At the end of last week, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., unveiled the “21st Century FTC Act, a proposal to give the “Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Administrative Procedure Act rulemaking authority and first offense civil penalty authority.”
Castor weighed in on the bill to “amend the Federal Trade Commission Act to provide the commission with notice and comment rulemaking authority respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices and to provide for civil penalties for violations of such act respecting unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and for other purposes,” when she introduced it on Friday.
“For too long, the FTC has been hamstrung in its ability to promulgate effective rules of the road for consumers and penalize companies that harm our friends and neighbors. This bill will ensure that the FTC has all the tools it needs to protect Americans from scam artists and bad actors in an increasingly online world,” said Castor.
The Center for Digital Democracy, Common Sense, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, Consumer Reports, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Fairplay, National Association of Consumer Advocates, National Consumers League, Public Citizen, Public Knowledge, Truthinadvertising.org, and U.S. Public Interest Research Groups (PIRG) all are backing the proposal.
Castor’s bill was sent to the U.S. House and Energy Commerce Committee at the end of last week. So far, there are no House co-sponsors and no companion measure over in the U.S. Senate.
Reach Kevin Derby at kevin.derby@floridadaily.com.
