Federal Trade Commission
The building of the Federal Trade Commission in downtown Washington DC.

This week, the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection has been busy addressing the “Attention Economy,” false income claims, privacy and data security, and a student debt relief scam. On the competition side, the FTC enforced against raising prices for anesthesiology services. These stories, and more, after the jump.

May 19, 2025

Bureau of Consumer Protection: Entertainment; Technology; Children; Social Media; Gaming

  • The FTC released the tentative agenda for its June 4, 2025 workshop on “The Attention Economy: How Big Tech Firms Exploit Children and Hurt Families.” The workshop will take place in person and online at 9:00 am ET and will examine “how Big Tech companies impose addictive design features, erode parental authority, and fail to protect children from exposure to harmful content.” The event will include remarks from Sens. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Katie Britt, R-Ala., as well as FTC Chairman Andrew N. Ferguson and Commissioners Melissa Holyoak and Mark R. Meador. Registration is required for those wishing to attend in person. Additional information about the workshop can be found on the event page. The event will also feature panel discussions on: dangers facing children online, steps the FTC can take to protect children online, age verification requirements, and what local communities can do to protect children.

Bureau of Consumer Protection: Business Opportunities and Investments

  • The FTC filed an amended complaint in its case against the Growth Cave business opportunity and credit repair scam, adding two defendants based on information the FTC learned after the original filing: LLT Research and Friendly Solar, Inc. According to the complaint, Growth Cave operated numerous business opportunities, all of which have regularly failed to deliver on the income they promised consumers while costing those consumers thousands of dollars to purchase. The amended complaint alleges that LLT Research served as the corporate structure behind the operation’s PassiveApps product, which defendant Lucas Lee-Tyson started selling in 2024. The amended complaint also alleges that Friendly Solar, Inc. is a shell company for one of the individual defendant’s earnings that provided no services in exchange for the assets it received. The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the amended complaint was 3-0. For more information on the original complaint, see FTC Blog Updates March 3 – March 7.

May 20, 2025

Bureau of Competition: Health Care

  • The FTC finalized a consent order with Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe and its affiliates based on allegations in its complaint that Welsh Carson engaged in anticompetitive acquisitions to suppress competition and raise prices for anesthesiology services in Texas. The consent order requires Welsh Carson to limit its involvement with U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP) and to notify the FTC of specified future acquisitions and investments in anesthesia and other hospital-based physician practices. The Commission voted 3-0 to approve the final order. This follows a similar federal lawsuit filed by the FTC against USAP and Welsh Carson in September 2023; Welsh Carson was dismissed from that case in May 2024, but the FTC’s case against USAP continues to proceed in federal court.

May 21, 2025

Bureau of Consumer Protection: Consumer Privacy and Data Security

  • The FTC finalized an order against GoDaddy, a major web hosting and domain registration company, due to significant data security failures. This decision follows an investigation into GoDaddy’s practices that revealed vulnerabilities affecting customer data. The FTC alleged that GoDaddy failed to protect customer information adequately, leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data. The security lapses were attributed to insufficient security measures and protocols. The finalized order prohibits GoDaddy from making misrepresentations about its security, requires GoDaddy to establish and implement a comprehensive information-security program, and requires GoDaddy to hire an independent third-party assessor to conduct reviews of its information-security program.

May 22, 2025

Bureau of Consumer Protection: Debt Relief; Education; Credit and Finance

  • The FTC released a proposed order based on a settlement with operators of a student loan debt relief scam, resulting in their permanent ban from the debt relief industry and their surrendering of more than $1 million in assets, which will be used to issue refunds to consumers affected by the scam. In July 2024, the FTC alleged that two companies, Start Connecting LLC and Start Connecting SAS (doing business as USA Student Debt Relief (USASDR), and their owners and operators Douglas Goodman, Doris Gallon-Goodman, and Juan Rojas pretended to be affiliated with the Department of Education; made false promises of low, fixed monthly payments; called consumers on the Do Not Call Registry; extracted more than $7.3 million in illegal advance fees and payments for nonexistent debt relief services; and promoted fake consumer reviews and testimonials on social media and their website. The Commission vote approving the stipulated final order was 3-0.