[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 19 (Friday, January 28, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4596-4597]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-01775]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 192 3138]


Fashion Nova, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid 
Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.

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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 of Proposed Consent Order 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 February 28, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Please write ``Fashion Nova, 
LLC; File No. 192 3138'' on your comment, and file your comment online 
at https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the 
web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, 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: Amber Lee (202-326-2764), Federal 
Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th 
Street SW, 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

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 
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 February 28, 
2022. Write ``Fashion Nova, LLC; File No. 192 3138'' 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 https://www.regulations.gov website.
    Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the agency's heightened security 
screening, postal mail addressed to the Commission will be subject to 
delay. We strongly encourage you to submit your comments online through 
the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Fashion Nova, 
LLC; File No. 192 3138'' on your comment and on the envelope, and mail 
your comment to the following address: Federal Trade

[[Page 4597]]

Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580. If possible, submit your paper 
comment to the Commission by overnight service.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible 
website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for 
making sure your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, your comment should not include 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 your comment does not include 
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 https://www.regulations.gov website--as legally 
required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment 
from that website, 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 website at http://www.ftc.gov to read this Notice and 
the news release describing the proposed settlement. 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 February 28, 2022. 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 (``Commission'') has accepted, subject 
to final approval, an agreement containing a consent order from Fashion 
Nova, LLC (``Fashion Nova''). The proposed consent order (``proposed 
order'') has been placed on the public record for thirty days for 
receipt of comments from interested persons. Comments received during 
this period will become part of the public record. After thirty days, 
the Commission 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 the agreement's proposed 
order.
    This matter involves Fashion Nova's marketing of its Fashion Nova 
brand apparel. Fashion Nova primarily sold its apparel through its 
www.fashionnova.com website. The company invited customers to leave 
product reviews on its website and sent its customers emails soliciting 
product reviews for recent purchases. Each product web page on the 
website with existing reviews displayed the product's average star 
rating and a summary graph showing the number of reviews with each star 
rating, followed by individual consumers' reviews and ratings. 
According to the Commission's proposed complaint, from late 2015 
through November 2019, Fashion Nova had four- and five-star reviews 
automatically posted to its website but did not approve for posting or 
publish lower-starred, more negative reviews.
    The proposed complaint alleges that Fashion Nova violated Section 
5(a) of the FTC Act by misrepresenting that the product reviews on 
www.fashionnova.com accurately reflected the views of all purchasers 
who submitted product reviews to the website. The proposed order 
contains provisions designed to prevent Fashion Nova from engaging in 
similar acts and practices in the future and to provide monetary 
relief.
    Provision I prohibits Fashion Nova from misrepresenting: (1) That 
product reviews on its website accurately reflect the views of all 
purchasers who submitted reviews of its products; (2) that product 
reviews are unedited; (3) that product reviews are displayed regardless 
of the reviewer's opinion or rating; or (4) how product reviews factor 
into any composite or overall rating of a product.
    Provision II requires Fashion Nova to display all product reviews 
for products currently offered for sale that are or were submitted to 
its website. The provision provides that Fashion Nova is not required 
to display reviews that are unrelated to its products and to its 
customer service, delivery, returns, or exchanges. The provision also 
provides that Fashion Nova is not required to display reviews that 
contain unlawful, profane, obscene, vulgar, or sexually explicit 
content, or content that is inappropriate with respect to race, gender, 
sexuality, or ethnicity, so long as the criteria for withholding 
reviews is applied uniformly to all reviews submitted. Finally, the 
company is not required to offer the opportunity to submit reviews for 
any or every product offered for sale on its website.
    Provision III requires Fashion Nova to pay the Commission 
$4,200,000 within eight days of the effective date of the order. 
Provision IV sets out additional requirements related to the monetary 
relief.
    Provisions V through VIII of the proposed order are reporting and 
compliance provisions. Provision V requires acknowledgement of the 
order and dissemination of the order now and in the future to persons 
with responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the order. 
Provision VI ensures notification to the FTC of changes in corporate 
status and mandates that the company submit an initial compliance 
report to the FTC. Provision VII requires the company to create and 
retain certain documents relating to its compliance with the order. 
Provision VIII mandates that the company make available to the FTC 
information or subsequent compliance reports, as requested.
    Provision IX states that the proposed order will remain in effect 
for 20 years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate 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.
April J. Tabor,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-01775 Filed 1-27-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P