Timothy J. Muris, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission who was known as a tough regulator and a tough fighter against Internet scams like phishing and spam, will leave the FTC come summer, with President Bush naming antitrust attorney Deborah P. Majoras - who helped negotiate the Microsoft antitrust settlement in 2001 - to succeed him.
Muris offered no explanation as to why he decided to end his three-year tenure at the top of the regulatory body.
"Serving as Chairman of the Commission has been the greatest honor of my professional career," Muris said in a formal statement. "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."
Muris offered Majoras his full support. "She is a highly talented and experienced lawyer, and, if confirmed by the Senate, would be an excellent Chairman," Muris said in his statement. "I look forward to my remaining tenure at the FTC and to a smooth transition to the next Chairmanship."
FTC spokesperson Nancy Ness Judy told AVNOnline.com that Muris wanted to let that statement speak for itself and for him this week. She said he "might" elaborate further a little later on, adding Muris had spoken in the past of returning to George Mason University - where he had been a professor before he joined the FTC - at some point in the future.
Muris oversaw the FTC taking a firm stand against cyberspace scams, phishing and spam in particular. Last summer, when the FTC settled with a teen phish who posed as America Online, spammed thousands and claiming that trouble with their AOL bills could mean losing their AOL accounts, and settled for $3,500, Muris ripped the scam as a two-time scam.
"Phishers first steal a company's identity and then use it to victimize consumers by stealing their credit identities," he said last July, announcing that settlement. "This is the FTC's first law enforcement action targeting phishing. It won't be the last."
Muris had also been somewhat wary of the new federal CAN-SPAM law, saying the law was likely to present "a serious hurdle" because of its requirement of proof of both seller and spammer's knowledge that a third-party mailer intended to break the law.
Muris also led the FTC as it pushed for and got a do-not-call registry for telemarketers, in which consumers who enter their telephone numbers on the registry cannot be called by telemarketers. The list as of May 12 is said to have over 60 million entries.
