Judge Rules that $1.6 Billion Telemarketing Fine is Unreasonable

In Golan v. Veritas Entertainment, LLC, plaintiff Ron Golan and other class members alleged that film company Veritas Entertainment made 3.2 million illegal robocalls to consumers. The calls were made to promote the film Last Ounce of Courage, and featured a prerecorded voice message by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee in which he endorsed the movie. At the statutory minimum of $500 per violation under the TCPA, the class action judgment would have been over $1.6 billion. The judge held that a judgment so large was unreasonable and decreased the amount per call to just $10. Read more here. Contact a TCPA attorney if your company is in a situation like this and needs telemarketing compliance help. Learn more about robocalling regulations.

Facebook to Implement New Standards for Advertisers

In response to criticism from regulators in several different countries, Facebook will implement new guidelines to make it more difficult for advertisers to make money on fake and sensationalized news. Content creators will have to comply with Facebook's new community standards. This could have a significant impact on the online advertising industry, which is projected to grow to $205 billion during 2017. Click here to read more.
 

FTC Bans Online Marketers from Deceiving Customers

The FTC has fined business owners Brian Bernheim and Joshua Bernheim $2.5 million dollars and prohibited them from misrepresenting the cost of any goods or services online. The two men were originally targeted by the FTC in March of this year for allegedly "offering 'free' products, without clearly disclosing that by accepting the 'free' product consumers were agreeing to be charged each month for a subscription if they did not cancel." Read more about this FTC action here.