FTC nabs nine for 'Net scams. (Federal Trade Commission, Internet scams)(Telemedia Week)(Brief Article)

Broadcasting & Cable, March, 1996 by Tedesco, Richard

In the first official exposure of illicit trade on the Internet, the Federal Trade Commission nailed nine companies and shut down their Web sites last week.

The nine companies were charged by the FTC with making false or unsubstantiated ad claims. In eight of the cases, the commission forced the companies to sign agreements in which they consented to cease making those claims. The FTC took court action against one defendant, Robert A. Brandzel and Telemedia Inc., which allegedly had run a scare selling computer memory chips that it never delivered. "We wanted to send one extreme signal of the sort of remedies we can get," says Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

In the other cases, four defendants--Randolf D,...

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