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<title>ICPEN.org</title>
<link>http://icpen.org/</link>
<description>Latest news from ICPEN.org</description>
<dc:language xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">en</dc:language>
<dc:rights xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"><![CDATA[Copyright (c) 2009 ICPEN]]></dc:rights>
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<title>ICPEN.org</title>
<url>http://icpen.org/gfx/globe.png</url>
<link>http://icpen.org/</link>
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<title><![CDATA[United Kingdom - OFT publishes Annual Report 2009-10]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-kingdom-oft-publishes-annual-report-200910.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published its Annual Report for the last financial year and an estimate of its financial benefits to consumers. The report shows that the OFT has saved consumers at least £359m per year on average over the period 2007 to 2010 in competition enforcement, consumer protection, merger and markets work across the economy. ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-kingdom-oft-publishes-annual-report-200910.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-07-27T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[The Netherlands - Consumer Authority fines provider of SMS services]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/the-netherlands-consumer-authority-fines-provider-of-sms-services.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Netherlands Consumer Authority is imposing fines amounting to a total of EUR 1,190,000 (one-million-one-hundred-and-ninety-thousand euro) on Artiq Mobile B.V. and Blinck International B.V. - trading under the name of Celldorado - for the large-scale provision of misleading SMS services to consumers. The Consumer Authority is also imposing various orders for incremental penalty payments on the company, in order to ensure that it does stop the misleading practices in question. ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/the-netherlands-consumer-authority-fines-provider-of-sms-services.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-07-19T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Canada - Zellers Agrees to Take Action to Correct Misleading Promotion]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/canada-zellers-agrees-to-take-action-to-correct-misleading-promotion.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Competition Bureau announced today that Zellers Inc., owned by the Hudson's Bay Company, has agreed to take steps to address Bureau's  conclusion that a Zellers' misleading savings card promotion violated the Competition Act.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/canada-zellers-agrees-to-take-action-to-correct-misleading-promotion.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-07-06T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[The Netherlands - Consumer Authority to take action against websites that resell admission tickets]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/the-netherlands-consumer-authority-to-take-action-against-websites-that-resell-admission-tickets.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[Following an investigation, the Consumer Authority has ascertained that many of the websites of companies that resell admission tickets for concerts and (sports) events are still failing to adhere satisfactorily to the regulations relating to the provision of information to consumers. The Consumer Authority is therefore going to take enforcement action where necessary, in order to ensure that providers who resell admission tickets state clearly that they are reselling tickets and what impact that may have upon the consumer.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/the-netherlands-consumer-authority-to-take-action-against-websites-that-resell-admission-tickets.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-17T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United States - Teaser Site]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-teaser-site.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Federal Trade Commission has created a "teaser" website to warn people searching for loan services about how easy it is to be fooled by scammers charging up-front fees for bogus loans.The site for Esteemed Lending Services, a fictitious lending company, also explains how to spot and avoid loan scams.
]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-teaser-site.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-16T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Netherlands Consumer Authority: Annual review 2009 shows that supervision and assertive consumers form a powerful combination]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/netherlands-consumer-authority-annual-review-2009-shows-that-supervision-and-assertive-consumers-form-a-powerful-combination.html</link>
<description><![CDATA["In order to bring about a change of behaviour in a market, the enforcement authority requires assertive consumers, effective tools and a long-term approach", explained Bernadette van Buchem, Director of the Consumer Authority, following the publication of the organisation's Annual Report for 2009. ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/netherlands-consumer-authority-annual-review-2009-shows-that-supervision-and-assertive-consumers-form-a-powerful-combination.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-16T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Poland - 20 years of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection ]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/poland-20-years-of-the-office-of-competition-and-consumer-protection.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[Whom to protect – competition or competitors? How to support competition law? How to increase the effectiveness of antitrust policy instruments? - these were the questions that competition experts from all over the world tried to answer on the occasion of the OCCP’s anniversary celebrations. Discussion concerned current problems, experiences and possible solutions. Is Polish Office ready for the challenges standing before it?]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/poland-20-years-of-the-office-of-competition-and-consumer-protection.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-15T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Unites States - FTC Permanently Shuts Down Notorious Rogue Internet Service Provider]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/unites-states-ftc-permanently-shuts-down-notorious-rogue-internet-service-provider.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[At the Federal Trade Commission's request, a district court judge has shuttered 3FN, a rogue internet service provider that distributed spam, spyware, child pornography and other malicious content. A court-appointed receiver will sell the ISP's seized computer servers and other assets and the operation has been ordered to turn over $1.08 million in ill-gotten gains.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/unites-states-ftc-permanently-shuts-down-notorious-rogue-internet-service-provider.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-14T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United States - At FTC’s Request, Court Stops Deceptive Telemarketing Calls Pitching Credit Card Interest Rate Reduction ]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-at-ftcs-request-court-stops-deceptive-telemarketing-calls-pitching-credit-card-interest-rate-reduction.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge has stopped three companies' allegedly deceptive robocalls, frozen their assets and appointed a receiver to take control of the businesses. AMS, Rapid Reduction, PDMI and their owners allegedly delivered the prerecorded, urgent-sounding messages that claimed the callers were able to negotiate a substantially lower interest rate for credit card holders. People paid up to $1,590 up-front for the promised services but all they got were instructions to pay down their credit card debts early to save money on interest.
  ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-at-ftcs-request-court-stops-deceptive-telemarketing-calls-pitching-credit-card-interest-rate-reduction.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-12T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Canada - International Day of Action Against Mass Marketing Fraud]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/canada-international-day-of-action-against-mass-marketing-fraud.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[June 1, 2010 - Melanie Aitken, Commissioner of Canada's Competition Bureau, warned today that Canadian authorities and consumers must do whatever is possible to better protect themselves against the growing threat of mass marketing fraud. Speaking on the designated International Day of Action Against Mass Marketing Fraud, Ms. Aitken said: 'The Competition Bureau works closely with police and other law enforcement agencies to combat mass marketing fraud and bring to justice those who unscrupulously defraud consumers. Collaboration with our local, national and international partners is key to effectively fighting this type of activity and educating the public.'

 ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/canada-international-day-of-action-against-mass-marketing-fraud.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-08T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United Kingdom - OFT publishes views on online targeted advertising and pricing]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-kingdom-oft-publishes-views-on-online-targeted-advertising-and-pricing.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Office of Fair Trading published a market study setting out its current views on behavioural advertising and targeted pricing practices.
The report finds that, although industry self-regulation addresses some concerns about behavioural advertising, more could be done to provide consumers with better information about how personal information is collected and used. It also sets out how regulation might apply to these new and emerging practices. ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-kingdom-oft-publishes-views-on-online-targeted-advertising-and-pricing.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-08T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United Kingdom - OFT joins campaign to stop loan sharks]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-kingdom-oft-joins-campaign-to-stop-loan-sharks.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Office of Fair Trading is taking part in a campaign to warn people of the dangers of loan sharks that charge exorbitant interest and use violence and threats to enforce debts.
As part of the 'Stop Loan Sharks' campaign, the OFT and the Trading Standards Illegal Money Lending Teams have released a new video urging people to report loan sharks, and will be distributing around 200,000 leaflets and posters throughout England, Scotland and Wales.
There are an estimated 165,000 households in the UK using illegal money lenders, with half of these in the most deprived areas of the country . Particular loan shark hotspots include Scotland, the North of England and the West Midlands.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-kingdom-oft-joins-campaign-to-stop-loan-sharks.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-07T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[New Zealand - Keeping up with ‘real time’ scam threats]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/new-zealand-keeping-up-with-real-time-scam-threats.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Department of Internal Affairs' Anti-Spam Compliance Unit has developed a Reported Scams web page to notify the public about 'real time' scam threaths.
Acting Manager of Anti-Spam, Steve O'Brien, says the new page allows people to keep up-to-date with the latest scams, and to identify the different kinds of scams that are out there. ]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/new-zealand-keeping-up-with-real-time-scam-threats.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-04T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Canada - Reitmans Agrees to Correct Misleading Smart Set Promotion]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/canada-reitmans-agrees-to-correct-misleading-smart-set-promotion.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Competition Bureau announced today that a major Canadian clothing retailer, Reitmans (Canada) Limited, will correct a misleading promotion offered by Smart Set, a division of Reitmans.
Smart Set had offered customers a $25 “Savings Pass” for every $50 spent. The conditions associated with redemption of the “Savings Pass” included an additional minimum purchase requirement of $50  and a limited redemption period between May 2  and May 19, 2010. The Bureau’s review revealed that neither of these conditions were disclosed in any of Smart Set’s in-store signage or on Smart Set’s Web site, contrary to the false or misleading representations provisions of the Competition Act. Further, as the conditions were included only on the “Savings Passes” themselves, they may not have been brought to the attention of consumers before their purchasing decisions were made.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/canada-reitmans-agrees-to-correct-misleading-smart-set-promotion.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-06-01T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Poland - Interchange fee - UOKiK wins]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/poland-interchange-fee-uokik-wins.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Banks may have acted illegally when they jointly set the fees for transactions made with Visa and MasterCard payment cards. The Court of Appeal took the stance of UOKiK and the case will be reviewed.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/poland-interchange-fee-uokik-wins.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-05-28T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[ICPEN in Washington]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/icpen-in-washington.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[More than 130 participants from nearly 50 countries attended the spring meeting of ICPEN, the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network, at the FTC conference center from May 4 – 7. The Washington meeting included two days of  “best practices” training on cross-border investigations and a launch, by 25 ICPEN member agencies, of an updated version of the econsumer.gov website, a portal for consumers to file cross-border complaints and find information about possible ways to resolve their complaints. Econsumer.gov now operates in English, French, German, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and Polish. ICPEN is currently chaired by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which hosted the Network’s fall meeting in Sydney. Read the press release.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/icpen-in-washington.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-05-27T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[Japan - May - the Consumer Month]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/japan-may-the-consumer-month.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The government facilitates consumer protection setting every May as Consumer Month. During this May, educational seminars on recent consumer issues will be intensively held, collaborating with consumer organizations, business and the local government.  The campaign this year will focus on the reduction of troubles among the elderly.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/japan-may-the-consumer-month.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-05-13T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United States - Cross-Border Fraud Trends]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-crossborder-fraud-trends.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[To coincide with the ICPEN conference, the FTC released its annual report on cross–border fraud complaints, which found that the 92,000 cross-border fraud complaints in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel Network database comprised 13% of all fraud complaints during calendar year 2009.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-crossborder-fraud-trends.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-05-11T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United States - Customized Privacy Notice Available]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-customized-privacy-notice-available.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The Federal Trade Commission and seven federal regulators have released an Online Form Builder that financial institutions can use to develop and print customized versions of a model consumer privacy notice. The Online Form Builder, based on the model form regulation published in the Federal Register on December 1, 2009, under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, is available with several options.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-customized-privacy-notice-available.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-05-10T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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<title><![CDATA[United States - Record Penalty in an FTC Consumer Protection Case]]></title>
<link>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-record-penalty-in-an-ftc-consumer-protection-case.html</link>
<description><![CDATA[The operators of a telemarketing scheme will pay a record $18.8 million and leave the charitable donation business to settle charges that they violated an FTC order. According to the FTC, Civic Development Group, LLC, CDG Management, LLC, and owners Scott Pasch and David Keezer tricked people into thinking that they were donating directly to legitimate charities serving police, firefighters and veterans, when only a small percentage of the donations actually went to the charities. The civil penalty is the largest ever in an FTC consumer protection case.]]></description>
<guid>http://icpen.org/news/united-states-record-penalty-in-an-ftc-consumer-protection-case.html</guid>
<dc:date xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/">2010-05-10T00:00:00+01:00</dc:date>
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