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FTC Reassures Bloggers: Big Brother Isn't Watching
Bloggers of the world, relax ' the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is not out to get you.
That was the message from Mary Engle, associate director for advertising practices at the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
In a conference call for reporters on Oct. 14, Engle aimed to set the record straight after a flurry of news stories (not to mention blogs and tweets) about the FTC's new advertising guidelines that were, as she put it, “all wrong.”
“We are not going to be patrolling the blogosphere,” she said. “We are not planning on investigating individual bloggers.”
Guidelines, Not Regs
Engle stressed that the guidelines are just that ' guidelines. “They are not rules and regulations, and they don't have the force of law,” she says. “They are guidelines intended to help advertisers comply with [']5 of the FTC Act,” which covers unfair or deceptive practices.
The FTC published the new guidelines, which had been last updated in 1980, on Oct. 5. The revised guide expands on product endorsements by consumers, experts, celebrities and organizations, and the disclosure of connections between endorsers and products.
While much of the FTC's intention was to crack down on ads for weight loss products touting miraculous results, it was the provisions dealing with bloggers and endorsements via social media sites like Facebook that got the most public attention.
Engle says that bloggers who are paid per blog or tweet to market a product, for example, need to disclose that information. At the same time, she says: “The primary responsibility falls upon the advertiser using the blogger to market the product '. Our focus is on the advertiser, not the individual endorser.”
While the guidelines do not have the force of law, the FTC, as always, can sue an advertiser for deceptive practices under the FTC Act. But she says the agency has “never brought a case against an individual consumer endorser”; nor will the FTC levy fines for violating the guidelines.
Free Sample Is Fine
Engle did acknowledge a substantial gray area when it comes to blogging. If a blogger received an occasional free sample and happened to write something positive, she says, “that's not something we think would change the expectation of the audience,” and might not require disclosure. But if at some point it became a steady stream of freebies, then disclosure would be called for.
“It's not burdensome and it's not hard,” she says.
When it comes to making law-enforcement decisions, however, she says the FTC will go after the cases that are black and white.
“We're not interested in playing gotcha in the gray areas.”
Jenna Greene is a reporter for Legal Times, an ALM affiliate of e-Commerce Law & Strategy. The article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times (see, http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/).
Bloggers of the world, relax ' the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) is not out to get you.
That was the message from Mary Engle, associate director for advertising practices at the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
In a conference call for reporters on Oct. 14, Engle aimed to set the record straight after a flurry of news stories (not to mention blogs and tweets) about the FTC's new advertising guidelines that were, as she put it, “all wrong.”
“We are not going to be patrolling the blogosphere,” she said. “We are not planning on investigating individual bloggers.”
Guidelines, Not Regs
Engle stressed that the guidelines are just that ' guidelines. “They are not rules and regulations, and they don't have the force of law,” she says. “They are guidelines intended to help advertisers comply with [']5 of the FTC Act,” which covers unfair or deceptive practices.
The FTC published the new guidelines, which had been last updated in 1980, on Oct. 5. The revised guide expands on product endorsements by consumers, experts, celebrities and organizations, and the disclosure of connections between endorsers and products.
While much of the FTC's intention was to crack down on ads for weight loss products touting miraculous results, it was the provisions dealing with bloggers and endorsements via social media sites like Facebook that got the most public attention.
Engle says that bloggers who are paid per blog or tweet to market a product, for example, need to disclose that information. At the same time, she says: “The primary responsibility falls upon the advertiser using the blogger to market the product '. Our focus is on the advertiser, not the individual endorser.”
While the guidelines do not have the force of law, the FTC, as always, can sue an advertiser for deceptive practices under the FTC Act. But she says the agency has “never brought a case against an individual consumer endorser”; nor will the FTC levy fines for violating the guidelines.
Free Sample Is Fine
Engle did acknowledge a substantial gray area when it comes to blogging. If a blogger received an occasional free sample and happened to write something positive, she says, “that's not something we think would change the expectation of the audience,” and might not require disclosure. But if at some point it became a steady stream of freebies, then disclosure would be called for.
“It's not burdensome and it's not hard,” she says.
When it comes to making law-enforcement decisions, however, she says the FTC will go after the cases that are black and white.
“We're not interested in playing gotcha in the gray areas.”
Jenna Greene is a reporter for Legal Times, an ALM affiliate of e-Commerce Law & Strategy. The article first appeared on The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times (see, http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/).
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?