Why the FTC's New Rules for Bloggers Could Hurt Publishers, Too


	Why the FTC's New Rules for Bloggers Could Hurt Publishers, Too

RayWatkins

10-8-2009 12:17 PM

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RayWatkins says:

By Jennifer Howard
October 07, 2009, 12:00 PM ET

1 Comment |

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10-8-2009 3:21 PM

Lexica

I find myself agreeing with the people who don't see this as much of a problem: as long as a reviewer discloses that they received the book for free, it sounds like they'll be fine.

In general, I consider it a warning sign when people don't want to disclose their possibly-conflicting interests. What's that, o hypothetical person who doesn't want to disclose? You say your readers won't trust you to provide unbiased information if they know about your conflicts of interest? In that case, they shouldn't be trusting you now!

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/8456a738-8b31-4c8b-a6e3-b1d86e6cb9e2/C7D3B761-F135-4923-AB7C-4278A88C0A38/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Why-the-FTCs-New-Rules-for/8371/" href="http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Why-the-FTCs-New-Rules-for/8371/" style="font-size: 11px;">chronicle.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Why-the-FTCs-New-Rules-for/8371/"><P>At least one university press does not like the Federal Trade Commission's new guidelines governing "endorsements and testimonials." Laura Sell, a senior publicist for Duke University Press, <A target="_blank" href="http://dukeupress.typepad.com/dukeupresslog/2009/10/letter-to-the-ftc-on-guides-governing-bloggers.html">wrote</A> on the press's blog that the new rules "will have a chilling effect on the online book-reviewing community" -- a community that publishers rely on more and more as print review outlets fade away.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Why-the-FTCs-New-Rules-for/8371/"><P>The FTC <A target="_blank" href="http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm">guidelines</A> now say that "the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service." If they don't, they risk substantial fines. The worry among publishers and reviewers is that "in-kind payment" could include review copies of books. </P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/C7D3B761-F135-4923-AB7C-4278A88C0A38/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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