04 May The Judge Made Them Do It
So the headline read “FTC told to disclose the data security standards it uses for breach enforcement”, and I thought to myself, “This is a headline? The government agency that wants to police the business world feels so superior that it required a judge to make them disclose what standards are required? No wonder it has taken the world so long to pay attention to this. It sounds unbelievable. How can we comply in the dark?” Well, believe it. This is the arrogance of the US Government Regulatory Regime.
And that, my friends, is the bottom line. I don’t mind complying. I embrace protecting our patients. However, I do not appreciate a power hungry government agency refusing to deal with the reality that technology is changing at an incredibly fast pace and until they, the self-appointed rulers of the consumer protection world, declare what is to be done, then they need to back off.
The FTC plays games. They play bad, damaging, lawyer games. The FTC displays their sociopathic exploitation of a medical facility, asks for forgiveness later, and drains the life blood out of organizations that fight them, all to strike terror in the hearts of everyone else that may consider a battle. They have the audacity to state they don’t need to declare data security rules or standards. They are nothing more than masters of silence and confusion. Justice is a mockery at the Federal Trade Commission. All they are doing is shopping for heads to place on spikes.
This is what bad, coddled, and sheltered government lawyers do. They play games with words and laws. They argue, cajole, debate and drain. It is all about power to the FTC. They are aiming to intimidate the majority of businesses into rolling over before they get to court. They are scheming to keep their power to bully.
When an ignorant yet powerful bureaucrat with one nasty attitude came knocking on our door with not a shred of concern with what they are doing to medicine, patients, and practitioners, the line in the sand had been drawn. This is a battle worth fighting because it rips the mask off these liars and shows the world exactly what the FTC is. A bunch of puffed up bullies that require a judge to tell the world what standards we are to meet. A four year battle raged that has cost millions of dollars all to make the FTC fight fair. I am sure they chuckle and how much it took for such a basic requirement.
This is not the end of the game. This is just the end of an inning. I have more of their game to show you. This is the game that Congress created. This is the game that judges and lawyers in DC play. This is the dirty secret game that scares so many into submission so you never hear the cries of the dead. These are bullies created by a lazy political and judicial system that think the intent of the Founding Fathers to separate government powers is an annoying obstacle to the regulatory work they have to do. To hell with civil rights and proper notice, they have consumers to save.
And that “they have consumers to save” mantra is the propaganda they crow out at every Congressional hearing and public meeting they attend. But behind the mask is a bunch of zealots with precious little experience in the private sector. They are drowning in their adolescent attitude that business is evil. They just know it is so bad out here that they have to slap a head on the spike of one company to scare the masses into submission.
Through fate that head turned out to be mine. The FTC is so outrageous and ripe for corruption that I had no choice to fight back. So far it has cost LabMD its life. I hope you will pay attention to the rest of their game so the death of LabMD is not in vain. Once one head on a spike is placed on the roof of 600 Pennsylvania Avenue they just start looking for another…until we see them for what they are and the executioners lose their ax.
