Washington, DC - On the one-year anniversary of the effective date of the Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (the INFORM Act), the Buy Safe America Coalition (BSAC) today sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), urging the Commission to vigorously enforce the law to protect consumers from counterfeit and stolen goods that are sold through online marketplaces.

Under the INFORM Act, the FTC is granted the authority to treat violations as an unfair or deceptive business practice subject to significant civil penalties and undertake rulemaking if necessary. The BSAC encourages the Commission to, in addition to fully employing these tools, publicize INFORM violations and FTC enforcement activity to promote transparency and to raise consumer awareness of non-compliant online marketplaces.

According to the letter:


“Congress passed INFORM to give the FTC a stronger tool to protect American consumers and businesses from the volume of counterfeit and stolen goods that are sold through online marketplaces. The sale of these fraudulent, unsafe, and dangerous products harms consumers and legitimate businesses as well as the communities they serve. The FTC must fully enforce INFORM to protect American consumers and businesses from what continues to be a serious threat to a fair and healthy marketplace.

…


“We respectfully urge the FTC to use the full extent of its authorities to enforce the law and hold online marketplaces accountable for facilitating the sale of stolen or counterfeit goods, as well as to deter criminals from selling the illicit goods. To date it does not seem that the FTC has pursued enforcement action against online marketplaces since the law took effect.”



The full letter can be read here.
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