WASHINGTON-Federal Trade Commission Chairman Timothy Muris, whose tenure began under a cloud before brightening with enforcement crackdowns and consumer safeguards for technologies new and old, will step down this summer.
President Bush plans to replace Muris with Deborah Majoras, a former private sector and government lawyer with tech expertise who helped craft the Justice Department’s antitrust settlement with Microsoft Corp.
“Serving as chairman of the commission has been the greatest honor of my professional career. I deeply appreciate the trust that President Bush placed in me by providing this opportunity to serve. As I have said repeatedly, the mission of the agency is vital, the issues are fascinating and the people are outstanding. It is a great pleasure to work with such superb fellow commissioners and staff,” said Muris.
After joining the Bush administration, Muris came under fire by Sen. Ernest Hollings (D-S.C.) and others over a plan to reorganize antitrust responsibilities between the FTC and the Justice Department. The effort, which prompted critics to recommend the FTC’s oversight be expanded to include common carriers-including mobile-phone operators-was ultimately scrapped.
Muris, who oversaw the implementation of the telemarketing law’s do-not-call registry, halted sales of devices sold by companies that claimed their products protected consumers from mobile-phone radiation. The FTC, under Muris, also attempted to tackle emerging issues such as privacy, Internet spam, identity theft and radio frequency identification.
