Yesterday, the online ad lobby [IAB, ANA, DMA]–working with Chamber of Commerce–scored a major political victory by forcing the Financial reform bill conference committee to drop proposed provisions that would have strengthened the FTC. Under the House bill, the FTC would have been given the same kind of regulatory authority most federal agencies have [APA rulemaking]. Marketers and advertisers are celebrating their win, because it keeps the FTC on a weakened and short political leash. While consumer protection is significantly expanded because of the CFPB and new financial rules, the FTC is to remain largely hamstrung. The online marketing and advertising lobby [including ANA, DMA–see below] were afraid that the newly invigorated FTC under Pres. Obama would require the industry to protect privacy online and also become more accountable to consumers engaged in e-commerce.  I heard IAB and Chamber are dancing in the streets! Congressmen Barney Frank, Henry Waxman and Sen. Rockefeller deserve praise for working hard to protect consumers, including their proposal on the FTC.
Here’s what two of the ad groups placed on their sites about the FTC issue:
Progress on FTC Enforcement Provisions in Wall Street Reform Conference
June 23, 2010
The marketing and media community has made substantial progress on defeating the broad expansion of FTC powers that is included in the House version of the Wall Street reform bill. But we still need your assistance to keep these provisions out of the final bill.
Yesterday the Senate conferees presented an offer on the bill that rejected the new FTC powers that are in the House version. Chairman Dodd indicated that while he may support changes in the Magnuson Moss rulemaking process, there is no Senate provision and these issues are too complex and important to be resolved in the context of the Wall Street reform bill. Conferees hope to finish the conference this week so the final bill can be cleared for the President’s signature next month.
The House conferees may still continue to push for these provisions, so it is very important that marketers contact the Senate conferees to express our appreciation for their support and to urge them to remain strongly opposed to these new powers for the FTC in this bill. Contact information for the Senate conferees is located here and our letter to Senate conferees is available here. Please let the Senators know if you have plants or operations in their states.
ANA took part in a very important meeting yesterday with Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller on these issues. We argued that these issues are very important to the entire marketing community and deserve careful consideration outside of the context of the Wall Street reform bill. The Chairman strongly indicated that he will continue to push for changes in the Magnuson Moss rulemaking procedures this year.
If you have any questions about this matter, please contact Dan Jaffe (djaffe@ana.net) or Keith Scarborough (kscarborough@ana.net) in ANA’s Washington, DC office at (202) 296-1883.
http://www.ana.net/advocacy/content/2418
DMA Asks Financial Reform Conferees to Keep FTC Expansion Out of ‘Restoring American Financial Stability Act’
June 10, 2010 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today was joined by 47 other trade associations and business coalitions in sending a letter to each of the conferees on H.R. 4173, the “Restoring American Financial Stability Act†(RAFSA), urging them to keep language that would dramatically expand the powers of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) out of the final bill.
As the House and Senate conferees work to reconcile their versions of the financial regulatory legislation, the associations — which represent hundreds of thousands of US companies from a wide array of industry segments — expressed strong opposition to provisions in the House version of the bill that would expand the FTC’s rulemaking and enforcement authority over virtually every sector of the American economy.
“The balance struck in the Senate bill is the right one,†said Linda Woolley, DMA’s executive vice president, government affairs. “That bill makes the most sense in the context of financial reform legislation, maintaining the FTC’s existing jurisdiction without expanding its rulemaking and enforcement authority over industries and sectors that had nothing to do with the financial crisis. Issues of FTC expansion deserve their own due consideration and debate in the more appropriate context of an FTC reauthorization, as has been done in the past.â€
DMA and the other associations strongly believe that granting the FTC broad new authority is not a necessary or relevant response to the causes of the recent recession and, therefore, asked the conferees to oppose the inclusion of any provisions that would expand FTC authority, rather than making changes to the Commission that would have a fundamental impact on the entire business community and the broader American economy.
For more information please visit www.dmaaction.org.
http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispannouncements?article=1449