America's Top Cybercop

"Have you tried starvation diets with little or no success? Is your schedule too busy for daily trips to the gym? Have you lost 5-10 pounds only to put the weight right back on?"

If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you might consider trying NordiCaLite -- an intriguing weight-loss product advertised on the World Wide Web. The secret, according to the product's Web site, is "Essence of Malmös -- a unique blend of all-natural herbs derived from the evergreen forests of Scandinavia," which a company scientist has distilled into a concentrated extract that burns fat cells.

It sounds promising. Click the link that says, "More," and you learn that a month's supply of NordiCaLite gelcaps, usually available for a hefty price, can be yours for just $29.95. Thirty bucks isn't a huge sum if you're really trying to shed pounds, but it's still a bit pricey.

So click the link that says, "Save Even More!" and you get this message: "If you responded to an ad like NordiCaLite ... YOU COULD GET SCAMMED! NordiCaLite is not a real weight-loss product. The ad is a fake, posted by the Federal Trade Commission to raise awareness about the false and deceptive advertising claims made by many so-called 'weight-loss' products."

At the top of the page is the FTC's crest. At the bottom is a hyperlink to "Operation Waistline," a page on the FTC Web site that advises consumers how to avoid weight-loss schemes.

This is how government works in the new economy.

Cop of the Web

Four years ago, in his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton uttered seven words that have become the operating assumption of the first presidential election of the 21st century: "The era of big government is over." In the race for the White House, Vice President Al Gore brags about reducing the federal workforce to its smallest size in four decades, and Governor George W. Bush vows to shrink it even further. The candidates and the country concur: Big government is bad government -- and even worse politics.

Yet there remains one area of our national life where an equally broad consensus welcomes, practically demands, government intervention: law enforcement. Even if you're a staunch libertarian, when a bad guy swipes your wallet, or mugs your brother, you're going to dial 911. And what's true on the street is true in the marketplace. In the new economy or in the old economy, you can beat the competition, but you can't cheat the competition -- or anyone else. For markets to be free, they must also be fair. Advertisers can't lie. Competitors can't collude. E-tailers can't sell you one thing and ship you something else. While fairness often regulates itself, a robust market still needs a cop on the beat -- just in case. And with more and more commerce migrating to the Internet, marketplace marshals must pack a mouse beside their nightstick and navigate through some shady new sites.

The person who's taken on this job in the federal government is Jodie Bernstein, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. As the nation's leading cyberlaw enforcer, the country's top cop of the Web, Bernstein is not quite what you'd expect: She stands barely tall enough to qualify for most Disneyland rides -- even in her impressive heels. She is the mother of three adult children. She rarely uses email. ("The only purchases that I've made online have been for panty hose.") And when she was born, Calvin Coolidge was president.

But in her five years at the helm, Bernstein, 74, has turned her bureau into one of the most Net-savvy offices in the federal government. She and her small team of lawyers and investigators fight fraud on the Internet, tracking down and bringing to justice those who try to scam, sucker, or swindle consumers. During Bernstein's tenure, her crew has brought more than 100 federal cases against Internet cheats and has put more than $80 million back into consumers' pockets. "If commerce is going to function successfully, there has to be trust," Bernstein says from her office on Pennsylvania Avenue, just 10 blocks from the White House. "It's fundamental to the marketplace and to society. I think that society is degraded when people take advantage of others."