Publishing.com, LLC, Christian Mikkelsen, and Rasmus Mikkelsen; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20456-20458]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07420]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 242 3055]


Publishing.com, LLC, Christian Mikkelsen, and Rasmus Mikkelsen; 
Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of Federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis of Proposed Consent Order to Aid 
Public Comment describes both the allegations in the complaint and the 
terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that 
would settle these allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before May 18, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file comments online or on paper by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Please write ``Publishing.com; 
File No. 242 3055'' on your comment and file your comment online at 
https://www.regulations.gov by following the instructions on the web-
based form. If you prefer to file your comment on paper, please mail 
your comment to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex P), Washington, DC 20580.

[[Page 20457]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Emily Cope Burton (phone: 415-848-
5111), Assistant Regional Director, Western Region, Federal Trade 
Commission, 90 7th St., Suite 14-300, San Francisco, CA 94103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing a consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of 30 days. The following 
Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the consent 
agreement and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic copy of 
the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained at 
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/commission-actions.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before May 18, 2026. 
Write ``Publishing.com; File No. 242 3055'' on your comment. Your 
comment--including your name and your State--will be placed on the 
public record of this proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, 
on the https://www.regulations.gov website.
    We encourage you to submit comments through the https://www.regulations.gov website. Postal mail addressed to the Commission 
will be subject to delay because of heightened security screening. If 
you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``Publishing.com; File 
No. 242 3055'' on your comment and on the envelope, and send it via 
overnight service to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Mail Stop H-144 (Annex P), 
Washington, DC 20580.
    Because your comment will be placed on the publicly accessible 
website at https://www.regulations.gov, you are solely responsible for 
making sure your comment does not include any sensitive or confidential 
information. In particular, your comment should not include sensitive 
personal information, such as your or anyone else's Social Security 
number; date of birth; driver's license number or other State 
identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport number; 
financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You are also 
solely responsible for making sure your comment does not include 
sensitive health information, such as medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, your comment 
should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or financial 
information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as provided by 
section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 
16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including competitively sensitive information such 
as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, patterns, devices, 
manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    Comments containing material for which confidential treatment is 
requested must be filed in paper form, must be clearly labeled 
``Confidential,'' and must comply with FTC Rule 4.9(c). In particular, 
the written request for confidential treatment that accompanies the 
comment must include the factual and legal basis for the request and 
must identify the specific portions of the comment to be withheld from 
the public record. See FTC Rule 4.9(c). Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the General Counsel grants your request in 
accordance with the law and the public interest. Once your comment has 
been posted on the https://www.regulations.gov website--as legally 
required by FTC Rule 4.9(b)--we cannot redact or remove your comment 
from that website, unless you submit a confidentiality request that 
meets the requirements for such treatment under FTC Rule 4.9(c), and 
the General Counsel grants that request.
    Visit the FTC website at https://www.ftc.gov to read this document 
and the news release describing the proposed settlement. The FTC Act 
and other laws the Commission administers permit the collection of 
public comments to consider and use in this proceeding, as appropriate. 
The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments 
it receives on or before May 18, 2026. For information on the 
Commission's privacy policy, including routine uses permitted by the 
Privacy Act, see https://www.ftc.gov/site-information/privacy-policy.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``Commission'') has accepted, subject 
to final approval, an Agreement Containing Consent Order (``Consent 
Agreement'') with Publishing.com, LLC, Christian Mikkelsen, and Rasmus 
Mikkelsen (collectively, ``Respondents''). The proposed Decision and 
Order (``Order''), included in the Consent Agreement and subject to 
final Commission approval, is designed to remedy Respondents' deceptive 
practices in connection with marketing their self-publishing programs.
    The proposed Order has been placed on the public record for 30 days 
to receive comments from interested persons. Comments received during 
this period will become part of the public record. After 30 days, the 
Commission will again review the Consent Agreement, and the comments 
received, and will decide whether it should withdraw from the Consent 
Agreement and take appropriate action or make the proposed Order final.
    The complaint alleges that Respondents violated section 5 of the 
FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45, by making false or unsubstantiated earnings 
claims about their self-publishing programs. The complaint further 
alleges that Respondents violated section 5 of the FTC Act by 
misrepresenting its refund policy as a simple money-back guarantee for 
12 months. Finally, the complaint alleges that Respondents falsely 
represented that consumer reviews and testimonials for their programs 
represented the actual, genuine experiences and opinions of ordinary 
and impartial purchasers.
    The proposed Order contains provisions designed to prevent 
Respondents from engaging in these and similar acts and practices in 
the future. Provision I of the proposed Order permanently restrains and 
enjoins Respondents from making earnings claims or assisting others in 
making earnings claims unless those claims are non-misleading and 
Respondents have a reasonable basis for them. Provision II prohibits 
Respondents from making the specific misrepresentations alleged in the 
complaint and misrepresentations concerning any other material fact in 
the sale of any product or service. Provision III prohibits Respondents 
from misrepresenting or failing to disclose material terms and 
conditions of any cancellation or refund policy or failing to promptly 
honor a consumer's cancellation or refund request in compliance with 
company policies in effect at the time of the consumer's purchase. 
Provision IV prohibits Respondents from making certain 
misrepresentations regarding testimonials and endorsements.
    Provision V requires Respondents to disclose any unexpected 
material connections with endorsers or reviewers and any payments or 
incentives for posting reviews. Provision VI requires Respondents to 
pay $1.5 million in monetary relief and Provision VII details 
additional monetary provisions necessary to ensure receipt of the 
monetary relief. Provision VIII requires

[[Page 20458]]

Respondents to provide the Commission with sufficient information about 
its customers so that the Commission can efficiently administer 
redress, if possible.
    Provisions IX through XIII relate to notice and compliance. 
Provision IX requires Respondents to acknowledge receipt of the Order; 
distribute the Order to principals, officers, and certain employees and 
agents; and obtain signed acknowledgements from them. Provision X 
requires Respondents to submit compliance reports to the Commission one 
year after the Order's issuance and when certain events occur. 
Provision XI requires Respondents to create certain records for 15 
years and retain them for five years thereafter. Provision XII requires 
Respondents to provide information or documents necessary to monitor 
compliance with the Order during the period of the Order's effective 
dates. Provision XIII provides the effective dates of the Order, 
including that, with exceptions, the Order will terminate in 20 years.
    The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the 
Consent Agreement and proposed Order to aid the Commission in 
determining whether it should make the proposed Order final. This 
analysis is not an official interpretation of the proposed Order and 
does not modify its terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
April J. Tabor,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-07420 Filed 4-15-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P