,
15 U.S.C. 52, 55, or any program or service that is: (1) Intended for
use in the diagnosis of disease or other condition, or in the cure,
mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other
animals; or (2) intended to affect the structure or any function of the
body of man or other animals; and which does not achieve any of its
principal intended purposes through chemical action within or on the
body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being
metabolized for the achievement of any of its principal intended
purposes. As additional fencing-in relief, the order requires the
respondents to follow appropriate recordkeeping and compliance
reporting requirements, as well as document preservation requirements
for human clinical studies that it conducts or sponsors on any Covered
Product or Service.
Part I prohibits any representation that a Covered Product or
Service improves users' vision, unless it is non-misleading and
supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Such evidence
must consist of human clinical testing of the Covered Product or
Service that is sufficient in quality and quantity, based on standards
generally accepted by experts in the relevant field, when considered in
light of the entire body of relevant and reliable scientific evidence,
to substantiate that the representation is true. Such testing shall (1)
be randomized, double-blind, and adequately controlled; and (2) be
conducted by researchers qualified by training and experience to
conduct such testing. In addition, the respondents must maintain all
underlying or supporting data that experts in the relevant field
generally would accept as relevant to an assessment of such testing.
Part II prohibits any representation about the health benefits,
performance, efficacy, safety, or side effects of any Covered Product
or Service, unless it is non-misleading and supported by competent and
reliable scientific evidence that is sufficient in quality and quantity
based on standards generally accepted in the relevant scientific
fields, when considered in light of the entire body of relevant and
reliable scientific evidence, to substantiate that the representation
is true. For purposes of this Part, competent and reliable scientific
evidence means tests, analyses, research, or studies that have been
conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by qualified persons;
and that are generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and
reliable results. When that evidence consists of human clinical tests
or studies, the respondents must maintain all underlying or supporting
data and documents that experts in the relevant field generally would
accept as relevant to an assessment of such testing.
Part III, triggered when the human clinical testing requirement in
Parts I or II applies, requires the respondents to secure and preserve
all underlying or supporting data and documents generally accepted by
experts in the relevant field as relevant to an assessment of the test,
such as protocols, instructions, participant-specific data, statistical
analyses, and contracts with the test's researchers. There is an
exception for a ``Reliably Reported'' test, defined as a test that is
published in a peer-reviewed journal and that was not conducted,
controlled, or sponsored by any respondent or by any supplier of the
respondents. Also, the published report must provide sufficient
information about the test for experts in the relevant field to assess
the reliability of the results.
Part IV prohibits the respondents from misrepresenting, including
through the use of a name, endorsement, depiction, or illustration, the
existence, contents, validity, results, conclusions, or interpretations
of any test, study, or research, or that any benefits of a product,
program, or service are scientifically proven.
Part V requires the respondents to disclose, when triggered by
certain representations as to scientific support or endorsements in
connection with the advertisement or sale of any product, program, or
service, any material connections to any person that has conducted,
authored, or participated in any test, study, or research of the
product, program, or service; and all material connections between a
person providing an endorsement and respondents or any other person
manufacturing, labeling, advertising, promoting, offering for sale,
selling, or distributing such product, program, or service.
Part VI provides the respondents will pay an equitable monetary
payment of $150,000 and contains other provisions related to the
payment.
Part VII requires the respondents to provide sufficient customer
information to administer redress.
Part VIII contains recordkeeping requirements for advertisements
and substantiation relevant to representations covered by Parts I
through III, as well as order acknowledgments covered by Part IX.
Parts IX through XI require the respondents to deliver a copy of
the order to officers, employees, and representatives having managerial
responsibilities with respect to the order's subject matter, notify the
Commission of changes in corporate structure that might affect
compliance obligations, and file compliance reports with the
Commission.
Part XII provides that, with exceptions, the order will terminate
in twenty years.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
order, and it is not intended to constitute an official interpretation
of the complaint or order, or to modify the order's terms in any way.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-24220 Filed 9-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P