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.

Internet’s Possible Future in the US Gets Ready to Be Decided

Update: The meeting ended and the rule making process will move forward after a unanimous vote. The rules say a provider of broadband Internet access service: 1. would not be allowed to prevent any of its users from sending or receiving the lawful content of the user’s choice over the Internet; 2. would not be allowed to prevent any of its users from running the lawful applications or using the...

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...

Sponsored Conversations: FTC Guidelines Impact Companies and Bloggers

  Is blogging or tweeting out an opinion about a product or service advertising?   If you are being paid to do it, or if you have received the item in question as a freebie for a company, as of December 1, 2009, you are bound by the same truth-in-advertising guidelines as advertisers. Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive; Advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims;...

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...