The Federal Trade Commission announced today a settlement with three Internet-based firms charged with illegally selling "circle" contact lenses—cosmetic eyeware which presents an illusion of larger eyes by covering the entire visible surface of a wearer's eyes.

The operators of three websites—www.MyCandyEyes.com, BuyExclusive.net and MyCuteLens.com—were charged by the FTC with violating the 2004 Contact Lens Rule, which prohibits the sale of contact lenses without a valid doctor's prescription. According to the FTC, the rule also applies to these cosmetic circle lenses since improper use of wearable contact lenses could lead to corneal ulcers, corneal abrasions, vision impairment, and blindness.

In the settlement, the FTC fined Jamil Hindi of Florida-based Royal Tronics, Inc.—operators of MyCandyEyes—a $68,000 civil penalty for failing to verify or keep records of customers' prescriptions for circle contact lenses. Gene Kim, who operated MyCandyEyes from New York, and Thy Xuan Ho (also known as Brandon Lee) who operated MyCuteLens from Saint Cloud, Minn., were also respectively fined $24,000 and $5,400 for similar illegal circle contact sales.

FTC Requires Three Internet Marketers to Stop Selling "Circle" Cosmetic Contact Lenses without Prescriptions as Part of Settlement [FTC]
USA vs. Jamil Hindi &MyCandyEyes.com (PDF) [FTC]
USA vs. Gene Kim & BuyExclusive.net (PDF) [FTC]
USA vs. Thy Xuan Ho (aka Brandon Lee) & MyCuteLens.com (PDF)[FTC]