Final answer:
The FTC Funeral Rule was put into effect in 1984. It provides consumer protections in the funeral services industry, unrelated to FCC regulations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The FTC Funeral Rule was enacted in 1984 to provide guidelines ensuring consumers are treated fairly when arranging funeral services. It requires funeral providers to give consumers accurate, itemized price information and other disclosures about funeral goods and services. In contrast, the mention of the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) relates to a different regulatory body with separate policies, such as the fairness doctrine and equal time rule, which are unrelated to the FTC Funeral Rule.
During the 1980s, the FTC also provided guidelines for mergers based on the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), approving less concentrated mergers while scrutinizing or challenging more concentrated ones. However, in recent decades, there has been a shift from relying solely on concentration ratios to a more nuanced, case-by-case analysis of competition within industries.