FIND THE EXPLANATION
Compare the evidence behind a provider’s offer before comparing its headline savings claim.
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The explanation above is written for readers. These original working documents preserve the evidence trail, including technical language, dated passages and known corrections. They have not all received independent professional review. Use the marked limits before relying on a particular rule or figure.
Read the evidence with its boundaries. These are saved research components, including revisions. A scoped coordinator review checks selected evidence; it does not certify every claim, a complete jurisdiction, current law or individual applicability. Dates and access limits remain attached to the records.
Research check date: October 27, 2026, America/Los_Angeles. The accessible eCFR displayed Title 16 as current through October 26, 2026. The statutory pages used displayed laws in effect through Public Law 119-124, October 15, 2026. Those are compilation cutoffs, not certifications of every subsequent enactment, correction, judicial development, or agency action. C001–C007, C052. ecfr.gov+3
The complete current Part 461 body examined contains §461.1, Definitions; §461.2, Impersonation of government prohibited; and §461.3, Impersonation of businesses prohibited. It does not currently contain a separate general individual-impersonation section or the proposed supplier/means-and-instrumentalities section. A materially relevant October 1, 2026 advance notice concerns possible additional regulation of digital marketplace platforms; it is not an adopted amendment. C003, C025, C041–C049. ecfr.gov+2
This report’s findings concern public legal categories and source status. No provider, communication, identity, authority, affiliation, violation, remedy, or suitability determination has been made. The conditional branches below are the report’s qualitative examples; none contains a real or fictional provider scenario.
Identifier convention. Source identifiers have the prefix R081-P1-S; claims have R081-P1-C. References such as “S001” and “C019” below refer to those full identifiers. Branches B01–B28 and measurements M01–M15 provide the additional crosswalks.
All sources below concern United States federal law. All accesses occurred on the research check date stated above. HTML sources have no printed-page or PDF-index locator. For PDFs, printed pagination and zero-based PDF index are listed separately. PDF review used parsed text; no claim of visual inspection of page images is made.
| Source | Issuer, instrument and complete literal HTTPS URL | Exact provisions or pages examined | Version, legal status and effective/application information | Actual reading extent and limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-S001 | Office of the Federal Register/GPO, eCFR, 16 CFR Part 461—Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461. Section views: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461/section-461.1; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461/section-461.2; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461/section-461.3. | Complete Part heading, authority/source notes, and every word of §§461.1–461.3, including both paragraphs of §§461.2 and 461.3. | Displayed currency October 26, 2026; Title 16 last amended October 19, 2026. Government-published, authoritative but unofficial continuously updated codification. Source credit: 89 FR 15030, March 1, 2024. Effective date authenticated through S002. | Complete selected Part read. Section views and whole-Part view are the same codification, not independent corroboration. The title-wide amendment date does not identify a Part 461 amendment. ecfr.gov+3 |
| R081-P1-S002 | FTC; official Federal Register final rule, Trade Regulation Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses. Official PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-03-01/pdf/2024-04335.pdf. HTML rendition: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/01/2024-04335/trade-regulation-rule-on-impersonation-of-government-and-businesses. | Instrument occupies 89 FR 15017–15031, PDF indices 0–14. DATES: p.15017/index 0. Complete amendatory instruction and entire adopted Part 461: p.15030/index 13. Selected preamble: authority discussion in II, p.15018/index 1; agency analysis in III.C, pp.15021–15022/indices 4–5; selected concluding passages in III.D–H, pp.15023–15025/indices 6–8; IV–V and introductory regulatory analysis on p.15025/index 8. | Published March 1, 2024; final rule expressly effective April 1, 2024. Official PDF authenticates the adopted text; the HTML rendition is grouped with it. | Complete adopted legal body and effective clause read; not the entire 15-page preamble/attachment package. No underlying comments, cited opinions, enforcement records, or post-rule Commission statement were investigated. Unrelated material sharing the first printed page was excluded. govinfo.gov+2 |
| R081-P1-S003 | Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 15 USC §44—Definitions. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t15/s44/. | Complete statutory body; source credit and displayed editorial/amendment/effective notes. Material definitions: commerce, corporation, Acts to regulate commerce, banks. | Official U.S. Code compilation displaying laws in effect through PL 119-124, October 15, 2026. Current codified statutory text, not a separately authenticated complete session-law chain. | Complete §44 body read. Ancillary definitions and notes were not used to complete foreign enforcement, antitrust, communications, transportation, or banking regimes. uscode.house.gov+1 |
| R081-P1-S004 | OLRC, 15 USC §45—Unfair methods of competition unlawful; prevention by Commission. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t15/s45/. | Complete §45(a)(1)–(4). | Same October 15, 2026 statutory cutoff. Enacted law as currently codified. | Selected complete subsection (a), not all of §45. The civil-penalty provisions, full administrative/enforcement procedure, limitations and other remedies were not completed. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-S005 | OLRC, 15 USC §57a—Unfair or deceptive acts or practices rulemaking proceedings. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t15/s57a/. | Complete (a)(1)–(2), (b)(1)–(3), (c)(1)–(5), (d)(1)–(3), (f)(1)–(4), (g)(1)–(3), and (h). Source credit and selected notes also inspected. | Same October 15, 2026 cutoff. Current statutory rulemaking authority and qualifications. | These complete clauses support the bounded authority, legal-effect and exemption discussion. Other returned portions were not used to certify a full judicial-review or rulemaking-procedure regime. Title 12 and other financial-sector incorporations remain incomplete. uscode.house.gov+1 |
| R081-P1-S006 | FTC; Federal Register supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, same rule title. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-03-01/pdf/2024-03793.pdf. | 89 FR 15072–15083, PDF indices 0–11. Header, summary and DATES: p.15072/index 0. Selected generic overview: p.15077/index 5. Complete proposed amendatory instructions 1–5 and proposed text: pp.15082–15083/indices 10–11. | Published March 1, 2024. Proposal, not an operative amendment. Stated comment-receipt date: April 30, 2024. | Entire proposed legal amendment read; selected explanatory text, not the full 12-page instrument. Proposed §§461.4 and 461.5 must not be substituted for S001. No underlying comments were accessed. govinfo.gov+2 |
| R081-P1-S007 | FTC; Federal Register notice of informal hearing concerning the proposal. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-12-26/pdf/2024-30718.pdf. | Instrument: 89 FR 104905–104908, PDF indices 0–3. Header and scope/status summary, p.104905/index 0; complete selected status paragraph in background, p.104906/index 1. | Published December 26, 2024. Procedural notice, including an initial/final hearing notice; not a final substantive Part 461 amendment. | Read only the relevant scope/status material. Participant-list and actual comment-record investigation were excluded. The statement concerning proposed §461.5 is qualified by “at this time.” govinfo.gov+1 |
| R081-P1-S008 | FTC; Federal Register Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses—Advance notice of proposed rulemaking. Official PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/pdf/2026-20143.pdf. Official HTML: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/html/2026-20143.htm. | Instrument: 91 FR 62347–62357, indices 0–10. Header, summary, DATES: p.62347/index 0. Complete section II, including material status footnotes: p.62348/index 1. Selected concluding rulemaking-authority paragraph in IV: p.62353/index 6. | Published October 1, 2026. ANPRM/request for comment, not final or future-effective regulation. Stated comment-receipt date November 30, 2026. | Selected legal scope, status and authority passages read; not the entire instrument. Platform examples, enforcement cases, underlying studies and comments were not investigated. Footnote 7 contains a citation discrepancy documented below. govinfo.gov+3 |
| R081-P1-S009 | OLRC, 5 USC §553—Rule making. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t5/s553/. | Complete §553(a)–(e) and displayed notes. | Same October 15, 2026 cutoff. Current statutory text. | Read to bound §57a’s express APA incorporations. No complete APA, FTC procedural-rule, rulemaking-challenge or personal-deadline dossier is claimed. Its incidental quantities are not transposed into Part 461 obligations. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-S010 — failed | OLRC preliminary-format §44 endpoint. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section44&num=0&edition=prelim. | No body obtained. | Ordinary open returned 404 Not Found after URL normalization. | Failure supports no legal proposition. Successful ordinary official alternative: S003. |
| R081-P1-S011 — failed | OLRC preliminary-format §57a endpoint. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section57a&num=0&edition=prelim. | No body obtained. | Ordinary open returned 404 Not Found after URL normalization. | Failure supports no legal proposition. Successful official alternative: S005. |
| R081-P1-S012 — failed | GPO annual-CFR endpoint attempted for Part 461. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2026-title16-vol1/pdf/CFR-2026-title16-vol1-part461.pdf. | No annual-edition body obtained. | Tool returned: URL “is not accessible via this tool.” | No assertion that the annual publication does not exist. S001 and S002 supplied current codified and original adopted text, respectively; the annual-edition access gap remains. |
The tables below contain the substantive legal findings. Their qualifications are part of each claim, including when a conclusion is a bounded textual observation, agency interpretation, or unresolved question.
| Claim | Finding | Exact authority and scope |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C001 | The actual research check date was October 27, 2026 in America/Los_Angeles. It is an access date, not an enactment or effective date. | Session time check; applies to the accesses recorded in S001–S012. |
| R081-P1-C002 | The accessible eCFR displayed currency through October 26, 2026, and a Title 16 amendment date of October 19, 2026. The latter does not establish that Part 461 changed on that date. | S001, version banner. ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C003 | Current organization is Title 16, Chapter I, Subchapter D, Part 461. The complete body has three sections: definitions, government impersonation, and business impersonation. It displays no reserved, repealed or transferred section within this Part. This is a present-body inventory, not an exhaustive historical finding. | S001, complete Part; S002, complete adopted text, p.15030/index 13. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C004 | The codified authority line cites 15 USC 41 through 58; the source line cites 89 FR 15030, March 1, 2024. The broad authority citation does not mean every section in that statutory range was investigated here. | S001, authority/source notes; S002, p.15030/index 13. |
| R081-P1-C005 | The original final rule was published March 1, 2024, with an expressly stated effective date of April 1, 2024. Publication and effectiveness are distinct. No separate later mandatory-implementation date was found in the complete adopted Part or its DATES clause. | S002, DATES, p.15017/index 0, and complete amendment. federalregister.gov |
| R081-P1-C006 | S003–S005 and S009 display laws in effect through PL 119-124, October 15, 2026. That cutoff does not certify all later session law or every source note’s underlying enactment. | Statutory-page banners. uscode.house.gov+3 |
| R081-P1-C007 | The eCFR identifies itself as authoritative but unofficial, rather than the official legal CFR edition. The original official Federal Register PDF was obtained; the attempted annual-CFR PDF was not. Those distinct statuses remain visible. | S001 status notice; S002 official PDF; S012 failure. |
| R081-P1-C008 | Within the complete current Part 461 only, there is no numerical coverage threshold, penalty amount, private notice period, filing deadline, or separate remedial formula. Nor does its text contain a separately numbered safe-harbor provision. This does not eliminate limitations or exemptions elsewhere in the FTC Act. | S001, §§461.1–461.3; compare C016–C017 and C026–C034. |
| Claim | Finding | Exact authority and scope |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C009 | Business means a corporation, partnership, association, or other entity providing goods or services; not-for-profit entities are expressly included. This is the Part’s category of business, including the entity impersonated. | S001, §461.1, “Business.” ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C010 | Government is an inclusive definition covering federal, state, local and tribal governments and their agencies and departments. Its use of “includes” must not be silently converted into an exhaustive list or a determination about an unexamined territorial or foreign category. | S001, §461.1, “Government.” |
| R081-P1-C011 | Officer includes executives, officials, employees and agents. The definition is not limited to an elected officeholder or to a corporate title. | S001, §461.1, “Officer.” |
| R081-P1-C012 | Materially concerns likelihood of affecting a person’s choice of, or conduct regarding, goods or services. The text supplies no dollar-loss threshold for this definition. | S001, §461.1, “Materially”; no remedial conclusion follows. |
| R081-P1-C013 | Part 461 does not separately define person, entity, affiliation, endorsement, sponsorship, impersonation, false posing, actual authority, or the phrase “directly or by implication.” It has no current definition of “individual.” Undefined terms are not permission to invent legal tests. | S001, complete definition section and prohibitions. The proposed individual definition is separately addressed in C042. |
| R081-P1-C014 | The incorporated commerce definition includes interstate commerce, foreign commerce, commerce within a U.S. Territory or DC, and the specified commerce between Territories, States, foreign nations and DC. It is broader than an assumption that every covered act must itself cross a state line. | S003, §44, complete “Commerce” paragraph; S001, §§461.2–461.3. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C015 | FTC Act corporation is a separate definition: it includes specified companies, trusts and associations organized for their own or members’ profit, with the stated share/capital/certificate alternatives; the no-share branch expressly excepts partnerships. That statutory definition must not be substituted for Part 461’s broader definition of the business being impersonated. | S003, §44, complete “Corporation” paragraph; S001, §461.1. |
| R081-P1-C016 | Section 45(a)(1) declares the specified unfair/deceptive conduct unlawful; §45(a)(2) empowers and directs the FTC to prevent it, subject to named jurisdictional exclusions: banks, specified savings-and-loan institutions and federal credit unions, covered common carriers, covered air carriers, and persons/entities insofar as subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, with that statute’s stated exception. No actual actor’s jurisdictional status is established. | S004, complete §45(a)(1)–(2). The incorporated sector regimes were not completed. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C017 | The bank/savings-and-loan/credit-union cross-references are substantive, not mere labels. Section 57a(f)(2) identifies bank classes; (f)(3)–(4) incorporate Title 12 definitions. Those clauses were read, but the underlying Title 12 regime was not completed, so a sector-specific jurisdiction conclusion remains held. | S003, “Banks”; S005, complete §57a(f)(1)–(4). uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C018 | The impersonated target, the actor making the representation, and any actual representative are distinct analytical roles. A target fitting “business” or “government” does not by itself establish FTC jurisdiction over an actor or the actor’s authority. | Textual comparison of S001 §§461.1–461.3 with S003 §44 and S004 §45(a)(2); no factual classification. |
| Claim | Finding—all stated elements remain necessary | Exact authority |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C019 | Government false-posing branch: materiality and false posing; conveyed directly or by implication; posing as a government entity or its officer; in or affecting commerce under the incorporated definition. | S001, §461.2(a). ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C020 | Government affiliation branch: a material misrepresentation, directly or by implication, of affiliation with a government entity or its officer, including endorsement or sponsorship by that target; in or affecting the incorporated commerce. | S001, §461.2(b). |
| R081-P1-C021 | Business false-posing branch: materiality and false posing; directly or by implication; posing as a business or its officer; in or affecting the incorporated commerce. | S001, §461.3(a). ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C022 | Business affiliation branch: material misrepresentation, directly or by implication, of affiliation with a business or its officer, including endorsement or sponsorship by that target; in or affecting the incorporated commerce. | S001, §461.3(b). |
| R081-P1-C023 | Within each prohibition, paragraphs (a) and (b) are alternatives, joined by “or.” A false-posing theory does not require a separate affiliation representation; an affiliation theory does not require a separate assertion of being the target. Every qualification within the selected branch remains necessary. | S001, complete §§461.2 and 461.3; C019–C022. |
| R081-P1-C024 | “Directly or by implication” addresses the representation’s mode. It is not a separately stated intermediary-assistance or supplier-knowledge rule. This textual distinction does not immunize an intermediary whose own conduct meets an operative branch. | S001, §§461.2–461.3; comparison with the expressly different proposal in C044. |
| R081-P1-C025 | The current Part has no standalone general individual-impersonation or means-and-instrumentalities section, and no express “knowledge or reason to know” element. A representation concerning an individual in the defined officer role can still fall within C019–C022 if all other conditions hold. | S001, complete body; C011; proposed additions distinguished in S006–S008. |
| Claim | Finding | Exact authority and limit |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C026 | Section 57a distinguishes interpretive rules/policy statements from rules specifically defining unfair/deceptive practices. Its latter authority permits preventive requirements, but expressly excludes the stated standards-and-certification rulemaking activity and is subject to subsection (h). | S005, §57a(a)(1)(A)–(B). uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C027 | Subsection (h) limits rulemaking in the children’s-advertising proceeding pending May 28, 1980, or a substantially similar proceeding, on an unfairness determination. It is not a general exemption for all advertising or all deception. | S005, complete §57a(h). |
| R081-P1-C028 | Section 57a(a)(2) restricts reliance on other FTC Act authority for unfair/deceptive-practice rules while preserving the separately stated competition-rule authority. | S005, complete §57a(a)(2). |
| R081-P1-C029 | Section 57a(b) requires the specified rulemaking process; its APA incorporation excludes the §553 references to §§556–557. These are agency rulemaking requirements, not a provider’s personal notice or consumer-claim deadline. | S005, §57a(b)(1)–(3); S009, complete §553. Full FTC procedural rules remain held. |
| R081-P1-C030 | Substantive amendment or repeal uses the prescribed rulemaking/review route; an exemption under subsection (g) is expressly distinguished from amendment or repeal. | S005, §57a(d)(2)(B). |
| R081-P1-C031 | Once an applicable §57a(a)(1)(B) rule takes effect, a subsequent violation constitutes a §45(a)(1) unfair/deceptive practice unless the rule expressly provides otherwise. | S005, §57a(d)(3); S002’s effective date. This is not a finding of an actual violation. |
| R081-P1-C032 | Section 57a(g) permits an exemption request and allows the FTC, on the specified finding of nonnecessity to prevent the relevant practice, to exempt a person/class wholly or partly. APA §553 applies. Pending exemption or review proceedings do not stay the rule’s applicability. | S005, complete §57a(g)(1)–(3); S009. No actual exemption or proceeding was investigated. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C033 | The commerce definition’s foreign references do not complete extraterritorial application. Section 45(a)(3) concerns competition; (a)(4) concerns unfair/deceptive foreign-commerce conduct. Their distinct subjects and associated amendment/application history must not be collapsed into worldwide Part 461 coverage. | S003 notes and commerce definition; S004, complete §45(a)(3)–(4). Foreign application remains unresolved in this pass. |
| R081-P1-C034 | A Part 461 prohibition does not itself establish a private cause of action, a payable penalty, refund, damages, cancellation, contract invalidity, discharge or collection defense. No such outcome is concluded here. | S001 complete Part and S005 §57a(d)(3). Next separate authorities: 15 USC §45(m), §57b, and, for any current penalty figure, 16 CFR §1.98 and the adjustment legislation in 28 USC §2461 note. Those complete regimes were not investigated. |
| R081-P1-C035 | A claimed identity, title or affiliation is not authenticated by the rule’s existence. Part 461 provides no identity registry, appointment, license, agency authorization or factual verification result. | Bounded observation from S001’s complete contents; C018–C023. It supplies no basis to inspect an actual provider in this pass. |
| Claim | Finding | Status and precise source |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C036 | The FTC explains that the rule does not regulate noncommercial speech and excludes representations not material to a commercial transaction. That explanation does not create an unconditional label-based exception for every artistic, political or similar communication. | Agency preamble interpretation, S002, III.C, pp.15021–15022/indices 4–5; apply the adopted materiality/commerce language. |
| R081-P1-C037 | The preamble explains deception in terms of a material representation misleading consumers acting reasonably in the circumstances. It declined to incorporate the Deception Policy Statement formally into Part 461. | S002, III.C, p.15022/index 5. The separate policy statement and judicial elaboration were not investigated. |
| R081-P1-C038 | The preamble declines an intent requirement for this rule. That must not be turned into a conclusion that every civil-penalty or other remedy lacks a separate knowledge standard. | S002, III.C, p.15022/index 5; C034 preserves the uncompleted penalty regime. |
| R081-P1-C039 | The preamble treats its examples as nonexhaustive and declines additional affirmative registrar requirements; it also states the final rule imposes no disclosure or recordkeeping requirements. This supports no consumer verification duty or authority to obtain private records. | S002, III.C and III.G; V and introductory VI, pp.15022, 15024–15025/indices 5, 7–8. |
| R081-P1-C040 | The FTC states it does not intend to preempt non-inconsistent governmental action or diminish other rights/remedies equal to or greater than those under the rule. This is a qualified preamble statement, not a completed preemption or private-rights analysis. | S002, III.H, pp.15024–15025/indices 7–8. federalregister.gov |
| Claim | Finding | Exact source and status |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C041 | The March 1, 2024 SNPRM proposed changes rather than adopting them. Its stated comment-receipt date was April 30, 2024; that historical procedural date is not a Part 461 compliance deadline. | S006, header/DATES, p.15072/index 0. |
| R081-P1-C042 | The proposed definition of individual covered a person, entity or party, real or fictitious, other than a business or government under the Part. This definition is not in the current §461.1. | S006, proposed instruction 3, pp.15082–15083/indices 10–11; S001 comparison. |
| R081-P1-C043 | Proposed §461.4 would apply false-posing and affiliation branches to that proposed individual category, retaining materiality, direct/implied representation, and incorporated-commerce conditions. | S006, complete proposed §461.4(a)–(b), p.15083/index 11. Proposed only. |
| R081-P1-C044 | Proposed §461.5 would address providing goods/services with knowledge or reason to know they would be used for the specified material false posing or affiliation misrepresentation, directly/implied, concerning the listed government/business/officer/individual targets, in/affecting incorporated commerce. | S006, complete proposed §461.5(a)–(b), p.15083/index 11. No adoption is inferred. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C045 | The December 26, 2024 notice states the FTC would not proceed with proposed §461.5 at that time, while the hearing concerned proposed individual impersonation. “Final notice” there describes the hearing notice, not a final substantive amendment. | S007, summary and selected background paragraph, pp.104905–104906/indices 0–1. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C046 | The October 1, 2026 ANPRM begins consideration of additional measures concerning search-engine, social-media and other digital-marketplace-platform conduct furthering government/business impersonation. It does not itself add an operative prohibition. | S008, ACTION/SUMMARY, p.62347/index 0. |
| R081-P1-C047 | That ANPRM says any means-and-instrumentalities provision considered in the new proceeding would focus on platform advertising optimization and be narrower than the 2024 proposal. This is a description of contemplated scope, not adopted text. | S008, II, footnote 12, p.62348/index 1. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C048 | The same notice states that individual-impersonation options were still being evaluated. Together with the current three-section codification, this supports treating the proposed general individual provision as unadopted in the examined current body, not declaring all individual impersonation lawful. | S008, complete II, p.62348/index 1; S001. |
| R081-P1-C049 | The ANPRM requires comments to be received on or before November 30, 2026. That is a source-stated rulemaking participation date, not an effective date or a provider/consumer deadline under current Part 461. No submission or calendar calculation follows. | S008, DATES, p.62347/index 0. govinfo.gov |
| Claim | Finding | Authority or research boundary |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C050 | S010 and S011 returned 404 errors; S012 was inaccessible through the tool. Successful alternatives supplied the identified bodies, but failure does not establish repeal, nonexistence or a legal change. | Exact failure messages in the read/failure log; S003/S005 and S001/S002 alternatives. |
| R081-P1-C051 | S008 footnote 7 prints “45 U.S.C. 41 et seq.”, while its accompanying text identifies 15 USC §45 and the authenticated rule cites Title 15. This citation discrepancy is retained; it is not used to substitute Title 45 for the verified authority or to invalidate the notice. | S008, II n.7, p.62348/index 1; S001–S005. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C052 | This is a current-body and selected-history investigation. It is not a complete session-law, regulatory-history, constitutional, judicial-treatment, exemption-order or citator audit. No absence of later law or judicial qualification is certified. | S001–S012 read bounds and compilation gaps. |
| R081-P1-C053 | No actual identity, authority, representation, materiality, commerce nexus, knowledge, violation or remedy facts were supplied or investigated. Provider scoring, verification and broader A081 conclusions therefore remain outside the report. | User’s scope restrictions and C018–C035; this is a research-scope finding, not a legal finding about anyone. |
These distinctions identify different evidence questions. They do not authorize collecting provider records or making a provider decision.
| Comparison | Supported distinction | What remains unestablished | Claim/source crosswalk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asserted identity / verified legal identity | A representation can raise a Part 461 question; the rule itself supplies no identity verification. | Authentic identity, documentation, jurisdiction and factual accuracy. | C018, C035, C053; S001, S003–S004. |
| Actual authority / alleged affiliation | Authority and the truth of a claimed relationship require separate analysis. An affiliation representation can be relevant without a claim to be the target itself. | Appointment, agency, scope of authority, assent and the representation actually made. | C020, C022–C023, C035; S001. |
| Government / business | Apply the appropriate §461.1 category and corresponding §461.2 or §461.3 branch. | Whether any target fits the category, including an unexamined category not expressly enumerated. | C009–C011, C019–C022; S001. |
| False posing / affiliation, endorsement or sponsorship | They are alternative statutory-rule branches, not a cumulative requirement to establish both. | The representation, its context, falsity/misrepresentation, materiality and commerce nexus. | C019–C023; S001. |
| Materiality / any inaccurate statement | The materiality definition supplies a separate condition. Mere identification of an inaccuracy does not complete the rule’s test. | Effect or likely effect concerning goods/services and relevant context. | C012, C019–C022, C037; S001–S002. |
| Direct representation / implication | Both modes are covered within the same substantive branch. | What was conveyed and how it would be understood; no communication was examined. | C019–C024, C037; S001–S002. |
| Officer role / general individual category | Current officer coverage must be distinguished from the unadopted broader individual proposal. | Role, relationship, all operative elements, and any later final amendment. | C011, C025, C042–C048; S001, S006–S008. |
| Own representation / supplier assistance | Current prohibitions and the proposed knowledge-based supplier provision are different texts. | Any conduct meeting the current rule; no automatic supplier liability or immunity is inferred. | C024–C025, C044–C047; S001, S006–S008. |
| Target definition / FTC jurisdiction over actor | Inclusion of nonprofit targets does not resolve jurisdiction over every nonprofit actor. | FTC Act category, exceptions and indispensable sector definitions. | C009, C015–C018; S001, S003–S005. |
| Codified prohibition / actual violation | The rule supplies legal elements, not evidence that those elements occurred. | Every factual predicate and any necessary judicial interpretation. | C019–C025, C052–C053; S001. |
| Prohibition / remedy | Legal effect under §57a(d)(3) is distinct from a particular enforcement route, remedy or amount. | Standing, remedy authority, knowledge standards, procedures, limitations and adjustments. | C031, C034; S004–S005. |
| Adopted text / preamble / proposal | Adopted text controls the identified rule; preamble explains it; proposals describe possible change. | Any future adoption and its precise effective/application clauses. | C003–C007, C036–C049; S001–S002, S006–S008. |
| Federal rule / other law | The qualified savings explanation does not complete other federal or nonfederal regimes. | Other-law elements, remedies, conflicts, preemption and actual application. | C040, C052–C053; S002. |
This register covers every substantive quantity or date relied on in the reported findings. Citation numbers, paragraph identifiers, page numbers, PDF indices and document identifiers are locators, not coverage thresholds. Incidental statistics, comment counts and quantities in unrelied-on source passages are not adopted.
| Measurement | Quantity, unit and exact authority | Actor/object; trigger or reference event | Boundary, conditions and exceptions | Counting/delivery convention and missing application facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | October 27, 2026, America/Los_Angeles; C001. | Actual research access. | Access metadata only. | No legal period computed. |
| M02 | October 26, 2026; S001 version banner, C002. | Displayed eCFR currency. | Not a certification through a later date. | Host compilation date; no event facts. |
| M03 | October 19, 2026; S001 banner, C002. | Last displayed amendment to Title 16. | Not necessarily an amendment to Part 461. | No Part-specific change inferred. |
| M04 | October 15, 2026; S003–S005, S009 banners, C006. | Statutory compilation through the identified public law. | Does not establish all later session law. | Compilation cutoff, not application date. |
| M05 | Three current sections; S001 complete Part, C003. | Current Part inventory. | §§461.1–461.3; proposed numbering is excluded. | Organizational count, not a coverage threshold. |
| M06 | Four definitions; S001 §461.1, C009–C013. | Business, government, materially and officer. | Inclusive wording remains as identified; no extra definition invented. | Inventory count only. |
| M07 | Two alternative paragraphs in each prohibition; S001 §§461.2–461.3, C023. | False posing versus affiliation misrepresentation. | Either branch may be relevant, but all conditions within that branch remain necessary. | Logical alternatives, not a numerical compliance score. |
| M08 | March 1, 2024; S002 publication, C004–C005. | Publication of original final rule. | Publication does not itself replace the express effective clause. | Printed publication date; no elapsed-days model. |
| M09 | April 1, 2024; S002 DATES, C005; S005 §57a(d)(3), C031. | Rule effectiveness; subsequent-violation legal effect. | Rule effect is subject to the statute’s “unless otherwise expressly provided” qualification. No private result is determined. | No actual conduct date or retroactivity analysis supplied. |
| M10 | March 1, 2024 and April 30, 2024; S006 header/DATES, C041. | SNPRM publication and historical comment-receipt date. | Receipt on or before the stated closing date; proposal was not thereby adopted. | Full delivery procedures were not analyzed; no actual filing or deadline computation. |
| M11 | December 26, 2024; S007 publication, C045. | Hearing/status notice. | Its statement about §461.5 is qualified by “at this time.” | No substantive effective date inferred. |
| M12 | October 1, 2026; S008 publication, C046–C048. | New ANPRM and its status statements. | Proposal and contemporaneous agency description, not final obligations. | No actual implementation date established. |
| M13 | November 30, 2026; S008 DATES, C049. | Receipt of ANPRM comments. | Inclusive on-or-before boundary. | No timezone, submission-method or extension conclusion is supplied; no actual calendar calculated. |
| M14 | May 28, 1980; S005 §57a(h), C027. | Historical proceeding reference within a rulemaking-authority restriction. | Also reaches substantially similar proceedings, with the stated unfairness basis. | This is not a present filing or compliance deadline. |
| M15 | No substantive numeric coverage threshold, penalty amount or private deadline in current Part 461; S001 complete body, C008. | Selected current regulation only. | Does not deny quantities or procedures in other law. | No monetary, scoring, financial or calendar model is justified here. |
No calculation is supplied. The current Part’s tests are qualitative; an actual financial or calendar model would require facts and legal regimes that this pass deliberately excludes. C008, C034, C053.
Every row preserves the full qualifications of the linked claims. “Missing evidence” identifies why no actual conclusion follows; it is not a request to obtain or enter records.
| Branch | Supported conditional rule and exact claim/source links | Missing authority or predicate | Adverse inference to avoid | Next permissible generic public-law inquiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B01 — Current version unknown | Use the complete displayed body and distinguish its cutoff from access and effectiveness. C002–C007, C052; S001–S002. | Any later amendment/correction after the displayed cutoff; full judicial history. | A current-looking webpage proves the entire legal chain. | Reopen official Part 461 and any later published amendatory instrument, without case or party searches. |
| B02 — Defined versus undefined category | Apply the four definitions; do not supply an unexamined definition for other terms. C009–C013; S001. | A necessary public construction rule for a disputed undefined term. | Ordinary usage automatically supplies a controlling legal definition. | Identify the exact disputed term and a narrow official legal interpretation of §§461.1–461.3. |
| B03 — Government category | If the target fits §461.1, select §461.2(a) or (b) and retain every condition. C010, C019–C020; S001. | Target category, role, representation, materiality and commerce nexus. | A government-associated label proves identity, authority or violation. | Read the inclusive definition alongside both government branches; separately hold unenumerated-category interpretation. |
| B04 — Business category | Goods/services and the defined entity category matter; either §461.3 branch still requires its remaining elements. C009, C021–C022; S001. | Category and all representation predicates. | Any named activity necessarily constitutes the rule’s business category. | Re-examine §461.1’s business definition and the exact §461.3 branch. |
| B05 — Nonprofit target versus actor | Nonprofit inclusion concerns the defined business category; actor jurisdiction remains a separate FTC Act inquiry. C009, C015–C018; S001, S003–S005. | Statutory actor status and applicable exclusions. | Every nonprofit is subject to—or exempt from—every FTC rule. | Read the complete §44 corporation definition and §45(a)(2), then only an indispensable incorporated definition. |
| B06 — False posing | The applicable false-posing branch requires falsity, materiality, representation mode, target category and commerce. C019, C021, C023; S001. | Each factual predicate is absent. | Similarity or an asserted role alone proves false posing. | Compare the complete wording of §§461.2(a) and 461.3(a). |
| B07 — Affiliation, endorsement or sponsorship | Select the affiliation branch, including its materiality and commerce requirements; false posing is not additionally required. C020, C022–C023; S001. | Claimed relationship, accuracy, context and materiality. | Any association proves endorsement, or every inaccurate relationship claim is automatically actionable. | Read both paragraph (b) provisions with §461.1’s materiality definition. |
| B08 — Materiality | The definition concerns likely effect on choice/conduct regarding goods/services. C012, C037; S001–S002. | Relevant context and likely effect. | Any error is material, or a monetary threshold must be met under §461.1. | Reopen §461.1 and the complete selected III.C explanation; hold judicial elaboration. |
| B09 — Direct or implied representation | Either mode may satisfy the representation element; other elements remain. C019–C024; S001. | Meaning conveyed in context. | “By implication” creates a separate general assisting-and-facilitating prohibition. | Compare current §§461.2–461.3 with proposed §461.5’s different language. |
| B10 — Officer or individual | Current officer-role coverage and proposed general individual coverage are distinct. C011, C025, C042–C048; S001, S006–S008. | Role and all current elements; any later final amendment. | No individual can fall within the current rule, or the general individual proposal is already law. | Check current §461.1 and any actual final instrument concerning proposed §461.4. |
| B11 — Actual authority unknown | A role or relationship claim does not authenticate legal authority. C018, C035; S001, S003–S004. | Appointment, delegation, agency and scope of authority—all held. | A rule-defined category itself appoints or authorizes anyone. | Determine which separate public-law authority would govern the claimed role, without investigating an occupant. |
| B12 — Claimed identity unverified | Part 461 provides elements, not an identity-verification result. C035, C053; S001. | All identity and representation facts. | The report validates a provider or its representations. | Ask only whether the legal text creates a verification mechanism; do not begin a provider search. |
| B13 — Intermediary/knowledge clause | The examined knowledge/reason-to-know supplier language is proposed, while own representations can raise current-rule questions. C024–C025, C044–C047; S001, S006–S008. | Actual conduct; any adopted later supplier rule. | Automatic intermediary liability or categorical intermediary immunity. | Reopen any later final amendatory text and compare its elements with the 2024 proposal. |
| B14 — Proposal versus adopted law | SNPRM, hearing notice and ANPRM status do not substitute for an adopted amendment. C041–C049; S006–S008. | A final publication and its application clauses. | A proposal number, “final hearing notice,” or future comment date creates a current duty. | Locate the actual final amendatory instructions, if any, through public rule publications. |
| B15 — Applicable date | Use the express April 1, 2024 effective clause and §57a(d)(3)’s subsequent-violation rule. C005, C031; S002, S005. | Conduct timing and any separate historical application question. | Publication date, alleged-loss date and legal application are interchangeable. | Read the final DATES clause and §57a(d)(3) together; hold retroactivity adjudication. |
| B16 — Commerce or foreign application | Incorporated commerce matters, but foreign application is not completed by its definition alone. C014, C033; S003–S004. | Commerce nexus and complete relevant foreign-application history. | Part 461 necessarily applies everywhere or only to acts crossing state borders. | Read the exact §45(a)(4) application chain if that distinct topic is later authorized. |
| B17 — Incorporated authority incomplete | Jurisdictional exceptions and sector definitions remain substantive conditions. C016–C017, C026–C027; S004–S005. | Required Title 12, transportation, communications or other narrow incorporation. | A commercial label resolves FTC jurisdiction. | Read only the implicated complete definition, such as the relevant §57a(f) Title 12 incorporation. |
| B18 — Exemption claimed or pending | The statutory exemption mechanism requires the specified FTC finding/action; pendency does not stay applicability. C032; S005, S009. | Any legally relevant exemption instrument, not merely a request. | A request, objection or pending review suspends the rule. | Read §57a(g)(1)–(3) and any generic published exemption rule within a separately authorized scope. |
| B19 — Noncommercial context | Preserve materiality/commerce and the preamble’s qualified noncommercial explanation. C012, C036–C037; S001–S002. | Context and any unresolved constitutional interpretation. | A label such as art, politics or parody automatically decides coverage. | Re-read III.C and the adopted text; keep constitutional merits outside this pass. |
| B20 — Intent versus remedy knowledge | The preamble’s interpretation of the rule’s intent requirement does not complete penalty scienter or remedies. C038, C034; S002, S004–S005. | Full remedy statute and its predicates. | No intent element means an automatic penalty or fixed liability. | Read complete §45(m)(1) and necessary incorporations only in a separately scoped remedy inquiry. |
| B21 — Prohibition versus proof | A legal element table cannot establish that an element occurred. C019–C025, C053; S001. | All actual evidence, authority and adjudication. | The report accuses anyone or resolves credibility. | Continue with public legal interpretation only; actual evaluation remains excluded. |
| B22 — Remedy or penalty | No remedy amount or private enforcement right follows from Part 461 alone. C031, C034; S001, S005. | Complete remedial authority, standing, procedure, adjustments and application facts. | Refund, cancellation, debt defense or penalty is automatic. | Separately examine §§45(m), 57b and the full current adjustment chain before any monetary statement. |
| B23 — Other laws | The qualified preamble savings statement does not establish another regime’s elements or remedies. C040, C052; S002. | Other-law authority and conflicts analysis. | Omission from Part 461 means lawful under every law, or all other law is preempted. | Scope the particular public-law regime separately; do not import prior reports. |
| B24 — Codification versus explanation | Use the legal body for operative text; identify preamble explanations and proposals by status. C007, C026, C036–C049; S001–S002, S005–S008. | Any discrepancy requiring a complete narrow official interpretation. | An explanatory passage amends the regulation. | Compare exact adopted language with the explanation and its cited authority. |
| B25 — Source/history failure | Preserve the failures and successful official alternatives, with compilation limits. C050, C052; S010–S012 and alternatives. | Annual-edition access and complete later-law history. | Failed access proves repeal, absence or permission to bypass a gate. | Try an ordinary public official edition or later published instrument; retain any failure. |
| B26 — Citation discrepancy | S008’s footnote discrepancy does not replace the separately verified Title 15 authority. C051; S001–S005, S008. | Any official correction to that footnote. | The wrong title reference proves new substantive law or invalidates the whole notice. | Check public Federal Register corrections for that instrument without case inquiries. |
| B27 — No provider finding | The report is a legal-category framework only. C018, C035, C053. | Every actual provider or communication fact. | Completion of this report verifies identity, trustworthiness or compliance. | No provider inquiry follows within this pass. A different authorized scope would be required. |
| B28 — Broader A081 held | Ownership, availability, fees, contracts, complaints, outcomes and recommendations are not resolved by this rule analysis. C034, C052–C053. | Separate legal and methodology work for each parent dimension. | Part 461 supplies a full provider-selection or debt-relief assessment. | Define a later public-law component without importing an actual provider dossier. |
Only field labels are supplied. Every authority-entry, evidence-entry, analysis and result cell is empty. This is not an intake form, provider-screening instrument, complaint or decision tool.
| Analytical field | Authority entry | Evidence entry | Analysis | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source and issuer | ||||
| Publication and version | ||||
| Legal status | ||||
| Access date and reading bounds | ||||
| Currentness or history gap | ||||
| Generic covered category | ||||
| Defined or undefined term | ||||
| Incorporated definition | ||||
| Precise legal element | ||||
| Asserted-role category | ||||
| Authority category | ||||
| Affiliation category | ||||
| Endorsement or sponsorship category | ||||
| Representation-mode category | ||||
| Materiality | ||||
| Commerce condition | ||||
| Statutory jurisdiction boundary | ||||
| Qualification or exception | ||||
| Source-stated quantity and unit | ||||
| Trigger and application boundary | ||||
| Final versus proposed status | ||||
| Law versus actual-proof distinction | ||||
| Enforcement or remedy boundary | ||||
| Other-law boundary | ||||
| Parent-scope boundary | ||||
| Missing public authority | ||||
| Next permissible public-law inquiry |
Answered means the bounded public-text question was answered. It does not mean an actual actor or representation was classified. Partial identifies a specific remaining authority or currentness limitation. Excluded identifies work prohibited or outside the requested component.
| Question/material subquestion | Status | Finding, claim/source and branch links | Missing evidence or authority | Exact next permissible inquiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Complete current Part | Answered | C003–C004, C009–C025; S001–S002; B02–B10. | No actual application facts. | Reopen current official-publisher Part if currency changes. |
| 1 — Sections actually present; reserved/repealed/transferred | Answered, present-body limit | C003, C025; S001. | Exhaustive historical inventory not claimed. | Read a specific historical amendatory instrument only if material. |
| 1 — Authority and source credits | Answered | C004, C026–C032; S001, S005. | Full 15 USC 41–58 not investigated. | Follow only an indispensable additional clause. |
| 1 — Publication status, version, access and cutoff | Answered with currentness limit | C001–C007, C050–C052; S001–S012; B01, B25. | Post-cutoff and complete judicial history. | Check subsequent official amendments/corrections. |
| 2 — Business, government, officer and materiality | Answered | C009–C012; S001; B02–B05, B08, B10. | Factual category membership absent. | Narrow public interpretation only if a defined boundary is disputed. |
| 2 — Undefined affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement and other terms | Partial | C013; S001; B02, B07. | No complete judicial construction dossier. | Identify the precise unresolved term and separately scope its legal interpretation. |
| 2 — Commerce incorporation | Answered as definition; foreign application partial | C014, C033; S003–S004; B16. | Complete foreign-application enactment/history. | Read the narrow relevant §45(a)(4) history if needed. |
| 2 — Target versus actor; public/private boundaries | Answered at framework level | C015–C018; S001, S003–S005; B05, B17. | Complete sector exclusions and actual categories. | Trace the exact implicated statutory definition. |
| 3 — Government false posing | Answered | C019, C023; S001 §461.2(a); B03, B06. | All actual elements absent. | No factual investigation; public-text interpretation only. |
| 3 — Government affiliation/endorsement/sponsorship | Answered | C020, C023; S001 §461.2(b); B07. | Representation and relationship facts absent. | Compare the complete branch with §461.1. |
| 3 — Direct/implied, materiality and commerce | Answered | C012, C014, C019–C024; S001, S003; B08–B09. | No context or nexus evidence. | Follow a narrow official interpretation if ambiguity remains. |
| 4 — Business false posing and affiliation branches | Answered | C021–C023; S001 §461.3; B04, B06–B07. | Actual facts absent. | No provider inquiry within this pass. |
| 4 — Representatives, targets and intermediaries | Answered at textual level | C011, C018, C024–C025; S001, S003–S004; B10–B13. | Actual authority and conduct; uncompleted agency law. | Separately identify governing public role/authority law if indispensable. |
| 4 — Nonprofit inclusion versus FTC jurisdiction | Partial for jurisdiction | C009, C015–C017; S001, S003–S005; B05. | Underlying sector/legal-status authorities. | Complete only the necessary incorporation; no actual entity classification. |
| 5 — General individual impersonation | Answered as examined current status | C025, C042–C043, C048; S001, S006, S008; B10. | Any later final amendment beyond examined currency. | Look for adopted text, not a proposal or agenda entry. |
| 5 — Officer/employee scope | Answered | C011, C019–C022, C025; S001; B10. | Role and all operative factual conditions. | Revisit §461.1 and the selected branch only. |
| 5 — Means-and-instrumentalities; knowledge/reason to know | Answered as proposal/status comparison | C024–C025, C044–C047; S001, S006–S008; B13. | No adopted separate supplier provision in examined body; future action unknown. | Examine any later final amendment with its dates and exact text. |
| 5 — Broader FTC authority versus Part prohibition | Answered, bounded | C026–C034; S004–S005; B17, B20–B22. | Full FTC Act enforcement regime. | Separately scope that regime rather than import it. |
| 6 — Kind of rule and administrator | Answered | C016, C026–C031; S002, S004–S005. | No actual enforcement or jurisdiction finding. | Complete any indispensable jurisdictional incorporation only. |
| 6 — Authority limitations and exemptions | Answered in selected clauses | C017, C026–C027, C032; S005, S009; B17–B18. | Actual exemption instruments and full sector rules not investigated. | Read a relevant generic published exemption or exact incorporated definition if separately needed. |
| 6 — Remedies, private rights, penalties and adjustments | Excluded; boundary answered | C034, C038; S001–S005; B20–B22. | Complete remedial and adjustment chain. | Separate inquiry into §§45(m), 57b, §1.98 and adjustment legislation. |
| 7 — Original final-rule body and instructions | Answered | C003–C005; S002 p.15030/index 13. | No full preamble/underlying record audit. | None needed to identify the adopted three-section text. |
| 7 — Publication/effectiveness/application distinction | Answered, historical application bounded | C005, C031; S002, S005; M08–M09; B15. | Actual conduct date and any disputed retroactivity issue. | Narrow public-law application inquiry only if later authorized. |
| 7 — Relevant later proposal and status instruments | Answered for selected instruments | C041–C049; S006–S008; B13–B14. | Complete intervening and later history not certified. | Check official subsequent final/correction notices. |
| 7 — Preamble versus adopted text | Answered | C036–C040; S002; B19, B24. | Judicial treatment and full external policy statements. | Separately scope exact unresolved interpretation. |
| 7 — Citation discrepancy | Answered as observed discrepancy | C051; S008 II n.7; B26. | Any official correction. | Check correction publication, without case searches. |
| 8 — Identity, authority and affiliation comparisons | Answered as evidence categories | C018–C024, C035; comparison table; B06–B12. | All actual evidence absent. | No provider assessment follows. |
| 8 — Materiality, mode and violation comparisons | Answered | C012, C023–C025, C037, C053; comparison table. | Actual proof and adjudication. | Legal interpretation only within scope. |
| 8 — Prohibition/remedy and federal/other-law distinctions | Answered as boundaries | C034, C040, C052; B22–B23. | Other regimes and remedies. | Separately scope the precise public authority. |
| 8 — Provider scoring, recommendations and full methodology | Excluded by scope | C053; B27–B28. | No provider facts or authorized dossier. | No provider search or recommendation in this pass. |
| 9 — All relied-on quantities and dates | Answered | M01–M15; C001–C008, C023, C027, C031, C041, C045–C049. | Actual event/delivery facts absent. | Recheck a source-stated date only if legal status changes. |
| 9 — Penalty amount or actual deadline | Excluded | C034; M15; B22. | Full supporting legal chain and actual predicates. | Separate complete remedy/adjustment research before any amount. |
| 9 — Numerical model | Not required; omitted with reason | C008, C053; M15. | No numerical coverage test or authorized actual inputs. | No model follows from this pass. |
| 10 — At least twenty substantive branches | Answered | B01–B28, each with claims, sources, gaps, adverse inference and next inquiry. | Actual application remains absent throughout. | Follow only a branch’s permitted generic public-law question. |
| 10 — Adaptation for absent/proposed categories | Answered | B10, B13–B14, B20, B26; C025, C041–C051. | Future adoption and unresolved cross-reference history. | Do not populate absent requirements; check actual new text. |
| 11 — Blank analytical worksheet | Answered | Section 6; C053. | Intentionally no entries. | Keep every entry, analysis and result cell blank. |
| 11 — No operative communication or decision tool | Answered as scope compliance | Blank worksheet and B27–B28. | No factual or transactional authorization. | No form completion, complaint, contact or recommendation. |
| Reading/access event | Result and exact boundary | Consequence for the report |
|---|---|---|
| Complete current eCFR Part and individual section views | Successful. Full legal body and notes read; title currency and unofficial-edition notice recorded. | Supports the current inventory and operative elements. Repeated views are grouped as S001. |
| Original final-rule official PDF and HTML rendition | Successful. Entire adopted amendment and DATES read; selected generic preamble passages read. | Authenticates original text and effectiveness. Does not support a claim of whole-document, whole-record or judicial review. |
| Preliminary-format OLRC §44 endpoint | 404 Not Found at normalized URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title15-section44. | Failure preserved as S010; versioned official S003 supplied the body. |
| Preliminary-format OLRC §57a endpoint | 404 Not Found at normalized URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title15-section57a. | Failure preserved as S011; versioned official S005 supplied the body. |
| Versioned OLRC §§44, 45, 57a and APA §553 | Successful, with the complete-versus-selected limits in S003–S005 and S009. | Supports only the examined definitions, authority and qualifications; no full FTC Act/APA certification. |
| March 2024 SNPRM | Successful. Entire proposed amendatory body read; selected explanation and DATES read. | Proposed definitions and sections remain labeled proposed. |
| December 2024 hearing notice | Successful selected status reading. No participant-list or underlying comment-record investigation. | Establishes the qualified decision not to proceed with the supplier provision at that time. |
| October 2026 ANPRM | Successful selected reading: header/DATES, complete section II and relevant authority paragraph. | Establishes the later proposal’s existence and stated status; no new substantive duty inferred. |
| Annual-CFR Part 461 PDF endpoint | Returned “not accessible via this tool.” No body read. | Annual-edition gap retained; no nonexistence or repeal inference. |
| Generic currentness searches | Used as discovery only. Search results, agency indexes, agendas and third-party summaries were not treated as adopted text. | No conclusion rests on a search snippet or unexamined result. |
| Incidental references inside public instruments | Preambles contain cited comments, cases, named examples and studies. Underlying materials were not opened or used as provider/case evidence. | No identifying-party, case, provider or roster investigation was conducted. |
| PDF handling | Parsed text, with printed pages and zero-based indices distinguished. | No claim of viewed pixels, complete-document inspection beyond stated bounds, or unseen forms. |
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Fresh investigation independent of earlier reports | No earlier report’s legal or factual conclusions were used as a premise. |
| Complete selected current body | All of current §§461.1–461.3, authority/source notes and nested operative clauses were read. |
| Proposed material separated | Proposed individual and supplier provisions, the hearing notice and the new ANPRM remain separately labeled. |
| Necessary authority bounded | Commerce, relevant actor-jurisdiction clauses, rulemaking authority, legal effect and the exemption mechanism were examined with their stated limits. |
| Definitions not invented | Defined terms and undefined terms are distinguished; proposed definitions were not imported into current law. |
| Elements preserved | Alternative branches and cumulative materiality, target, representation and commerce conditions remain explicit. |
| Quantities controlled | Every relied-on quantity/date appears in M01–M15; no penalty figure, actual deadline, score or financial model was supplied. |
| Sources and failures visible | Literal URLs, exact read bounds, compilation dates, original/alternate distinctions and failures are recorded. |
| No false corroboration | Section views and formats of the same instrument are grouped. |
| PDF claims limited | Parsed-text reading is distinguished from visual page inspection. |
| Actual providers and records excluded | No actual or fictional provider assessment, communication test, case investigation, roster search or identifying entry was performed. |
| Worksheet remains blank | All authority, evidence, analysis and result cells are empty. |
| Review status | This is the researcher’s own consistency and scope check, not independent review, a judicial determination, or component/parent acceptance. |
END R081 PASS-01.
Captured cells with original header handling and explicitly labeled bounded correction overlays. Downloaded JSON retains original cells. Tables may contain source limitations, historical examples and identified corrections; the complete reading supplies context.
Read the evidence with its boundaries. These are saved research components, including revisions. A scoped coordinator review checks selected evidence; it does not certify every claim, a complete jurisdiction, current law or individual applicability. Dates and access limits remain attached to the records.
Source · Issuer, instrument and complete literal HTTPS URL · Exact provisions or pages examined · 12 data rows
| Source | Issuer, instrument and complete literal HTTPS URL | Exact provisions or pages examined | Version, legal status and effective/application information | Actual reading extent and limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-S001 | Office of the Federal Register/GPO, eCFR, 16 CFR Part 461—Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461. Section views: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461/section-461.1; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461/section-461.2; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-461/section-461.3. | Complete Part heading, authority/source notes, and every word of §§461.1–461.3, including both paragraphs of §§461.2 and 461.3. | Displayed currency October 26, 2026; Title 16 last amended October 19, 2026. Government-published, authoritative but unofficial continuously updated codification. Source credit: 89 FR 15030, March 1, 2024. Effective date authenticated through S002. | Complete selected Part read. Section views and whole-Part view are the same codification, not independent corroboration. The title-wide amendment date does not identify a Part 461 amendment. ecfr.gov +3 |
| R081-P1-S002 | FTC; official Federal Register final rule, Trade Regulation Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses. Official PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-03-01/pdf/2024-04335.pdf. HTML rendition: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/03/01/2024-04335/trade-regulation-rule-on-impersonation-of-government-and-businesses. | Instrument occupies 89 FR 15017–15031, PDF indices 0–14. DATES: p.15017/index 0. Complete amendatory instruction and entire adopted Part 461: p.15030/index 13. Selected preamble: authority discussion in II, p.15018/index 1; agency analysis in III.C, pp.15021–15022/indices 4–5; selected concluding passages in III.D–H, pp.15023–15025/indices 6–8; IV–V and introductory regulatory analysis on p.15025/index 8. | Published March 1, 2024; final rule expressly effective April 1, 2024. Official PDF authenticates the adopted text; the HTML rendition is grouped with it. | Complete adopted legal body and effective clause read; not the entire 15-page preamble/attachment package. No underlying comments, cited opinions, enforcement records, or post-rule Commission statement were investigated. Unrelated material sharing the first printed page was excluded. govinfo.gov +2 |
| R081-P1-S003 | Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 15 USC §44—Definitions. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t15/s44/. | Complete statutory body; source credit and displayed editorial/amendment/effective notes. Material definitions: commerce, corporation, Acts to regulate commerce, banks. | Official U.S. Code compilation displaying laws in effect through PL 119-124, October 15, 2026. Current codified statutory text, not a separately authenticated complete session-law chain. | Complete §44 body read. Ancillary definitions and notes were not used to complete foreign enforcement, antitrust, communications, transportation, or banking regimes. uscode.house.gov +1 |
| R081-P1-S004 | OLRC, 15 USC §45—Unfair methods of competition unlawful; prevention by Commission. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t15/s45/. | Complete §45(a)(1)–(4). | Same October 15, 2026 statutory cutoff. Enacted law as currently codified. | Selected complete subsection (a), not all of §45. The civil-penalty provisions, full administrative/enforcement procedure, limitations and other remedies were not completed. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-S005 | OLRC, 15 USC §57a—Unfair or deceptive acts or practices rulemaking proceedings. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t15/s57a/. | Complete (a)(1)–(2), (b)(1)–(3), (c)(1)–(5), (d)(1)–(3), (f)(1)–(4), (g)(1)–(3), and (h). Source credit and selected notes also inspected. | Same October 15, 2026 cutoff. Current statutory rulemaking authority and qualifications. | These complete clauses support the bounded authority, legal-effect and exemption discussion. Other returned portions were not used to certify a full judicial-review or rulemaking-procedure regime. Title 12 and other financial-sector incorporations remain incomplete. uscode.house.gov +1 |
| R081-P1-S006 | FTC; Federal Register supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking, same rule title. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-03-01/pdf/2024-03793.pdf. | 89 FR 15072–15083, PDF indices 0–11. Header, summary and DATES: p.15072/index 0. Selected generic overview: p.15077/index 5. Complete proposed amendatory instructions 1–5 and proposed text: pp.15082–15083/indices 10–11. | Published March 1, 2024. Proposal, not an operative amendment. Stated comment-receipt date: April 30, 2024. | Entire proposed legal amendment read; selected explanatory text, not the full 12-page instrument. Proposed §§461.4 and 461.5 must not be substituted for S001. No underlying comments were accessed. govinfo.gov +2 |
| R081-P1-S007 | FTC; Federal Register notice of informal hearing concerning the proposal. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-12-26/pdf/2024-30718.pdf. | Instrument: 89 FR 104905–104908, PDF indices 0–3. Header and scope/status summary, p.104905/index 0; complete selected status paragraph in background, p.104906/index 1. | Published December 26, 2024. Procedural notice, including an initial/final hearing notice; not a final substantive Part 461 amendment. | Read only the relevant scope/status material. Participant-list and actual comment-record investigation were excluded. The statement concerning proposed §461.5 is qualified by “at this time.” govinfo.gov +1 |
| R081-P1-S008 | FTC; Federal Register Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses—Advance notice of proposed rulemaking. Official PDF: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/pdf/2026-20143.pdf. Official HTML: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-10-01/html/2026-20143.htm. | Instrument: 91 FR 62347–62357, indices 0–10. Header, summary, DATES: p.62347/index 0. Complete section II, including material status footnotes: p.62348/index 1. Selected concluding rulemaking-authority paragraph in IV: p.62353/index 6. | Published October 1, 2026. ANPRM/request for comment, not final or future-effective regulation. Stated comment-receipt date November 30, 2026. | Selected legal scope, status and authority passages read; not the entire instrument. Platform examples, enforcement cases, underlying studies and comments were not investigated. Footnote 7 contains a citation discrepancy documented below. govinfo.gov +3 |
| R081-P1-S009 | OLRC, 5 USC §553—Rule making. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t5/s553/. | Complete §553(a)–(e) and displayed notes. | Same October 15, 2026 cutoff. Current statutory text. | Read to bound §57a’s express APA incorporations. No complete APA, FTC procedural-rule, rulemaking-challenge or personal-deadline dossier is claimed. Its incidental quantities are not transposed into Part 461 obligations. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-S010 — failed | OLRC preliminary-format §44 endpoint. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section44&num=0&edition=prelim. | No body obtained. | Ordinary open returned 404 Not Found after URL normalization. | Failure supports no legal proposition. Successful ordinary official alternative: S003. |
| R081-P1-S011 — failed | OLRC preliminary-format §57a endpoint. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title15-section57a&num=0&edition=prelim. | No body obtained. | Ordinary open returned 404 Not Found after URL normalization. | Failure supports no legal proposition. Successful official alternative: S005. |
| R081-P1-S012 — failed | GPO annual-CFR endpoint attempted for Part 461. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2026-title16-vol1/pdf/CFR-2026-title16-vol1-part461.pdf. | No annual-edition body obtained. | Tool returned: URL “is not accessible via this tool.” | No assertion that the annual publication does not exist. S001 and S002 supplied current codified and original adopted text, respectively; the annual-edition access gap remains. |
Claim · Finding · Exact authority and scope · 8 data rows
| Claim | Finding | Exact authority and scope |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C001 | The actual research check date was October 27, 2026 in America/Los_Angeles. It is an access date, not an enactment or effective date. | Session time check; applies to the accesses recorded in S001–S012. |
| R081-P1-C002 | The accessible eCFR displayed currency through October 26, 2026, and a Title 16 amendment date of October 19, 2026. The latter does not establish that Part 461 changed on that date. | S001, version banner. ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C003 | Current organization is Title 16, Chapter I, Subchapter D, Part 461. The complete body has three sections: definitions, government impersonation, and business impersonation. It displays no reserved, repealed or transferred section within this Part. This is a present-body inventory, not an exhaustive historical finding. | S001, complete Part; S002, complete adopted text, p.15030/index 13. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C004 | The codified authority line cites 15 USC 41 through 58; the source line cites 89 FR 15030, March 1, 2024. The broad authority citation does not mean every section in that statutory range was investigated here. | S001, authority/source notes; S002, p.15030/index 13. |
| R081-P1-C005 | The original final rule was published March 1, 2024, with an expressly stated effective date of April 1, 2024. Publication and effectiveness are distinct. No separate later mandatory-implementation date was found in the complete adopted Part or its DATES clause. | S002, DATES, p.15017/index 0, and complete amendment. federalregister.gov |
| R081-P1-C006 | S003–S005 and S009 display laws in effect through PL 119-124, October 15, 2026. That cutoff does not certify all later session law or every source note’s underlying enactment. | Statutory-page banners. uscode.house.gov +3 |
| R081-P1-C007 | The eCFR identifies itself as authoritative but unofficial, rather than the official legal CFR edition. The original official Federal Register PDF was obtained; the attempted annual-CFR PDF was not. Those distinct statuses remain visible. | S001 status notice; S002 official PDF; S012 failure. |
| R081-P1-C008 | Within the complete current Part 461 only, there is no numerical coverage threshold, penalty amount, private notice period, filing deadline, or separate remedial formula. Nor does its text contain a separately numbered safe-harbor provision. This does not eliminate limitations or exemptions elsewhere in the FTC Act. | S001, §§461.1–461.3; compare C016–C017 and C026–C034. |
Claim · Finding · Exact authority and scope · 10 data rows
| Claim | Finding | Exact authority and scope |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C009 | Business means a corporation, partnership, association, or other entity providing goods or services; not-for-profit entities are expressly included. This is the Part’s category of business, including the entity impersonated. | S001, §461.1, “Business.” ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C010 | Government is an inclusive definition covering federal, state, local and tribal governments and their agencies and departments. Its use of “includes” must not be silently converted into an exhaustive list or a determination about an unexamined territorial or foreign category. | S001, §461.1, “Government.” |
| R081-P1-C011 | Officer includes executives, officials, employees and agents. The definition is not limited to an elected officeholder or to a corporate title. | S001, §461.1, “Officer.” |
| R081-P1-C012 | Materially concerns likelihood of affecting a person’s choice of, or conduct regarding, goods or services. The text supplies no dollar-loss threshold for this definition. | S001, §461.1, “Materially”; no remedial conclusion follows. |
| R081-P1-C013 | Part 461 does not separately define person, entity, affiliation, endorsement, sponsorship, impersonation, false posing, actual authority, or the phrase “directly or by implication.” It has no current definition of “individual.” Undefined terms are not permission to invent legal tests. | S001, complete definition section and prohibitions. The proposed individual definition is separately addressed in C042. |
| R081-P1-C014 | The incorporated commerce definition includes interstate commerce, foreign commerce, commerce within a U.S. Territory or DC, and the specified commerce between Territories, States, foreign nations and DC. It is broader than an assumption that every covered act must itself cross a state line. | S003, §44, complete “Commerce” paragraph; S001, §§461.2–461.3. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C015 | FTC Act corporation is a separate definition: it includes specified companies, trusts and associations organized for their own or members’ profit, with the stated share/capital/certificate alternatives; the no-share branch expressly excepts partnerships. That statutory definition must not be substituted for Part 461’s broader definition of the business being impersonated. | S003, §44, complete “Corporation” paragraph; S001, §461.1. |
| R081-P1-C016 | Section 45(a)(1) declares the specified unfair/deceptive conduct unlawful; §45(a)(2) empowers and directs the FTC to prevent it, subject to named jurisdictional exclusions: banks, specified savings-and-loan institutions and federal credit unions, covered common carriers, covered air carriers, and persons/entities insofar as subject to the Packers and Stockyards Act, with that statute’s stated exception. No actual actor’s jurisdictional status is established. | S004, complete §45(a)(1)–(2). The incorporated sector regimes were not completed. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C017 | The bank/savings-and-loan/credit-union cross-references are substantive, not mere labels. Section 57a(f)(2) identifies bank classes; (f)(3)–(4) incorporate Title 12 definitions. Those clauses were read, but the underlying Title 12 regime was not completed, so a sector-specific jurisdiction conclusion remains held. | S003, “Banks”; S005, complete §57a(f)(1)–(4). uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C018 | The impersonated target, the actor making the representation, and any actual representative are distinct analytical roles. A target fitting “business” or “government” does not by itself establish FTC jurisdiction over an actor or the actor’s authority. | Textual comparison of S001 §§461.1–461.3 with S003 §44 and S004 §45(a)(2); no factual classification. |
Claim · Finding—all stated elements remain necessary · Exact authority · 7 data rows
| Claim | Finding—all stated elements remain necessary | Exact authority |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C019 | Government false-posing branch: materiality and false posing; conveyed directly or by implication; posing as a government entity or its officer; in or affecting commerce under the incorporated definition. | S001, §461.2(a). ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C020 | Government affiliation branch: a material misrepresentation, directly or by implication, of affiliation with a government entity or its officer, including endorsement or sponsorship by that target; in or affecting the incorporated commerce. | S001, §461.2(b). |
| R081-P1-C021 | Business false-posing branch: materiality and false posing; directly or by implication; posing as a business or its officer; in or affecting the incorporated commerce. | S001, §461.3(a). ecfr.gov |
| R081-P1-C022 | Business affiliation branch: material misrepresentation, directly or by implication, of affiliation with a business or its officer, including endorsement or sponsorship by that target; in or affecting the incorporated commerce. | S001, §461.3(b). |
| R081-P1-C023 | Within each prohibition, paragraphs (a) and (b) are alternatives, joined by “or.” A false-posing theory does not require a separate affiliation representation; an affiliation theory does not require a separate assertion of being the target. Every qualification within the selected branch remains necessary. | S001, complete §§461.2 and 461.3; C019–C022. |
| R081-P1-C024 | “Directly or by implication” addresses the representation’s mode. It is not a separately stated intermediary-assistance or supplier-knowledge rule. This textual distinction does not immunize an intermediary whose own conduct meets an operative branch. | S001, §§461.2–461.3; comparison with the expressly different proposal in C044. |
| R081-P1-C025 | The current Part has no standalone general individual-impersonation or means-and-instrumentalities section, and no express “knowledge or reason to know” element. A representation concerning an individual in the defined officer role can still fall within C019–C022 if all other conditions hold. | S001, complete body; C011; proposed additions distinguished in S006–S008. |
Claim · Finding · Exact authority and limit · 10 data rows
| Claim | Finding | Exact authority and limit |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C026 | Section 57a distinguishes interpretive rules/policy statements from rules specifically defining unfair/deceptive practices. Its latter authority permits preventive requirements, but expressly excludes the stated standards-and-certification rulemaking activity and is subject to subsection (h). | S005, §57a(a)(1)(A)–(B). uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C027 | Subsection (h) limits rulemaking in the children’s-advertising proceeding pending May 28, 1980, or a substantially similar proceeding, on an unfairness determination. It is not a general exemption for all advertising or all deception. | S005, complete §57a(h). |
| R081-P1-C028 | Section 57a(a)(2) restricts reliance on other FTC Act authority for unfair/deceptive-practice rules while preserving the separately stated competition-rule authority. | S005, complete §57a(a)(2). |
| R081-P1-C029 | Section 57a(b) requires the specified rulemaking process; its APA incorporation excludes the §553 references to §§556–557. These are agency rulemaking requirements, not a provider’s personal notice or consumer-claim deadline. | S005, §57a(b)(1)–(3); S009, complete §553. Full FTC procedural rules remain held. |
| R081-P1-C030 | Substantive amendment or repeal uses the prescribed rulemaking/review route; an exemption under subsection (g) is expressly distinguished from amendment or repeal. | S005, §57a(d)(2)(B). |
| R081-P1-C031 | Once an applicable §57a(a)(1)(B) rule takes effect, a subsequent violation constitutes a §45(a)(1) unfair/deceptive practice unless the rule expressly provides otherwise. | S005, §57a(d)(3); S002’s effective date. This is not a finding of an actual violation. |
| R081-P1-C032 | Section 57a(g) permits an exemption request and allows the FTC, on the specified finding of nonnecessity to prevent the relevant practice, to exempt a person/class wholly or partly. APA §553 applies. Pending exemption or review proceedings do not stay the rule’s applicability. | S005, complete §57a(g)(1)–(3); S009. No actual exemption or proceeding was investigated. uscode.house.gov |
| R081-P1-C033 | The commerce definition’s foreign references do not complete extraterritorial application. Section 45(a)(3) concerns competition; (a)(4) concerns unfair/deceptive foreign-commerce conduct. Their distinct subjects and associated amendment/application history must not be collapsed into worldwide Part 461 coverage. | S003 notes and commerce definition; S004, complete §45(a)(3)–(4). Foreign application remains unresolved in this pass. |
| R081-P1-C034 | A Part 461 prohibition does not itself establish a private cause of action, a payable penalty, refund, damages, cancellation, contract invalidity, discharge or collection defense. No such outcome is concluded here. | S001 complete Part and S005 §57a(d)(3). Next separate authorities: 15 USC §45(m), §57b, and, for any current penalty figure, 16 CFR §1.98 and the adjustment legislation in 28 USC §2461 note. Those complete regimes were not investigated. |
| R081-P1-C035 | A claimed identity, title or affiliation is not authenticated by the rule’s existence. Part 461 provides no identity registry, appointment, license, agency authorization or factual verification result. | Bounded observation from S001’s complete contents; C018–C023. It supplies no basis to inspect an actual provider in this pass. |
Claim · Finding · Status and precise source · 5 data rows
| Claim | Finding | Status and precise source |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C036 | The FTC explains that the rule does not regulate noncommercial speech and excludes representations not material to a commercial transaction. That explanation does not create an unconditional label-based exception for every artistic, political or similar communication. | Agency preamble interpretation, S002, III.C, pp.15021–15022/indices 4–5; apply the adopted materiality/commerce language. |
| R081-P1-C037 | The preamble explains deception in terms of a material representation misleading consumers acting reasonably in the circumstances. It declined to incorporate the Deception Policy Statement formally into Part 461. | S002, III.C, p.15022/index 5. The separate policy statement and judicial elaboration were not investigated. |
| R081-P1-C038 | The preamble declines an intent requirement for this rule. That must not be turned into a conclusion that every civil-penalty or other remedy lacks a separate knowledge standard. | S002, III.C, p.15022/index 5; C034 preserves the uncompleted penalty regime. |
| R081-P1-C039 | The preamble treats its examples as nonexhaustive and declines additional affirmative registrar requirements; it also states the final rule imposes no disclosure or recordkeeping requirements. This supports no consumer verification duty or authority to obtain private records. | S002, III.C and III.G; V and introductory VI, pp.15022, 15024–15025/indices 5, 7–8. |
| R081-P1-C040 | The FTC states it does not intend to preempt non-inconsistent governmental action or diminish other rights/remedies equal to or greater than those under the rule. This is a qualified preamble statement, not a completed preemption or private-rights analysis. | S002, III.H, pp.15024–15025/indices 7–8. federalregister.gov |
Claim · Finding · Exact source and status · 9 data rows
| Claim | Finding | Exact source and status |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C041 | The March 1, 2024 SNPRM proposed changes rather than adopting them. Its stated comment-receipt date was April 30, 2024; that historical procedural date is not a Part 461 compliance deadline. | S006, header/DATES, p.15072/index 0. |
| R081-P1-C042 | The proposed definition of individual covered a person, entity or party, real or fictitious, other than a business or government under the Part. This definition is not in the current §461.1. | S006, proposed instruction 3, pp.15082–15083/indices 10–11; S001 comparison. |
| R081-P1-C043 | Proposed §461.4 would apply false-posing and affiliation branches to that proposed individual category, retaining materiality, direct/implied representation, and incorporated-commerce conditions. | S006, complete proposed §461.4(a)–(b), p.15083/index 11. Proposed only. |
| R081-P1-C044 | Proposed §461.5 would address providing goods/services with knowledge or reason to know they would be used for the specified material false posing or affiliation misrepresentation, directly/implied, concerning the listed government/business/officer/individual targets, in/affecting incorporated commerce. | S006, complete proposed §461.5(a)–(b), p.15083/index 11. No adoption is inferred. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C045 | The December 26, 2024 notice states the FTC would not proceed with proposed §461.5 at that time, while the hearing concerned proposed individual impersonation. “Final notice” there describes the hearing notice, not a final substantive amendment. | S007, summary and selected background paragraph, pp.104905–104906/indices 0–1. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C046 | The October 1, 2026 ANPRM begins consideration of additional measures concerning search-engine, social-media and other digital-marketplace-platform conduct furthering government/business impersonation. It does not itself add an operative prohibition. | S008, ACTION/SUMMARY, p.62347/index 0. |
| R081-P1-C047 | That ANPRM says any means-and-instrumentalities provision considered in the new proceeding would focus on platform advertising optimization and be narrower than the 2024 proposal. This is a description of contemplated scope, not adopted text. | S008, II, footnote 12, p.62348/index 1. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C048 | The same notice states that individual-impersonation options were still being evaluated. Together with the current three-section codification, this supports treating the proposed general individual provision as unadopted in the examined current body, not declaring all individual impersonation lawful. | S008, complete II, p.62348/index 1; S001. |
| R081-P1-C049 | The ANPRM requires comments to be received on or before November 30, 2026. That is a source-stated rulemaking participation date, not an effective date or a provider/consumer deadline under current Part 461. No submission or calendar calculation follows. | S008, DATES, p.62347/index 0. govinfo.gov |
Claim · Finding · Authority or research boundary · 4 data rows
| Claim | Finding | Authority or research boundary |
|---|---|---|
| R081-P1-C050 | S010 and S011 returned 404 errors; S012 was inaccessible through the tool. Successful alternatives supplied the identified bodies, but failure does not establish repeal, nonexistence or a legal change. | Exact failure messages in the read/failure log; S003/S005 and S001/S002 alternatives. |
| R081-P1-C051 | S008 footnote 7 prints “45 U.S.C. 41 et seq.”, while its accompanying text identifies 15 USC §45 and the authenticated rule cites Title 15. This citation discrepancy is retained; it is not used to substitute Title 45 for the verified authority or to invalidate the notice. | S008, II n.7, p.62348/index 1; S001–S005. govinfo.gov |
| R081-P1-C052 | This is a current-body and selected-history investigation. It is not a complete session-law, regulatory-history, constitutional, judicial-treatment, exemption-order or citator audit. No absence of later law or judicial qualification is certified. | S001–S012 read bounds and compilation gaps. |
| R081-P1-C053 | No actual identity, authority, representation, materiality, commerce nexus, knowledge, violation or remedy facts were supplied or investigated. Provider scoring, verification and broader A081 conclusions therefore remain outside the report. | User’s scope restrictions and C018–C035; this is a research-scope finding, not a legal finding about anyone. |
Comparison · Supported distinction · What remains unestablished · 13 data rows
| Comparison | Supported distinction | What remains unestablished | Claim/source crosswalk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asserted identity / verified legal identity | A representation can raise a Part 461 question; the rule itself supplies no identity verification. | Authentic identity, documentation, jurisdiction and factual accuracy. | C018, C035, C053; S001, S003–S004. |
| Actual authority / alleged affiliation | Authority and the truth of a claimed relationship require separate analysis. An affiliation representation can be relevant without a claim to be the target itself. | Appointment, agency, scope of authority, assent and the representation actually made. | C020, C022–C023, C035; S001. |
| Government / business | Apply the appropriate §461.1 category and corresponding §461.2 or §461.3 branch. | Whether any target fits the category, including an unexamined category not expressly enumerated. | C009–C011, C019–C022; S001. |
| False posing / affiliation, endorsement or sponsorship | They are alternative statutory-rule branches, not a cumulative requirement to establish both. | The representation, its context, falsity/misrepresentation, materiality and commerce nexus. | C019–C023; S001. |
| Materiality / any inaccurate statement | The materiality definition supplies a separate condition. Mere identification of an inaccuracy does not complete the rule’s test. | Effect or likely effect concerning goods/services and relevant context. | C012, C019–C022, C037; S001–S002. |
| Direct representation / implication | Both modes are covered within the same substantive branch. | What was conveyed and how it would be understood; no communication was examined. | C019–C024, C037; S001–S002. |
| Officer role / general individual category | Current officer coverage must be distinguished from the unadopted broader individual proposal. | Role, relationship, all operative elements, and any later final amendment. | C011, C025, C042–C048; S001, S006–S008. |
| Own representation / supplier assistance | Current prohibitions and the proposed knowledge-based supplier provision are different texts. | Any conduct meeting the current rule; no automatic supplier liability or immunity is inferred. | C024–C025, C044–C047; S001, S006–S008. |
| Target definition / FTC jurisdiction over actor | Inclusion of nonprofit targets does not resolve jurisdiction over every nonprofit actor. | FTC Act category, exceptions and indispensable sector definitions. | C009, C015–C018; S001, S003–S005. |
| Codified prohibition / actual violation | The rule supplies legal elements, not evidence that those elements occurred. | Every factual predicate and any necessary judicial interpretation. | C019–C025, C052–C053; S001. |
| Prohibition / remedy | Legal effect under §57a(d)(3) is distinct from a particular enforcement route, remedy or amount. | Standing, remedy authority, knowledge standards, procedures, limitations and adjustments. | C031, C034; S004–S005. |
| Adopted text / preamble / proposal | Adopted text controls the identified rule; preamble explains it; proposals describe possible change. | Any future adoption and its precise effective/application clauses. | C003–C007, C036–C049; S001–S002, S006–S008. |
| Federal rule / other law | The qualified savings explanation does not complete other federal or nonfederal regimes. | Other-law elements, remedies, conflicts, preemption and actual application. | C040, C052–C053; S002. |
Measurement · Quantity, unit and exact authority · Actor/object; trigger or reference event · 15 data rows
| Measurement | Quantity, unit and exact authority | Actor/object; trigger or reference event | Boundary, conditions and exceptions | Counting/delivery convention and missing application facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | October 27, 2026, America/Los_Angeles; C001. | Actual research access. | Access metadata only. | No legal period computed. |
| M02 | October 26, 2026; S001 version banner, C002. | Displayed eCFR currency. | Not a certification through a later date. | Host compilation date; no event facts. |
| M03 | October 19, 2026; S001 banner, C002. | Last displayed amendment to Title 16. | Not necessarily an amendment to Part 461. | No Part-specific change inferred. |
| M04 | October 15, 2026; S003–S005, S009 banners, C006. | Statutory compilation through the identified public law. | Does not establish all later session law. | Compilation cutoff, not application date. |
| M05 | Three current sections; S001 complete Part, C003. | Current Part inventory. | §§461.1–461.3; proposed numbering is excluded. | Organizational count, not a coverage threshold. |
| M06 | Four definitions; S001 §461.1, C009–C013. | Business, government, materially and officer. | Inclusive wording remains as identified; no extra definition invented. | Inventory count only. |
| M07 | Two alternative paragraphs in each prohibition; S001 §§461.2–461.3, C023. | False posing versus affiliation misrepresentation. | Either branch may be relevant, but all conditions within that branch remain necessary. | Logical alternatives, not a numerical compliance score. |
| M08 | March 1, 2024; S002 publication, C004–C005. | Publication of original final rule. | Publication does not itself replace the express effective clause. | Printed publication date; no elapsed-days model. |
| M09 | April 1, 2024; S002 DATES, C005; S005 §57a(d)(3), C031. | Rule effectiveness; subsequent-violation legal effect. | Rule effect is subject to the statute’s “unless otherwise expressly provided” qualification. No private result is determined. | No actual conduct date or retroactivity analysis supplied. |
| M10 | March 1, 2024 and April 30, 2024; S006 header/DATES, C041. | SNPRM publication and historical comment-receipt date. | Receipt on or before the stated closing date; proposal was not thereby adopted. | Full delivery procedures were not analyzed; no actual filing or deadline computation. |
| M11 | December 26, 2024; S007 publication, C045. | Hearing/status notice. | Its statement about §461.5 is qualified by “at this time.” | No substantive effective date inferred. |
| M12 | October 1, 2026; S008 publication, C046–C048. | New ANPRM and its status statements. | Proposal and contemporaneous agency description, not final obligations. | No actual implementation date established. |
| M13 | November 30, 2026; S008 DATES, C049. | Receipt of ANPRM comments. | Inclusive on-or-before boundary. | No timezone, submission-method or extension conclusion is supplied; no actual calendar calculated. |
| M14 | May 28, 1980; S005 §57a(h), C027. | Historical proceeding reference within a rulemaking-authority restriction. | Also reaches substantially similar proceedings, with the stated unfairness basis. | This is not a present filing or compliance deadline. |
| M15 | No substantive numeric coverage threshold, penalty amount or private deadline in current Part 461; S001 complete body, C008. | Selected current regulation only. | Does not deny quantities or procedures in other law. | No monetary, scoring, financial or calendar model is justified here. |
Branch · Supported conditional rule and exact claim/source links · Missing authority or predicate · 28 data rows
| Branch | Supported conditional rule and exact claim/source links | Missing authority or predicate | Adverse inference to avoid | Next permissible generic public-law inquiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B01 — Current version unknown | Use the complete displayed body and distinguish its cutoff from access and effectiveness. C002–C007, C052; S001–S002. | Any later amendment/correction after the displayed cutoff; full judicial history. | A current-looking webpage proves the entire legal chain. | Reopen official Part 461 and any later published amendatory instrument, without case or party searches. |
| B02 — Defined versus undefined category | Apply the four definitions; do not supply an unexamined definition for other terms. C009–C013; S001. | A necessary public construction rule for a disputed undefined term. | Ordinary usage automatically supplies a controlling legal definition. | Identify the exact disputed term and a narrow official legal interpretation of §§461.1–461.3. |
| B03 — Government category | If the target fits §461.1, select §461.2(a) or (b) and retain every condition. C010, C019–C020; S001. | Target category, role, representation, materiality and commerce nexus. | A government-associated label proves identity, authority or violation. | Read the inclusive definition alongside both government branches; separately hold unenumerated-category interpretation. |
| B04 — Business category | Goods/services and the defined entity category matter; either §461.3 branch still requires its remaining elements. C009, C021–C022; S001. | Category and all representation predicates. | Any named activity necessarily constitutes the rule’s business category. | Re-examine §461.1’s business definition and the exact §461.3 branch. |
| B05 — Nonprofit target versus actor | Nonprofit inclusion concerns the defined business category; actor jurisdiction remains a separate FTC Act inquiry. C009, C015–C018; S001, S003–S005. | Statutory actor status and applicable exclusions. | Every nonprofit is subject to—or exempt from—every FTC rule. | Read the complete §44 corporation definition and §45(a)(2), then only an indispensable incorporated definition. |
| B06 — False posing | The applicable false-posing branch requires falsity, materiality, representation mode, target category and commerce. C019, C021, C023; S001. | Each factual predicate is absent. | Similarity or an asserted role alone proves false posing. | Compare the complete wording of §§461.2(a) and 461.3(a). |
| B07 — Affiliation, endorsement or sponsorship | Select the affiliation branch, including its materiality and commerce requirements; false posing is not additionally required. C020, C022–C023; S001. | Claimed relationship, accuracy, context and materiality. | Any association proves endorsement, or every inaccurate relationship claim is automatically actionable. | Read both paragraph (b) provisions with §461.1’s materiality definition. |
| B08 — Materiality | The definition concerns likely effect on choice/conduct regarding goods/services. C012, C037; S001–S002. | Relevant context and likely effect. | Any error is material, or a monetary threshold must be met under §461.1. | Reopen §461.1 and the complete selected III.C explanation; hold judicial elaboration. |
| B09 — Direct or implied representation | Either mode may satisfy the representation element; other elements remain. C019–C024; S001. | Meaning conveyed in context. | “By implication” creates a separate general assisting-and-facilitating prohibition. | Compare current §§461.2–461.3 with proposed §461.5’s different language. |
| B10 — Officer or individual | Current officer-role coverage and proposed general individual coverage are distinct. C011, C025, C042–C048; S001, S006–S008. | Role and all current elements; any later final amendment. | No individual can fall within the current rule, or the general individual proposal is already law. | Check current §461.1 and any actual final instrument concerning proposed §461.4. |
| B11 — Actual authority unknown | A role or relationship claim does not authenticate legal authority. C018, C035; S001, S003–S004. | Appointment, delegation, agency and scope of authority—all held. | A rule-defined category itself appoints or authorizes anyone. | Determine which separate public-law authority would govern the claimed role, without investigating an occupant. |
| B12 — Claimed identity unverified | Part 461 provides elements, not an identity-verification result. C035, C053; S001. | All identity and representation facts. | The report validates a provider or its representations. | Ask only whether the legal text creates a verification mechanism; do not begin a provider search. |
| B13 — Intermediary/knowledge clause | The examined knowledge/reason-to-know supplier language is proposed, while own representations can raise current-rule questions. C024–C025, C044–C047; S001, S006–S008. | Actual conduct; any adopted later supplier rule. | Automatic intermediary liability or categorical intermediary immunity. | Reopen any later final amendatory text and compare its elements with the 2024 proposal. |
| B14 — Proposal versus adopted law | SNPRM, hearing notice and ANPRM status do not substitute for an adopted amendment. C041–C049; S006–S008. | A final publication and its application clauses. | A proposal number, “final hearing notice,” or future comment date creates a current duty. | Locate the actual final amendatory instructions, if any, through public rule publications. |
| B15 — Applicable date | Use the express April 1, 2024 effective clause and §57a(d)(3)’s subsequent-violation rule. C005, C031; S002, S005. | Conduct timing and any separate historical application question. | Publication date, alleged-loss date and legal application are interchangeable. | Read the final DATES clause and §57a(d)(3) together; hold retroactivity adjudication. |
| B16 — Commerce or foreign application | Incorporated commerce matters, but foreign application is not completed by its definition alone. C014, C033; S003–S004. | Commerce nexus and complete relevant foreign-application history. | Part 461 necessarily applies everywhere or only to acts crossing state borders. | Read the exact §45(a)(4) application chain if that distinct topic is later authorized. |
| B17 — Incorporated authority incomplete | Jurisdictional exceptions and sector definitions remain substantive conditions. C016–C017, C026–C027; S004–S005. | Required Title 12, transportation, communications or other narrow incorporation. | A commercial label resolves FTC jurisdiction. | Read only the implicated complete definition, such as the relevant §57a(f) Title 12 incorporation. |
| B18 — Exemption claimed or pending | The statutory exemption mechanism requires the specified FTC finding/action; pendency does not stay applicability. C032; S005, S009. | Any legally relevant exemption instrument, not merely a request. | A request, objection or pending review suspends the rule. | Read §57a(g)(1)–(3) and any generic published exemption rule within a separately authorized scope. |
| B19 — Noncommercial context | Preserve materiality/commerce and the preamble’s qualified noncommercial explanation. C012, C036–C037; S001–S002. | Context and any unresolved constitutional interpretation. | A label such as art, politics or parody automatically decides coverage. | Re-read III.C and the adopted text; keep constitutional merits outside this pass. |
| B20 — Intent versus remedy knowledge | The preamble’s interpretation of the rule’s intent requirement does not complete penalty scienter or remedies. C038, C034; S002, S004–S005. | Full remedy statute and its predicates. | No intent element means an automatic penalty or fixed liability. | Read complete §45(m)(1) and necessary incorporations only in a separately scoped remedy inquiry. |
| B21 — Prohibition versus proof | A legal element table cannot establish that an element occurred. C019–C025, C053; S001. | All actual evidence, authority and adjudication. | The report accuses anyone or resolves credibility. | Continue with public legal interpretation only; actual evaluation remains excluded. |
| B22 — Remedy or penalty | No remedy amount or private enforcement right follows from Part 461 alone. C031, C034; S001, S005. | Complete remedial authority, standing, procedure, adjustments and application facts. | Refund, cancellation, debt defense or penalty is automatic. | Separately examine §§45(m), 57b and the full current adjustment chain before any monetary statement. |
| B23 — Other laws | The qualified preamble savings statement does not establish another regime’s elements or remedies. C040, C052; S002. | Other-law authority and conflicts analysis. | Omission from Part 461 means lawful under every law, or all other law is preempted. | Scope the particular public-law regime separately; do not import prior reports. |
| B24 — Codification versus explanation | Use the legal body for operative text; identify preamble explanations and proposals by status. C007, C026, C036–C049; S001–S002, S005–S008. | Any discrepancy requiring a complete narrow official interpretation. | An explanatory passage amends the regulation. | Compare exact adopted language with the explanation and its cited authority. |
| B25 — Source/history failure | Preserve the failures and successful official alternatives, with compilation limits. C050, C052; S010–S012 and alternatives. | Annual-edition access and complete later-law history. | Failed access proves repeal, absence or permission to bypass a gate. | Try an ordinary public official edition or later published instrument; retain any failure. |
| B26 — Citation discrepancy | S008’s footnote discrepancy does not replace the separately verified Title 15 authority. C051; S001–S005, S008. | Any official correction to that footnote. | The wrong title reference proves new substantive law or invalidates the whole notice. | Check public Federal Register corrections for that instrument without case inquiries. |
| B27 — No provider finding | The report is a legal-category framework only. C018, C035, C053. | Every actual provider or communication fact. | Completion of this report verifies identity, trustworthiness or compliance. | No provider inquiry follows within this pass. A different authorized scope would be required. |
| B28 — Broader A081 held | Ownership, availability, fees, contracts, complaints, outcomes and recommendations are not resolved by this rule analysis. C034, C052–C053. | Separate legal and methodology work for each parent dimension. | Part 461 supplies a full provider-selection or debt-relief assessment. | Define a later public-law component without importing an actual provider dossier. |
Analytical field · Authority entry · Evidence entry · 27 data rows
| Analytical field | Authority entry | Evidence entry | Analysis | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Source and issuer | ||||
| Publication and version | ||||
| Legal status | ||||
| Access date and reading bounds | ||||
| Currentness or history gap | ||||
| Generic covered category | ||||
| Defined or undefined term | ||||
| Incorporated definition | ||||
| Precise legal element | ||||
| Asserted-role category | ||||
| Authority category | ||||
| Affiliation category | ||||
| Endorsement or sponsorship category | ||||
| Representation-mode category | ||||
| Materiality | ||||
| Commerce condition | ||||
| Statutory jurisdiction boundary | ||||
| Qualification or exception | ||||
| Source-stated quantity and unit | ||||
| Trigger and application boundary | ||||
| Final versus proposed status | ||||
| Law versus actual-proof distinction | ||||
| Enforcement or remedy boundary | ||||
| Other-law boundary | ||||
| Parent-scope boundary | ||||
| Missing public authority | ||||
| Next permissible public-law inquiry |
Question/material subquestion · Status · Finding, claim/source and branch links · 37 data rows
| Question/material subquestion | Status | Finding, claim/source and branch links | Missing evidence or authority | Exact next permissible inquiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Complete current Part | Answered | C003–C004, C009–C025; S001–S002; B02–B10. | No actual application facts. | Reopen current official-publisher Part if currency changes. |
| 1 — Sections actually present; reserved/repealed/transferred | Answered, present-body limit | C003, C025; S001. | Exhaustive historical inventory not claimed. | Read a specific historical amendatory instrument only if material. |
| 1 — Authority and source credits | Answered | C004, C026–C032; S001, S005. | Full 15 USC 41–58 not investigated. | Follow only an indispensable additional clause. |
| 1 — Publication status, version, access and cutoff | Answered with currentness limit | C001–C007, C050–C052; S001–S012; B01, B25. | Post-cutoff and complete judicial history. | Check subsequent official amendments/corrections. |
| 2 — Business, government, officer and materiality | Answered | C009–C012; S001; B02–B05, B08, B10. | Factual category membership absent. | Narrow public interpretation only if a defined boundary is disputed. |
| 2 — Undefined affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement and other terms | Partial | C013; S001; B02, B07. | No complete judicial construction dossier. | Identify the precise unresolved term and separately scope its legal interpretation. |
| 2 — Commerce incorporation | Answered as definition; foreign application partial | C014, C033; S003–S004; B16. | Complete foreign-application enactment/history. | Read the narrow relevant §45(a)(4) history if needed. |
| 2 — Target versus actor; public/private boundaries | Answered at framework level | C015–C018; S001, S003–S005; B05, B17. | Complete sector exclusions and actual categories. | Trace the exact implicated statutory definition. |
| 3 — Government false posing | Answered | C019, C023; S001 §461.2(a); B03, B06. | All actual elements absent. | No factual investigation; public-text interpretation only. |
| 3 — Government affiliation/endorsement/sponsorship | Answered | C020, C023; S001 §461.2(b); B07. | Representation and relationship facts absent. | Compare the complete branch with §461.1. |
| 3 — Direct/implied, materiality and commerce | Answered | C012, C014, C019–C024; S001, S003; B08–B09. | No context or nexus evidence. | Follow a narrow official interpretation if ambiguity remains. |
| 4 — Business false posing and affiliation branches | Answered | C021–C023; S001 §461.3; B04, B06–B07. | Actual facts absent. | No provider inquiry within this pass. |
| 4 — Representatives, targets and intermediaries | Answered at textual level | C011, C018, C024–C025; S001, S003–S004; B10–B13. | Actual authority and conduct; uncompleted agency law. | Separately identify governing public role/authority law if indispensable. |
| 4 — Nonprofit inclusion versus FTC jurisdiction | Partial for jurisdiction | C009, C015–C017; S001, S003–S005; B05. | Underlying sector/legal-status authorities. | Complete only the necessary incorporation; no actual entity classification. |
| 5 — General individual impersonation | Answered as examined current status | C025, C042–C043, C048; S001, S006, S008; B10. | Any later final amendment beyond examined currency. | Look for adopted text, not a proposal or agenda entry. |
| 5 — Officer/employee scope | Answered | C011, C019–C022, C025; S001; B10. | Role and all operative factual conditions. | Revisit §461.1 and the selected branch only. |
| 5 — Means-and-instrumentalities; knowledge/reason to know | Answered as proposal/status comparison | C024–C025, C044–C047; S001, S006–S008; B13. | No adopted separate supplier provision in examined body; future action unknown. | Examine any later final amendment with its dates and exact text. |
| 5 — Broader FTC authority versus Part prohibition | Answered, bounded | C026–C034; S004–S005; B17, B20–B22. | Full FTC Act enforcement regime. | Separately scope that regime rather than import it. |
| 6 — Kind of rule and administrator | Answered | C016, C026–C031; S002, S004–S005. | No actual enforcement or jurisdiction finding. | Complete any indispensable jurisdictional incorporation only. |
| 6 — Authority limitations and exemptions | Answered in selected clauses | C017, C026–C027, C032; S005, S009; B17–B18. | Actual exemption instruments and full sector rules not investigated. | Read a relevant generic published exemption or exact incorporated definition if separately needed. |
| 6 — Remedies, private rights, penalties and adjustments | Excluded; boundary answered | C034, C038; S001–S005; B20–B22. | Complete remedial and adjustment chain. | Separate inquiry into §§45(m), 57b, §1.98 and adjustment legislation. |
| 7 — Original final-rule body and instructions | Answered | C003–C005; S002 p.15030/index 13. | No full preamble/underlying record audit. | None needed to identify the adopted three-section text. |
| 7 — Publication/effectiveness/application distinction | Answered, historical application bounded | C005, C031; S002, S005; M08–M09; B15. | Actual conduct date and any disputed retroactivity issue. | Narrow public-law application inquiry only if later authorized. |
| 7 — Relevant later proposal and status instruments | Answered for selected instruments | C041–C049; S006–S008; B13–B14. | Complete intervening and later history not certified. | Check official subsequent final/correction notices. |
| 7 — Preamble versus adopted text | Answered | C036–C040; S002; B19, B24. | Judicial treatment and full external policy statements. | Separately scope exact unresolved interpretation. |
| 7 — Citation discrepancy | Answered as observed discrepancy | C051; S008 II n.7; B26. | Any official correction. | Check correction publication, without case searches. |
| 8 — Identity, authority and affiliation comparisons | Answered as evidence categories | C018–C024, C035; comparison table; B06–B12. | All actual evidence absent. | No provider assessment follows. |
| 8 — Materiality, mode and violation comparisons | Answered | C012, C023–C025, C037, C053; comparison table. | Actual proof and adjudication. | Legal interpretation only within scope. |
| 8 — Prohibition/remedy and federal/other-law distinctions | Answered as boundaries | C034, C040, C052; B22–B23. | Other regimes and remedies. | Separately scope the precise public authority. |
| 8 — Provider scoring, recommendations and full methodology | Excluded by scope | C053; B27–B28. | No provider facts or authorized dossier. | No provider search or recommendation in this pass. |
| 9 — All relied-on quantities and dates | Answered | M01–M15; C001–C008, C023, C027, C031, C041, C045–C049. | Actual event/delivery facts absent. | Recheck a source-stated date only if legal status changes. |
| 9 — Penalty amount or actual deadline | Excluded | C034; M15; B22. | Full supporting legal chain and actual predicates. | Separate complete remedy/adjustment research before any amount. |
| 9 — Numerical model | Not required; omitted with reason | C008, C053; M15. | No numerical coverage test or authorized actual inputs. | No model follows from this pass. |
| 10 — At least twenty substantive branches | Answered | B01–B28, each with claims, sources, gaps, adverse inference and next inquiry. | Actual application remains absent throughout. | Follow only a branch’s permitted generic public-law question. |
| 10 — Adaptation for absent/proposed categories | Answered | B10, B13–B14, B20, B26; C025, C041–C051. | Future adoption and unresolved cross-reference history. | Do not populate absent requirements; check actual new text. |
| 11 — Blank analytical worksheet | Answered | Section 6; C053. | Intentionally no entries. | Keep every entry, analysis and result cell blank. |
| 11 — No operative communication or decision tool | Answered as scope compliance | Blank worksheet and B27–B28. | No factual or transactional authorization. | No form completion, complaint, contact or recommendation. |
Reading/access event · Result and exact boundary · Consequence for the report · 12 data rows
| Reading/access event | Result and exact boundary | Consequence for the report |
|---|---|---|
| Complete current eCFR Part and individual section views | Successful. Full legal body and notes read; title currency and unofficial-edition notice recorded. | Supports the current inventory and operative elements. Repeated views are grouped as S001. |
| Original final-rule official PDF and HTML rendition | Successful. Entire adopted amendment and DATES read; selected generic preamble passages read. | Authenticates original text and effectiveness. Does not support a claim of whole-document, whole-record or judicial review. |
| Preliminary-format OLRC §44 endpoint | 404 Not Found at normalized URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title15-section44. | Failure preserved as S010; versioned official S003 supplied the body. |
| Preliminary-format OLRC §57a endpoint | 404 Not Found at normalized URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?edition=prelim&num=0&req=granuleid%3AUSC-prelim-title15-section57a. | Failure preserved as S011; versioned official S005 supplied the body. |
| Versioned OLRC §§44, 45, 57a and APA §553 | Successful, with the complete-versus-selected limits in S003–S005 and S009. | Supports only the examined definitions, authority and qualifications; no full FTC Act/APA certification. |
| March 2024 SNPRM | Successful. Entire proposed amendatory body read; selected explanation and DATES read. | Proposed definitions and sections remain labeled proposed. |
| December 2024 hearing notice | Successful selected status reading. No participant-list or underlying comment-record investigation. | Establishes the qualified decision not to proceed with the supplier provision at that time. |
| October 2026 ANPRM | Successful selected reading: header/DATES, complete section II and relevant authority paragraph. | Establishes the later proposal’s existence and stated status; no new substantive duty inferred. |
| Annual-CFR Part 461 PDF endpoint | Returned “not accessible via this tool.” No body read. | Annual-edition gap retained; no nonexistence or repeal inference. |
| Generic currentness searches | Used as discovery only. Search results, agency indexes, agendas and third-party summaries were not treated as adopted text. | No conclusion rests on a search snippet or unexamined result. |
| Incidental references inside public instruments | Preambles contain cited comments, cases, named examples and studies. Underlying materials were not opened or used as provider/case evidence. | No identifying-party, case, provider or roster investigation was conducted. |
| PDF handling | Parsed text, with printed pages and zero-based indices distinguished. | No claim of viewed pixels, complete-document inspection beyond stated bounds, or unseen forms. |
Check · Result · 13 data rows
| Check | Result |
|---|---|
| Fresh investigation independent of earlier reports | No earlier report’s legal or factual conclusions were used as a premise. |
| Complete selected current body | All of current §§461.1–461.3, authority/source notes and nested operative clauses were read. |
| Proposed material separated | Proposed individual and supplier provisions, the hearing notice and the new ANPRM remain separately labeled. |
| Necessary authority bounded | Commerce, relevant actor-jurisdiction clauses, rulemaking authority, legal effect and the exemption mechanism were examined with their stated limits. |
| Definitions not invented | Defined terms and undefined terms are distinguished; proposed definitions were not imported into current law. |
| Elements preserved | Alternative branches and cumulative materiality, target, representation and commerce conditions remain explicit. |
| Quantities controlled | Every relied-on quantity/date appears in M01–M15; no penalty figure, actual deadline, score or financial model was supplied. |
| Sources and failures visible | Literal URLs, exact read bounds, compilation dates, original/alternate distinctions and failures are recorded. |
| No false corroboration | Section views and formats of the same instrument are grouped. |
| PDF claims limited | Parsed-text reading is distinguished from visual page inspection. |
| Actual providers and records excluded | No actual or fictional provider assessment, communication test, case investigation, roster search or identifying entry was performed. |
| Worksheet remains blank | All authority, evidence, analysis and result cells are empty. |
| Review status | This is the researcher’s own consistency and scope check, not independent review, a judicial determination, or component/parent acceptance. |
Read the evidence with its boundaries. These are saved research components, including revisions. A scoped coordinator review checks selected evidence; it does not certify every claim, a complete jurisdiction, current law or individual applicability. Dates and access limits remain attached to the records.
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Recorded check status: whole report reviewed selected primary checks only see exact source read bounds
Keep the source version, actual read extent and jurisdiction with the proposition. A link or researcher access claim is not a substitute for an operative primary passage.
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: selected primary bodies checked
Recorded check status: not freshly reopened
Recorded check status: not freshly reopened
Recorded check status: not freshly reopened
Recorded check status: not freshly reopened
The saved component-level coverage record keeps answered, partial, blank and unresolved branches distinct. A coverage label is not acceptance of a whole subject or jurisdiction.
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Recorded check status: recorded; no individual primary acceptance inferred
Read the evidence with its boundaries. These are saved research components, including revisions. A scoped coordinator review checks selected evidence; it does not certify every claim, a complete jurisdiction, current law or individual applicability. Dates and access limits remain attached to the records.
No currently queued material correction is mapped to this component. This does not remove its currentness, access, jurisdiction or application limits.
reviewed with selected source and application holds
Original saved Markdown SHA-256: 0e521fef6003d1128ef60e10ea29f3ac2df2374544b2aa3ff4b84e861c7272bc. Public formatting, private-reference removal and correction annotations are separate from that immutable original.