Thread: FTC to Regulate Blogging

Originally Posted by Keldorn

This is really bad. Internet revenues might drop considerably after this. Since it pushes alot of marketers into unneeded costs to market products. It might make certain products unprofitable to sell. Its just another red tape to hinder to business.

Really f'in useless would anyone agree?

It seem clear to me now that the purpose of this regulation is to reduce competition for Google. This legislation effectively outlaws a growing non-AdWords form of Internet marketing and pushes ad dollars towards Google.

This looks to be part of Google's payback for all of the money and media they contributed to Obama's campaign.

Google has already pushed link buying and selling underground. Now it's pushing product reviews underground. Google saw both of these as a threat to AdWords. I wonder what threat Google will see next -- and how many tax dollars will be spent protecting Google from competition?

Originally Posted by MeetHere

is this rule applicable internationally?

This law only applies to the U.S. Just host your blog overseas in a country that does not over-regulate, so long as your blog is clean and you simply disagree with regulations.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

It is curious that the Obama government wants to start cracking down on the Internet, but doesn't do much about the phony endorsements by celebrities in TV infomercials.

It was not single-handedly done by the Obama administration. The congress voted on this and passed it.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

They will probably target a couple of large bloggers or product review sites that are taking payoffs for favorable product endorsements. I think a lot of the larger sites do receive free products to review. I do not see that as being a bad thing as long as the reviews are fair. But when a site gets thousands of dollars to write a favorable product review, that crosses a line. They cannot go after every site, but they can scare a lot of bloggers if they successfully prosecute a few of the big ones.

It would cost the government too much money to go after every single one. The congress might have even had certain large blogs in mind before the the law even passed.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

They really should start regulating all of the lies and deceptive information we get from politicians.

How true that is!

Originally Posted by Keldorn

There is something that is not mentioned is that if your not a U.S citizen the law probably won't apply to you.
It won't have any effect of the level of dishonest product testimonials, The bad ones will just move offshore or offshore ones will pick up the tab and refill it.

Some 'good' blogs might want to host over seas just because they don't believe in the government regulations from a political perspective.

Originally Posted by Keldorn

Furthermore, the FTC, these are the same guys that put the CAN-SPAM regulation. Has that any effect on the spam you receive in your mailbox? No probably not.

Really f'in useless would anyone agree?

My in-boxes are full of spam every day. SpamAssassin and custom spam filters work better than government regulations. How's that for a little self-regulation?

In regards to spam, some big players were taken out of the picture. Lots were looking at multi-million dollar fines and a dozen years in prison. But the people will adapt - as they always had.

Originally Posted by nux

In regards to spam, some big players were taken out of the picture. Lots were looking at multi-million dollar fines and a dozen years in prison. But the people will adapt - as they always had.

Exactly Nux. There trying to place old media laws on new media. It doesn't work. There are far too many variables on the internet.
Heck I go to a site right now and watch almost any movie I want for free. I guess the DMCA is not entirely effective either.

Originally Posted by Will.Spencer

It seem clear to me now that the purpose of this regulation is to reduce competition for Google. This legislation effectively outlaws a growing non-AdWords form of Internet marketing and pushes ad dollars towards Google.
This looks to be part of Google's payback for all of the money and media they contributed to Obama's campaign.
Google has already pushed link buying and selling underground. Now it's pushing product reviews underground. Google saw both of these as a threat to AdWords. I wonder what threat Google will see next -- and how many tax dollars will be spent protecting Google from competition?

The shame is that politics affects most industries. In many cases the lobbyists in Washington even write the legislation which is slipped into 1000 page bills. Most of the people in the US Congress don't even read the legislation. SO there you have it.

Originally Posted by Keldorn

There is something that is not mentioned is that if your not a U.S citizen the law probably won't apply to you.

It won't have any effect of the level of dishonest product testimonials, The bad ones will just move offshore or offshore ones will pick up the tab and refill it. Furthermore, the FTC, these are the same guys that put the CAN-SPAM regulation. Has that any effect on the spam you receive in your mailbox? No probably not.
Really f'in useless would anyone agree?
Keldorn

There's a principal called the "long arm of the law". You would be suprised on how they can reach out and touch you.

Originally Posted by nux

Google doesn't care at all about link selling. As long as it's clearly stated and includes a nofollow. You know all the ads they sell have 'Ads by Google' and don't pass any link juice, right?

Microsoft doesn't care about what web browser that you use. As long as it is Internert Explorer

What I see happening in the future - bloggers will have to disclose if the got the item for free. And then the internal revenue service is going to want to tax those items.

Lets say a blogger gets a new laptop that resells for $1,000. The blogger has to disclose that he/she received the laptop free to review and keep. Then the IRS wants the blogger to list that laptop as a gift and pay a special tax on it. Bloggers will have to disclose everything they received because it will be listed on their blog. If its not on their tax return, then why was it listed on the blog?

The IRS will be able to take some of the high profile bloggers and compare their tax returns to their blog. "ok, you got a laptop for this article, but its not listed on your tax return". "you got a new TV, but its not listed on your tax return". "Since you did not list those items, your going to have to pay a penalty and fines, plus everything else you owe."

My opinion - I think some bad things are on their way, and it aint gonna be pretty.

1. Move out of the United States.
2. Enjoy.

Originally Posted by texashiker

The IRS

Originally Posted by vectro

It was not single-handedly done by the Obama administration. The congress voted on this and passed it.

I didn't say it was. The overwhelmingly Democrat Congress is an extension of the Obama administration. Just about all of the controversial legislation currently being debated in Congress has been driven by the Obama administration. Plus, Obama has to sign off on it before it becomes law.

I can honestly say that I am not a big fan of most politicians. However, that is an understatement with respect to the current gang in power. It would be nice if we could find a way to run the country without using politicians.


The FTC has done some major backpedaling on this since it was announced. I personally do not think they will do anything unless they find some completely falsified paid reviews for a medical device or drug that ends up killing or seriously harming someone who followed the recommendations of a hired blogger. I have read comments to that effect from the FTC.

Originally Posted by TopDogger

I didn't say it was. The overwhelmingly Democrat Congress is an extension of the Obama administration.

Obama and congress is just an extension of big business.

One of the problems here is that small bloggers are cutting into the profits of big business. No longer do companies have to buy TV or magazine advertising. They can just give away some of their products, get reviews, and get a permanent review and ad on a bloggers page.

Unlike a banner, the review never expires.

Unlike a TV commercial, the review can be seen at anytime.

Unlike a magazine or newspaper ad, the review is on the website forever.

This makes it easier for small start up companies to get the word out about their products cheaper and more effective then buying ads.

Blogger reviews hurts big companies in 2 ways:

More competition from small start up businesses
Reduces sales of advertisements

Originally Posted by texashiker

Obama and congress is just an extension of big business.

One of the problems here is that small bloggers are cutting into the profits of big business. No longer do companies have to buy TV or magazine advertising. They can just give away some of their products, get reviews, and get a permanent review and ad on a bloggers page.

Unlike a banner, the review never expires.

Unlike a TV commercial, the review can be seen at anytime.

Unlike a magazine or newspaper ad, the review is on the website forever.

This makes it easier for small start up companies to get the word out about their products cheaper and more effective then buying ads.

Blogger reviews hurts big companies in 2 ways:

More competition from small start up businesses
Reduces sales of advertisements

Good point about blogs hurting the newspapers. There's a lot of talk from Obama for a newspaper bailout.