ftc gearing up for the 21st century

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) made a presentation before the US House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection earlier today. While the Washington Post is focusing upon the agency's statements about needing more tools to combat spam, the FTC asked for more than that. The agency is asking for "reauthorization" with some new tools and powers. Commissioners of the Agency provided testimony on a number of other subjects:

The Commissioners also provided a range of legislative recommendations that would: 1) enact measures to improve the FTC’s ability to combat cross-border fraud; 2) enact measures to improve the FTC’s ability to combat unauthorized commercial e-mail, commonly known as spam; 3) eliminate the FTC Act’s exemption for communications common carriers; and 4) make it possible for the agency to accept certain types of reimbursement that will enhance overall mission performance.

The recommendations made would provide considerably more power for the agency to use to combat cross border unsolicited commercial email, would make getting subpoenas easier, and would amend the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act to include "deceptive and abusive practices" when it comes to email.