The FTC urged a federal judge to dismiss a complaint from a...
The FTC urged a federal judge to dismiss a complaint from a public interest group that aims to force the commission to take action concerning Google’s plans to alter its privacy policy. The complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center,…
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“which seeks to deprive the commission of the discretion to exercise its enforcement authority, flouts controlling precedent that universally rejects such efforts,” the FTC said in a motion to dismiss filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. EPIC filed a complaint this month and requested a preliminary injunction against Google, claiming that the change violates the settlement Google reached with the FTC about Google Buzz (WID Feb 9 p7). The commission called the lawsuit “baseless” and said EPIC’s emergency relief motion also should be denied: “Preliminary injunctive relief is an ‘extraordinary and drastic remedy’ that should be exercised sparingly.” FTC enforcement decisions aren’t subject to judicial review, the motion said. EPIC hasn’t made the kind of strong showing “that would justify the extraordinary remedy of a preliminary injunction, especially a mandatory injunction that would impose an unprecedented form of affirmative relief.” EPIC replied to the motion, claiming the commission’s “failure to enforce a final order under the FTC Act is subject to judicial review.” The statute’s enforcement provision “states unambiguously that a person ‘who violates an order of the commission after it has become final’ shall pay a civil penalty,” EPIC said.