Wednesday, May 13, 2009    Text size: 

The session, "Wake-up Call: How Consumer Fraud Hurts the Entire Industry," will be held on Wednesday, June 3, as part of the FSC XXX University — a program designed to bring educational opportunities to FSC members at low or no cost. The Coalition will also videotape the session and post it to its website, www.freespeechcoalition.com.

Stephen L. Cohen, a senior staff attorney with the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, will participate on the panel in which he will discuss consumer fraud. Cohen has been with the division for 25 years, primarily working on litigation involving telemarketing and Internet fraud and has been the lead attorney on scores of cases filed in federal courts throughout the U.S.

Noted adult industry attorney Greg Piccionelli and program manager for ATKCash.com, "Gunner," join Cohen on the panel, which will be moderated by the FSC's executive director, Diane Duke.

Among the topics to be explored is a discussion of online consumer fraud — is it on the rise and how prevalent is it in the adult entertainment industry? Also on the agenda is an examination of the legalities surrounding various billing practices as well as the things that operators need to know in order to protect themselves and their companies from government action and/or lawsuits and an unfair competition claims.

"Under previous democratic administrations, the adult entertainment industry faced federal action from the FTC for false and deceptive practices," Duke said. "We must be proactive as we consider best practices for online billing that will benefit consumers, individual businesses and the industry as a whole."

"Who better to help us define that line-in-the-sand for billing practices than the FTC itself?" Duke added.

Established in 1991, the Free Speech Coalition's mission is to lead, protect and support the growth and well-being of the adult entertainment community.