Welcome New Members

We are excited to welcome the following new member to the SIPA community:

The Company Dime – Our mission is quality journalism for those interested in business travel services, expense management practices and travel industry change. Our features, exclusives and analysis equip business travel professionals with vital info for top performance.

Advertisers Urge FTC Not to Broaden Automatically Renewing Subscriptions Rules

According to an article on MediaPost, the ad industry, tech companies and other businesses are urging the Federal Trade Commission to avoid broadening regulations regarding subscription services that automatically renew.

The groups argue that FTC rules already require companies to notify consumers about recurring fees for subscription services—including video streaming, online news services and retail products. Those regulations provide consumers "with transparency and the ability to cancel recurring charges," the Association of National Advertisers said in comments filed with the FTC this week.

The current rules provide "clarity and flexibility for businesses in their efforts to structure marketing plans," the ANA added. In its call for comments, the FTC indicated that companies are duping consumers with recurring fees, despite the existing rules. In recent cases, they added, a "high volume" of complaints "suggests there is prevalent, unabated consumer harm in the marketplace."

The ANA counters that the FTC should "identify a clear record of this perceived harm," so that companies can "provide meaningful comments to the Commission about the current state of negative option marketing."

"New regulations would likely impose levels of standardization that would be unworkable across all industries, media, and technology supporting negative option offers in a burgeoning marketplace where consumers are willing and sophisticated participants," the Internet Association said in joint comments with the Entertainment Software Association.

"The use of subscription programs saves businesses from spending substantial monies on repeat offerings to consumers who want to continue the product or service, and the savings are reflected in the subscription price."

A Few Final Spots Remain for SIPA Publishers Retreat in Aruba, Feb 6-8

Just a few spots remain for the annual SIPA Owners and Publishers Retreat, Feb. 6-8, 2020, at the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort. SIPA's Retreat is the place to find the leading-edge strategies and candid dialogue you need to move your business forward. As a part of this high-level executive group, you will be able to comfortably share your biggest challenges and collectively problem solve through them with others who have had or are having similar experiences.

This Retreat is open to a limited number of participants. With 100% of attendees recommending this retreat to a colleague, the 2020 retreat is likely to sell out very soon.

For more information and to sign up click here.

If you have any news, hirings, transactions, awards or anything else you'd like fellow members to know about, please email me at rlevine@siia.net. Thank you!

Reorg Acquires China News Service Dai1 Media

Reorg, a financial media and technology company and a multiple SIPAward-winning member, has acquired Dai1 Media, a subscription-based provider of news and analysis of special situations based in China, Reorg announced this week (and reported in Talking Biz News).

"As part of our global growth strategy, Reorg has invested heavily in Asia over the last 12 months. We are delighted to bring the Dai1 Media team and its clients into Reorg to amplify our quality coverage of distressed and special situations in China," said Kent Collier, founder and CEO of Reorg. "We have already grown our team of financial and legal analysts as well as investigative journalists in the region to 20, based in Hong Kong, Singapore, India and Australia. The Dai1 Media team will significantly enhance our offering to clients globally."

Dai has 19 years of experience working for notable platforms like CapitalStructure, Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and China's state television.

Said founder Shasha Dai: "We are very pleased to join the Reorg team. Reorg's commitment to continuing its expansion in Asia combined with Dai1's established expertise on China will enable us to together provide even more outstanding coverage of special situations in Asia's largest market."

Does Your Company Do Business in California? Then This Webinar Is for You

On Thursday, Dec. 12 at 3 p.m., SIPA's parent company, SIIA, will host a webinar titled Navigating California's New Consumer Privacy Law on the California Consumer Protection Act (CCPA), set to go into effect Jan. 1. (The webinar is free for SIPA members.)

Upon its passage, an estimated 500,000 companies—both B2C and B2B—are expected to come under the purview of the law (on par with the impact of Europe's General Data Protection Regulation).

The businesses subject to this new law would need to:
· Disclose data collection practices upon request and upon collection to California consumers.
· Delete personal information about a consumer upon request.
· Provide consumers the opportunity to opt-out of the sale of their personal information.
· Comply with security rules or face possible litigation under CCPA's private right of action.

Join SIIA's Government Affairs team for this very important webinar. Register here.

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Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 and SIIA in 2013 as editorial director…