FTC Nominee Sails Through Senate Confirmation Hearing

Antitrust scholar Timothy J. Muris, who was nominated last month by President Bush to head the Federal Trade Commission, sailed through his Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday, vowing to make Internet privacy and price gouging by gasoline stations two of his top priorities.

Muris, a former Southern Californian who teaches law at George Mason University in Virginia, also promised to continue the FTC’s scrutiny of Hollywood’s marketing practices and to enforce laws designed to make generic drugs more easily available.

But despite prodding from members of the Senate Commerce Committee, Muris, 51, declined to make specific recommendations or reveal his stance on controversial questions such as whether Congress should pass tougher privacy laws. Muris’ diplomatic sidestepping of hot-button issues led Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-S.C.) to quip that his chances of confirmation were excellent.

Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he expected the Senate to conclude Muris’ confirmation by the end of the month. Current FTC Chairman Robert Pitofsky has announced that he will step down in early June.

In his opening statement, Muris, who headed the FTC’s consumer protection and antitrust units during the Reagan administration, suggested he would take a free-market approach to the agency’s antitrust enforcement duties. “A freely functioning market, subject to the rules of antitrust, provides maximum benefit to consumers,” he said.

Upon questioning from McCain, Muris promised to maintain the FTC’s involvement in two of the senator’s pet issues: online privacy and the entertainment industry’s marketing of violent material to the young. The FTC is scheduled to deliver its next report on Hollywood this fall.

When asked if he supported the FTC’s recommendation last year that Congress regulate the collection and use of consumer information on the Internet, Muris said he was unsure.

“I want to make that a priority item,” McCain said, noting that divisions within the committee are partly responsible for the delay in moving legislation.

McCain introduced a bill last year that would require Web sites to notify Internet users about how their information is used and allow them to opt out of the practice. Hollings prefers an opt-in system in which Web sites must get consumer approval before using their data.

“The privacy issue is new to me,” Muris said. “I’m not yet ready to say which type of legislation, if any, is preferable.”

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) urged Muris to use the FTC to go after price gouging and redlining by gasoline companies, particularly in the West. He criticized the FTC for closing its investigation last week into the marketing and distribution practices of major oil refineries. The agency said it found no evidence of illegal activity.