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It seems the FTC has issues new regs covering the review of products by bloggers. Below is the link to the Yahoo news piece on this. Basically, under the new regs, bloggers who are reviewing products have to disclose if they are paid in cash, gifts or freebies for their reviews.

Many on this forum have discussed this type of blogging in terms of transparency and honesty. Obviously, these regs will make it easier for consumers reading such reviews to understand where reviews may be skewed. Additionally, this will cut down on the number of review opportunities that are available. Does anyone else see any other pros or cons to these new regs?

Having worked for a tech publication back in 2001-2002 where my colleagues and I reviewed products and most times were allowed to keep the products we reviewed under the guise of using them as test platforms for the review of other products. Speaking for myself and my former colleagues, we never were required to disclose such arrangements but we were also advised by our bosses that if we did anything to threaten the integrity of the publication and the parent company we would lose our jobs. I believe this is true of most if not all of the major tech pubs and websites that offer reviews.

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Member Avatar for InsightsDigital

For the FTC to do this, it must have meant that they saw the urgency to do so from a consumer's perspective. This reminds me of the days when Nader would advocate for such legislation. I personally do believe that ethical bloggers should disclose but it is also a sign of good faith to not abuse the system or any system...

Member Avatar for MktgRob

For the FTC to do this, it must have meant that they saw the urgency to do so from a consumer's perspective. This reminds me of the days when Nader would advocate for such legislation. I personally do believe that ethical bloggers should disclose but it is also a sign of good faith to not abuse the system or any system...

Everyone should keep track of this in the press because I have read and heard that there are concerns that this could lead to an over-reach by the government to use the FTC to try to clamp down on blogs that are critical of government. I realize that this is entering the realm of '1984' but you never know.

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My concern is: "What's next?" on government control of public communication. Could it be next - limitations on text behavior - just a thought.

Member Avatar for MktgRob

My concern is: "What's next?" on government control of public communication. Could it be next - limitations on text behavior - just a thought.

What is troubling is that I just read that there is a provision in a bill in congress that allows government to expand the definition of what hate speech is if they have a stake in the argument. The article I read it in was discussing the fact that there are already cases in front of the courts where gay rights advocates are attempting to sue the Catholic Church for hate speech if a passage from scripture is read in a mass that states that homsexual behavior is a sin. So if the provision in question is signed into law, religious teachings can be labeled as hate speech. Would this also mean that a blog espousing a specific religious or political point of view could be shut down if the governement deems it hate speech. It would seem that the First Amendment gets called into question and that would not be good.

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