jatiN mahindrA doT coM

FTC Guidelines Raise Big Blogging Questions

Update 3: The new FTC Guidelines went into effect this week. A recent WebProNews interview with Wendy Piersall, Founder of the Woo! Jr. Network, looks at some interesting points about them that you may not have considered – some "gray areas" if you will.

Google Provides an Update on the AdMob Acquisition

Google has issued a statement regarding the company’s pending acquisition of AdMob. Google’s intent to acquire the company was announced back in early November. The deal was for $750 million in stock. Since then, the Federal Trade Commission has vowed to closely scrutinize the deal. Google had this to say today: As we said when we announced the deal, we don’t see any regulatory issues...

FTC Sues Intel, Intel Says “Misguided”

The Federal Trade Commission has sued Intel, saying it has "abused its market dominance" according to the LA Times. Richard A. Feinstein, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition is quoted as saying: "Intel has engaged in a deliberate campaign to hamstring competitive threats to its monopoly. It’s been running roughshod over the principles of fair play and the laws protecting...

Bloggers Can Be Fined Up to 11K Per Post for Non-Disclosure

Update: The new FTC guidelines have come out today. The FTC says: The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement...

Google Shares New Privacy Policy for Books

Google has introduced a new privacy policy for Google Books, to try and appease the critics of Google’s enormous book indexing project. The company has also been in communication with the Federal Trade Commission, and has discussed both the new policy and a letter to the FTC on the Google Public Policy Blog. Google is still waiting approval from the court on its settlement agreement with the...

What is Responsible Blogging to You?

The Federal Trade Commission has recently taken an interest in regulation of blogs when it comes to bloggers receiving products and writing about them. A lot of discussion has taken place about what it means to blog responsibly. The Responsibility Project from Liberty Mutual partipated in the recent BlogHer conference, and has put together a nice little gallery of videos in which bloggers talk about...