FTC says the $11,000 fine for bloggers is “not true” … well, sort of
The Federal Trade Commission has finally answered some of the questions and fears of bloggers over its new guidelines, but things still aren’t very clear.
On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released new guidelines for bloggers over disclosure rules for anytime they receive payment or products from a manufacturer, and then write up a positive review. The full 81-page document (PDF link) is available online, and even after reading through the entire thing, you will find you still have some questions about certain aspects of it.
Richard Cleland, assistant director, division of advertising practices at the FTC, spoke with FastCompany and tried to address some of those questions, but it still leaves you scratching your head a bit.
To the biggest question, the $11,000 fine everyone has heard so much about, Mr. Cleland says it isn’t true, but he doesn’t exactly say it doesn’t exist either:
That $11,000 fine is not true. Worst-case scenario, someone receives a warning, refuses to comply, followed by a serious product defect; we would institute a proceeding with a cease-and-desist order and mandate compliance with the law. To the extent that I have seen and heard, people are not objecting to the disclosure requirements but to the fear of penalty if they inadvertently make a mistake. That’s the thing I don’t think people need to be concerned about. There’s no monetary penalty, in terms of the first violation, even in the worst case. Our approach is going to be educational, particularly with bloggers. We’re focusing on the advertisers: What kind of education are you providing them, are you monitoring the bloggers and whether what they’re saying is true?
So, it does exist, but just not for the first violation of “the law” (this term is arguable because I don’t believe the FTC has the power to create “laws”, only to make regulations, which is a significant difference).
The biggest problem is that the FTC has still not described what form a disclosure must take such as:
- Does it have to be in the body of the review?
- Can it be an “editor’s note” at the end of the post?
- Can you make a page on your blog and then just provide a link to it?
- What details about the relationship must be included?
There are many more questions and answers in the FastCompany article, but they all take a similar form of answering without really making anything clear. Basically, if you’re an independent blogger, you really need to read the entire document from the FTC, and, for now, just hope you get everything right when you write a disclosure, even if you don’t really know what “right” is.
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October 9th, 2009
You are correct, Mr. Aune. The FTC, nor can any other executive department, cannot make laws, in accordance with the US Constitution. Only Congress can pass laws. Not the judiciary, not the executive branch.
But, this has not stopped the presidential dictatorship that has been going on for the last few years, as more Americans’ rights have been usurped day after day.