Thread: Government Extortion from your friends at the FTC

Government power running wild. Funny, the FDA didn't get the chance to regulate supplements, so instead the government goes about it this way. This country is going to shit so fast right now my head is spinning:

Consumer Protection or Legal Extortion?

Daily Article by S.M. Oliva | Posted on 7/10/2008


On April Fool's Day of this year, New Mexico resident Mark Hershiser received a letter from Erika Wodinsky, a San Francisco attorney, demanding Hershiser turn over all revenue from Native Essence Herb Company, a small business co-owned by Hershiser and his wife Marianne. The letter was not a joke or a mistake. It was a premeditated act of extortion by Ms. Wodinsky. She had never met or spoken with Hershiser; her staff discovered Native Essence through its modest website.


Internet scams and predators are commonplace. What distinguishes Erika Wodinsky from a Nigerian banker or a pedophile is that she's the assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission's San Francisco office. Her staff spends their days trolling the Internet for small business owners, like the Hershisers, who sell herbs and herbal remedies to willing customers. The FTC routinely targets such businesses as part of its "consumer protection" mission — which in practice has nothing to do with actual consumers.


Ms. Wodinsky's demand letter said that her office had conducted a "non-public investigation" of Native Essence and determined that the company's website contained "false and/or unsubstantiated claims" that "induced" customers to buy certain herbal products. This itself was a false statement. Ms. Wodinsky and her staff never interviewed any of Native Essence's customers. Indeed, many of the website statements deemed illegal by Ms. Wodinsky offered firsthand customer testimony praising Native Essence's products and customer service.


But in "consumer protection" cases, the FTC does not have to allege or prove any actual consumer injury. Instead, midlevel bureaucrats like Ms. Wodinsky merely substitute their own judgment for that of a business's customers. Since she wouldn't buy Native Essence's products based on the company's website, neither should anyone else. Anytime an FTC official disagrees with the content of a commercial website, it logically follows that the website operator is making "false and/or unsubstantiated claims" in violation of the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1917.

Story Continued in link below.......

Consumer Protection or Legal Extortion? - S.M. Oliva - Mises Institute

Originally Posted by Libre

Government power running wild. Funny, the FDA didn't get the chance to regulate supplements, so instead the government goes about it this way. This country is going to shit so fast right now my head is spinning:


Consumer Protection or Legal Extortion? - S.M. Oliva - Mises Institute

Without going to the OP, you can kick my ass later, this is why at times I toss a rant thread in the mix. I am getting so pissed that the hatred is running my life. Well that did it, need a bowl, see ya in a moment!

So the problem is that the FRC didn't intervue any of the constumers to see if false advertising was being done. Someone is just doing their job wrong, and they should be fired.

Originally Posted by Nerv14

So the problem is that the FRC didn't intervue any of the constumers to see if false advertising was being done. Someone is just doing their job wrong, and they should be fired.

Interviewing customers is not always necessary. They're selling herbs, which are common between vendors. If you buy a particular type of sage from two different vendors, there should be virtually no difference in product.

Therefore, if one vendor claims that his particular brand of sage, which is the same species as everyone else's, can bestow x-ray vision, it's false advertising. Either they're selling something that isn't common sage (which is false advertising), or they're making up the x-ray vision nonsense (which is also false advertising).

I have a friend in Georgia who runs an herbal shop. She once sent me her catalog. I was a little surprised to see that underneath each herb was a list of ailments, presumably for which the herb was a treatment or cure. Something like this:

Basil: Insomnia, headaches, gout, joint pain

I asked her how she got away with that, and her answer surprised me. No verbs. It was the name of the herb, and a list of symptoms. Nowhere did I see the word "treat" or "cure" or "help" connecting them. Clever.

I love how the apologists completely ignore the point that the government is simply stepping in, in violation of the 5th amendment, and demanding property with no due process. This is extortion by definition.

When will you people realize that one day they will come for you and your property? Think a little bit people, for all of our sakes THINK!!

Originally Posted by Libre

I love how the apologists completely ignore the point that the government is simply stepping in, in violation of the 5th amendment, and demanding property with no due process. This is extortion by definition.

When will you people realize that one day they will come for you and your property? Think a little bit people, for all of our sakes THINK!!

you are right, that is the problem. There was no process of law when the FTC was required to check to make sure that there was no false advertising.

Originally Posted by Libre

I love how the apologists completely ignore the point that the government is simply stepping in, in violation of the 5th amendment, and demanding property with no due process. This is extortion by definition.

When will you people realize that one day they will come for you and your property? Think a little bit people, for all of our sakes THINK!!

They're not demanding property.

They're demanding money. Since all money belongs to the government, ask any socialist, they're merely repossessing what's already theirs.

Ok, I went to their site, Native Essence Herb Company - and found nothing amiss.

So, I used the wonderful, magical Wayback Machine to see what the site looked like before the FTC contacted the owner.

Well, well, well... It would seem that poor Mark Hershiser was using his site to sell tea leaves capable of curing cancer! Wow! I wonder if the folks at Slone-Kettering knew it was so easy?

Ooh, here's another one! Venus Flytrap extract! Not only is it useful for treating cancer, but as an added plus, it can be used to treat chronic arthritis, herpes, and even AIDS!

Common Use: In Germany, a standardized solution of this plant is used in the treatment of chronic diseases, including most forms of cancer, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, all types of herpes infections, chronic arthritis and almost any immune deficiency state, including AIDS.

Here's another... Milk Thistle - capable of repairing damaged livers, and protecting you from toxins and pollutants. So if you work with chemical toxins for a living, I'm sure that milk thistle extract will offer all manner of protection.

Fuck this shit... The guy was selling snake oil, and he was legitimately busted. You can't legally sell any old shit and tell people it's medicine.

Originally Posted by Djinn

Fuck this shit... The guy was selling snake oil, and he was legitimately busted. You can't legally sell any old shit and tell people it's medicine.

I mean if people want to buy shit, then they should be able to. However, if the seller claims that the crap can cure cancer, then they need to be shut down.