The unfairness doctrine is a doctrine in United States trade regulation law under which the

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...

(FTC) can declare a business practice "unfair" because it is oppressive or harmful to consumers even though the practice is not an antitrust violation, an incipient

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

violation, a violation of the "spirit" of the antitrust laws, or a deceptive practice. The doctrine was first authoritatively recognized in '' FTC v. Sperry & Hutchinson Trading Stamp Co.'', although earlier Supreme Court decisions had suggested it in ''

obiter dicta ''Obiter dictum'' (usually used in the plural, ''obiter dicta'') is a Latin phrase meaning "other things said",''Black's Law Dictionary'', p. 967 (5th ed. 1979). that is, a remark in a legal opinion that is "said in passing" by any judge or arbitr ...

''. The FTC has, on occasion, invoked the doctrine against oppressive practices that were not antitrust violations and not recognizably deceptive practices, such as the use of the

holder in due course In commercial law, a holder in due course (HDC) is someone who takes a negotiable instrument in a value-for-value exchange without reason to doubt that the instrument will be paid. If the instrument is later found not to be payable as written, a h ...

rule by retailers catering to the very poor and the practice of mail-order sellers suing consumers in states remote from where they live. The FTC has recently invoked the doctrine against

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...

.Se
''FTC cracks down on spyware and PC hijacking, but not true lies''
''Micro Law'', IEEE (Jan.-Feb. 2005).

References

{{reflist United States trade law