Comments on: IAB’s Brilliant Open Letter to the FTC on Blogger Rules http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/ Keeping politicians' hands off the Net & everything else related to technology Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:49:49 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: How to Deal with Blogola: Reputational Incentives, FTC Regulation & a Trust Seal Proposal — Technology Liberation Front http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-66402 How to Deal with Blogola: Reputational Incentives, FTC Regulation & a Trust Seal Proposal — Technology Liberation Front Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:54:32 +0000 http://techliberation.com/?p=22662#comment-66402 [...] One might take from this the lesson that the press, as it evolves from the newspaper model towards something blog-ier but still hard to pin down precisely, can police itself pretty darn well. Alas, the FTC has taken a much dimmer view of the ability of reputational incentives to discipline the influence that might be exerted by “blogola” payments (cash or in-kind) on editorial discretion and journalistic creation. Last October, the FTC updated its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” to provide that bloggers should disclose any direct financial interest in subjects they write about if they wish to avoid being subject to an FTC enforcement action—even though no such endorsement is required of traditional journalists, as Adam noted. The best response to this was probably this splendid open letter from Randall Rothenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, as Adam noted here. [...] [...] One might take from this the lesson that the press, as it evolves from the newspaper model towards something blog-ier but still hard to pin down precisely, can police itself pretty darn well. Alas, the FTC has taken a much dimmer view of the ability of reputational incentives to discipline the influence that might be exerted by “blogola” payments (cash or in-kind) on editorial discretion and journalistic creation. Last October, the FTC updated its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” to provide that bloggers should disclose any direct financial interest in subjects they write about if they wish to avoid being subject to an FTC enforcement action—even though no such endorsement is required of traditional journalists, as Adam noted. The best response to this was probably this splendid open letter from Randall Rothenberg, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, as Adam noted here. [...]

]]> By: The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-62991 The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:26:32 +0000 http://techliberation.com/?p=22662#comment-62991 <strong>Crovitz on FTC Blogger Rules...</strong> Another great column by the Wall Street Journal's Gordon Crovitz, who is quickly becoming my favorite tech policy columnist. In today's column, "Bloggers Mugged by Regulators," he comments on the FTC's new disclosure rules for bloggers, which I di... Crovitz on FTC Blogger Rules…

Another great column by the Wall Street Journal’s Gordon Crovitz, who is quickly becoming my favorite tech policy columnist. In today’s column, “Bloggers Mugged by Regulators,” he comments on the FTC’s new disclosure rules for bloggers, which I di…

]]> By: Crovitz on FTC Blogger Rules — Technology Liberation Front http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-62990 Crovitz on FTC Blogger Rules — Technology Liberation Front Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:22:15 +0000 http://techliberation.com/?p=22662#comment-62990 [...] by Regulators,” he comments on the FTC’s new disclosure rules for bloggers, which I discussed here over the weekend.  Crovitz focuses on the enforcement challenges associated with the new rules and also points out [...] [...] by Regulators,” he comments on the FTC’s new disclosure rules for bloggers, which I discussed here over the weekend.  Crovitz focuses on the enforcement challenges associated with the new rules and also points out [...]

]]> By: mwendy http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-65295 mwendy Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:25:53 +0000 http://techliberation.com/?p=22662#comment-65295 We should let the speaker police him / herself, aided further by a vibrant marketplace of ideas and information. The fact the one might get busted by others should be enough to police the "brand" that is the individual blogger. There is enough information on the web and elsewhere to keep people honest. We should let the speaker police him / herself, aided further by a vibrant marketplace of ideas and information. The fact the one might get busted by others should be enough to police the “brand” that is the individual blogger. There is enough information on the web and elsewhere to keep people honest.

]]> By: mwendy http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-62972 mwendy Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:25:53 +0000 http://techliberation.com/?p=22662#comment-62972 We should let the speaker police him / herself, aided further by a vibrant marketplace of ideas and information. The fact the one might get busted by others should be enough to police the "brand" that is the individual blogger. There is enough information on the web and elsewhere to keep people honest. We should let the speaker police him / herself, aided further by a vibrant marketplace of ideas and information. The fact the one might get busted by others should be enough to police the “brand” that is the individual blogger. There is enough information on the web and elsewhere to keep people honest.

]]> By: mike http://techliberation.com/2009/10/17/iabs-brilliant-open-letter-to-the-ftc-on-blogger-rules/comment-page-1/#comment-62966 mike Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:53:31 +0000 http://techliberation.com/?p=22662#comment-62966 You do realize this the author of the letter you are salivating over has completely misinterpreted the guides. You can read them here <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsement...</a><br><br>The FTC consistently refers only to advertisements where the person speaking is being paid by the vendor either in cash or in kind. I bet they would even take into account the fact that cookbook received 13 years ago and you wrote a review of a recipe would not, in fact, count as an endorsement.<br><br>Look, if you get paid by a vendor to review a product, or receive it for free and intend to keep it, you should be honest about that. You do realize this the author of the letter you are salivating over has completely misinterpreted the guides. You can read them here http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsement...

The FTC consistently refers only to advertisements where the person speaking is being paid by the vendor either in cash or in kind. I bet they would even take into account the fact that cookbook received 13 years ago and you wrote a review of a recipe would not, in fact, count as an endorsement.

Look, if you get paid by a vendor to review a product, or receive it for free and intend to keep it, you should be honest about that.

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