Date/Time: Tuesday, April 7, 2015, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Location: The National Press Club, Murrow-White-Lisagor Room, 529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor, Washington, DC 20045
RSVP: By Thursday, April 2, 2015, to Nancy Laichas at nlaichas@dsef.org
Maureen K. Ohlhausen was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission on April 4, 2012, to a term that expires in September 2018.
Prior to joining the Commission, Ohlhausen was a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP, where she focused on FTC issues, including privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.
Ohlhausen previously served at the Commission for 11 years, most recently as Director of the Office of Policy Planning from 2004 to 2008, where she led the FTC’s Internet Access Task Force. She was also Deputy Director of that office. From 1998 to 2001, Ohlhausen was an attorney advisor for former FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle, advising him on competition and consumer protection matters. She started at the FTC General Counsel’s Office in 1997.
Before coming to the FTC, Ohlhausen spent five years at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, serving as a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle and as a staff attorney. Ohlhausen also clerked for Judge Robert Yock of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims from 1991 to 1992.
Ohlhausen graduated with distinction from George Mason University School of Law in 1991 and graduated with honors from the University of Virginia in 1984.
Ohlhausen was on the adjunct faculty at George Mason University School of Law, where she taught privacy law and unfair trade practices. She served as a Senior Editor of the Antitrust Law Journal and a member of the American Bar Association Task Force on Competition and Public Policy. She has authored a variety of articles on competition law, privacy, and technology matters.
Lynne J. Omlie is Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, Inc. (DISCUS). DISCUS is a national trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits and importers of wine sold in the United States. DISCUS is involved in matters that span virtually every legislative, regulatory and legal issue connected with beverage alcohol on a federal, state and international level.
Ms. Omlie has served as staff liaison for the DISCUS Code Review Board for over two decades. In existence since 1934, the DISCUS Code of Responsible Practices for Beverage Alcohol Advertising and Marketing charges the Board with reviewing complaints about advertising and marketing materials in the marketplace
Prior to joining DISCUS, Ms. Omlie was in private practice at Howrey & Simon. Before her tenure at Howrey & Simon, she worked at the Federal Trade Commission for FTC Commissioner David A. Clanton.
Joseph N. Mariano joined the Direct Selling Association (DSA) in 1985 and assumed the role of President in 2011. Previously, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. DSA is the 105-year-old not-for-profit national trade organization representing 300 direct sales firms, and their 16 million independent salespeople. The Association’s mission is “To protect, serve and promote the effectiveness of member companies and the independent business people they represent. To ensure that the marketing by member companies of products and/or the direct sales opportunity is conducted with the highest level of business ethics and service to consumers.”
Mr. Mariano serves as chief executive officer of the Association with ultimate responsibility for all association programs and activities; he is charged with providing progressive association leadership, development and implementation of Association policies in the fields of government, consumer and international affairs. He has been responsible for representing the Association’s interests in all fifty state capitals and on Capitol Hill. He serves as a personal resource to direct selling companies who need overall guidance on general legal and business trends that affect direct sellers both in the US and worldwide.
Mr. Mariano also serves as President of the Direct Selling Education Foundation. In addition, he also serves on the Boards of the Small Business Legislative Counsel, and Loyola Blakefield, a Maryland Jesuit educational institution. Mr. Mariano is admitted to practice law in the state of Maryland, and before the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Mariano has authored numerous articles, and been a contributor to publications on direct selling and government affairs.
C. Lee Peeler, Esq., is President and CEO of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) and Executive Vice President, National Advertising, Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB). Mr. Peeler is responsible for leading the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation, a system dedicated to fostering truth and accuracy in advertising. He oversees the operation of ASRC investigative and appeals units; briefs elected officials on self-regulatory initiatives, works to expand advertising self-regulation to industries that are not yet regular participants and consults with representatives of foreign governments on the value of industry self-regulation.
Mr. Peeler joined ASRC and BBB in 2006, following a 33-year career at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), where he held a number management positions. While at the FTC, he served as Associate Director of the Division of Advertising Practices (1985-2001) and Deputy Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection (2001-2006.)He has spoken and testified widely on consumer protection issues including truth in advertising, consumer credit, electronic commerce, privacy and data security. Mr. Peeler received his B.A. and J.D. degrees from Georgetown University.
Howard Beales is a Professor of Strategic Management & Public Policy at the George Washington University School of Business, where he has been since 1988.
His research interests include a wide variety of consumer protection regulatory issues, including privacy, law and economics, and the regulation of advertising. He has published numerous articles addressing these issues in academic journals.
From 2001 through 2004, Dr. Beales served as the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission. In that capacity, he was instrumental in redirecting the FTC’s privacy agenda to focus on the consequences of the use and misuse of consumer information. During his tenure, the Commission proposed, promulgated, and implemented the national Do Not Call Registry. He also worked with Congress and the Administration to develop and implement the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, and testified before Congress on numerous occasions. His aggressive law enforcement program produced the largest redress orders in FTC history and attacked high volume frauds promoted through heavy television advertising.
Dr. Beales also worked at the FTC from 1977 to 1987, as a staff economist, Assistant to the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Associate Director for Policy and Evaluation, and Acting Deputy Director. In 1987-88, he was the Chief of the Human Resources and Housing Branch of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Office of Management and Budget.
Howard Beales received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1978. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Economics in 1972.
