[{"source":"The Conversation â Articles (FR)","id":3248553,"description":"KEY TAKEAWAYS The French high schooler-led uprising is not a sign of a generational struggle pitting the young against baby boomers. The uprisings indicate a state of discontentment reflecting three grievances: failings within the education system, eco-anxiety and concerns over employment in the age of AI. Far from demanding a break with the established order, young protesters are simply asking for the right to live a good and fair life... like their predecessors before them. Rarely has Freud’s Civilization and Its Discontents seemed so relevant to the times in which we are living. Although the discontents we are currently witnessing do not necessarily affect society as a whole, they are certainly impacting an entire generation born in the 21st century, as well as their parents and their social environment. Admittedly, we know that generations are not homogeneous and that any attempt to generalise is an oversimplification. Nevertheless, the high schoolers that are taking to the streets to protest in this day and age belong to a relatively homogeneous age cohort. You would be forgiven for thinking that the current unrest is the result of a clash of generations. From the outside, it is often viewed as a generational tug of war between a struggling young population and the rest: an aging but relatively prosperous Europe . Criticism is, without doubt, being directed at “baby-boomers” or those born during the thirty years following World War II (which were marked by economic prosperity and low unemployment, conditions that now seem a world away today). The problem lies elsewhere Nevertheless, this is not a generational conflict, and the fact that a substantial proportion of parents , as well as the majority of the population , share the students’ demands shows that the problem lies elsewhere. These demands are nothing new, and they help explain why many parents joined their children during the first demonstrations, along with teachers, to show their support over deteriorating conditions in high schools. The students and their initial demands were hijacked by more politically radical movements, some even revolutionary or anarchist, as well as opportunistic groups that took advantage of the disorder to loot shops and businesses, without any tangible political agenda. According to an official report dated October 14, 2026, “937 law enforcement officers, 248 students and 149 members of educational staff have been injured since the beginning of the high school student movement.” The demonstrations on October 18 resulted in more than 1,800 arrests . The proliferation of various groups with overlapping demands muddles the student movements’ original message, leaving us with little more than the smouldering remnants of a battlefield. Nevertheless, it is the central concerns of these students that I wish to explore here. Ultimately, this movement appears to lie at the intersection of several anxiety-inducing issues. Rather than speaking of a convergence of struggles, we should speak of a convergence of anxieties. Three sources of anxiety The movement appears to reflect the convergence of three factors that are also sources of concern: the perceived deterioration of public education ecological anxiety the new difficulties young people face in the labour market, particularly those associated with the development of artificial intelligence (AI). These three factors provide fertile ground for psychosocial anxiety. The high school students’ main demands appear legitimate and concern improving working conditions: replacing absent teachers, shortening excessively long school days, reducing the number of students per class, repairing and maintaining infrastructure, and improving or abolishing Parcoursup , the widely criticised higher education admissions platform that is often difficult to understand. These demands echo the broader perception that conditions in the French school system have deteriorated and that the system is relatively inefficient compared with those of neighbouring countries.","pubDate":"Thu, 29 Oct 2026 07:58:22 +0100","titre":"France: three overlapping woes are fuelling a generation of discontent","url":"https://theconversation.com/france-three-overlapping-woes-are-fuelling-a-generation-of-discontent-295102"},{"pubDate":"Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:55:46 +0100","url":"https://www.callacbd.ca/CALL-Blog/11129241","titre":"Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization Committee Events on Truth and Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples","source":"Canadian Association of Law Libraries / L'Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit CALL/ACBD Blog","id":3241451,"description":"September 30 has been a significant date in Canada since 2013, when Phyllis Webstad from the Stswecem’c Xgat’tem First Nation shared her story of attending St. Joseph’s Residential School in Williams Lake, BC, for the first time in 1973. As a youngster , she proudly wore her shiny new orange shirt, only to have it taken from her by the school. Since then, Orange Shirt Day has been a national movement in Canada where people across the country wear orange in honour of Phyllis and other residential school survivors, so that we both recognize and raise awareness of the history and legacies of the Canadian residential school system. This year’s Orange Shirt Day, September 30, 2021, is also the inaugural National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. As part of its mandate, the Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization Committee (DIDC) of CALL/ACBD is committed to fostering awareness and acumen in respect of issues of diversity, inclusion, and decolonization within all sectors of law librarianship and related professions. Truth and Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples is a national movement that is not only limited to one day, but is an ongoing effort so that Indigenous Peoples and their rights are recognized, understood and respected by all . In this spirit, the DIDC, as part of CALL/ACBD, would like to highlight a couple of upcoming opportunities available to all of us to bring together our colleagues in order to honour survivors, their families and communities, and to sadly remember those who didn’t make it home: On Thursday, September 30 , the University of Windsor Law Library will be hosting WAAYDANAA | Now is the Time . The event will be held virtually and is free. Registration is required . Nadine Hoffman, in coordination with the Academic SIG and the DIDC, is planning a related event on strategies for aspects of Indigenous research to help us better understand legal research in relation to Indigenous Peoples. Stay tuned – format and details to"},{"pubDate":"Mon, 26 Oct 2026 07:55:44 +0100","url":"https://www.callacbd.ca/CALL-Blog/10149027","titre":"CALL Research Tips & Tricks: Articles that are tricky to track down / Trucs et astuces de recherche de l’ACBD: articles difficiles à trouver","source":"Canadian Association of Law Libraries / L'Association canadienne des bibliothèques de droit CALL/ACBD Blog","id":3241434,"description":"We all have a few tricks up our sleeve when it comes to performing legal research. We sometimes share them with clients. And sometimes, we like to use those tricks to hunt down seemingly impossible to find material and wow them. Because nothing is “impossible” for law librarians. The CALL blog has started a new regular series of research tips and tricks. Please share your favourite or coolest strategies with  Michel-Adrien Sheppard to have them published on the CALL blog. Nous avons tous nos trucs favoris quand il s'agit de faire de la recherche juridique. Parfois, nous les partageons avec nos clients. Et parfois, nous aimons les épater en utilisant ces trucs et astuces pour mettre la main sur des informations apparemment impossibles à trouver. Car rien n’est « impossible » pour des bibliothécaires de droit. Le blogue de l'ACBD a lancé une nouvelle série sur les trucs et astuces de recherche. SVP partagez vos stratégies les plus intéressantes ou les plus « cool » avec  Michel-Adrien Sheppard afin de les faire publier sur le blogue de CALL/ACBD. Today:  Secret Search tips from an Information Sleuth   by George Roy, Law Society of Manitoba (originally published February 1, 2021 on the Great LEXpectations blog): Sometimes an article can be very tricky to track down. It might be from an obscure journal, or maybe from something old enough that no one carries it any more. That may require tracking down a print version hidden away in some library’s archives, but sometimes some creative searching online can provide surprising results. Limit where you look Sometimes too much is just as bad as not enough. If you find yourself searching for an article title on a web search engine you may get hundreds or thousands of results. Most of us will scan the first page, and maybe the second, but are quick to give up after that. A lot of the time, articles will be published as a PDF, so limit your search to that file format by either using the advanced search function  Or use the limiter “filetype” in the search field. Change where you are looking Most articles are often published as part of a journal. That means you might limit your search to libraries or sites that have access to that publication. If you separate the article from the journal, you can look in unusual places that have already uploaded or published that article separate from its original publication. When you browse the search results, try looking at academic websites. Again, you can use the advanced search, or use the limiter “site:” and limit to academic domains such as “.edu.” Sometimes universities publish their  syllabi"},{"titre":"Aspects novateurs de la mécanique des fluides appliquée à la biologie des coraux","url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1866/46820","pubDate":"Sat, 24 Oct 2026 08:07:41 +0200","description":"dc.contributor.author: Allard, Marianne dc.date.issued: 2026-10 dc.description.abstract: Les coraux, étant des animaux filtreurs, sont indispensables aux écosystèmes marins, créant des points chauds de biodiversité. Les pressions humaines grandissantes sur les coraux menacent leur survie et crée un changement de dominance des coraux durs aux coraux mous. Cette étude révèle la présence de vibrations chez plusieurs espèces de coraux mous à partir de données récoltées en laboratoire et en plongée. Les paramètres principaux influençant la fréquence de vibration sont le diamètre des branches, la vitesse d’écoulement et la présence des polypes (structures servant à capturer la nourriture). La dynamique d’interaction entre les coraux et leur environnement changeant se verra modifiée dans les prochaines années en raison de l’augmentation de l’intensité des tempêtes liée aux changements climatiques, risquant d’impacter leur capacité d’alimentation. Les déversements pétroliers représentent également une menace importante pour les coraux. Leur toxicité a été démontrée dans des études précédentes, sans toutefois qu’une ingestion directe n’ait été observée. Dans cette étude, deux espèces de coraux mous et trois espèces de coraux durs ont été exposés à trois types d’huile différents (canola, poisson et moteur) pour évaluer leur réaction et leur interaction avec les gouttelettes d’huile. L’ingestion des trois huiles a été confirmée chez les coraux mous, et l’ingestion accidentelle de l’huile de canola a été constatée chez une espèce de corail dur. Les deux autres espèces de coraux durs ont montré un gonflement des polypes lors de l’exposition aux trois types d’huile. Les coraux mous sont donc potentiellement plus vulnérables aux déversements de pétrole, alors que les coraux durs pourraient servir d’indicateurs d’exposition. Cette étude est significative car elle est la première à se pencher sur ces deux aspects des menaces anthropiques sur les récifs coralliens.; Corals are filter-feeding animals that play a vital role in marine ecosystems, creating biodiversity hotspots. Growing human pressures on corals are threatening their survival and creating a shift from hard to soft coral dominated reefs. This study revealed the presence of vibrations in several soft coral species, from diving and laboratory data. The main parameters influencing vibration frequency are branch diameter, water flow velocity, and the presence of polyps (structures that capture food particles). The fluid-structure interaction between the coral and its environment is expected to change in coming years due to stronger storms from climate change, potentially affecting their feeding capacity. Oil spills also pose a major threat to corals. While toxicity has been demonstrated in past studies, direct ingestion had not been observed. In this study, experiments were made exposing two soft coral species and three hard coral species to three oil types (canola, fish, and motor) to test their reaction and interaction with oil droplets. All three oils were ingested by soft corals, while only canola oil was accidentally ingested by one hard coral species. The other two hard coral species showed polyp swelling after exposure to all three oils. Soft corals may thus be more vulnerable to oil spills, while hard corals could serve as exposure indicators. This study is significant as it is the first to examine these two aspects of human threats on coral reefs. dc.type: Thèse ou mémoire /","id":3238635,"source":"Faculté de droit Travaux récents"},{"description":"This article belongs to the debate » Thinking Machines, Thinking Lawyers14 October 2026The (Currently) Uneven Intelligence of AI in Comparative Constitutional Law From Years of Research to a Single Prompt? Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to accelerate and improve the quality of research. This potential has inspired numerous projects exploring how AI could help scholarship on constitutional law. For example, there is research using AI to interpret constitutions,1) apply constitutional principles,2) and predict court rulings.3) Even the question of whether AI could improve the process of constitution-making has been studied.4) AI’s potential is particularly significant for comparative constitutional research. Systematically comparing legal systems requires locating sources from different jurisdictions, which are often difficult to access and only available in local languages. The creation of comparative legal datasets has thus involved considerable personnel, time, and financial resources. AI can overcome many of these obstacles. AI models can search for and translate foreign-language sources, filter them, and convert the filtered information into a dataset. In doing so, AI offers the prospect of datasets — which previously required years of research and the efforts of numerous experts and research assistants to compile — being just a prompt away. However, whether AI models can generate comparative law datasets that are qualitatively comparable to human-coded datasets has not yet been addressed (although Guha et al provide an example for a broader legal benchmarking exercise).5) We therefore conducted our own benchmarking study.6) We found evidence suggesting that recent AI models may be able to code simple factual data, but they are likely unreliable substitutes for expert human coders when conceptual or interpretive judgment is required. The Benchmarking Project: Seven Coding Tasks, Four Datasets, Two LLMs In our project, we tested the ability of two large language models (LLMs) to code different types of information relevant to comparative constitutional law. We specifically assessed whether LLMs can reproduce information from four existing comparative constitutional law datasets, all of which were compiled through human coding and which served as a ‘ground truth’ for our exercise. From these datasets, we asked the LLMs to code seven variables, which can be thought of as seven tasks relevant to the creation of comparative constitutional law datasets. Each of these tasks is either a test of fact-finding or reasoning abilities. First, from the Executive Term Limit Evasion Dataset,7) we drew information on whether presidents in 106 presidential systems have evaded constitutionally mandated term limits between 2000 and 2019. The dataset includes one variable on whether presidents attempt to overstay past the end of their term. The second variable captures what strategies executives use for doing so, such as amending the constitution, replacing it with a new one, or asking the court to interpret term limits out of the constitution. While determining whether a president overstayed is a fact-finding task, assessing the strategy used to do so requires reasoning. Second, from the Comparative Constitution Making Dataset,8) we drew information on the process by which constitutions were adopted in democracies between 1900 and 2015. This dataset also includes fact-finding variables such as (1) whether citizens were involved in the formulation, discussion, or submission of reform proposals, and (2) whether citizens participated in popular referendums at any stage in the process. The dataset’s most important variable (3) captures whether constitutions reflect ‘plural elite agreement,’ that is, whether all relevant elite factions in society were involved and represented during the process. The recreation of this variable requires reasoning. Third, from the Characteristics of National Constitutions Dataset9), we drew on its coding of 43 first-generation constitutional","id":3218421,"source":"Scoop.it - Documentation juridique (Stéphan Cottin)","titre":"The (Currently) Uneven Intelligence of AI in Comparative Constitutional Law","url":"https://verfassungsblog.de/the-currently-uneven-intelligence-of-ai-in-comparative-constitutional-law/","pubDate":"Thu, 15 Oct 2026 08:26:22 +0200"},{"description":"dc.contributor.author: Constantin, Mélody dc.date.issued: 2026-09 dc.description.abstract: Le présent mémoire s’intéresse aux concepts de muthos et logos dans l’Antiquité grecque, en se concentrant plus particulièrement sur leur usage chez Platon. Loin de correspondre à leurs acceptions modernes, ces deux notions ne s’opposent pas de manière radicale, mais sont plutôt complémentaires dans l’activité philosophique platonicienne, comprise notamment comme un cheminement en quête de vérité et de sagesse. Le premier chapitre traite de l’évolution historique des usages des termes muthos et logos, à partir d’exemples de l’époque archaïque et classique. Le deuxième chapitre analyse la dimension pratique du mythe grec, en tant qu’il est étroitement lié aux rituels et qu’il détient une portée sociopolitique. Le troisième chapitre présente la complexité et la polysémie du concept de mythe chez Platon, tout en mettant en lumière le rôle important que détient ce type de discours dans ses œuvres. Enfin, le dernier chapitre synthétise des enjeux sur des concepts clés de notre analyse, tout en soulignant que le discours chez Platon a pour objectif premier la vérité et le soin de l’'me, qu’il soit muthos ou logos.; This dissertation examines the concepts of mythos and logos in ancient Greek literature, with a specific focus on their use in Plato’s dialogues. Far from corresponding to their modern meanings, these two notions are not radically opposed, but are rather complementary within Platonic philosophical activity, the latter understood as a complex path in the search for truth and wisdom. The first chapter deals with the historical evolution of the uses of the terms mythos and logos, based on examples from the archaic and classical periods. The second chapter analyzes the practical dimension of Greek myth, insofar as it is closely linked to rituals and has sociopolitical implications. The third chapter presents the complexity and polysemy of the concept of myth in Plato, while highlighting the important role that this type of discourse holds in his works. Finally, the last chapter synthesizes issues related to some key concepts of this study, while emphasizing that, in Plato, discourse, whether mythos or logos, has as its primary aim truth and the care of the soul. dc.type: Thèse ou mémoire / Thesis or Dissertation etd.degree.discipline: Études","id":3208449,"source":"Faculté de droit Travaux récents","titre":"Entre muthos et logos, le mythe dans le cheminement philosophique chez Platon : la parole au service de la vérité et le soin de l’'me","url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1866/46603","pubDate":"Sat, 10 Oct 2026 08:12:39 +0200"},{"pubDate":"Thu, 08 Oct 2026 08:06:58 +0200","titre":"FTC consumer protection year in review offers 2020 vision for your business","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2020/01/ftc-consumer-protection-year-review-offers-2020-vision-your-business","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","id":3203247,"description":"FTC consumer protection year in review offers 2020 vision for your business lfair January 8, 2020 | 9:26AM FTC consumer protection year in review offers 2020 vision for your business By Lesley Fair They say hindsight is 20/20, but what about foresight? We’re not ones to prognosticate, but a look at notable FTC cases and initiatives from the past year suggests some topics likely to be top of mind in months to come. Here is a non-exhaustive list of issues in our 2019 rearview mirror and likely visible through the 2020 windshield. Consumer privacy. The FTC’s $5 billion enforcement action against Facebook made history and headlines, but the other notable part of the case is the monumental change the order mandates to Facebook’s privacy ecosystem. The Commission opinion in Cambridge Analytica reaffirms the proposition that like any other claim, a company’s privacy promises are viewed through the lens of established FTC consumer perception principles. A series of cases demonstrates the agency’s continued commitment to challenging false or misleading representations about businesses’ compliance with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework. Another important development is the FTC’s proposed settlement with Retina-X . It’s our first action against a marketer of stalking apps – software that allowed purchasers to monitor the mobile devices on which they’re installed, without users’ knowledge. COPPA. Congress passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act to ensure that when it comes to the collection of kids’ personal information online, parents are in the driver’s seat. The FTC settlement with YouTube – brought in conjunction with the New York Attorney General – alleges that the company collected kids’ personal data without parental consent, in violation of the COPPA Rule . The $170 million civil penalty broke the record for the largest remedy in an FTC COPPA case, set months before in our $5.7 million settlement with Musical.ly , now known as TikTok. If you’re a YouTube channel owner, read a special Business Blog post for tips on determining if your content is directed to children. Data security. Is your company honoring its data security promises and taking reasonable steps to safeguard the sensitive information in its possession? The FTC, CFPB, and State AG actions against Equifax illustrate how consumers are injured when companies ignore reasonably foreseeable threats. The settlement, which totals between $575 million and $700 million – also reminds businesses that heeding warnings about known risks is more prudent (and cost-effective) than the alternative. Three threads tie together the FTC’s unrelated actions against LightYear Dealer Technologies and InfoTrax Systems . They both sell management software to specific industries. They both allegedly failed to take reasonable steps to secure their networks, resulting in damaging data breaches. And they’re both covered by similar new orders the FTC has introduced in recent data security cases. If you or your clients are players in the Internet of Things, the settlement of the FTC’s litigation against connected device company D-Link sends an unmistakable message: The future of the IoT marketplace depends on secure software development. Endorsements, certifications, and influencers. Why is the FTC concerned about the accuracy of endorsements and certifications? Because they’re material to consumers. The FTC says Truly Organics’ claim that its personal care products were “certified organic” lathered up a double bubble of deception. First, its merchandise contained ingredients that weren’t organic. Second, the company falsely claimed that its products were certified by USDA’s National Organic Program. Other FTC developments focused on the use of endorsements in social media. The FTC’s action against Devumi alleges the company sold fake followers, phony subscribers, and bogus"},{"source":"Slaw","id":3200948,"description":"Mediators are often asked by parties or their counsel to send them a copy of their “standard Agreement to Mediate” for review. But is there such a document? If by “standard” we mean some prescribed form followed by all mediators, the answer is no. Virtually every mediator has his or her own Agreement. Some are based on agreements provided in mediation training, while others are quite customized. This article has its origin in a recent mediation. One of the three lawyers attending had clearly not read the Agreement to Mediate, although it had been sent to him weeks earlier. When . . . [more] The post The “Standard” Agreement to Mediate appeared first on Slaw","pubDate":"Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:57:09 +0200","titre":"The âStandardâ Agreement to Mediate","url":"https://www.slaw.ca/2026/10/06/the-standard-agreement-to-mediate/"},{"titre":"The FTC's Google settlement: What's the buzz?","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2011/04/ftcs-google-settlement-whats-buzz","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:06:39 +0200","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","description":"The FTC's Google settlement: What's the buzz? wfg-adm109 April 1, 2011 | 4:28PM The FTC's Google settlement: What's the buzz? By Lesley Fair “Sweet!  Check out Buzz.” “Nah, go to my inbox.” That was the intriguing choice facing Gmail users last year when Google launched Google Buzz, its social network. But according to a settlement announced this week by the FTC, the company violated the privacy promises it made to Gmail users and used deceptive tactics in the Buzz rollout. The story starts with Google’s privacy policy. From October 2004 until October 2010, Gmail users were told, \"Gmail stores, processes and maintains your messages, contact lists and other data related to your account in order to provide service to you.\"  On the subject of the choices users had about the use of their personal information in all of Google’s products, including Gmail, the privacy policy said, \"When you sign up for a particular service that requires registration, we ask you to provide personal information. If we use this information in a manner different than the purpose for which it was collected, then we will ask for your consent prior to such use.\"  According to the FTC, statements like that conveyed that Google would use information from people signing up for Gmail only for the purpose of providing them with email service and that Google would ask for their consent before using their info for any other purpose. So far, so good. But then came the roll-out of Google Buzz. The service allows users to share updates, comments, pictures, videos, and the like through “buzzes” made either publicly or privately to individuals or groups of users. When Buzz was launched, Gmail users were taken to a welcome screen that announced the new service and presented the “Sweet!” or “Nah” choice. If users clicked “Nah,” the FTC complaint alleges that their info was nonetheless shared in a number of ways. First, the user could still be “followed” by Gmail users who enrolled in Buzz. Second, if the Gmail user had previously created a Google profile, he or she could appear on the public Google profiles of Buzz enrollees who were following them. Third, a link to Buzz would show up on the list of links on the user’s Gmail page. If the user clicked on that link, he or she would be taken to the Buzz welcome screen and would be automatically enrolled in Buzz without any disclosure of that fact. In other words, users would be enrolled in certain features of Buzz even if they didn’t sign up. So much for “Nah.” The FTC’s complaint alleges that despite what it said in its privacy policy, Google didn’t use information from people signing up for Gmail just for the purpose of providing email service. Rather, the company used it to populate Buzz. Thus, said the FTC, the representations in Google’s privacy policy were false or misleading. Furthermore, the agency alleged that despite the promise in its privacy policy that Google would ask for consumers’ consent before using their information for another purpose, Google went ahead and used it to populate its social network without getting their permission. The FTC charged that was false or misleading and constituted a deceptive practice. The next part of the story:   The not-so-sweet results when users clicked the “Sweet!”","id":3200009},{"id":3200011,"description":"We can’t go for that (no can do) lfair July 17, 2017 | 11:38AM We can’t go for that (no can do) By Lesley Fair Of course, phantom debt collection – the practice of pressuring people to pay “debts” they don’t owe – harms consumers. But as an FTC complaint demonstrates, when phantom debt collectors strike, they could affect your company, too. According to the FTC , a Florida-based outfit engaged in a scheme to defraud consumers through the collection of debts people didn’t actually owe or the company didn’t have the authority to collect. The complaint charges that the defendants – Hardco Holding Group, S & H Financial Group, Dequan M. Sicard, and Daryl M. Hall (no, not that Daryl Hall) – violated the FTC Act and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. When contacting consumers, in many instances the defendants allegedly impersonated attorneys and threatened to have people thrown in jail if they didn’t pay up on delinquent payday loans – loans, remember, that many consumers didn’t take out in the first place and defendants didn’t have the right to collect. One tactic involved contacting people with a “case number” and directing them to dial a callback number. On the second call, the defendants allegedly said they were affiliated with named law firms and that the consumer had committed a felony, could go to prison, or faced arrest. According to the complaint , to boost the credibility of their threat of pending or imminent legal action, the defendants claimed to have the consumer’s Social Security number, bank account number, or contact information for family members. Afraid of legal repercussions, many consumers knuckled under to the demand for payment. The FTC says the defendants also told third parties that consumers owed money, a violation of the FDCPA. In addition, the complaint charges that the defendants didn’t disclose their identity to consumers, failed to provide proper validation notices, and used other false, misleading, and abusive tactics. Phantom debt collectors unquestionably injure consumers, but how could conduct like that affect your company? According to the lawsuit, when pressed to identify themselves, the defendants often gave the names or addresses of legitimate small businesses that had nothing to do with the purported debt or the debt collectors. When concerned consumers contacted those companies to complain, their employees got an understandably angry earful. From the FTC’s perspective, unrelated small businesses shouldn’t have their reputations sullied by others’ allegedly illegal tactics. A federal court in Orlando has temporarily halted the operation and frozen its assets. The FTC wants to stop the illegal practices once and for all. What can consumers do if they’re getting calls for debts they don’t owe ? File a complaint with the FTC. How can small businesses help protect their good names? Every now and then, do a selfie search with your company name and a word like “debt.” If you see consumer posts that suggest that a debt collector is illegally using your name – or if your employees are getting complaints about debt collection calls supposedly coming from your company – let the FTC know about it , too. In the meantime, businesses looking for FDCPA compliance resources can visit the FTC’s debt collection page for some – in the words of the other Daryl Hall (and let’s not forget John Oates) – “Adult Education.”","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Oct 2026 14:06:39 +0200","titre":"We canât go for that (no can do)","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/07/we-cant-go-no-can-do"},{"pubDate":"Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:06:24 +0200","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2023/05/franchise-fundamentals-taking-deep-dive-franchise-disclosure-document","titre":"Franchise Fundamentals: Taking a deep dive into the Franchise Disclosure Document","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","id":3199079,"description":"Franchise Fundamentals: Taking a deep dive into the Franchise Disclosure Document lfair May 23, 2023 | 6:41PM Franchise Fundamentals: Taking a deep dive into the Franchise Disclosure Document By Lesley Fair Love at first sight may (or may not) be a real thing, but when it comes to investing your money, it’s unwise to fall for a franchise without first subjecting it to tough-minded scrutiny. The third in the FTC’s Franchise Fundamentals blog series walks through an essential part of that evaluation: an in-depth review of the Financial Disclosure Document (FDD) required by the FTC’s Franchise Rule . You must receive the Franchise Disclosure Document at least 14 days before you’re asked to sign any contract or pay any money to the franchisor or one of its affiliates. In fact, you have the right to the FDD once the franchisor has received your application and agrees to consider it. So speak up if you don’t receive it and ask questions – lots of them – as you review the FDD and any attached documents.   Image Indeed, the franchisor’s conduct regarding the FDD may raise some red flags about how they do business. Providing the FDD doesn’t establish that a franchisor is reputable – it’s required by law, after all – but if a franchisor doesn’t promptly provide this mandatory document, gives you an incomplete FDD, evades your probing questions, or tries to rush you through the process, it doesn’t speak well of their approach to legal compliance.  Assuming you have the FDD in hand, let’s consider some of the 23 required items line by line. Here are things to look for as you review the FDD. Franchisor’s Background (FDD Item 1) Item 1 provides background information about the franchisor and any parent companies, predecessors, and affiliates, including how long the franchise has been in business. It also lets you know if there are any legal requirements unique to the franchised business, like the need to get a special license or permit. This can help you understand the costs and risks you would be taking on. Business Background (FDD Item 2) Remember the old adage “People are known by the company they keep”? Well, companies are known by the people they keep, which is why Item 2 identifies directors, principal officers, and other key executives. Pay attention to their business backgrounds, their experience in managing a franchise system, and how long they’ve been with the franchisor. Litigation History (FDD Item 3) Item 3 lists information about prior litigation, including whether the franchisor or any of its executive officers have been convicted of certain crimes or have been found liable – or settled lawsuits – related to the franchise relationship. Lawsuits against the franchisor could mean it hasn’t honored its agreements or that franchisees are dissatisfied with its performance. Item 3 also says whether the franchisor has sued any of its franchisees in the past year. That information could suggest problems in the franchise system. For example, if a franchisor sued franchisees for failing to pay royalties, was it because franchisees weren’t successful and couldn’t make their royalty payments? Bankruptcy (FDD Item 4) Have the franchisor, its affiliates, or any of its executives filed for bankruptcy? Item 4 discloses that information and could give you insights into the financial condition of the business.  Initial and Other Fees (FDD Items 5-7) Items 5-7 go over some of the costs involved in starting and operating a franchise. That could include things like deposits or franchise fees (some of which may be non-refundable); what you’ll have to pay for initial inventory, signs, equipment, leases, or rentals; and ongoing costs, like royalties and advertising fees. A Consumer’s Guide to Buying a Franchise suggests more than a dozen other areas of financial inquiry, which should give you an indication about the importance of both getting in touch with your inner bean"},{"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","description":"Planning a social media marketing campaign? Read this first. lfair November 13, 2018 | 12:24PM Planning a social media marketing campaign? Read this first. By Lesley Fair It started as one of those “run it up the flagpole” ideas to enlist big-name gymnasts to promote a brand of mosquito repellent just as news stories about the 2016 Brazil Olympics were sounding warnings about the Zika virus. Public relations firm Creaxion Corporation and specialty sports magazine publisher Inside Publications used a variety of digital strategies on behalf of the brand: athlete endorsements, social media posts, “advertorials,” and consumer reviews. But according to the FTC’s complaint , their efforts violated established FTC advertising principles. Which of those strategies are you using? And are you avoiding legal pitfalls by making appropriate disclosures? Creaxion – an Atlanta-based marketing and PR company – was approached by client HealthPro Brands to help launch its mosquito repellent. They agreed Creaxion would produce a “strategic media relations campaign” that would be “tied to the worldwide outbreak of the Zika Virus.” Creaxion then contacted Inside Publications, publisher of magazines like Inside Volleyball , Inside Cheerleading , and Inside Gymnastics , to broker a partnership with HealthPro. You’ll want to read the complaint for details about the “Social and Digital Media Activation and Athlete Engagement” agreement between HealthPro and Inside Publications, but here are some of the things HealthPro paid for: endorsements by leading gymnasts, magazine “articles” featuring the repellent, the product’s placement in “Good Luck” gift baskets from Inside Gymnastics to top U.S. gymnasts, and social media posts touting the product by Inside Publications and athlete endorsers. According to the complaint, Creaxion president Mark Pettit acted as an intermediary between Inside Publications and HealthPro. Ultimately, 2004 Olympic gold medal gymnast Carly Patterson Caldwell agreed to become a paid spokesperson. She received several thousand dollars for social media posts and an Inside Gymnastics advertorial. (She decided not to attend the Brazil Olympics because of her concerns about Zika.) Olympic gold medal gymnast Jake Dalton also signed on and was paid for promoting the repellent to his fans and followers. The two gymnasts posted endorsements of the repellent on social media without disclosing their paid promotional relationship. For example, Ms. Patterson Caldwell said on Facebook, “I was definitely bummed to have to make the decision to not go to Rio for the summer Olympics because of the threat of the Zika virus, but working on starting a family and being safe and protecting myself was way more important to my husband and me! I am so thankful to have found a safe and organic product (FIT Organic) that will ease my worries as mosquito season approaches.” Similarly, Mr. Dalton posted on Twitter, “Getting Rio Ready! Not worried about Zika. Fit Organic has my back and body covered. Love the Fit mosquito repellent.” Inside Publications also posted and reposted statements on social media about the repellent, primarily through its Inside Gymnastics account, including some featuring Patterson Caldwell and Dalton. According to the complaint, Inside Publications didn’t disclose the spokespersons’ paid promotional relationships with HealthPro or that its own posts were paid ads. Nor did it disclose that the “Caring for Carly,” “The latest on Zika” and “Move Over Mosquitos” articles were really paid ads. The FTC also says Creaxion conducted an online consumer review program that reimbursed Creaxion employees and “friends” for buying FIT repellent and reviewing the product online without disclosing their affiliation with the brand. The complaint charges that the gymnasts’ statements about the repellent were falsely represented as the","id":3199074,"titre":"Planning a social media marketing campaign? Read this first.","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2018/11/planning-social-media-marketing-campaign-read-first","pubDate":"Tue, 06 Oct 2026 08:06:23 +0200"},{"description":"FTC challenges Online Trading Academy’s money-making claims lfair February 12, 2020 | 4:35PM FTC challenges Online Trading Academy’s money-making claims By Lesley Fair Ads for health products often target Boomer Consumers, but those aren’t the only claims pitched to people looking toward retirement. An FTC action alleges a company called Online Trading Academy has taken in more than $370 million by gearing its deceptive representations to that demographic. In addition, the complaint alleges violations of the Consumer Review Fairness Act. According to the FTC, the California-based operation, related companies, and three individual defendants advertise a “patented strategy” that consumers can apply “to any asset class including stocks, options, futures and currencies” to rake in big money. They claim their “training programs” – with price tags as high as $50,000 – will teach consumers how to “invest like the pros on Wall Street.” ”No matter your experience and goals,” people were told the defendants’ “proven” strategy was “designed to make money in any market, whether it’s going up or down.” The complaint recounts the process the defendants use to attract consumers through TV and radio ads, online promotions, and direct mail. First comes an in-person “preview” seminar. Next, people pay $299 for a three-day “orientation.” That’s where the defendants urge attendees to sign up for seminars costing thousands more. The defendants assign each attendee an “Education Counselor” – a/k/a salesperson working on commission – who follows up by phone or email. According to the complaint, the defendants train their Education Counselors not to “look like, act like or sound like, a traditional salesperson,” but instead to take on a “role” and lead consumers through “The Pain Funnel,” Q&A designed to overcome consumer qualms. To get people to sign up for more seminars, the defendants routinely offer to finance all or part of the cost with loans at 18%, with the promise to forgive the interest if the consumer pays the total off within six months. The FTC says that in some instances, the defendants lead buyers to believe they’ll be able to repay the loan quickly with money they’ll make using that “patented strategy.” So how much does Online Trading Academy say consumers will earn? A central theme of their pitch is “You don’t have to work on Wall Street to make money like Wall Street.” Infomercials feature purchasers claiming that “in three hours I made $12,000” or “I made $32,000 in less than seven trading days.” In a YouTube video, a retiree says he made “$40,000 in a single trade.” In addition, a speaker at a live event claimed consumers “could potentially make $50,000 of annual income with an account size as low as $5,000” because Online Trading Academy has “a patent on the fact that you can time the markets,” which “gives us the ability to know when to get in and when to get out, long-term and short-term.” Other speakers – including some of the named defendants – paint a picture of lavish lifestyles filled with international travel, a “super luxury car” every year, and homes in areas where kids have “live-in nannies, cooks, gardeners.” One speaker said the money he made using Online Trading Academy’s strategy allows him to live in an enclave so exclusive that a neighbor, a renowned Olympic gold medalist, taught his daughter to swim. But the facts paint a different picture. The FTC alleges the defendants don’t systematically collect data sufficient to substantiate their earnings claims. But even the evidence they do have gave them good reason to know their representations are deceptive. For starters, according to the FTC, the defendants know that few consumers who","id":3197414,"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","titre":"FTC challenges Online Trading Academyâs money-making claims","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2020/02/ftc-challenges-online-trading-academys-money-making-claims","pubDate":"Mon, 05 Oct 2026 08:07:09 +0200"},{"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","description":"Stick with Security: Require secure passwords and authentication lfair August 11, 2017 | 10:47AM Stick with Security: Require secure passwords and authentication By Thomas B. Pahl, Acting Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection To make it harder for hackers to bluff their way onto a computer network, careful companies follow the advice of Start with Security and require strong authentication practices . We’ve considered FTC settlements, closed investigations, and the questions we get from businesses about implementing good authentication “hygiene.” Here are some tips on using effective authentication procedures to help safeguard your network. Insist on long, complex, and unique passwords. A password’s very reason for being is to be easy for a user to remember, but hard for a fraudster to figure out. Obvious choices like ABCABC, 121212, or qwerty are the digital equivalent of a “hack me” sign. Furthermore, experts have determined that passphrases or longer passwords are generally harder to crack. The smarter strategy is for companies to think through their standards, implement minimum requirements, and educate users about how to create stronger passwords. Also, when you install software, applications, or hardware on your network, computers, or devices, change the default password immediately. And if you design products that require consumers to use a password, configure the initial set-up so they have to change the default password. Example: A staff member attempts to select payroll as the password for the database that includes employee payroll information. The company sets up its system to reject an obvious choice like that. Example: To access the corporate network, a business allows employees to type in their username and a shared password common to everyone who works there. Employees are also allowed to use that shared password to access other services on the system, some of which contain sensitive personal information. The more prudent policy would be to require strong, unique passwords for each employee and to insist that they use different passwords to access different applications. Example: At a staff meeting, a company’s IT manager offers tips for employees about good password hygiene. She explains that passphrases or longer passwords are better than short passwords based on standard dictionary words or well-known information (for example, a child’s name, a pet, a birthday, or a favorite sports team). By establishing a more secure corporate password standard and educating employees about implementing it, the IT manager is taking a step to help her company reduce the risk of unauthorized access. Store passwords securely. A company’s first line of defense against data thieves is a workforce trained to keep passwords secret. But even the strongest password is ineffective if an employee writes it on a sticky note on her desk or shares it with someone else. Train your staff not to disclose passwords in response to phone calls or emails, including ones that may appear to be coming from a colleague. Con artists have been known to impersonate corporate officials by spoofing phone numbers or email addresses. A compromised password poses a particular risk if it can be used to open the door to even more sensitive information – for example, a database of other user credentials maintained on the network in plain, readable text. Make it difficult for data thieves to turn a lucky password guess into a catastrophic breach of your company’s most sensitive data by implementing policies and procedures to store credentials securely. Example: A new employee gets a call from someone who claims to be the company’s system administrator. The caller asks him to verify his network password. Because the new staffer learned about impersonation scams at an in-house security orientation, he refuses to disclose his password and instead reports the incident to the appropriate person in the company. Example: A company keeps user credentials and other passwords in plain","id":3197409,"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2017/08/stick-security-require-secure-passwords-authentication","titre":"Stick with Security: Require secure passwords and authentication","pubDate":"Mon, 05 Oct 2026 08:07:08 +0200"},{"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","id":3197413,"description":"New FTC warning letters cite unsupported Coronavirus-related health and earnings claims sgressin April 24, 2020 | 12:44PM New FTC warning letters cite unsupported Coronavirus-related health and earnings claims By Seena Gressin The FTC is not the pen pal you want if you operate a multi-level marketing company but aren’t closely monitoring your distributors. In its latest round of warning letters, the FTC warns ten MLM companies that they are responsible for the claims made by their participants. The letters direct the companies to report within 48 hours what actions they’ve taken to stop their distributors from claiming their products can treat or prevent Coronavirus disease, that MLM business opportunity participants are likely to earn substantial income, or both. The FTC says that the health and earnings claims are unsubstantiated and therefore violate truth-in-advertising laws. The products at issue are not scientifically proven to treat or prevent COVID-19, the disease that Coronavirus causes. The FTC previously has sent warning letters to companies about their Coronavirus-related health claims, but the new letters are the first to also target claims about potential business opportunity earnings. The letters come at a time when millions of people are out of work and facing financial challenges as a result of the pandemic. MLM companies rely on a network of independent distributors, sometimes called business opportunity participants, to buy and resell their products, often through direct person-to-person sales or online. MLMs typically offer participants a cut of the sales made by people the participant recruits to invest in the business opportunity. The new recruits then try to sell the products, and try to recruit more people to do the same. Most people who join MLMs make little or no money. According to the FTC, distributors of the MLM companies receiving the letters have posted promotional messages on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media sites. Health claims the FTC letters cite include: “STAY SAFE!! MAKE YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM STRONG!!!” Standard coronavirus protection kit . #antiseptics and #immunity_support.” “HOW WILL YOU FIGHT OFF CORONA? USE NUTRABURST-CHAGA- .... #coronacure #coronaprevention ... #immunesupport #immunebooster ... #immunesystembooster” “Got the coronavirus heebeegeebees? Boost your immunity with this amazing deal!!!!” “... If interested to learn more or obtain oils or rollers Let me know A little extra protection can help #doterra #NursesCOVID19 #Dialysis #ImmunityBoosters #ImproveRespiratoryFunction” Earnings claims the FTC letters cite include: “...Living in quarantine and where 14 million people applied for unemployment just last week ... I’ll stick with the opportunity to change people’s lives ... turn a small investment into six figures .... #arbonne ... #quarantine #2020” “Need to make extra money? Find it difficult to pay your bills? Were you laid off/ #fired? Be your own Boss w/doTERRA essential oils. Msg me to achieve financial independence #laidoff #unemployed #cantpaymybills #cantpaymyrent #student #sales #sidehustle #makemoney #stayathomemom.” “[E]veryone’s getting stimulus checks right now... There is no better investment you could do... Take that money that you’re about to get back... figure out a way to make this happen tonight.” In the letters alleging unsubstantiated health claims, FTC staff reminds the companies that, under the FTC Act, claims that a product can prevent, treat, or cure a serious disease require the support of well-controlled human clinical studies. Because “no such study is currently known to exist” for the advertised products, the FTC says the companies “must immediately cease making all such claims.” In the letters alleging deceptive earnings claims, FTC staff reminds the companies that under the FTC Act, “claims about the potential to achieve a wealthy lifestyle, career-level income, or significant","pubDate":"Mon, 05 Oct 2026 08:07:08 +0200","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2020/04/new-ftc-warning-letters-cite-unsupported-coronavirus-related-health-earnings-claims","titre":"New FTC warning letters cite unsupported Coronavirus-related health and earnings claims"},{"id":3195787,"description":"Speaking of Spokeo: Part 2 — The company’s allegedly bogus endorsements wfg-adm109 June 13, 2012 | 12:25PM Speaking of Spokeo: Part 2 — The company’s allegedly bogus endorsements By Lesley Fair The lawsuit against data broker Spokeo is the FTC’s first Fair Credit Reporting Act case addressing the collection of online info — including data from social networking sites — when used in the context of employment screening.  But that’s not the only way the Spokeo settlement touches on social media.  The FTC also charged that Spokeo violated Section 5 by having employees post glowing recommendations of the company’s services on news and technology websites without disclosing their true identity. Perhaps just the work of a rogue cubicle occupant?  No, said the FTC.  According to the complaint , Spokeo directed its employees to write the comments.  Spokeo managers then edited what they wrote and had the staffers post the endorsements using account names provided by Spokeo.  The purpose, says the FTC, was to give readers the misleading impression that the laudatory words had been posted by independent consumers or business users of Spokeo. The FTC’s revisions to its Endorsement Guides made headlines a few years ago.  Ironically enough, the provision that seemed to attract the most attention is one that didn’t change.  It’s the law — and it’s always been the law under Section 5 — that consumers have a right to know when there’s a material connection between an advertiser and an endorser.  Here’s how the Guides put it:  \"When there exists a connection between the endorser and the seller of the advertised product that might materially affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement ( i.e., the connection is not reasonably expected by the audience), such connection must be fully disclosed.\" According to the FTC, by posting comments that conveyed the untruthful impression that they came from satisfied users of Spokeo’s services, Spokeo engaged in false and misleading practices.  To settle the endorsement count in the lawsuit, Spokeo has agreed that it won’t misrepresent, expressly or by implication, the status of any user of a product or service — for example, that someone is an independent, ordinary endorser if that’s not the case.  The company also will clearly and prominently disclose any material connection between an endorser and Spokeo (or any other entity advertising, selling, or promoting a product) when a connection exists.  What about the bogus endorsements already posted?  Spokeo has seven days to take all reasonable steps to pull them down. Looking for more about complying with the Endorsement Guides?  Read The FTC’s Revised Endorsement Guides: What People are Asking and watch this video: While you’re at it, share this post and those resources with your marketing staff, your ad agency, your PR firm, and anyone else who plays a role in your publicity and promotions. Next:  What the Spokeo settlement means for your business, your next ad campaign, and your job search","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","pubDate":"Sat, 03 Oct 2026 14:06:13 +0200","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2012/06/speaking-spokeo-part-2-companys-allegedly-bogus-endorsements","titre":"Speaking of Spokeo: Part 2 â The companyâs allegedly bogus endorsements"},{"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","description":"Practice Fusion case suggests 6 health privacy pointers lfair June 8, 2016 | 9:01AM Practice Fusion case suggests 6 health privacy pointers By Lesley Fair Combine two of the most talked-about consumer protection topics – health privacy and consumer-generated online content – and what do you get? A proposed FTC settlement with Practice Fusion, the largest cloud-based electronic health records company in the country, and six compliance tips for others in the industry. One of San Francisco-based Practice Fusion’s primary products is an electronic records system for outpatient providers. In 2009, the company launched “Patient Fusion,” an online portal where patients whose providers were already using Practice Fusion could view or download their health information or transmit it to another provider. Patient Fusion also let patients send and receive secure messages from their providers. Fast forward several years and the company decided to expand Patient Fusion to include a public directory where current and prospective enrollees could search for doctors geographically or by specialty, read patient reviews of providers, and request appointments. But Practice Fusion had to ask itself a question familiar to many online companies: How do we get the content – in this case, patient reviews? That’s the focus of the FTC’s lawsuit. According to the complaint , Practice Fusion solicited data in a misleading way that led some patients to believe they were sending follow-up messages directly to their doctors about their diagnosis, medical treatment, prescriptions, etc. – and not contributing content to a public website. Practice Fusion, however, populated its new site with the information those people provided, some of which was highly sensitive. Here’s what happened. After appointments with their doctors, patients received emails titled “How was your visit?” The message continued, “To help improve your service in the future, please let us know how your visit went” and included a link with rating stars. The message ended this way: Thank you, Dr. [Name] In a footer, the message said “This email was sent to you by Patient Fusion®, a tool Doctor [Name] uses to deliver the highest quality of care to patients.” Below that in smaller print it said “Sent on behalf of Doctor [Name]’s office by: Practice Fusion.” If patients clicked the link, they were taken to a page that asked for feedback about things like how long they had to wait for their appointment, the doctor’s bedside manner, and whether their medical concern was addressed. There also was a text box where patients were invited to “leave a review for your provider.” Below that was a pre-checked box with the phrase “Keep this review anonymous.” What did some people put in that box? Highly sensitive information directly addressed to their doctors, not evaluations meant to be shared publicly. Here are just a few examples: “Dr [name], My Xanax prescription that I received on Monday was for 1 tablet a day but usually it’s for 2 tablets a day. I have not taken it to the pharmacy yet. Can I pick up a new one, or can I get a prescription called into a pharmacy? Thanks, [patient’s full name] “I called today and left a message regarding my daughter and no one has returned my call. I think she is depressed and has stated several times this week that she wishes she was dead. Could someone please call me [phone number]?” “The cefuroxime axetil does not seem to be doing anything for me. I did a little research and I think I have a yeast infection called candida. Not sure what to do about it yet. I guess I will first try to change my diet. Medication? [patient’s full name] “I would like to make an appointment for my back pain and possible shingles. Can you please call me @ [phone number]? Thank you! [patient's full name]” “I HAVE NO INFECTION [healthcare provider name].  EVERYTHING WENT","id":3194910,"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2016/06/practice-fusion-case-suggests-6-health-privacy-pointers","titre":"Practice Fusion case suggests 6 health privacy pointers","pubDate":"Sat, 03 Oct 2026 08:09:37 +0200"},{"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2014/11/company-pay-22-million-offering-free-credit-scores-turned-out-be-not-so-free","titre":"Company to pay $22 million for offering \"free\" credit scores that turned out to be not so free","pubDate":"Sat, 03 Oct 2026 08:09:37 +0200","description":"Company to pay $22 million for offering \"free\" credit scores that turned out to be not so free wfg-adm109 November 19, 2014 | 11:12AM Company to pay $22 million for offering \"free\" credit scores that turned out to be not so free By Lesley Fair We’ve brought law enforcement actions – dozens of ‘em. We’ve held workshops, issued reports, and sent warning letters. If it takes sky writing, tap dancing, and a float in a Thanksgiving Day parade, we’ll do that, too. But here’s what’s not going to happen. The FTC is not giving up until businesses get the message that: 1) Free means free; and 2) Key terms and conditions have to be clearly and conspicuously disclosed. A $22 million settlement announced by the FTC and the AGs of Illinois and Ohio with a national credit monitoring service advertising so-called “free” credit scores emphasizes that point. Another note for practitioners: It's the FTC's third case alleging violations of ROSCA . One Technologies and related outfits marketed their credit monitoring programs, MyCreditHealth and ScoreSense, through at least 50 sites, including FreeScore360.com, FreeScoreOnline.com and ScoreSense.com. Their strategy was simple. Buy advertising on search engines so their ads show up near the top when people look for phrases like “free credit report\" and then follow up with a persuasive pitch: “View your latest Credit Scores from All 3 Bureaus in 60 seconds for $0!” According to the lawsuit , the defendants failed to clearly tell consumers that if they availed themselves of those “free” services and didn’t cancel within seven days, the defendants would ding their credit cards for $29.95 a month over and over and over again. The complaint includes screen shots of the defendants’ sites, but before looking at them, take out your reading glasses because they’ll come in handy in trying to locate where the defendants chose to tell people about that $29.95 monthly fee. One line of fine print added in late 2012 said “Free 7-Day trial when you order your 3 Free Credit Scores. Membership is then just $29.95 per month until you call to cancel.” The first problem: The type was tiny – a fraction of the size of the defendants’ multiple use of the word “free.” The second problem: Why should consumers even have to be on the look-out for the cost, given that the defendants so prominently advertised it as “free”? A second purported disclosure appeared as an obscure hyperlink on the page where people typed in their Social Security number and birthdate.  Sandwiched between the logos of various security firms and a large color button that said CONTINUE was this less-than-crystal-clear statement: By clicking on the ‘Continue’ button, you agree to the Offer Details, to the Terms and Conditions, acknowledge receipt of our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms . . . The “Offer Details” link triggered a small pop-up that said, among other things, “At the end of the 7-day trial period, your credit/debit card will be charged $29.95 on a monthly basis until you call to cancel.” Another place the defendants put the information was on a side panel of the Payment Form in white letters on a grey background – a color combination one of the defendants’ own employees described as “known to cause seizures in lab rats.” According to the complaint, once people spotted the unauthorized charges on their accounts, the defendants didn’t make it easy to stop the billing.  And even when people asked for their money back because they hadn’t approved of the charges, the defendants denied refunds to many of them. The lawsuit alleges violations of the FTC Act, as well as the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, the Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, and related state rules. In addition, the complaint is the third FTC action to charge violations of ROSCA, the Restore Online Shoppers’","id":3194913,"source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts"},{"pubDate":"Sat, 03 Oct 2026 08:09:36 +0200","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/10/ftc-secures-settlement-protects-small-businesses-illegal-price-discrimination","titre":"FTC Secures Settlement that Protects Small Businesses from Illegal Price Discrimination","source":"Federal Trade Commission Concurrence communiqués","id":3194908,"description":"The Federal Trade Commission secured a settlement agreement with Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits LLC, the nation’s largest distributor of wine and spirits, that will redress allegedly illegal price discrimination practices and make it easier for small businesses to compete against large chain retailers. The sweeping settlement covers nearly all Southern wine and spirits sales to the five largest chain retailers in 26 states. The settlement will also provide direct cash payments to harmed small businesses if an independent monitor finds that Southern violates the settlement order going forward. “This settlement marks a significant milestone for the FTC in its enforcement of the Robinson-Patman Act, which Congress enacted to empower small businesses to compete against large ones,” said Daniel Guarnera, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “Small businesses are an invaluable part of the American economy and way of life. The FTC is committed to ensuring that all businesses, no matter their size, can compete on a fair and level playing field to serve their customers and boost the entire American economy.” The FTC’s settlement with Southern delivers a successful conclusion to the Commission’s first enforcement action under the Robinson-Patman Act in a generation. Under the terms of a proposed stipulated order filed by the FTC , Southern will face limitations on its ability to charge small, independent retailers higher prices for wine and spirits than it charges competing large retail chains.  The FTC’s settlement resolves a  lawsuit brought by the Commission in 2024, which alleges that Southern violated the Robinson-Patman Act by depriving small, independent businesses access to discounts and rebates that were available to large competitors. As alleged in the complaint, these pricing practices interfere with the ability of independent retailers to compete against large national and regional chains and big box stores. Under the Robinson-Patman Act, it is generally unlawful for sellers to engage in price discrimination that harms competition by charging higher prices to disfavored retailers that purchase similar goods. According to the FTC’s complaint, Southern charged significantly higher prices for sales of identical bottles of wine and spirits during the same time period to independent retailers as compared to competing large chains, like Total Wine, Walmart and Kroger, even when the stores were located a few miles or even a few blocks from each other. Southern engaged in discriminatory pricing via a variety of mechanisms, such as by offering discounts and rebates to large buyers that were inaccessible to small competitors and were not justified by differences in the cost of distributing products to different retailers, the FTC’s complaint further alleged.  Settlement Terms  To resolve the FTC’s complaint, Southern has agreed to a series of conditions that will disincentivize the company from engaging in discriminatory pricing and compensate independent retailers if they are harmed. Specifically, the terms of the proposed stipulated order target “paired” transactions where Southern sells a product to a chain retailer at one price while contemporaneously selling that same product to a nearby independent retailer at a significantly higher price.  Southern will be in violation of the FTC’s proposed stipulated order, if, among other conditions, the paired transactions involve:  Significant price discrimination (exceeding a maximum threshold based on state-specific operating costs) Recurring price discrimination (in the aggregate, exceeding $5,000 over a 12-month period) Where a set of discriminatory paired transactions meets certain specifications, Southern can resolve the violation by paying the independent retailer 1.5 times the full aggregated price-differential amount. If Southern does not redress the price discrimination, the FTC can bring an enforcement action, and, if the Commission"},{"url":"https://www.berec.europa.eu/en/public-consultations-calls-for-inputs/public-consultation-on-the-draft-berec-work-programme-2027","titre":"Public consultation on the draft BEREC Work Programme 2027","pubDate":"Fri, 02 Oct 2026 08:34:17 +0200","description":"Public consultation on the draft BEREC Work Programme 2027 yannick.stephan Thu, 01/10/2026 - 09:00 Breadcrumbs Public Consultations & Calls for Inputs Deadline to submit contributions:  31 October 2026 In January this year, BEREC adopted the Outline BEREC Work Programme 2027 , which reflected BEREC's objectives for the upcoming year. BEREC launched a first Call for inputs on the Work Programme 2027 from 27 February to 15 April. During the call for proposals, several additional actions were identified. Considering the early input received, during the 68th BEREC ordinary meetings (1-2 October 2026), the Board of Regulators adopted the draft BEREC Work Programme 2027 [BoR (26) 142] for public consultation. Background BEREC prepares its annual work programme in accordance with Article 21 of the BEREC Regulation and the BEREC Strategy 2026-2030 to guide how it organises and prioritises its work towards clearly defined objectives. The 2027 draft work programme was developed inclusively and transparently, with contributions from various stakeholders. This approach helps ensure that BEREC remains responsive to market needs, regulatory developments, and end-user expectations. Aim The BEREC Work Programme 2027 aims to align with the BEREC Strategy 2026-2030 and its five strategic pillars: Promoting full connectivity and the Digital Single Market; Supporting competition-driven and open digital ecosystems; Empowering end-users; Contributing to sustainable, secure, and resilient digital infrastructures; Strengthening BEREC’s capabilities and continuous improvement. The work programme will also take into consideration priorities set for BEREC’s institutional and international cooperation. Furthermore, the 2027 work programme has been developed against the backdrop of the ongoing review of the regulatory framework and the European Commission’s proposal for a Digital Networks Act, published in January 2026. This piece of legislation is meant to be the cornerstone shaping the future of the sector in the EU. As an advisory body to EU institutions for electronic communications, BEREC is committed to providing expert, independent advice to co-legislators and the European Commission throughout the legislative procedure. BEREC also aims to provide support and advice on other relevant policy developments. In addition to the mandatory work foreseen in the EU regulatory framework, the BEREC work programme follows a multiannual approach, meaning some projects started in 2026 will be completed in 2027 and are therefore included as carryovers. Additionally, recurring items are considered by default. Submit your contributions The incoming BEREC Chair 2027, Alejandra de Iturriaga Gandini (CNMC, Spain), encourages all interested stakeholders to provide their views and contributions to the draft BEREC Work Programme 2027 by submitting them to BEREC-WP2027@DISTRO.BEREC.EUROPA.EU by 31 October 2026 . After submitting the contribution, you will receive an automatic acknowledgement email. If you do not receive this acknowledgement, please contact the BEREC Office. Contributions should be sent preferably in English, and, to facilitate processing of the responses, the comments provided should clearly refer to specific paragraphs of the document. In accordance with the BEREC policy on public consultations , BEREC will publish all contributions and a summary thereof, respecting confidentiality requests. In that regard, please clearly mark the parts you define as confidential. We strongly encourage all stakeholders to submit their contributions as early as possible. Contributions received after the above-mentioned deadline will not be taken into account. Privacy statement type Privacy Statement for Public Consultation Category Name Ongoing Public Consultations and Calls for Inputs Notify subscribers","id":3193166,"source":"BEREC Office"},{"source":"BEREC Office","description":"Michel Van Bellinghen elected BEREC Chair 2028 yannick.stephan Thu, 01/10/2026 - 08:59 Latest News At its plenary meeting on 1 October 2026, the Board of Regulators elected Michel Van Bellinghen , Chair of the BIPT Council (Belgium), as the BEREC Chair for 2028. In the year preceding the chairmanship, he will join the Mini-Board and work closely with the incoming Chair, Alejandra de Iturriaga Gandini ( CNMC , Spain), helping to ensure a smooth handover of responsibilities and continuity in BEREC’s work. This will be the second time Michel Van Bellinghen serves as BEREC Chair. BEREC leadership in 2027 BEREC’s leadership is centred on the Chair, supported by the Vice-Chairs. The Mini-Board, composed of the Chair, the Vice-Chairs and participants without voting rights, provides support for the Chair in carrying out their leadership responsibilities. During the plenary meeting, the Board of Regulators also elected the Vice-Chairs for 2027. Klaus Steinmaurer ( RTR , Austria) and Karol Krzywicki ( UKE , Poland) will support the Chair in preparing and coordinating BEREC’s work, including plenary discussions, strategic planning and stakeholder engagement. Armer Juka ( AKEP , Albania) was elected as the representative of participants without voting rights to the Mini-Board for 2027. In addition, the incoming and outgoing BEREC Chairs – Michel Van Bellinghen and Marko Mismas ( AKOS , Slovenia) – will also serve as Vice-Chairs. The Vice-Chairs have two main functions. First, the incoming Chair – or, if necessary, one of the Vice-Chairs – may take over the role of Chair when the Chair is not in a position to perform their duties. Second, each Vice-Chair supports and follows the work of a specific cluster of BEREC Working Groups. The BEREC Chair decides the allocation of these clusters. In the year preceding the chairmanship, the incoming Chair is also responsible for preparing the annual work programme. What the BEREC Chair does The BEREC Chair plays a central role in guiding BEREC’s work during the chairmanship year. The Chair leads plenary meetings, represents BEREC externally, helps build consensus among national regulatory authorities and oversees the implementation of the annual work programme. The Vice-Chairs support the Chair in carrying out these responsibilities and help ensure continuity between the annual chairmanships. Together, the Chair and Vice-Chairs contribute to the effective functioning of BEREC and to the achievement of its objectives. The BEREC Chair is responsible for BEREC’s external relations and for representing its interests. The Chair informs members about external activities, reports on their outcomes and shares any relevant materials. When invited, the Chair also reports on the performance of BEREC’s tasks to the European Parliament and the European Commission. In addition, the BEREC Chair serves as Chair of the Mini-Board, convenes its meetings and informs the Board of Regulators about its activities. Appointment process The BEREC Chair is elected every year. To be nominated and elected as Chair, a candidate must be supported by at least four BEREC members, not including the candidate themself, and must have served for at least one year as Vice-Chair. Election requires the support of at least two-thirds of the Board of Regulators who vote in order to be elected. The Chair’s term of office is one year. Similarly, every year, the Board of Regulators elects at least two Vice-Chairs from among its members for the following year.","id":3191419,"url":"https://www.berec.europa.eu/en/news/latest-news/michel-van-bellinghen-elected-berec-chair-2028","titre":"Michel Van Bellinghen elected BEREC Chair 2028","pubDate":"Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:34:59 +0200"},{"pubDate":"Thu, 01 Oct 2026 14:10:47 +0200","titre":"Lights out on unsubstantiated pain relief claims and deceptive native advertising","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2020/06/lights-out-unsubstantiated-pain-relief-claims-deceptive-native-advertising","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","id":3191275,"description":"Lights out on unsubstantiated pain relief claims and deceptive native advertising lfair June 25, 2020 | 3:00PM Lights out on unsubstantiated pain relief claims and deceptive native advertising By Lesley Fair For consumers struggling with severe or chronic pain, ads for a product called Willow Curve appeared to offer light at the end of the tunnel. But the FTC alleges the marketers made false and unsubstantiated claims for the product , a device that applied low-level light and mild heat to the site of pain – and set people back between $599 and $799 in the process. The proposed settlement also sheds light on the FTC’s ongoing concern with deceptive native advertising. The complaint names two Michigan companies, Physician’s Technology, LLC, and Willow Labs, LLC, and two individuals affiliated with both businesses, Dr. Ronald Shapiro and David Sutton. In ads on national TV, satellite radio, online, and in social media, the defendants claimed that for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, diabetic neuropathy, nerve damage, shingles, fibromyalgia, lupus, torn tendons, and other serious conditions, the light-emitting Willow Curve would provide “real, lasting, proven pain relief, without the costs, risks or inconvenience associated with elective surgery, prescription drugs or office visits.” The defendants also sold Willow Curve through a network of distributors and resellers, supplying them with promotional materials touting the product’s purported health benefits. What’s more, the defendants claimed to have clinical studies to support what they said about Willow Curve and that the FDA had reviewed and approved the device for its advertised pain relief and other health benefits. The FTC challenges those claims as false. The complaint also alleges the defendants advertised a “risk-free” and “money-back” guarantee for consumers if they were “not completely satisfied” within a specified time period. But the FTC says in many instances, the defendants required consumers to jump through hoops to get the hefty purchase price back – for example, by first undertaking a regimen of 92 “treatments” over a 180-day period. According to the complaint, those requirements were hidden behind hyperlinks or buried in paperwork in the Willow Curve box. Despite the defendants’ claim that they issued refunds within seven to ten business days, the FTC says some people never got their money back. Others got a refund a year or more later or only after reporting the defendants to a State Attorney General or the Better Business Bureau. Another notable count relates to the defendants’ use of native advertising. For example, what appeared to be an online magazine article, “Understanding the Gender Gap in Sports Injuries and Treatment,” was actually advertising for Willow Curve. According to the FTC, the defendants hired a marketing company to write this article and others, which looked a lot like the non-advertising content of the magazines and newspapers in which the ads ran. The complaint alleges the articles weren’t identifiable as ads, including when consumers posted or shared them on social media or in email. The settlement includes a judgment of $22 million, which – based on the defendants’ financial condition – will be partially suspended when defendants Shapiro and Sutton each pay $200,000. Among other things, the proposed order requires the defendants to have randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled testing to support a broad range of pain relief claims. The order also prohibits them from representing expressly or by implication that advertising is a statement or opinion from an independent publisher or source. The case illuminates some issues of interest to advertisers. Support pain relief claims with sound science.   There’s a predictable cycle. As more consumers experience chronic and serious pain, more marketers position their products as purported remedies. What comes next?"},{"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2020/05/fighting-coronavirus-scams-taking-stock","titre":"Fighting Coronavirus scams: Taking stock","pubDate":"Thu, 01 Oct 2026 08:11:56 +0200","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","description":"Fighting Coronavirus scams: Taking stock chundycz May 8, 2020 | 9:01AM Fighting Coronavirus scams: Taking stock By Andrew Smith, Director, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, the FTC has released dozens of warning letters against people trying to make an illegal buck off the Coronavirus. More than a month in, it seems like a good time to look back at what’s happened. If you follow this blog, you’ll know these have been busy weeks – with advice about spotting the many scams we’re all facing, news of the warning letters sent on a wide range of scams, and some enforcement actions filed. You might wonder: Why send letters? Why not just sue the !*$@&#? Fair question. But the letters are working. And, given the scope of the scams out there right now, we want to get the best and fastest results we can with the most efficient tool we have. Right now, for these Coronavirus-related issues, that’s warning letters. In general, here’s how it goes: We spot someone advertising something with no proof that it works – and, in many cases, telling outright lies about its wonders. We send a letter pointing out the illegal things they’re doing. They then have 48 hours to tell us what they’ve done to resolve the problems we’ve raised. In nearly all cases so far, those who get the letters have stopped making the false claims or selling the scammy thing – whether cures from a product or earnings from a work-at-home scheme. Within 48 hours: no more lying to people, no more stealing people’s money. During a crisis like this, we’ve prioritized stopping as many bad actors as we can, as quickly as we can. And when a warning letter will do that, we’ll take that win. Most of the letters sent so far relate to the first scams out of the box: the treatments and cures – many of which we heard about from you. These treatments and cures were, of course, not at all what they claimed to be. The sellers peddled everything from teas and essential oils to IV or ozone “therapies,” stem cell treatments, and high doses of Vitamin C. All of these products have had one thing in common: There was no evidence – none – that they work against the Coronavirus. The warning letters are working in other areas, too. We’ve sent 13 letters to VoIP service providers and other companies, telling them we see how they’re helping illegal telemarketers or robocallers make calls related to COVID-19, and telling them to cut it out. And, just two weeks ago, we sent 10 letters to multi-level marketing (MLM) companies for making exaggerated earnings claims for their business opportunity selling fake Coronavirus treatments or cures from home. These companies hit the daily double: false income claims for their work-at-home program and unsubstantiated health claims for their products. But sometimes you need more firepower to get the desired result. It took a lawsuit to stop a company that, allegedly, pretended to be affiliated with the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, fooling hundreds – if not thousands – of small businesses. And, last week, we filed suit against Whole Leaf Organics for allegedly claiming to treat not only the Coronavirus, but also cancer with CBD. Both cases are now pending. What we know about COVID-19 changes every week. And right now, the scammers are shifting their focus to the economic impact payments, among other things, to find new ways to get your money or information. But here are some things that remain true: Scammers are peddling cures and treatments with no proof they work. Remember: Right now, there is nothing that has been proven to prevent COVID-19. Anyone who tells you to pay them by gift card, money transfer, cash, or Bitcoin is a scammer. Period. And, if they say they’re from the government, they’re not. Never give your Social Security, bank account, or credit card number to anyone who contacts you. Again, not even if they say","id":3189429},{"titre":"FTC takes on unproven health claims and âown-dorsementsâ","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2020/03/ftc-takes-unproven-health-claims-own-dorsements","pubDate":"Wed, 30 Sep 2026 14:10:25 +0200","source":"FTC USA Business Blog Posts","description":"FTC takes on unproven health claims and “own-dorsements” lfair March 19, 2020 | 4:38PM FTC takes on unproven health claims and “own-dorsements” By Lesley Fair It’s a disturbing trend. Companies are targeting older consumers, claiming to have easy answers for serious diseases for which there may not be a proven cure. That’s one allegation in the FTC’s action against Nevada-based telemarketer Health Center, Inc.   Another count challenges what we call “own-dorsements.” According to Health Center’s telemarketing scripts, websites, social media, and testimonials from supposedly satisfied customers, the company’s Rejuvi-Cell oral spray and Rejuvi-Sea and Rejuvi-Stem pills could treat a broad range of medical conditions: everything from cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease to hepatitis, heart attacks, and high cholesterol. In promoting the products, which sold in packages priced between $350 and $800, the company checked the buzzword boxes with science-y sounding terms like homeopathic , adult stem cell enhancement , and marine phytoplankton . The company claimed that diseases like diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and dementia “could be greatly reduced if not eliminated” through the use of its products. According to the complaint , Health Center’s telemarketers – who were instructed to follow the scripts word-for-word – told consumers the main ingredient of Rejuvi-Sea “alkalizes your body . . . so you can’t grow cancer cells.” Then there were heartfelt testimonials from purported customers who described themselves as “walking on air” and “amazed and redeemed,” thanks to the products. But the FTC says the company hasn’t conducted any studies demonstrating the products cure or treat any diseases or health conditions and there are no human clinical studies in the scientific literature to that effect. What’s more, the lawsuit alleges that some of those glowing endorsements that appeared to come from satisfied customers across the country were actually “own-dorsements” – testimonials from Health Center’s own employees. To settle the case , the defendants have agreed to injunctive provisions, including a requirement that a broad range of health claims must have the support of randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled human clinical testing. Almost all of the $8.6 million judgment will be suspended, based on their financial condition. Aside from the obvious points that the FTC continues to take a close look at cures targeting older consumers and that companies shouldn’t palm off endorsements from employees as independent opinions, the case illustrates two other important principles. First, the defendants’ unlawful practices were the subject of an earlier enforcement action by the Iowa Attorney General. Companies shouldn’t have to be told once of the need to substantiate their health claims – and they certainly shouldn’t have to be told twice. Second, the complaint includes a count for violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule , which prohibits misrepresentations about “any material aspect of the performance, efficacy, nature, or central characteristics of goods or services that are the subject of a sales offer.” That’s yet another reason to keep your telemarketing efforts above board .","id":3187485},{"source":"Droit - Scoop-It","id":3170546,"description":"In this Deconstructed video, we rebuilt Alcatraz Island entirely in 3D, piece by piece, to understand how Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary actually operated at its peak in the 1950s. We explore the Cellhouse building, the prison cells, the dining hall, the shower room, the hospital, the administration building, and the infamous dungeon of Alcatraz, breaking down the prison’s internal layout and layered security systems, even down to the complex mechanical system that controlled every cell door. We also examine what life inside was really like and how three inmates managed to escape.We also created a detailed cutaway poster inspired by the video, showing the entire island of Alcatraz and how its buildings were arranged, from the main cellhouse and yard to the guard towers and support structures across the rock.👉 Get the poster here, every order helps support the channel so we can keep creating projects like this: https://crowdmade.com/collections/deconstructed/products/deconstructed-alcatraz-poster-deconstructed-r1*(Giveaway ended)🎁 We are also giving one away. Just subscribe, like this video, and leave a comment below telling us: What surprised you the most about Alcatraz? We will announce the winner in our next upload. Details below.Alcatraz Island is a small rocky outcrop located about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) offshore from San Francisco. First developed in the mid-19th century, the island was initially used as a coastal defense site with the construction of Fort Alcatraz. Around 1910, the upper levels of the fort’s old citadel were removed, and a new cellhouse was built above its former basement level. The island later served as a military prison until 1933, when the federal government converted it into a federal penitentiary designed to isolate the most problematic inmates. Alcatraz was designed to be escape-proof. Built to hold inmates considered too dangerous for any other federal prison, it functioned as a self-contained community where prison staff and their families lived alongside the prison. The prison closed in 1963 because it was too expensive to operate. Today, Alcatraz is preserved as a historic site visited by more than one million people each year.Chapters00:00 – 00:53 The Escape-Proof Prison00:53 – 02:55 The Origins of Alcatraz02:55 – 07:25 The Island Layout07:25 – 15:19 Inside the Cellhouse15:19 – 21:14 Security Systems21:14 – 23:37 The Escape & ClosureA huge thank you to all our Patreon and YouTube Membership supporters. Your support helps us keep creating detailed, high-quality videos like this one. Join here to help us bring future projects to life:https://www.patreon.com/c/Deconstructed_Animations | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCje6-Yak9u1msy5l7sE9pBA/join🎬Special thanks to our team:-Hubert M.: Animation and Modeling-Nicolas J.: Sound Design-Sydney O.: Script-Ben S.: Narration-Troy S.: Packaging-Hamza: Research-Lion & Louis: Direction & Editing🎁 Giveaway Rules:- No purchase necessary. Open worldwide.- Enter by commenting on this video and answering the question: What surprised you the most about Alcatraz?- The winner will be selected based on our judgment of the best comment.- The winner will be announced at the end of the next video and must contact us via email at deconstructed@intheblackmedia.com to claim their prize.- If the winner is under the age of majority in their country, parental permission is required to receive the prize.- This giveaway is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by YouTube.- Void where prohibited.📚 Photo and Document Credits:Images used in this video are part of the public domain and sourced from: Wikimedia Commons, National Park Services, FBI and FoundSFhttps://commons.wikimedia.orghttps://www.nps.govhttps://www.foundsf.orghttps://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/alcatraz-escape🧩 3D AssetsThird-party 3D assets used in this video have been purchased under royalty-free licenses.🎵 Music and SoundMusic and sound design used in this video are licensed via","pubDate":"Wed, 23 Sep 2026 07:48:09 +0200","url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YC-YyFGg8E","titre":"The Genius Design of Alcatraz"},{"pubDate":"Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:08:58 +0200","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/09/fleetcor-agrees-pay-100-million-resolve-administrative-action-after-federal-court-finds-it-violated","titre":"FleetCor Agrees to Pay $100 Million to Resolve Administrative Action After Federal Court Finds that It Violated the FTC Act by Charging Unauthorized Fees","source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","id":3160549,"description":"FleetCor and its CEO will pay $100 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission administrative action alleging that the company charged its customers, who overwhelmingly are small businesses, undisclosed fees in connection with their use of fuel cards that FleetCor falsely promised businesses would save them money. In a complaint first filed in federal court in 2019 , the FTC alleged that FleetCor Technologies Inc., now known as Corpay Inc., and its CEO Ronald Clarke imposed a broad array of unauthorized fees that its customers never knew about and did not agree to pay, totaling hundreds of millions of dollars and harming tens of thousands of customers.  In addition, FleetCor charged late fees to customers who had either paid on time or were prevented by FleetCor from paying on time. FleetCor also misrepresented the gas savings, fraud-control features, and fees associated with its fuel cards. “FleetCor deceived its small business customers by promising fuel savings that never materialized, while unfairly charging them hidden and unauthorized fees,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “In addition to the relief the FTC has obtained in federal court, this order will help return money to the customers the company took advantage of.” According to the complaint, FleetCor often waited to begin charging many fees until several billing cycles passed, making the fees less noticeable to consumers. The complaint also alleged that FleetCor’s invoices did not disclose that any fees were being charged, requiring customers to proactively view other account management reports. Even on those documents, many fees were obscured among other information or not listed at all. In 2023, a federal district court entered summary judgment for the FTC on all counts, finding that FleetCor had charged its customers hidden or otherwise unauthorized fees and misrepresented the gas savings and fees associated with FleetCor’s fuel cards. The court-imposed order permanently prohibits FleetCor from: billing a customer for any charge unless FleetCor has obtained the customer’s express informed consent and provided clear and unavoidable information about the charge; hiding material information about a charge behind a hyperlink; and making deceptive claims about its fuel cards. In 2026, a federal appeals court upheld the summary judgment against FleetCor on all counts and affirmed the permanent injunction against it.  The court affirmed the judgment against Clarke on all but one count and vacated the injunction as to Clarke.  As part of the settlement order with the FTC, FleetCor and Clarke will pay $100 million, which will be used to provide redress to the company’s business customers harmed by its practices. FleetCor and Clarke have also agreed not to oppose reimposition of a federal court injunction against Clarke.  The Commission vote to accept the consent agreement was 1-0-1. FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson is recused. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement in the Federal Register soon. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Instructions for filing comments will appear in the published notice. Once processed, comments will be posted on Regulations.gov. NOTE: When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to"},{"titre":"Ninth Circuit Partially Revives âLow-FODMAPâ Labeling Suit","url":"https://www.dailyintakeblog.com/2026/08/ninth-circuit-partially-revives-low-fodmap-labeling-suit/","pubDate":"Wed, 05 Aug 2026 07:59:31 +0200","description":"A Ninth Circuit panel has partially revived (Law360 subscription required) a lawsuit alleging that FDA and USDA nutrient content claim regulations violate First Amendment rights by preventing the inclusion of certain information about fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and poloyols (FODMAPs) on food labels. The lawsuit was initially filed against FDA, USDA, and USDA's Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) in March 2023 after one plaintiff submitted a label to FSIS for approval. FSIS denied the approval, telling the company that it must “remove all references to digestible, gut loving, and fodmap.” According to the plaintiff, FDA had never raised concerns about the claims on labels of FDA-regulated foods. According to the Ninth Circuit, FSIS told the company that it discussed the proposed label with FDA, and FDA agreed that the FODMAP claims were impermissible nutrient content claims. The company modified the label, then filed the lawsuit along with a consumer plaintiff. The plaintiffs claim that the challenged regulations violate their rights to speak and to receive information. The district court dismissed the case, concluding that the plaintiffs failed to show they had standing and exhausted their administrative remedies. The panel reversed that decision in part, finding that the consumer plaintiff adequately showed standing as a “listener” under the First Amendment, based on needs for a low-FODMAP diet and because she alleged that food producers “would be reasonably likely to include FODMAP-related information on food labels in the absence of the challenged FDA and USDA regulations.” The panel also found that the company plaintiff sufficiently pleaded standing related to claims on FDA-regulated products based on the Agency's threatened enforcement of its regulations. However, the panel found that the company plaintiff did not exhaust its administrative remedies and, therefore, upheld the lower court's ruling on that issue. While this ruling deals only with the standing issue in the case, it highlights that both consumers and companies may have standing to challenge food labeling regulations on a First Amendment basis. Here, the claims that food products are “low-FODMPAP foods” would currently be considered an impermissible nutrient content claim because “low” claims must be made in accordance with the definitions in 21 CFR 101 Subpart D , 9 CFR 317 Subpart B , and 9 CFR 381 Subpart Y . Keller and Heckman will continue to monitor food labeling","id":3077463,"source":"The Daily Intake"},{"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/07/founders-celsius-network-ordered-pay-165-million-resolve-ftc-charges","titre":"Founders of Celsius Network Ordered to Pay $16.5 Million to Resolve FTC Charges","pubDate":"Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:04:33 +0200","source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","description":"Alexander Mashinsky, the former CEO of cryptocurrency platform Celsius Network Inc. (Celsius), and his business partners, Shlomi Daniel Leon and Hanoch “Nuke” Goldstein, will pay a total of $16.5 million to resolve the Federal Trade Commission’s charges that they deceived users by falsely promising that deposits made to their cryptocurrency platform would be safe and always available. Mashinsky and Leon have also agreed to a ban on marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit, exchange, invest or withdraw assets. Similarly, Goldstein has agreed to a ban on marketing or selling retail products or services that can be used to buy, sell, deposit, withdraw, distribute or trade cryptocurrency. In its  July 2023 complaint , the FTC alleged that Celsius and its co-founders promised consumers that Celsius was “safer” than a bank or other traditional financial institutions and misrepresented that their deposits were safe because Celsius earned profits at “no risk” to consumers by making secured loans to other exchanges. The FTC says the company and its top executives deceived users by falsely promising them that they could withdraw their deposits at any time, that the company maintained a $750 million insurance policy for deposits, that it had sufficient reserves to meet customer obligations and that those in its Earn program could earn rewards as high as 18% annual percentage yield on deposits. They also repeatedly claimed that the company did not make any unsecured loans. The FTC, however, alleged that the promises were false and that its top executives continued to claim that customers’ deposits were safe days before the company filed for bankruptcy. The settlement orders with the FTC require Mashinsky to pay $10 million, Leon to pay $4.1 million and Goldstein to pay $2.4 million. In addition,  the order with Mashinsky ,  the order with Leon ,   and the proposed order with Goldstein   will also prohibit the Celsius co-founders from: Marketing or selling products or services that can be used to deposit or withdraw certain assets, as Mashinsky, Leon and Goldstein’s deceptive conduct led to enormous consumer injury; Making misrepresentations regarding the benefits of any product or service or any other material fact about any other product or service; and Violating the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, including by obtaining or attempting to obtain customer financial information by making false, fictitious or fraudulent representations; and Finally, the orders with Mashinsky and Leon prohibit them from disclosing nonpublic personal information about consumers unless the consumer first provides express informed consent. The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order with Mashinsky was 3–0 and was approved prior to the departure of former Commissioner Melissa Holyoak. The Commission votes approving the stipulated final orders with Leon and Goldstein were both 2–0. The FTC filed the proposed orders in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court Judge. The staff attorneys on this matter are Stephanie Liebner, Carlton Mosley and Sally Tieu of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer","id":3042974},{"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/07/ftc-approves-final-order-against-publishingcom-settling-allegations-it-misled-consumers","titre":"FTC Approves Final Order Against Publishing.com, Settling Allegations It Misled Consumers","pubDate":"Fri, 03 Jul 2026 08:06:27 +0200","source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","description":"The Federal Trade Commission finalized an order with Publishing.com LLC and its two principals, settling allegations that they misled consumers about how much money consumers were likely to earn using their self-publishing products. Under the order finalized by the Commission, Publishing.com and its principals, CEO Christian Mikkelsen and Chief Product Officer Rasmus Mikkelsen, will pay $1.5 million and be required to substantiate earnings claims in the future. In a complaint first announced in April 2026, the FTC alleged that Publishing.com claimed its programs and services would help consumers earn substantial income publishing e-books and audiobooks online. The FTC further alleged that Christian and Rasmus Mikkelsen claimed that they personally used this system to obtain significant wealth through online self-publishing. The FTC alleged, however, that most consumers who bought Publishing.com’s products and services never made the income the company promised in its advertising. Consumers who sought refunds discovered that Publishing.com imposed many additional conditions, which were often buried in fine print or the company’s lengthy terms of service, that made it difficult or impossible for consumers to get their money back. The FTC’s complaint further alleged that the company failed to disclose when reviews were written by company employees or other interested people, including relatives of the Mikkelsens, and that the company offered incentives to people for providing positive testimonials. The final order approved by the Commission prohibits Publishing.com and the Mikkelsens from: Making earnings claims unless they are not misleading and they have a reasonable basis to support them; Making the specific misrepresentations detailed in the complaint, as well as misrepresentations concerning material facts in the sale of any product or service; Failing to disclose terms and conditions of any cancellation or refund policy or failing to promptly honor a consumer’s cancellation or refund request in accordance with company policies; and Making misrepresentations regarding endorsements and reviews. The final order also requires the company and the Mikkelsens to disclose any unexpected material connections with endorsers or reviewers and any payments or other incentives for posting reviews. The Commission voted 2-0 to finalize the order and sent responses to the five","id":3004264},{"titre":"FTC Requires Amazon to Pay $2.25 Million to Resolve Charges It Knowingly Violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/06/ftc-requires-amazon-pay-225-million-resolve-charges-it-knowingly-violated-fair-credit-reporting-act","pubDate":"Wed, 01 Jul 2026 08:09:43 +0200","description":"Amazon will pay $2.25 million in civil penalties to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that the online retail giant knowingly violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by refusing to provide transaction records to consumers whose personal information was used by identity thieves to commit fraud. The complaint , filed by the Department of Justice upon notification and referral from the FTC, alleged that in numerous instances, Amazon.com Inc. failed to comply with Section 609(e) of the FCRA, which requires companies to, within 30 days of a consumer’s request, provide victims of identity theft with application and business transaction records about fraudulent transactions made in their names. According to the complaint, Amazon had no written policy to respond to Section 609(e) requests until early 2025, after it learned of the FTC’s investigation, despite prior outreach from FTC staff advising the company to review its compliance with Section 609(e). “Amazon often put identity theft victims through a Kafkaesque ordeal by demanding they identify the thief who stole their information before Amazon would release the records the law entitles them to—records that could help victims protect themselves and recover from the fraudulent conduct,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC will not allow companies to simply ignore their legal obligations, especially those designed to support and protect identity theft victims.” Many consumers who contacted Amazon to report fraud were told by its customer service agents that they could not provide the requested records for “security” or “privacy” reasons, the complaint alleged. For example, one consumer reported that when they contacted Amazon seeking business records related to unauthorized charges stemming from a fraudulent account, a company representative said they could not share details about the other account that had used the consumer’s credit card for “security reasons” unless the consumer guessed the name on the account (the name used by the identity thief), which the consumer was unable to do after making 30 attempts. The complaint alleged that in other instances, Amazon agents told consumers they were not able to access the requested records. Amazon even refused to provide application and business transaction records to law enforcement agencies who had been authorized to, and who did, submit requests to Amazon on behalf of consumers who were victims of identity theft. Some frustrated consumers resorted to sending copies of the FCRA and FTC guidance to Amazon in hopes of receiving the requested records, but Amazon still failed to comply with the law. The complaint also alleged that in some cases where Amazon ultimately provided requested records, it failed to respond to consumers within the 30-day timeframe required by the FCRA. In addition to the $2.25 million civil penalty—a record for a Section 609(e) violation—the proposed order will prohibit Amazon from failing to comply with Section 609(e) of the FCRA, requiring the company to provide the records lawfully requested by identity theft victims and law enforcement agencies acting on their behalf. The order also requires Amazon to provide notice to consumers about how identity theft victims can request records under the FCRA. The company must also contact consumers who had requested records since April 2024 from Amazon but did not receive them to inform these consumers that it may have additional records and that the consumers may request those records from Amazon. This is the second case the FTC has brought using its authority under Section 609(e) of the FCRA. The FTC announced its first case involving a violation of Section 609(e) of the FCRA in 2020 against Kohl’s Department Stores Inc . The Commission voted 2-0 to authorize the staff to refer the complaint to the DOJ and to approve the proposed stipulated order. The DOJ filed the complaint and final","id":2997627,"source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers"},{"pubDate":"Thu, 16 Apr 2026 14:15:11 +0200","titre":"EDPB brings clarity to data processing for scientific research, speeds up the finalisation of the anonymisation guidelines and approves first European data protection seal as a tool for transfers","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2026/edpb-brings-clarity-data-processing-scientific-research-speeds-finalisation_en","source":"EDPB News","id":2829942,"description":"Brussels, 16 April – During its latest plenary, the EDPB has adopted Guidelines on processing of personal data for scientific research purposes . In addition, the Board has created a team to speed up the finalisation of the guidelines on anonymisation. The EDPB has also adopted two opinions on the two sets of the Europrivacy certification criteria for approval as European Data Protection Seals, one of which to be used as a tool for transfers. Many areas of scientific research rely on the processing of individuals’ personal data, and this has driven significant scientific breakthroughs that benefit society. The rise of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, also contributes to scientific progress by enabling researchers to use and analyse data in innovative ways. The main objective of the EDPB guidelines on scientific research is to provide more clarity for researchers and make GDPR compliance easier , while ensuring the protection of individuals’ fundamental rights . “Scientific research can drive societal progress and improve our daily lives.  Our guidelines facilitate innovative research by helping researchers to navigate the GDPR. The EDPB is committed to supporting the scientific community and unlocking the full potential of scientific research in the EU while upholding data protection rights.\" EDPB Chair, Anu Talus In its guidelines, the Board provides clarifications on the concept of ‘scientific research’ . To determine if the processing takes place for scientific research purposes in the meaning of the GDPR, the Board provides six key-indicative factors that should be considered, in addition to the nature, scope, context and purposes of processing. These are: 1) methodical and systematic approach, 2) adherence to ethical standard, 3) verifiability and transparency, 4) autonomy and independence, 5) objectives of the research, and 6) potential to contribute to existing scientific knowledge or apply existing knowledge in novel ways. If the research activities meet these six factors, they can be presumed to constitute scientific research. Otherwise, the controller should justify and be able to demonstrate why the activities should be considered scientific research, within the meaning of the GDPR. Further processing for scientific research purposes is presumed to be compatible with the initial purpose for collecting individuals’ personal data. Therefore, controllers are not obliged to do the purpose compatibility test under the GDPR to determine if the new processing is compatible with the original purpose of collection. However, controllers must still make sure that the legal basis of the initial processing is also suitable for the further processing of personal data for scientific research purposes. Controllers can rely on “broad consent” where the purposes of research are not fully known at the time of collecting the personal data. In this case, researchers should respect ethical standards for scientific research and put additional safeguards in place to compensate for the lack of purpose specification. Controllers can also ask individuals to consent to different individual research projects separately, as soon as the purposes of those projects become known (dynamic consent). A combination of both broad and dynamic consent is also possible. In addition, the EDPB clarifies rights of individuals when their personal data are processed for scientific purposes. This includes the rights to erasure and object for which limitations may apply when personal data are processed for scientific research purposes. The Board provides examples to explain when the right to erasure can be considered likely to render impossible or seriously impair the objective of conducting scientific research. The EDPB also explains when controllers may reject an individuals’ objection to the processing of their personal data for scientific research purposes. This can be the case when processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out for reasons of"},{"pubDate":"Thu, 09 Apr 2026 14:03:49 +0200","url":"https://doi.org/10.46298/cst.13310","titre":"The Covid-19 crisis and the French urban public transport: What are the short-, medium- and long-term effects on provision and funding?","id":2815881,"description":"While the development of urban public transport (UPT) is considered a priority to promote the ecological transition, the Covid-19 health crisis has affected its operation. It results from constraints on supply, made necessary by travel restrictions and limitations on economic activity during periods of confinement. Existing literature has focused mainly on the use of different modes of transport, changes in mobility practices and the way governments managed the crisis. This article focuses instead on the effects of covid-19 on the supply and financing of UPT, and analyses whether this crisis has given rise to new dynamics in the mobility organising authorities (AOMs). Using data from 95 AOMs (i.e. 35% of all AOMs in 2019) and a survey of some 39 AOMs (14%), three main results are established. First, there is a big fall in fare revenue, whatever the category of AOM in France. However, due to the small proportion of UPT funding paid for by users, this decline is easily offset by a variation in the mobility tax (versement mobilité), government subsidies and an increase in the contribution from local authorities. Second, the AOMs seem confident about the funding for prospects, through an expected increase in UPT patronage and a stability, or even an expected dynamic, in the mobility tax in the future. As a result, the health crisis does not seem to have encouraged the AOMs to find new resources to finance the development of their UPT services in the medium-to-long term. Third, and finally, the health crisis has contributed to shift travel policy priorities in the AOMs, in particular when it comes to investment strategies, by raising the importance of developing the use of","source":"Les Cahiers Scientifiques du Transport - Scientific Papers in Transportation - Dernières publications"},{"description":"Public consultation on the draft BEREC Report on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 yannick.stephan Tue, 17/03/2026 - 09:26 Breadcrumbs Public Consultations & Calls for Inputs Deadline: Monday, 20 April 2026 (17:00 CEST) During the 66th BEREC plenary meeting (12-13 March 2026), the Board of Regulators approved the Draft BEREC Report on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 (BoR (26) 39) for public consultation. The report in a nutshell Virtual worlds (VW) and web 4.0 are at the basis of a transition to the 4th generation of internet based services, leading toward industry 4.0 and smart society. This shift is driven by artificial intelligence (AI) integration in networks and services. Hence, web 4.0 and immersive services are meant to have a significant economic and social impact by transforming the way in which industrial production evolves and automates its processes. At the same time, they transform the fruition of online content and applications by users. This draft BEREC Report provides a fully-fledged analysis. The first part of the draft Report dives into the connectivity developments as well as the transition to network-as-a-service (NaaS). It also provides examples of use cases cutting across industrial and societal applications. The second part deals with challenges posed to electronic communications networks/services (ECN/S) operators related either to the investment lines or to business models and market positioning. In such a scenario, focus is dedicated also to regulatory challenges, for instance the need to guarantee openness and interoperability and to foster investment. The Report builds on previous BEREC work, including the high-level position on artificial intelligence and virtual worlds provided as a contribution to the call for inputs on competition in generative AI and VW issued in 2024 by the European Commission (EC). The report is framed in the following 5 chapters and Conclusion: Introduction Chapter by providing a definition for VW, based on its key characteristics; Chapter 2 provides some concrete examples of use cases; Chapter 3 describes the connectivity challenges faced to enable VW and the network upgrades; Chapter 4 assesses the potential role of electronic communication providers in the provision of VW/Web 4.0 services, as well as any possible future profit streams and incentives; Chapter 5 examines the potential electronic communications regulatory challenges that may arise. Submit your contributions Interested parties are kindly asked to send their contributions via email to berec_virtualworld_pc@distro.berec.europa.eu no later than 20 April 2026 (17:00 CEST). Contributions should preferably be sent in English. To facilitate processing of the responses, the comments provided should clearly refer to the certain chapters/paragraphs of the document. After submitting the contribution, you will receive an acknowledgement email. In case you do not receive it, please contact the BEREC Office via the same email. All stakeholders are strongly encouraged to submit their contributions as early as possible – those received after the above-mentioned deadline will not be taken into account. In accordance with the BEREC policy on public consultations , BEREC will publish all contributions and a summary of the contributions, respecting confidentiality requests. Any such request should clearly indicate information that is considered confidential and should be accompanied by a non-confidential version. Privacy statement type Privacy Statement for Public Consultation Category Name Ongoing Public Consultations and Calls for Inputs Notify subscribers","id":2792998,"source":"BEREC Office","url":"https://www.berec.europa.eu/en/public-consultations-calls-for-inputs/public-consultation-on-the-draft-berec-report-on-virtual-worlds-and-web-40","titre":"Public consultation on the draft BEREC Report on Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0","pubDate":"Mon, 30 Mar 2026 19:32:59 +0200"},{"description":"The Federal Trade Commission is returning nearly $23 million to consumers nationwide who bought deceptively marketed overseas real estate lots in what the sellers pitched as Sanctuary Belize, a supposed luxury development in southern, coastal Belize, as well as its nearby sister development, Kanantik. The FTC is mailing 1,659 checks to defrauded investors. The average amount of each check for Sanctuary Belize consumers is $16,462 and the average amount of each check for Kanantik consumers is $6,346.39. Today’s announcement represents the second mailing to consumers who invested in the Sanctuary Belize scheme, with approximately  $10 million distributed previously . The first round of checks was sent only to consumers who bought property within Sanctuary Belize. Today’s checks are going to both Sanctuary Belize investors, as well as consumers who invested in Kanantik, a related development owned and operated by some of the Sanctuary Belize defendants, and other areas covered by the court relief in this case. In November 2018, the FTC filed a complaint charging that Andris Pukke, a prior FTC defendant, and several other corporate and individual defendants deceived consumers who invested in Sanctuary Belize by promising they were investing in a luxury development and resort. The defendants, however, failed to deliver on the promised amenities, and consumers who invested in Sanctuary property lost money and could not resell their lots. Following a trial in 2020, a federal court found that the defendants, who took in more than $100 million, duped consumers into buying Sanctuary Belize lots by falsely claiming it would be a safe investment, that the development would include luxury amenities and be completed soon, and that consumers could resell their lots. The defendants appealed,  but the Court of Appeals confirmed the deceptive scheme and the monetary judgment against Pukke and his associates, Peter Baker and John Usher. The District Court  ordered the receiver to send an initial round of payments , with the money coming from previous settlements. As part of a second round of payments, the Commission is sending a total of $22,865,008.34 to consumers. Checks totaling $20,028,170.25 are being sent to 1,202 claim applicants who invested in properties within Sanctuary Belize, and checks totaling $2,836,838.09 are being sent to 447 claim applicants who invested in properties in the Kanantik and other covered development areas. Consumers who receive checks in this second distribution should cash them within 60 days, as indicated on the check. Consumers with questions about their payments should email the redress administrator, Rust Consulting, which is being supported by Ankura Consulting Group, LLC, at Payment@SanctuaryBelizeRedress.com . Consumers with other questions about the Sanctuary Belize receivership can contact  info@sanctuarybelizereceivership.com . The application process for requesting a payment is closed, and the receiver is no longer accepting applications from consumers. Consumers can also visit the receivership website at  www.SanctuaryBelizeReceivership.com to find other resources such as","id":2679350,"source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","titre":"FTC is Sending Nearly $23 Million to Consumers Who Invested in the Deceptive Sanctuary Belize and Kanantik Real Estate Development Schemes","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/02/ftc-sending-nearly-23-million-consumers-who-invested-deceptive-sanctuary-belize-kanantik-real-estate","pubDate":"Fri, 06 Feb 2026 09:48:14 +0100"},{"source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","description":"Today, the Federal Trade Commission announced that grocery delivery provider Instacart will pay $60 million in refunds to consumers to settle allegations that the company engaged in numerous unlawful tactics that harmed shoppers and raised the cost of grocery shopping for Americans. Instacart will be required to cease its deceptive practices under a proposed FTC order, and consumers who were charged for Instacart+ without their express informed consent will receive refunds as a result of the settlement. “Instacart misled consumers by advertising free delivery services—and then charging consumers to have groceries delivered—and failing to disclose to consumers that signed up for a free trial that they would be automatically enrolled into its subscription program,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC is focused on monitoring online delivery services to ensure that competitors are transparently competing on price and delivery terms.” The FTC has alleged that Instacart engaged in a variety of deceptive tactics that misled consumers and caused them to pay more in fees, while depriving consumers of refunds. Specifically, the FTC alleges that Instacart: Falsely advertised “free delivery” to consumers on their first order Instacart’s claims of “free delivery” are false because consumers still must pay a mandatory “service fee” to get their groceries delivered. These mandatory service fees add as much as 15% to the order cost and were not clearly disclosed to consumers. Falsely advertised a “100% satisfaction guarantee,” implying that it will provide full refunds when consumers are not fully satisfied Consumers who experience late deliveries or unprofessional service typically are not offered full refunds and instead are given only a small credit that can be used toward a future order. Instacart hid the refund option from the “self-service” menu that consumers use to report problems with their orders, leading many consumers to erroneously believe they could receive only a credit toward a future order rather than a refund. Failed to clearly disclose terms relating to Instacart+ membership enrollment Instacart’s free-trial enrollment process for Instacart+ did not adequately disclose that consumers would be charged for memberships at the end of their trials, nor did it disclose Instacart’s restrictive refund policy. As a result, Instacart has charged many consumers for paid memberships without their express informed consent. Hundreds of thousands of consumers have been charged membership fees without receiving benefits from the membership or getting refunds. Under the terms of the FTC’s proposed settlement order , Instacart will be prohibited from making misrepresentations concerning the costs of delivery services and satisfaction guarantees. Instacart must also clearly and conspicuously disclose the terms and obtain express informed consent for transactions involving subscription models where consumers are automatically charged unless they actively opt out. The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 2-0. The FTC filed the proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. NOTE:  Stipulated final orders have the force of law when approved and signed by the District Court","id":2582987,"url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/instacart-pay-60-million-consumer-refunds-settle-ftc-lawsuit-over-allegations-it-engaged-deceptive","titre":"Instacart to Pay $60 Million in Consumer Refunds to Settle FTC Lawsuit Over Allegations it Engaged in Deceptive Tactics","pubDate":"Fri, 19 Dec 2025 09:48:21 +0100"},{"description":"The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Illusory Systems Inc. for failing to implement adequate data security measures, leading to a major security breach in which hackers stole $186 million from consumers. Under a proposed order settling the FTC’s allegations, Utah-based Illusory, which does business as Nomad, will be required to implement an information security program to address numerous alleged security failures and to return recovered money to affected consumers. “The FTC Act requires companies to take reasonable security measures,” said Christopher Mufarrige, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “It’s important that companies live up to their security promises to consumers.” In its complaint , the FTC alleged that Nomad prominently touted its security in its advertising, claiming that it offered “security-first” services. The FTC, however, alleged that the company failed to live up to these promises by failing to: use secure coding practices; implement processes for receiving and addressing vulnerability reports and responding to security incidents; and utilize widely known technologies that might have helped mitigate consumer losses. According to the complaint, in June 2022, Nomad introduced inadequately tested code that included a significant vulnerability. Just over a month later, hackers began exploiting the vulnerability. The FTC alleged that Nomad failed to respond to the attack in time because of its inadequate security and incident response measures, which led to the loss of $186 million. The company was able to recover some money, but consumers lost approximately $100 million. Nomad was warned about the dangers of inadequate testing as well as the need to ensure it had adequate staff and security in place. The company, however, failed to implement basic safety measures that would mitigate consumer losses, the FTC alleged. Under the proposed order , Nomad will be prohibited from making misrepresentations about its security practices. In addition, the company will also be required to: Implement a comprehensive information security program that is designed to protect consumers from theft or other unauthorized access and address the security issues outlined in the FTC’s complaint; Obtain biennial assessments of its information security program by an independent third party and cooperate with the third-party assessor; and Return to consumers money recovered following the security breach that was not already returned to customers. The Commission voted 2-0 to accept the proposed complaint and order for public comment. The FTC will publish a description of the consent agreement package in the Federal Register soon. The agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register after which the Commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final. Instructions for filing comments will appear in the published notice. Once processed, comments will be posted on Regulations.gov. NOTE:  The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. When the Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it carries the force of law with respect to future actions. Each violation of such an order may result in a civil penalty of up to $51,744. The lead staff attorneys on this matter are M. Hasan Aijaz and Julia Horwitz with the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer","id":2577895,"source":"Federal Trade Commission - Protecting America's Consumers","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/ftc-will-require-illusory-systems-return-money-stolen-hackers-implement-information-security-program","titre":"FTC Will Require Illusory Systems to Return Money Stolen by Hackers and Implement an Information Security Program","pubDate":"Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:50:37 +0100"},{"source":"Federal Trade Commission Concurrence communiqués","id":2559842,"description":"7-Eleven, Inc. and its parent company, Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd., (collectively 7-Eleven) will pay $4.5 million to settle a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging that the convenience store chain violated a 2018 FTC consent order by acquiring a fuel outlet in St. Petersburg, Fla. without providing the Commission prior notice. The $4.5 million penalty marks the largest civil penalty ever collected in an FTC case involving a prior-notice violation. It is also the largest negotiated settlement of any order violation in the FTC Bureau of Competition’s history. “Under the Trump-Vance FTC, merger remedies that protect competition are once again on the table. But for merger remedies to work, firms must abide by the terms of their consent orders, and we will hold parties accountable when they don’t live up to their commitments,” said Daniel Guarnera, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “7-Eleven failed to fulfill the terms of the FTC’s consent order and is now paying a record price. The FTC will not hesitate to protect the public by actively enforcing order violations and seeking penalties against future violators.” The settlement resolves an FTC lawsuit filed in 2023. That suit arose from a 2018 consent order to resolve the FTC’s antitrust claims that 7-Eleven’s $3.3 billion acquisition of 1,100 retail fuel outlets from Sunoco would harm competition and raise fuel prices for consumers in 76 local markets. In the consent order, 7-Eleven agreed to divest certain fuel outlets and to provide prior notice to the FTC before making future acquisitions of competing fuel outlets in the local markets. This prior notice allowed the FTC to investigate—and, if needed, file an enforcement action—if additional acquisitions by 7-Eleven harmed consumers in these local markets. The consent order specifically listed the St. Petersburg outlet as one that 7-Eleven could not acquire without providing the FTC with prior notice. According to the FTC’s complaint, 7-Eleven acquired the St. Petersburg fuel outlet in December 2018, in violation of the consent order. On March 25, 2022—over three years after 7-Eleven acquired the St. Petersburg outlet—7-Eleven first informed the Commission it had acquired the St. Petersburg outlet. The FTC found that 7-Eleven’s internal controls for ensuring compliance with the consent order were wholly inadequate and that the company failed to implement any meaningful systems to ensure compliance with the Commission order. In addition to the $4.5 million in civil penalties, 7-Eleven was required to divest the St. Petersburg outlet to a strong buyer. 7-Eleven also agreed to commit to additional prior approval and prior notice requirements, which will help ensure that the Commission is made aware of any attempts by 7-Eleven to further consolidate in the local fuel markets addressed in the FTC’s order.  The Commission vote authorizing staff to file the stipulated final judgment and order for permanent injunction and civil penalty was","pubDate":"Tue, 09 Dec 2025 09:50:02 +0100","titre":"7-Eleven to Pay Record $4.5 Million Penalty to Settle FTC Antitrust Order Violation Case","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/12/7-eleven-pay-record-45-million-penalty-settle-ftc-antitrust-order-violation-case"},{"pubDate":"Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:56:01 +0100","titre":"Stakeholder event on anonymisation and pseudonymisation: express your interest","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/stakeholder-event-anonymisation-and-pseudonymisation-express-your-interest_en","id":2548822,"description":"Brussels, 17 November - The EDPB organises a remote event to collect  stakeholders’ input on anonymisation and pseudonymisation on implications of the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in EDPS v Single Resolution Board (SRB) . The event will take place on 12 December 2025 (time to be confirmed). This will be an opportunity to inform and support the EDPB’s ongoing work on these topics as per its work programme 2024-2025 and it reflects the EDPB’s commitment to stakeholder engagement, as outlined in the recent Helsinki statement .   Who can participate? Individuals representing sector associations, organisations or NGOs and individual companies, law firms or academics are invited to express their interest to participate in this event (one participant per organisation). The EDPB encourages all organisations interested in this matter to delegate a representative with technical knowledge of these topics. As a general rule, participants will be registered on a first-come first-served basis. Nonetheless, the EDPB reserves the right to give precedence to specific stakeholders among those who expressed their interest, based on their relevance to the topics of the event, and to ensure diversity of views and a balanced representation of areas of interest, as well as geographical balance. How to take part? You can find further information and the instructions on how to register (link not available). The call will be closed as soon as a sufficiently high number of applicants is reached with a view to ensuring the participation of a maximum number of stakeholders. If you have technical problems submitting the application, we invite you to refresh the page or open the form in a different browser.    Update on 17/11/2025, 12:57 pm: The call is now closed. Thank you to all those who expressed their interest in taking part in the EDPB stakeholder event on ‘anonymisation and pseudonymisation’. We will carefully review all applications and communicate the results of the process to those who applied in the coming weeks.","source":"EDPB News"},{"description":"The governance principle is an important aspect of good governance, and its implementation is believed to have a good impact on governance outcomes, such as corruption reduction and performance improvement. The governance principle has been developed for several types of organisations. However, previous studies did not focus on the rural local administration’s governance. This study aims to develop a good governance principle for the rural local administration. There are four objectives of this study: first, to identify governance principles and their indicators in the literature; second, to create a governance principle using exploratory factor analysis; third, to model the governance principle using the structural equation model (SEM); and finally, to analyse any different perceptions about the governance principles for the rural local administration using univariate analysis. The result showed that 33 indicators of governance principles were identified through the literature. Using 238 usable questionnaires and exploratory factor analysis, we found 6 governance principles: fairness and capability, inclusivity, legitimacy and direction, participation, performance and information, and transparency and accountability. Using the second-order SEM in SmartPLS, we developed a governance principle model for the rural local administration. A few indicators of governance principles found were deleted through measurement model validation. In addition, the univariate analysis concluded that perceptions did not differ by the sex, education level, and occupation type of respondents. In other words, they agreed with the governance principle for the rural local administration. This study has practical and theoretical implications, which are discussed in detail in this article. Lire l'article complet sur :","id":2407924,"source":"Collectivités territoriales gouvernance veille INSP","titre":"Administrative Sciences | Free Full-Text | Good Governance in Rural Local Administration","url":"https://www.scoop.it/topic/insp-vers-des-systemes-de-gouvernance-plus-efficients/p/4140143633/2023/01/23/administrative-sciences-free-full-text-good-governance-in-rural-local-administration/original","pubDate":"Wed, 01 Oct 2025 10:19:07 +0200"},{"id":2298968,"description":"The Federal Trade Commission today moved to block medical device supplier Edwards Lifesciences Corp.’s (Edwards) proposed acquisition of JenaValve Technology, Inc. (JenaValve) due to concerns that the acquisition would limit patient access to lifesaving medical devices used to treat a potentially fatal heart condition. The FTC alleges that over the span of two days in July 2024, Edwards executed agreements to acquire both JenaValve and JC Medical, the two leading companies competing to bring to market transcatheter aortic valve replacement devices that treat a heart condition called aortic regurgitation (TAVR-AR devices). Edwards closed its acquisition of JC Medical in August 2024, and its proposed $945 million acquisition of JenaValve would combine the only two companies with ongoing clinical trials in the United States for a TAVR-AR device. The deal threatens to reduce competition in the TAVR-AR market, likely resulting in reduced innovation, diminished product quality, and potentially increased prices for consumers, according to the complaint. “ Edwards’ attempt to buy the U.S. market for TAVR-AR devices would eliminate the head-to-head competition that has spurred innovation for lifesaving artificial heart valves,” said Daniel Guarnera, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “The FTC is taking action to stop this anticompetitive deal and ensure that JenaValve and Edwards’ JC Medical subsidiary continue competing to innovate, expand treatment eligibility, and keep down costs. Americans deserve all the benefits that come from competition between medical device makers, just as they do in other markets.” More than 8 million Americans suffer from aortic regurgitation, which occurs when the heart’s aortic valve does not close properly, causing blood to backflow into the heart. Currently, surgical valve replacement via open heart surgery is the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved procedure to treat aortic regurgitation, and TAVR-AR devices offer a new and less invasive way to treat the condition. JenaValve is poised to become the first company to bring a TAVR-AR device, called Trilogy, to the commercial market in the United States. If Edwards acquires JenaValve, Edwards would gain control over the two most advanced TAVR-AR devices, the FTC complaint alleges. FDA approval or commercialization of any other TAVR-AR device in the United States by another company, aside from Edwards and JenaValve, is not expected for the foreseeable future. Direct head-to-head competition between Edwards, through its now-subsidiary JC Medical, and JenaValve has driven the two companies to accelerate the development of their TAVR-AR devices, the FTC’s complaint alleges. Ultimately, patients will benefit if JenaValve and Edwards continue to directly compete to complete their separate TAVR-AR device clinical trials, product improvements, and commercialization plans. The competition concerns caused by Edwards’ dual acquisition strategy are predicated on Edwards owning both JenaValve and JC Medical simultaneously, but Edwards has elected to attempt to buy JenaValve while retaining its ownership of JC Medical. Edwards has not been willing to engage on divesting JC Medical to resolve the competition concerns with the proposed JenaValve acquisition, according to the complaint. The Commission vote to issue an administrative complaint and authorize staff to seek a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction was 3-0. The federal court complaint and request for preliminary relief was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to halt the transaction pending an administrative proceeding. NOTE : The Commission issues an administrative complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The issuance of the administrative complaint marks the beginning of a proceeding in which the allegations will be tried in a formal","source":"Federal Trade Commission Concurrence communiqués","pubDate":"Thu, 07 Aug 2025 09:48:21 +0200","url":"https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/08/ftc-challenges-anticompetitive-medical-device-deal","titre":"FTC Challenges Anticompetitive Medical Device Deal"},{"titre":"Panorama du parcours doctoral en droit","url":"https://sorbonnestudentlawreview.org/journal/article/view/241","pubDate":"Wed, 04 Jun 2025 15:59:47 +0200","description":"At first glance, the conditions under which a doctoral thesis is written may appear to be secondary to its completion, but the question of the doctoral process is in fact of crucial importance. There are a number of obstacles to overcome: a limited number of thesis supervisors, an uncertain career plan, inherent pitfalls and uncertainty as to whether or not the thesis will be defended. In addition to the difficulty of securing tenure at a later date, these legal and factual factors must be taken into consideration before and during their thesis for all doctoral students in","id":2161299,"source":"Sorbonne Student Law Review - Revue juridique des étudiants de la Sorbonne"},{"titre":"European Patent Organisation and extension of adequacy decisions for the UK: EDPB adopts opinions","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2025/european-patent-organisation-and-extension-adequacy-decisions-uk-edpb-adopts_en","pubDate":"Tue, 06 May 2025 15:51:59 +0200","source":"EDPB News","description":"Brussels, 06 May - During its latest plenary, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted an opinion on the European Commission’s draft adequacy decision under the GDPR concerning the European Patent Organisation (EPO) . In addition, the Board adopted an opinion on the European Commission’s proposal to extend the validity of the UK adequacy decisions under the GDPR and the Law Enforcement Directive (LED) . Finally, the EDPB agreed to grant the status of observer to the Personal Data Protection Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.   Adequate protection of personal data by the EPO At the European Commission’s request, the Board adopted an opinion on the Commission’s draft adequacy decision regarding the European Patent Organisation (EPO). Once formally adopted by the Commission, this will be the first adequacy decision concerning an international organisation and not a country or a region. An adequacy decision is a key-mechanism in EU data protection legislation which allows the European Commission to determine whether a third country or an international organisation offers an adequate level of data protection. The effect of such a decision is that personal data can flow freely from Europe to that third country or international organisation. EDPB Chair, Anu Talus, said: “The EDPB welcomes the Commission’s initiative to work on the first adequacy decision concerning an international organisation. This decision shows how the legal framework of such organisations can be recognised as ensuring an adequate level of protection on the basis of Art.45 GDPR. The EDPB underlines the importance of ongoing dialogue between the Commission and international organisations, with a view to developing this category of adequacy decisions in addition to those relating to third countries.” In its opinion, the Board positively notes that the EPO data protection framework is largely aligned with the European Union data protection framework, including on data protection rights and principles. This shows that the GDPR and, in particular, its transfer provisions, can facilitate safe data flows from Europe to international organisations, while taking into account their status.   Six-month extension of the UK adequacy decisions The EDPB opinion, requested by the European Commission, addresses the proposed extension of the two UK adequacy decisions under the GDPR and the LED, which are set to expire on 27 June 2025. The opinion only concerns the proposed 6-month extension of these adequacy decisions and does not address the level of protection for personal data afforded in the UK, which will be examined by the EDPB following the Commission’s assessment, and if the renewal of the UK adequacy decisions is proposed. Since the UK‘s data protection reform is still pending in the UK parliament, the EDPB recognises the need for a technical and time-limited extension of the adequacy decisions until 27 December 2025.This will give the European Commission sufficient time to evaluate the updated UK legal framework once it has been adopted.   The EDPB stresses that this extension is exceptional and is due to the ongoing legislative developments in the UK. It should not, in principle, be further prolonged. The Board recalls the validity of its opinions 14/2021 and 15/2021 on the two UK adequacy decisions, adopted in April 2021, and invites the European Commission to take them into account in its future assessments.  The Board also recalls the Commission’s obligation to monitor all relevant developments in the UK during the extension period.   New observer to the EDPB’s activities Finally, EDPB members agreed to grant observer status to the EDPB’s activities to the Bosnia and Herzegovina Data Protection Authority, in line with Art. 8 EDPB Rules of Procedure .","id":2099053},{"pubDate":"Wed, 18 Dec 2024 15:47:16 +0100","titre":"EDPB opinion on AI models: GDPR principles support responsible AI","url":"https://www.edpb.europa.eu/news/news/2024/edpb-opinion-ai-models-gdpr-principles-support-responsible-ai_en","id":1792119,"description":"Brussels, 18 December - The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has adopted an opinion* on the use of personal data for the development and deployment of AI models . This opinion looks at 1) when and how AI models can be considered anonymous, 2) whether and how legitimate interest can be used as a legal basis for developing or using AI models, and 3) what happens if an AI model is developed using personal data that was processed unlawfully. It also considers the use of first and third party data. The opinion was requested by the Irish Data Protection Authority (DPA) with a view to seeking Europe-wide regulatory harmonisation. To gather input for this opinion, which deals with fast-moving technologies that have an important impact on society, the EDPB organised a stakeholders’ event and had an exchange with the EU AI Office. EDPB Chair Talus said: “AI technologies may bring many opportunities and benefits to different industries and areas of life. We need to ensure these innovations are done ethically, safely, and in a way that benefits everyone. The EDPB wants to support responsible AI innovation by ensuring personal data are protected and in full respect of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).” Regarding anonymity , the opinion says that whether an AI model is anonymous should be assessed  on a case by case basis by the DPAs. For a model to be anonymous, it should be very unlikely (1) to directly or indirectly identify individuals whose data was used to create the model, and (2) to extract such personal data from the model through queries. The opinion provides a non-prescriptive and non-exhaustive list of methods to demonstrate anonymity. With respect to legitimate interest , the opinion provides general considerations that DPAs should take into account when they assess if legitimate interest is an appropriate legal basis for processing personal data for the development and the deployment of AI models. A three-step test helps assess the use of legitimate interest as a legal basis. The EDPB gives the examples of a conversational agent to assist users, and the use of AI to improve cybersecurity. These services can be beneficial for individuals and can rely on legitimate interest as a legal basis, but only if the processing is shown to be strictly necessary and the balancing of rights is respected. The opinion also includes a number of criteria to help DPAs assess if individuals may reasonably expect certain uses of their personal data. These criteria include: whether or not the personal data was publicly available, the nature of the relationship between the individual and the controller, the nature of the service, the context in which the personal data was collected, the source from which the data was collected, the potential further uses of the model, and whether individuals are actually aware that their personal data is online. If the balancing test shows that the processing should not take place because of the negative impact on individuals, mitigating measures may limit this negative impact. The opinion includes a non-exhaustive list of examples of such mitigating measures, which can be technical in nature, or make it easier for individuals to exercise their rights or increase transparency. Finally, when an AI model was developed with unlawfully processed personal data, this could have an impact on the lawfulness of its deployment, unless the model has been duly anonymised. Considering the scope of the request from the Irish DPA, the vast diversity of AI models and their rapid evolution, the opinion aims to give guidance on various elements that can be used for conducting a case by case analysis. In addition, the EDPB is currently developing guidelines covering more specific questions, such as web scraping. Note to editors: *An Article 64(2) opinion addresses a matter of general application or produces effects in more than one Member","source":"EDPB News"},{"source":"Sorbonne Student Law Review - Revue juridique des étudiants de la Sorbonne","description":"An armed aggression provoked by one of the permanent members of the Security Council, coupled with the subsequent arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against his representative testify to a breakdown in the system of peacekeeping and collective security put in place in the UN Charter. Yet, this is not the first crisis in this system. Against threats to international peace and security, strategies for empowering, delegating and adapting powers have been developed. The notion of the “emergency” of the reaction acts as a driving force for the empowerment and the gradation of institutional powers, but also for their delegation to other bodies or subjects of international law. These systemic adaptations of the structure of the maintenance of international peace and security through the notion of emergency reveal its finalistic nature: emergency makes it possible to achieve the goal of maintaining peace and security by influencing the assessment of an act’s conformity with international","id":1252352,"url":"https://sorbonnestudentlawreview.org/journal/article/view/190","titre":"L’urgence dans les rouages du système de maintien de la paix et de la sécurité internationale","pubDate":"Tue, 16 Apr 2024 00:35:08 +0200"},{"titre":"Banking on Satisfaction: The Paradox of High Pay and Low Happiness in Finance","url":"https://businesstoday.news/banking-on-satisfaction-the-paradox-of-high-pay-and-low-happiness-in-finance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=banking-on-satisfaction-the-paradox-of-high-pay-and-low-happiness-in-finance","pubDate":"Tue, 09 Apr 2024 10:37:20 +0200","description":"Key Takeaways: Unveiling Compensation Dynamics Dissecting the Pay Satisfaction Paradox The latest findings from eFinancialCareers spotlight a complex narrative where hefty paychecks do not always equate to higher employee contentment in the finance industry. With an extensive global survey underpinning the report, the data paints a detailed picture of the compensation landscape across various banking activities. A Closer Look at Investment Banking Investment banking, notorious for its high-stress environment and competitive salaries, shows a mere fraction of employees are genuinely content with their pay, despite the sector experiencing a general uptick in bonuses. The Global Finance Salary Spectrum Banking on The post Banking on Satisfaction: The Paradox of High Pay and Low Happiness in Finance appeared first on Business Today","id":1237683,"source":"Business Today"}]