Victims of Unfair Business Practices Get Limited Help from the Federal Trade Commission

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was organized in 1915 as an independent administrative agency whose objective was to maintain strongly competitive enterprises as the keystone of our economic system. Legislative authority provides for identification of unfair or deceptive acts or practices in commerce and for enforcement activities. FTC uses a public interest standard to determine which marketplace activities it will pursue; it does not settle individual cases, but it pursues programs and cases with larger economic impact.