Advertising Law Blog

The Federal Trade Commission has announced that it will hold a day-long public workshop on June 1, 2009 in Washington, DC, to explore proposed changes to the FTC's Business Opportunity Rule.

The workshop will examine possible changes to the rule that were outlined in a Revised Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (RNPR) on March 26, 2008. The workshop will primarily explore issues relating to the effectiveness of a proposed one-page Business Opportunities Disclosure Form that sellers of business opportunities would be required to provide to prospective purchasers. The proposed Disclosure Form is intended to provide prospective purchasers with information they can use to make an informed decision about the potential business opportunity, including information about earnings claims, legal actions, existence of cancellation or refund policies, and references. The workshop also will address general issues raised in comments that have been submitted to the FTC in response to the proposed rulemaking.

The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the FTC's satellite building conference center, located at 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC. The Commission will be accepting comments on the topics to be covered at the workshop until June 15, 2009.

The proposed rulemaking is a continuation of a proceeding that began nearly a decade ago, in 1997. For prior articles on the rulemaking, click here and here.