For Your Information
Announced Actions
for November 12, 2003
Commission approval of consent
in settlement of court action:
The Commission has approved a consent
in settlement of the court action pending against the corporate
defendant in FTC v. Preferred Alliance, Inc.,
et al. The complaint in this matter, announced
on February 14, 2003, charged the defendants, Preferred Alliance,
Inc., and its principal Bruno Faillace, doing businesses as
VacantSun Travel Discounts and GenesisCard, with a range of
illegal activities related to the company’s negative-option
sales of buying club memberships through third-party telemarketers.
In filing the complaint, the FTC sought injunctive relief
to stop permanently the allegedly illegal activities, as well
as ancillary relief including consumer redress, disgorgement
of ill-gotten gains, and restitution as deemed necessary by
the court.
The FTC now has settled the charges against
the bankrupt corporate defendant. Under the terms of the settlement,
Preferred Alliance, Inc., through its Chapter 7 trustee, is
permanently barred from engaging in any business and from
seeking the authority to operate Preferred Alliance’s
business. Additionally, the trustee is barred from selling
Preferred Alliance’s customer list, and is required
to transfer all of the corporate books and records to the
FTC if he seeks to abandon them. The Commission vote to approve
the settlement was 5-0. The charges against individual defendant
Faillace are still pending. No trial date has yet been set.
Note: This stipulated
judgment and order is for settlement purposes only and does
not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation.
Stipulated judgments and orders have the force of law when
signed by the judge. (FTC File No. X030022; staff contact
is Stephen L. Cohen, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3222;
see press release dated February
14, 2003.)
Commission approval of amended complaint:
The Commission has approved the
filing of an amended complaint in its case against TLD
Network Ltd. Through the action, the FTC has
added Barclays Bank PLC as a post-judgment relief defendant
in the case. The underlying case involved the deceptive sale
of domain names ending in suffixes not recognized over the
Internet, such as “.usa.” The FTC alleges that
Barclays is holding money that consumers were defrauded out
of in the original TLD case. The FTC wants to recover those
funds so that they can be returned to victims. The vote to
approve the amended complaint was 5-0. (FTC File No. X020026,
Civ. No. 02 C 1475; staff contacts are C. Steven Baker and
Steven M. Wernikoff, FTC Midwest Region, 312-960-5634; see
press releases dated March
11 and April
23, 2002.)
Commission approval of final consent
order:
Following a public comment period,
the Commission has approved a final consent order in the matter
concerning Nestle Holdings, Inc.’s
acquisition of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream.
The Commission vote to approve the final consent order and
forward letters to the commenters of record was 4-0-1, with
Commissioner Pamela Jones Harbour not participating. (FTC
File No. 021-0174, staff contact is Catharine M. Moscatelli,
Deputy Assistant Director, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2694;
see press release dated June
25, 2003.)
Copies
of the documents mentioned in this release are available from
the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov
and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room
130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580.
Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2180
(http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/11/fyi0365.htm)
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Related Documents:
Nestle
Holdings, Inc.; Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc.; and
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc., File No.
021 0174, Docket No. C-4082
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