FTC New Rule: Bloggers Must Disclose Compensation
If there’s compensation for reviews or testimonials (including money or free products), such payment must be disclosed under new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines. Equally important,
“advertisements that feature a consumer and convey his or her experience with a product or service as typical when that is not the case will be required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect.”
Note that the FTC can hold both the endorser and the advertiser liable for false claims, unsubstantiated claims, or failing to disclose the compensation.
This is long overdue from a consumer protection standpoint. Those who use flogs, phony review websites, and cooked up testimonials are on notice that the FTC will not tolerate this nonsense in the future. It will also set the bar higher for affiliate status disclosures.
Unfortunately, it will take some expensive lawsuits and a few info product marketers going to jail before the new reality sets in. The federal government is taming the Internet Wild West. Cyber-Deadwood is becoming civilized whether it wants to or not.
Recommended Reading: FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials
Goldman Sachs: Welfare Weasel Tries to Silence Blogger Free Speech
Isn’t it nice to know that Welfare Weasel Goldman Sachs appreciates the government bailout that it received (your tax dollars) so much that it has apparently hired a Wall Street law firm to crush a blogger who happens to be critical of its misconduct?
Your tax dollars are being used for this nonsense in addition to those executive perqs?
The blogger, Mike Morgan at GoldmanSachs666.com, isn’t intimidated. Rather than wait, he went on the offense and sued Goldman Sachs in federal district court.
It will be interesting to see what happens. Goldman Sachs probably figured its deep pockets, combined with a big law firm, would scare the blogger into silence. To do this, Goldman Sachs asserts the blogger has infringed on its trademark and engaged in unfair competition. Anyone who views Morgan’s site (including the prominent disclaimer) will not mistake it in any way for a Goldman Sachs’ venture or competitor but recognize it for what it is – a place to vent about the bad practices that Goldman Sachs has engaged in.
Goodbye free speech? If we can interpret the U.S. Constitution to authorize the President to give your tax dollars to the incompetent, the next logical step would be to start eliminating those pesky parts of the Bill of Rights that allow criticism of those second-handers who feed off the government.
Speaking of which, let’s highlight some of the Goldman Sachs incest that enabled it and its corporate cronies to take your tax money to spend as they see fit.
- President Bush’s last U.S. Treasury Secretary? Henry Merritt “Hank” Paulson Jr., former Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs.
- John Stevens Corzine – Governor of New Jersey, former U.S. Senator, and yes, former Chairman and co-CEO of Goldman Sachs.
- Robert Rubin – Before becoming President Clinton’s U.S. Treasury Secretary, Rubin was, you guessed it, the CEO of Goldman Sachs.
These are just a few examples. Government “service” has served Goldman Sachs and it cronies well. If you look to who has benefited from crisis bailouts, ranging from Mexico in the 1990s to the current TARP fiasco, you’ll find that Goldman Sachs and the other corporate welfare weasels it deals with (AIG, Citigroup, etc.) have done extremely well getting your money from Uncle Sam without any strings attached.
In short, Goldman Sachs deserves contempt for its attempt to suppress blogger free speech.
As for taking your money (using the government as tax collector), you can decide what should be a fitting punishment.
