The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America

approved by the Commission as evidencing compliance with its orders to cease and desist pursuant to the provisions of §3.61 of this chapter, and written assurances of voluntary compliance which are accepted under § 2.21 of this chapter (excluding matters disposed of under § 1.34 of this chapter) are available at the principal office of the Commission for inspection and copying, unless at the time a report of compliance or an assurance of voluntary compliance was filed the party filing it requested that it be classified as confidential, showing justification therefor, and the Commission, with due regard to statutory restrictions, its rules, and the public interest, granted the request.

[32 F.R. 8456, June 13, 1967, as amended at 34 F.R. 17433, Oct. 29, 1969]

§ 4.10

Confidential information.

(a) The records of the Commission which are exempt from availability for public inspection and copying pursuant to the provisions of § 4.8 include:

(1) Records related solely to the internal personnel rules and practices of the Commission;

(2) Trade secrets and names of customers and commercial or financial information obtained from any person which is customarily privileged or which is expressly received by the Commission in confidence, including the identities of holders of registered identification numbers issued by the Commission pursuant to § 1.32 of this chapter, and reports of compliance and assurances of voluntary compliance classified as confidential pursuant to § 4.9 (f);

(3) Official minutes of Commission meetings;

(4) Interagency or intra agency memorandums or letters which would not be available by law to a private party in litigation with the Commission;

(5) Personnel and medical files and similar files the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy;

(6) Investigatory files compiled for law enforcement purposes except to the extent available by law to a private party, and testimony, exhibits, and other material placed in camera in adjudicative proceedings pursuant to § 3.45 of this chapter; and

(7) Such other files and records of the Commission as may be exempted from disclosure by statute or by Executive order.

(b) To the extent required to prevent clearly unwarranted invasions of personal privacy, the Commission may delete, with written explanation thereof, identifying details when it makes any of its records publicly available.

(c) All records, files, documents, memorandums, correspondence, exhibits, and information of whatever nature coming into the possession or within the knowledge of the Commission or any of its officers or employees in the discharge of their official duties which fall within the scope of the exemptions from public availability in paragraph (a) and the deletions in paragraph (b) of this section constitute the confidential records of the Commission. All other records and information of the Commission not clearly identifiable as public records pursuant to the provisions of § 4.9 and not listed in the current index of the public records of the Commission also constitute a part of its confidential records unless and until otherwise directed by the Commission. Except to the extent that the disclosure of information contained in the confidential records of the Commission is specifically authorized by the rules in this chapter or by the Commission, or to the extent that its use may become necessary in connection with adjudicative proceedings, it may be disclosed, divulged, or produced for inspection or copying only under the procedure set forth in § 4.11.

(d) Under section 10 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, any officer or employee of the Commission who shall make public any information obtained by the Commission and contained in its confidential records, without its authority, unless directed by a court, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, may be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), or by imprisonment not exceeding 1 year, or by fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court.

[32 F.R. 8456, June 13, 1967; 32 F.R. 8711, June 17, 1967]

records are provided by the Commission, the fees prescribed in § 4.8(c) will apply.

(b) Application by a member of the public for such disclosure shall be in writing, under oath, setting forth the interest of the applicant in the subject matter; a description of the specific information, files, documents, or other material, inspection of which is requested; whether copies are desired; and the purpose for which the information or material, or copies, will be used if the application is granted. Upon receipt of such an application the Commission will take action thereon, having due regard to statutory restrictions, its rules, and the public interest.

(c) In the event that information contained in the confidential records of the Commission is desired for inspection, copying, or use by another governmental agency, a request therefor may be made by the administrative head of the agency. Such request shall be in writing and shall describe the information or material desired, its relevancy to the work and function of the agency, and, if the production of documents or records or the taking of copies thereof is asked, the use which is intended to be made of them. The Commission will consider and act upon such requests, having due regard for statutory restrictions, its rules, and the public interest.

(d) Any official or employee of the Commission who is served with a subpoena or other compulsory process, except a subpoena issued within the scope of § 3.36 of this chapter, requiring the production of any document or record or the disclosure of any information which is designated in § 4.10 as a part of the confidential records of the Commission shall promptly advise the Commission of the service of such subpoena or other compulsory process, the nature of the documents or information sought, and all relevant facts and circumstances. The Commission will thereupon enter such order or give such instructions as it shall deem advisable. If the official or employee so served has not received instructions from the Commission prior to the return date of the subpoena or other compulsory process, he shall appear in response thereto and respectfully decline to produce the documents or records or to disclose the information called for, basing his refusal upon this paragraph. [32 F.R. 8456, June 13, 1967, as amended at 33 F.R. 7033, May 10, 1968]

PART 13-PROHIBITED TRADE
PRACTICES

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 13 issued under sec. 6(g), 5, 38 Stat. 722, 719, sec. 2 (a), (c), (d), (e), 49 Stat. 1526, 1527: 15 U.S.C. 46, 45, 13 (a), (c), (d), (e).

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 13 appear at 24 F.R. 10287, Dec. 19, 1959, unless otherwise noted.

NOTE: In the revision of Title 16 as of January 1, 1960, the listing of individual actions under each section of Part 13 is discontinued. For Federal Register citations to cease and desist orders issued under the various sections of this part from January 1, 1949 through December 31, 1963, see List of Sections Affected, 1949-1963, and from January 1, 1964 to the present, see the List of Sections Affected at the end of this volume. Commencing with the list for 1959, the Federal Trade Commission docket numbers are included. The notation "o" following a docket number indicates an opinion; "c.o." indicates a consent order.

Complete listings of all firms and individuals named in cease and desist orders are carried in the Annual Indexes to the Federal Register. For public information services of the Federal Trade Commission, see § 1.132 of this title.

Subpart-Acquiring Confidential
Information Unfairly

§ 13.1 Acquiring confidential information unfairly.

Subpart-Acquiring Corporate Stock

or Assets

§ 13.5 Acquiring corporate stock or

assets.

[29 F.R. 1797, Feb. 6, 1964]

13.5-20 Federal Trade Commission Act. [29 F.R. 4795, Apr. 4, 1964]

§ 13.7 Joint ventures.
[31 F.R. 11747, Sept. 8, 1966]

Subpart-Advertising Falsely or

Misleadingly

§ 13.10 Advertising falsely or misleadingly.