Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

[unofan]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

I'm still missing the connection between Net Neutrality and this current FTC regulation. You know, a connection beyond the slippery slope.

They're not connected per se...but net neutrality's an on going battle anyway.

 

[theprofromdover]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

Do non-blogger writers (newspaper columnists, say) have to disclose similar payments?

Newspaper columnists are employed by the newspapers that publish them. There is an employee/employer hierarchy with incumbent responsibilities. If a columnist is found to have violated their contract, they are terminated. I can think of three columnists from the Globe that have been fired. I don't believe most bloggers have an employee/employer relationship with anyone.

 

[dropthatpuck]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

I guess I'm still not understanding the issue with bloggers. So what if they recommend a product - it's no different than a referral. Sales peeps at brick & mortars are always pitching crap that they know doesn't work, but we don't fine them when the customer isn't satisfied (and they're getting paid to pitch said junk).

I just left a great review online for a hotel I visited - does that mean if another person went based on my review and had a bad experience, I'm liable? What if I mildly exaggerated my stay because they gave me a voucher for a free night?

 

[blockski]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

I guess I'm still not understanding the issue with bloggers. So what if they recommend a product - it's no different than a referral. Sales peeps at brick & mortars are always pitching crap that they know doesn't work, but we don't fine them when the customer isn't satisfied (and they're getting paid to pitch said junk).

I just left a great review online for a hotel I visited - does that mean if another person went based on my review and had a bad experience, I'm liable? What if I mildly exaggerated my stay because they gave me a voucher for a free night?

Man, you really like the slippery slopes. I'm not sure how you got there from a regulation on full disclosure.

My read on this is more that it's a regulation targeted at the advertisers, anyway. Again, from the original article:

Existing FTC rules already banned deceptive and unfair business practices. The final guidelines aim to clarify the law for the vast world of blogging. Not since 1980 had the commission revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials.

I don't see much here. This is about making sure the existing regulations apply well to the vastly different media market.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

I don't believe most bloggers have an employee/employer relationship with anyone.

Although eventually they will, as we move towards a model where bloggers attracting the most eyes can command higher fees to "exclusive" outlets (same as a star reporter or anchor would now).

Now one would hope that bloggers who lie or distort or just plain shill would lose in the marketplace, but if you believe that I have Rupert Murdoch's business empire to sell you.

 

[jmh]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

I guess I'm still not understanding the issue with bloggers. So what if they recommend a product - it's no different than a referral.

It's a referral if you consider a blogger to be a friend/relative/man-on-the-street who happens to have provided you with his/her opinion online rather than orally. It's not just a referral if you consider a blogger to be a part of the media as a whole. If the latter, then I don't see any logic in treating bloggers differently from members of print media.

My point is - this isn't about bloggers, per se. If you want to say "buyer beware, there are all kinds of factors that might influence a review of a restaurant/hotel/movie/etc., the possibility that the reviewer has been compensated being one of those possibilities, and you should bear all of those in mind when digesting that review" then that's certainly an arguable position, but it should apply to all media, not just bloggers.

 

[moe24]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

This whole issue is ridiculous and hypocritical. The government wants to regulate bloggers with regard to disclosing "kick-backs" in exchange for reviews when no such regulation exists for trade magazines, mainstream magazines, or newspapers. In my industry I receive a trade magazine a day, chalk full of reviews, and not a single one discloses the "kick-backs" they receive for those reviews.

As a conservative I am typically opposed to too much government regulation except when it is reasonable regulations that protect and inform consumers while still allowing free commerce to flourish (I know, easier said then done). However, when a seemingly reasonable regulation is as hypocritical as this is it is plainly obvious that there is an agenda far beyond "protecting consumers" at work.

If the government wanted to actually do some good they might actually bother to make it illegal to make false statements about verifiable facts in a review (currently not illegal). The reality is disclosing "kick-backs" won't change the practice of writing positive reviews in exchange for those "kick-backs".

 

[ScottM]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

Considering the utter stupidity of some people who now rely on the internet for product information, advice, etc., they should paint the warning in big bright letters on their montiors. You actually already see these types of caveats on sites discussing investments, securities, etc.

Edit:

Here's a better article.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434314432&FTC_Orders_More_Disclosure_in_Consumer_Testimonials_Celebrity_Endorsements

 

[Rover]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

Man, this is a prime example when somebody (in this case the person who started the thread) doesn't have a job so he puts out paranoid screeds about Big Brother. If anybody in the New Hampshire area needs a toilet cleaned or a litter box emptied, would you please, please give dtp a call already.

However, this is boring. I'd rather have somebody expose the real and more dangerous conspiracy that the government of the United Nations is currently involved in to have a super race of aliens colonize the planet and take on human form in exchange for not destroying us all. (oh, wait a minute, that might be the X-Files.... ).

 

[dropthatpuck]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

Considering the utter stupidity of some people who now rely on the internet for product information, advice, etc., they should paint the warning in big bright letters on their montiors. You actually already see these types of caveats on sites discussing investments, securities, etc.

Edit:

Here's a better article.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434314432&FTC_Orders_More_Disclosure_in_Consumer_Testimonials_Celebrity_Endorsements

Ads that include consumer testimonials about a product or a service are now required to clearly disclose the results that consumers can generally expect, not merely very good results that are atypical. This does away with the "results are not typical" disclaimers, which advertisers have used to slide by unusual results described in a testimonial./

Ahhhh....so basically, when those Extenz commercials said I'd get my three foot long ***** if I took their product and they had that "fine print" at the end of the commercial that said "results are not typical"....I shouldn't have got my hopes "up"??

ETA...I can't believe "*****" is a banned word. How about "phallus"?

 

[ScottM]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

Ahhhh....so basically, when those Extenz commercials said I'd get my three foot long ***** if I took their product and they had that "fine print" at the end of the commercial that said "results are not typical"....I shouldn't have got my hopes "up"??

ETA...I can't believe "*****" is a banned word. How about "phallus"?

Don't be a dick.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

You lefties crack me up. As soon as someone starts any thread against any government effort, you get your panties in a twist.

If you children still want to insist that W was the boogeyman and live in a fantasy world where you imagine him breaking the constitution every day, be my guest.

If the Patriot Act (passed by Congress) allows us to catch terrorists and islamofascists before they kill more Americans, good for us. If the MCA keeps us safe from terrorists, good for us.....and if you all want to pretend that W was using those two items to watch you surf for porn on the internet - well, I feel bad for stupid people.

No, Obama doesn't trample on the Constitution - he hires "Czars" to do it for him.

Well, you had me for your first post anyway.

 

[dropthatpuck]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

Well, you had me for your first post anyway.

I can edit it....wouldn't want you to feel left out

 

[jmh]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

This whole issue is ridiculous and hypocritical. The government wants to regulate bloggers with regard to disclosing "kick-backs" in exchange for reviews when no such regulation exists for trade magazines, mainstream magazines, or newspapers.

Is that the case? As I said upthread, I wasn't sure whether it was. If so, then I agree with you completely; there isn't any good reason why electronic media should be regulated in this way if print media isn't.

 

[gregg729]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

I don't really have an opinion on net neutrality.

But I would like to fix a post.

Not always, but in general....

Its called ideology. When Republicans interfere with personal civil liberties...its all for the national security of the US of A. When Dems try to make media business practices healthy for the consumer and make the playing field level with other forms of media...it's unnecessary interference.

In general....

 

[SteveF]

Re: Step #1 Complete in Government Takeover of Interweb Tubes

is this still stage 1 of dtp's 8 year hissyfit?