

FTC to bloggers: disclose freebies or face $11,000 fine - RyanMcGreal
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ftc_to_bloggers_disclose_freebies_or_face_11000_fi.php

======
jrockway
FTC to bloggers: host your blog outside of the US.

~~~
tptacek
Does that help you if you reside in the US and file taxes in the US and do
business in the US?

~~~
jrockway
Depends. FTC suspects you of taking payola. They subpoena your blog's host to
get your name and address. Your host refuses to comply because they are not in
the US. The case fails due to lack of evidence.

I worry about the unintended consequences of this new law. Say I am paid to
write a piece of (free) software by my employer. I use my blog to say how
wonderful this is, without ever mentioning that I was paid to think it's
wonderful. (Perhaps I don't even know that the money influenced my decision.)
Should I be fined for this? Is the community better off without my writing?
(Which is completely free and not even ad-supported?)

Anyway, I am all in favor of consumer protection... but I think the bad guys
will get around this law, and "good guys" will be caught in the net.
Restricting speech is a very, very slippery slope. (I am not even sure how
comfortable I am with libel being illegal -- and that is a law that has been
around for hundreds of years.)

~~~
tptacek
What happens when they subpoena _you_ for the logs? You're right there in your
mom's basement in Tulsa.

~~~
jrockway
How do they know who "you" is?

~~~
tptacek
Presumably the same way the payola people do.

~~~
jrockway
Sounds costly.

Let's install video cameras in everyone's house so that the police can have
video evidence of all murders and child abuse. Won't someone please think of
the children?

~~~
tptacek
I'm not sure what this has to do with child abuse? Anyhow, I'm not advocating,
just pointing out that the "colocate in Venezuela" trope is silly.

------
decultured
I have worked with many companies running these sorts of campaigns (I do work
with a startup that tracks online engagement marketing) and have found that
companies that are upfront and honest in their efforts tend to get better
results than those that pretend to be regular people or pay people to pretend
they like a product. Disclosure and honesty are unfortunately foreign concepts
to many advertisers, but they are slowly catching on.

I don't like this regulation or think it is necessary, but it may actually do
some good for the consumer.

~~~
pplante
I understand the need for this regulation. But do you think it will really
change anything? The marketers will find another way to do the same thing.

------
scotty79
I always wonder: "How can they enforce such laws without putting police
officer behind everybodys back 24/7 ?" and if they can't why do they come up
with such laws?

~~~
olefoo
That one doesn't require having a policeman behind everyone's back, at best it
means that someone is going to be looking at the most blatant instances of
"$product is awesome, best $category evah!!!1!!!" posts and calling around to
see if the blogger received compensation or product. I'm not sure but I think
an FTC investigation has power of subpoena to get at payment records, etc.

So basically, you need to make sure that if you blog about a product or
service you received for free; that you disclose the fact that you received
it. The fact that it's backed with a very stiff fine somewhat underscores the
seriousness with which the FTC views deceptive marketing tactics.

I hope that the people tasked with enforcing this are allowed the discretion
to apply their judgment to individual cases. Because I can see this being
missaplied, and I can see considerable confusion. And certainly, no one should
be on the hook for $11,000 for saying they like their local pizzeria because
they once had a coupon for a free pizza. On the other hand someone who is an
authority in their field knowingly promoting sub-standard products because
they are getting paid should be held to account for their misrepresentations.

------
JDigital
This'll be a problem for the sort of games review site that mysteriously gave
Master of Orion III a score of 97%.

