As some of you may have noticed in this week’s letters section, David Vladeck, director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, took issue with my post about the FTC’s new “guidelines” regarding independent bloggers who review products.

In grand government style, Vladeck’s letter is an ode to bullshit obfuscation:

Read More “The Federal Trade Commission’s Incoherent Response to Dissent” »

According to GalleyCat, the Federal Trade Commission will fine independent bloggers up to $11,000 if they fail to disclose that they’ve received a product for free. This means book reviewers who get books for free, music reviewers who get music for free, stroller reviewers who get strollers for free, have to say as much in their reviews or risk massive, disproportionate penalties.

The FTC has argued that this standard doesn’t apply to traditional journalism outlets because “the newspaper receives the book and it allows the reviewer to review it, it’s still the property of the newspaper.”

It’s an innocuous but offensive requirement, but I’m more interested in the FTC’s imagined relationship between publishers and record labels and journalists and newspapers.

Read More “The Federal Trade Commission Goes After Bloggers, Spares Journos Who Do the Same Thing!” »