The Federal Trade Commission was founded on the basis of other acts known as the Sherman and Clayton Anti-Trust Acts. These acts were passed in the 1800's to do away with trusts, which were considered monopolies. They were enforced in order to preserve a competitive economy and protect consumers. Woodrow Wilson then passed the Federal Trade Commission Act in 1914 which gave birth to the Commission. The Commission was given power to investigate and stop companies which were becoming monopolies and practicing unfair methods of competition. The Federal Trade Commission is run by five executives known a Commissioners. In order to keep up with the multiple diverse companies in the market today, the Commission has nine offices and three bureaus which process complaints and undergo the investigation and court procedures. Since the Federal Trade Commission deals with many situations throughout media, we will also be looking into some current events. Issues such as the Watchdog and Harmful Product situation have caused the Commission to undergo intense investigation.
Hopefully my presentation of the Federal Trade Commission will help you to understand a piece of what the government is doing to enforce fair usage to consumers of the media markets today. Thanks and Gig 'em!
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So the question for this week’s case studies was “Who controls/monitors the media today?” From doing research and watching four presentations over the chapter of Law & Policy I think it is very clear that there is not just one controlling factor. Our media and technology today has grown so fast at an accelerating rate that it is becoming more difficult to monitor. However, the government seems to be taking a very big role in trying to enforce safe practices for consumers and producers alike.
In my presentation I discussed the Federal Trade Commission. This commission seeks to protect the everyday contact which consumers have in today’s media. To answer the question dealing with my topic, I believe that the FTC is only one piece of the puzzle which seeks to protect consumers. However, the FTC does play a very big role in consumer protection. Every day people like us come in contact with scams, frauds, and deception through the use of media. Therefore it would only be reasonable to have a protection agency to help people understand the dangers of today’s media and to crack down and investigate the problems. So, I feel that the FTC plays an important role in protecting us as everyday users.
Although the FTC is the leader in government for consumer protection, I feel as if there is more to be done. With the media at every corner of our lives, it is difficult to notice crimes and enforce the law. The FTC is doing everything they possibly can to crack down on crimes, but some still are able to get away. Since this is the case, I believe expanding the bureaus in the commission would help to have a broader overview of fraud in the media and help the FTC to investigate more corruptions.
However, the FTC is a great agency which seeks to protect us and is only a part of the monitoring and controlling of our media. With such a growing technology industry, I believe it only makes sense to have multiple people governing our media. Some of the main sources can be the FCC, FTC, NTIA, and the Justice Department which all seek to create policies and laws to help monitor our new technological world.
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