On October 28, the FTC issued a new enforcement policy statement warning companies against deploying “illegal dark patterns” that trick or trap consumers into subscription services, and often making websites difficult to navigate to find cancellation or refund options. The statement is intended to assist marketers by providing specific guidance on the FTC’s interpretation of existing law as it applies to “negative option marketing” through deceptive sign up tactics, including unauthorized charges or ongoing billing that is impossible to cancel. The policy statement notes that “[n]egative option offers come in a variety of forms, but all share a central feature: each contains a term or condition under which the seller may interpret a consumer’s silence or failure to take affirmative action to reject a good or service or to cancel the agreement as acceptance or continuing acceptance of the offer.” Examples include automatic renewals, free trials that convert to pay features, and continuous periodic shipments that continue until the customer cancels the shipment.
Continue Reading FTC to Increase Enforcement Against “Dark Patterns” Directed at Consumers
Finance
Fashionista’s Guide to Bankruptcy: What Every Designer Needs to Know to be Protected in Times of Economic Uncertainty
This post originally appeared on the Council of Fashion Designers of America website, CFDA.com.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, fashion retail already faced difficult times with numerous bankruptcies, such as Barneys, Sonia Rykiel, Roberto Cavalli and Diesel. Now with COVID-19, fashion retail confronts a “perfect storm” — the hurricane of the disruption of brick and mortar retail caused by omnichannel retailing and the Nor’easter resulting from the shutdown of all retail stores and lockdown of consumers in the US. It is anticipated that retail bankruptcy filings will proliferate in the wake of COVID-19 and, as a result, it is important to have a basic understanding of the bankruptcy process and concepts for fashion businesses, including Chapters 11 and 7, critical vendor status, how to file a claim, and what strategies can be used to sell to an entity once it has filed for bankruptcy.
Continue Reading Fashionista’s Guide to Bankruptcy: What Every Designer Needs to Know to be Protected in Times of Economic Uncertainty