[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 185 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57614-57616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24220]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 142 3132]


Carrot Neurotechnology, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order 
To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed Consent Agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached

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Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the 
draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the 
consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 19, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/carrotneurotechconsent online or on 
paper, by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of 
the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Carrot 
Neurotechnology, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1423132'' on your 
comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/carrotneurotechconsent by following the 
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment 
on paper, write ``Carrot Neurotechnology, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File 
No. 1423132'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail your 
comment to the following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of 
the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), 
Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: 
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 
400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 
20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Mandel, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, (202) 326-2491, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for September 17, 2015), on the World Wide Web 
at: http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before October 19, 
2015. Write ``Carrot Neurotechnology, Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 
1423132'' 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 does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like 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 does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed 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, do not 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).\1\ 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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    \1\ 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/carrotneurotechconsent by following the instructions 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 ``Carrot Neurotechnology, 
Inc.--Consent Agreement; File No. 1423132'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. 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 October 19, 2015. 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.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject 
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order as to Carrot 
Neurotechnology, Inc., Adam Goldberg, and Aaron Seitz (hereafter 
``respondents'').
    The proposed consent order (``order'') has been placed on the 
public record for 30 days for receipt of comments by interested 
persons. Comments received during this period will become part of the 
public record. After 30 days, the Commission will again review the 
order and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw the order or make it final.
    This matter involves the respondents' advertising for the Ultimeyes 
software application. The Commission's complaint alleges that the 
respondents violated Sections 5(a) and 12 of the Federal Trade 
Commission Act (``FTC Act''), 15 U.S.C. 45(a), 52, by representing, 
either falsely or without adequate substantiation, that Ultimeyes 
substantially improves users' vision, including that it: improves the 
vision of users, including people of all ages, genders, and visual 
abilities; improves vision with real world benefits,

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including benefits across a broad range of activities ranging from 
athletics to more routine lifestyle activities, such as reading, 
watching TV, and driving; improves vision on average by 31% and two 
lines on the Snellen eye chart, and improves contrast sensitivity by 
100%; and reverses, delays, or corrects aging eye or presbyopia, 
including, but not limited to, by improving night vision, improving 
users' ability to read in dim light, and diminishing the need for 
glasses or other visual aids. The complaint also alleges that the 
respondents violated Sections 5(a) and 12 by making the false or 
misleading representation that scientific testing proves that Ultimeyes 
improves vision in the above ways.
    The order includes injunctive relief that prohibits these alleged 
violations and fences in similar and related violations. The order 
applies to marketing claims for any Covered Product or Service, defined 
as any Device within the meaning of Sections 12 and 15 of the FTC Act, 
15 U.S.C. 52, 55, or any program or service that is: (1) Intended for 
use in the diagnosis of disease or other condition, or in the cure, 
mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, in man or other 
animals; or (2) intended to affect the structure or any function of the 
body of man or other animals; and which does not achieve any of its 
principal intended purposes through chemical action within or on the 
body of man or other animals and which is not dependent upon being 
metabolized for the achievement of any of its principal intended 
purposes. As additional fencing-in relief, the order requires the 
respondents to follow appropriate recordkeeping and compliance 
reporting requirements, as well as document preservation requirements 
for human clinical studies that it conducts or sponsors on any Covered 
Product or Service.
    Part I prohibits any representation that a Covered Product or 
Service improves users' vision, unless it is non-misleading and 
supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Such evidence 
must consist of human clinical testing of the Covered Product or 
Service that is sufficient in quality and quantity, based on standards 
generally accepted by experts in the relevant field, when considered in 
light of the entire body of relevant and reliable scientific evidence, 
to substantiate that the representation is true. Such testing shall (1) 
be randomized, double-blind, and adequately controlled; and (2) be 
conducted by researchers qualified by training and experience to 
conduct such testing. In addition, the respondents must maintain all 
underlying or supporting data that experts in the relevant field 
generally would accept as relevant to an assessment of such testing.
    Part II prohibits any representation about the health benefits, 
performance, efficacy, safety, or side effects of any Covered Product 
or Service, unless it is non-misleading and supported by competent and 
reliable scientific evidence that is sufficient in quality and quantity 
based on standards generally accepted in the relevant scientific 
fields, when considered in light of the entire body of relevant and 
reliable scientific evidence, to substantiate that the representation 
is true. For purposes of this Part, competent and reliable scientific 
evidence means tests, analyses, research, or studies that have been 
conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by qualified persons; 
and that are generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and 
reliable results. When that evidence consists of human clinical tests 
or studies, the respondents must maintain all underlying or supporting 
data and documents that experts in the relevant field generally would 
accept as relevant to an assessment of such testing.
    Part III, triggered when the human clinical testing requirement in 
Parts I or II applies, requires the respondents to secure and preserve 
all underlying or supporting data and documents generally accepted by 
experts in the relevant field as relevant to an assessment of the test, 
such as protocols, instructions, participant-specific data, statistical 
analyses, and contracts with the test's researchers. There is an 
exception for a ``Reliably Reported'' test, defined as a test that is 
published in a peer-reviewed journal and that was not conducted, 
controlled, or sponsored by any respondent or by any supplier of the 
respondents. Also, the published report must provide sufficient 
information about the test for experts in the relevant field to assess 
the reliability of the results.
    Part IV prohibits the respondents from misrepresenting, including 
through the use of a name, endorsement, depiction, or illustration, the 
existence, contents, validity, results, conclusions, or interpretations 
of any test, study, or research, or that any benefits of a product, 
program, or service are scientifically proven.
    Part V requires the respondents to disclose, when triggered by 
certain representations as to scientific support or endorsements in 
connection with the advertisement or sale of any product, program, or 
service, any material connections to any person that has conducted, 
authored, or participated in any test, study, or research of the 
product, program, or service; and all material connections between a 
person providing an endorsement and respondents or any other person 
manufacturing, labeling, advertising, promoting, offering for sale, 
selling, or distributing such product, program, or service.
    Part VI provides the respondents will pay an equitable monetary 
payment of $150,000 and contains other provisions related to the 
payment.
    Part VII requires the respondents to provide sufficient customer 
information to administer redress.
    Part VIII contains recordkeeping requirements for advertisements 
and substantiation relevant to representations covered by Parts I 
through III, as well as order acknowledgments covered by Part IX.
    Parts IX through XI require the respondents to deliver a copy of 
the order to officers, employees, and representatives having managerial 
responsibilities with respect to the order's subject matter, notify the 
Commission of changes in corporate structure that might affect 
compliance obligations, and file compliance reports with the 
Commission.
    Part XII provides that, with exceptions, the order will terminate 
in twenty years.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
order, and it is not intended to constitute an official interpretation 
of the complaint or order, or to modify the order's terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-24220 Filed 9-23-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P