[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 86 (Friday, May 3, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25908-25909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-10405]



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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 435

RIN 3084-AB07


Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule; Staff Report

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'' or ``FTC'').

ACTION: Staff report; notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The FTC announces the publication of the Staff Report on the 
Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule (``MTOR'' or ``Rule''). The 
Staff Report sets forth the staff's recommendations to the Commission 
on the various proposed amendments to the MTOR.

DATES: Comments on the Staff Report must be received on or before July 
15, 2013.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``16 CFR Part 435--Mail 
or Telephone Order Merchandise'' on your comment, and file your comment 
online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/mtorstaffreport by 
following the instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file 
your comment on paper, mail or deliver your comment to the following 
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 
(Annex N), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20580.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jock Chung, (202) 326-2984, Attorney, 
Division of Enforcement, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 
Commission, Room M-8102B, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The MTOR prohibits sellers from soliciting 
mail or telephone order sales unless sellers have a reasonable basis to 
expect that they will be able to ship, after receipt of a properly 
completed order, the ordered merchandise within the time stated on the 
solicitation or, if no time is stated, within 30 days. The MTOR further 
requires a seller to seek the buyer's consent to the delayed shipment 
when the seller learns that it cannot ship within the time stated or, 
if no time is stated, within 30 days. If the buyer does not consent, 
the seller must promptly refund all money paid for the unshipped 
merchandise.
    On September 11, 2007, as part of its rule review process,\1\ the 
Commission published a request for public comment,\2\ which also served 
as an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.\3\ It then published a 
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM'') in 2011.\4\
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    \1\ The Commission reviews all its rules and guides periodically 
to ensure that they remain relevant. These periodic reviews seek 
information about the costs and benefits of the Commission's rules 
and guides as well as their economic and regulatory impact. The 
information obtained assists the Commission in identifying rules and 
guides that warrant modification or rescission.
    \2\ 72 FR 51728 (Sept. 11, 2007).
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 57a(b)(2)(A).
    \4\ 76 FR 60765 (Sept. 30, 2011).
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    Pursuant to the Commission's Rules of Practice, and the rulemaking 
procedures specified earlier in the NPRM, the Commission now announces 
the availability of the Staff Report on the MTOR. The Staff Report 
summarizes the rulemaking record to date, and sets forth the staff's 
recommendation that the Commission revise the Rule to respond to new 
methods of accessing the Internet and making payments and refunds. The 
Staff Report has not been endorsed or adopted by the Commission.
    The Staff Report to the Federal Trade Commission and Proposed 
Revised Trade Regulation Rule for the Mail or Telephone Order 
Merchandise Rule is available at the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/regreview/index.shtml. A paper copy can be obtained 
from the FTC Public Reference Room, Room 130-H, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20580, either in person or by calling (202) 326-
2222.
    The Commission invites interested parties to submit written data, 
views, and arguments on the recommendations announced by the Staff 
Report by following the instructions in the ADDRESSES section of this 
notice. Comments previously submitted in the ongoing rulemaking 
procedures are already part of the rulemaking record and need not be 
repeated.

I. Request for Comment

    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before July 15, 2013. 
Write ``16 CFR Part 435--Mail or Telephone Order Merchandise'' on your 
comment. Your comment--including your name and your state--will be 
placed on the public record of this proceeding, including, to the 
extent practicable, on the public Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of discretion, the 
Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact information from 
comments before placing them on the Commission Web site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment doesn't include any 
sensitive personal information, such as anyone's Social Security 
number, date of birth, driver's license number or other state 
identification number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, 
financial account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also 
solely responsible for making sure that your comment doesn't include 
any sensitive health information, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, don't 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which is obtained from any person and which is privileged or 
confidential,'' as provided in Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 
46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2). In particular, don't 
include competitively sensitive information such as costs, sales 
statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing 
processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\5\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \5\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/mtorstaffreport by following the instruction on the web-based form. 
If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you also 
may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``16 CFR Part 435--Mail or 
Telephone Order Merchandise'' on your comment and on the envelope, and 
mail or deliver it to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, 
Office of the

[[Page 25909]]

Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex N), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before July 15, 2013. You can find more information, 
including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the 
Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.
    Upon completion of the comment period, the staff will make final 
recommendations to the Commission about the Rule. If the Commission 
adopts the proposed revised Rule as recommended by the staff, or 
alternatively determines to make changes to the proposed revised Rule, 
it will publish in a future Federal Register notice the final text of 
the Rule, statement of Basis and Purpose on the Rule, and an 
announcement of when the revised Rule will become effective.

II. Communications to Commissioners and Commissioner Advisors by 
Outside Parties

    Pursuant to Commission Rule 1.18(c)(1), the Commission has 
determined that communications with respect to the merits of this 
proceeding from any outside party to any Commissioner or Commissioner 
advisor shall be subject to the following treatment. Written 
communications and summaries or transcripts of oral communications 
shall be placed on the rulemaking record if the communication is 
received before the end of the comment period on the Staff Report. They 
shall be placed on the public record if the communication is received 
later. Unless the outside party making an oral communication is a 
member of Congress, such communications are permitted only if advance 
notice is published in the Weekly Calendar and Notice of ``Sunshine'' 
Meetings.\6\
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    \6\ See 15 U.S.C. 57a(i)(2)(A), 45 FR 50814 (1980), 45 FR 78626 
(1980).

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-10405 Filed 5-2-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P