'Baby Can Read' firm to settle FTC charges

Many babies at 9 months old are just starting to stand up. Some take their first steps. But, reading? At 9 months? Really?

The Federal Trade Commission doesn't think so.

The agency has filed a complaint against the man behind the "Your Baby Can Read" program, Robert Titzer, accusing him of false and deceptive advertising for promoting his program as a tool to teach infants as young as 9 months to read.

The "Your Baby Can Read" program used videos, flash cards and pop-up books and was advertised extensively on television, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. It cost about $200 and was sold nationwide at stores such as Walmart and Babies R Us.

The company, Your Baby Can, and Hugh Penton Jr., president and chief executive until March 2010, also were named in the complaint. Both have agreed to settle the charges, the FTC said. The settlement imposes a $185-million judgment -- equal to the company's gross sales since 2008 -- but most of it would be suspended due to the company's failing financial condition.

The company, based in Carlsbad, Calif., said earlier it was going out of business due to the cost of fighting complaints alleging that its ads were false.

Titzer, an educator with a doctorate in human performance from Indiana University, developed the program and appeared in many of the ads, billed as a "recognized expert in infant learning."

According to the FTC, Titzer and the company said they had studies to back up their claims. But the agency says those studies were flawed.

The company had said more than a million families have used "Your Baby Can Read" products. One TV infomercial featured a 2-year-old girl, who used the program, purportedly reading "Charlotte's Web."