US: FTC not looking for a fight with Uber, Airbnb

A top official with the Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday morning that the agency was not planning a “big enforcement push” against sharing economy companies like Uber and Airbnb reports the Financial Times.

The comments from FTC Commissioner Maureen Ohlhausen kicked off a workshop the regulator is holding on the sharing, or on-demand, economy.

In her remarks, she reassured the growing industry that the regulator’s interest was not indicative of a plan to investigate or punish companies for violating the law.

“While it is true that some of those efforts later led to some investigations and even a few enforcement actions, I want to assure you that we did not convene today’s workshop as a prelude to some planned, big enforcement push in this space,” she said.

“I am going to repeat myself here because I really cannot stress this enough: interest in new developments in the economy by the FTC does not automatically portend a flurry of future enforcement actions,” she added moments later.

Full content: The Financial Times

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