FTC grounds man in online fraud case

The defendant in an alleged Internet fraud case has agreed to be grounded from Internet commerce for life as part of a settlement with the US Federal Trading Commission (FTC), according to a report in today's New York Times. The Florida man is claimed to have collected thousands of dollars from buyers in online auctions without delivering any computers. The FTC intends to reimburse the alleged victims with seized assets. The agreement with the FTC doesn't mean he admits his guilt, but according to the terms of the deal he's going to be truthful and somewhat wireless from now on. The man isn't allowed to misrepresent his identity in commercial email or misrepresent any facts material to a consumer's buying decision, and the FTC also has the right to monitor his finances to check compliance. ®