[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 213 (Tuesday, November 3, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69626-69627]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24325]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The FTC requests that the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) extend for three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 
clearance for information collection requirements contained in the Use 
of Prenotification Negative Option Plans (Negative Option Rule or 
Rule). That clearance expires on December 31, 2020.

DATES: Comments must be received by December 3, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. The 
reginfo.gov web link is a United States Government website produced by 
OMB and the General Services Administration (GSA). Under PRA 
requirements, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) 
reviews Federal information collections.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Hampton Newsome, Attorney, Division of 
Enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, Room CC-9528, 600 Pennsylvania 
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580, (202) 326-2889.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title: Use of Prenotification Negative Option Plans (Negative 
Option Rule or Rule), 16 CFR 425.\1\
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    \1\ The Commission recently published an Advance Notice of 
Proposed Rulemaking seeking comments on the need for amendments to 
the current Rule. 84 FR 52393 (Oct. 2, 2019). The present PRA Notice 
is not part of that proceeding and merely seeks comment on the 
existing burden estimates for the current Rule, which applies only 
to ``prenotification'' negative option plans.
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    OMB Control Number: 3084-0104.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Likely Respondents: Sellers of prenotification subscription plans.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 9,750 hours.
    Estimated Annual Cost Burden: $572,300 (solely related to labor 
costs).
    Estimated Capital or Other Non-Labor Cost: $0 or de minimis.
    Abstract: The Negative Option Rule governs the operation of 
prenotification subscription plans. Under these types of plans--which 
can include things such as a book of the month club, food of the month 
club, or clothing items of the month club--a seller provides a consumer 
with automatic shipments of merchandise unless the consumer 
affirmatively notifies the seller they do not want the shipment. The 
Rule requires that a seller notify a member that they will 
automatically ship merchandise to the member and bill the member for 
the merchandise if the subscriber fails to expressly reject the 
merchandise beforehand within a prescribed time. The Rule protects 
consumers by: (a) Requiring that promotional materials disclose the 
terms of membership clearly and conspicuously; and (b) establishing 
procedures for the administration of such ``negative option'' plans.

Request for Comment

    On August 3, 2020, the FTC sought public comment on the information 
collection requirements associated with the Rule. 85 FR 46628. The 
Commission received one anonymous comment (#0049-0002), which generally 
supported the Rule's extension.\2\ Pursuant to the OMB regulations, 5 
CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq., the FTC 
is providing this second opportunity for public comment while seeking 
OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the Rule.
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    \2\ This comment was filed under the wrong public docket number 
and is available at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FTC-2020-0049-0002.
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    Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on 
the public record of this proceeding. Because your comment will be made

[[Page 69627]]

public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment 
does not 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 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 
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names.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2020-24325 Filed 11-2-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P