[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 208 (Monday, October 30, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50129-50131]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-23514]
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
[File No. 162 3210]
Victory Media, Inc.; Analysis 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 Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both
the allegations in the 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 November 20, 2017.
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: ``In the Matter of
Victory Media, Inc., File No. 1623210'' on your comment, and file your
comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/victorymediaconsent/ by following the instructions on the web-based
form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``In the
Matter of Victory Media, Inc., File No. 1623210'' on your comment and
on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address:
[[Page 50130]]
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: Nikhil Singhvi (202-326-3480) and
Stephanie Cox (202-326-2908), Bureau of Consumer Protection, 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 a 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 October 19, 2017), on the World Wide Web,
at https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before November 20,
2017. Write ``In the Matter of Victory Media, Inc., File No. 1623210''
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 https://www.ftc.gov/policy/public-comments.
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/victorymediaconsent/ 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 prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``In the Matter
of Victory Media, Inc., LLC, File No. 1623210'' 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.
Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible FTC
Web site at https://www.ftc.gov, you are solely responsible for making
sure that your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential
information. In particular, your comment should not include any
sensitive personal information, such as your or anyone else'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, such as medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by
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)--including in particular competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). 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). Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has
been posted on the public FTC Web site--as legally required by FTC Rule
4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment from the FTC Web site,
unless you submit a confidentiality request that meets the requirements
for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and the General Counsel
grants that request.
Visit the FTC 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 November 20, 2017. For information on the
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent
order from Victory Media, Inc. The proposed consent order has been
placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for receipt of
comments by interested persons. Comments received during this period
will become part of the public record. After thirty (30) days, the FTC
will again review the agreement and the comments received, and will
decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement and take
appropriate action or make final agreement's proposed order.
The respondent publishes print and online magazines and guides for
servicemembers transitioning from military service to the civilian
workforce. The respondent does business under the names G.I. Jobs and
Military Friendly. Its Web sites include gijobs.com,
militaryfriendly.com, and militaryspouse.com. Victory Media also
maintains active social media accounts, including on Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, and LinkedIn, under handles such as ``Military Friendly'' or
``G.I. Jobs'' that attract military consumers.
The respondent operates a search tool, School Matchmaker, at
gijobs.com to help servicemembers find educational institutions in
their fields of interest. The proposed complaint in this matter alleges
that the respondent made claims that its Matchmaker tool searched
schools that met respondent's ``military friendly'' criteria. In fact,
the tool searches only schools that pay to be included, whether
respondent has designated them as ``military friendly'' or not. Thus,
several schools not designated by the respondent as ``military
friendly'' are included in the Matchmaker search results. The proposed
complaint alleges that the respondent's misrepresentations regarding
the scope of the Matchmaker search tool constitute a deceptive act or
practice under Section 5 of the FTC Act.
[[Page 50131]]
Additionally, the FTC complaint alleges that the respondent, in
certain of its articles, emails, and social media posts, misrepresented
that its endorsements were independent and not paid advertising, and
failed to adequately disclose that the content recommended schools that
paid the respondent specifically to be promoted therein. The proposed
complaint alleges that those misrepresentations and undisclosed paid
recommendations constitute deceptive acts or practices under Section 5
of the FTC Act.
The proposed order is designed to prevent the respondent from
engaging in similar deceptive practices in the future.
Part I prohibits the respondent from making any misrepresentations
regarding the scope of any search tool, including whether the tool only
searches ``military friendly'' schools. Part I further prohibits the
respondent from making any misrepresentations about material
connections between it and any schools, and from making any
misrepresentations that paid commercial advertising is independent
content.
Part II requires the respondent, when endorsing schools (or
preparing third-party endorsements of schools), to clearly and
conspicuously disclose, in close proximity to the endorsement, any
payments or other material connections between the respondent or the
other endorser and the school. This disclosure requirement applies
where consumers are likely to believe that such endorsements reflect
the beliefs of the respondent or other endorser (and not the schools
themselves).
Parts III through VII of the proposed order are reporting and
compliance provisions.
Part III is an order distribution provision. Part IV requires the
respondent to submit a compliance report one year after the issuance of
the order, and to notify the Commission of corporate changes that may
affect compliance obligations. Part V requires the respondent to
create, for 10 years, accounting, personnel, complaint, and advertising
records, and to maintain each of those records for 5 years. Part VI
requires the respondent to submit additional compliance reports within
10 business days of a written request by the Commission, and to permit
voluntary interviews with persons affiliated with the respondent. Part
VII ``sunsets'' the order after twenty years, with certain exceptions.
The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the complaint or proposed order, or to modify in any
way the proposed order's terms.
By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-23514 Filed 10-27-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P