The Associated Press story has been released. I was interviewed by Deborah Yao of the Philadelphia branch a few weeks ago, concerning the new FTC ruling set for this summer (their proposed guidelines are here, it opens as a pdf file). In a nutshell, the FTC intends on hunting down bloggers who write paid posts: “the agency will ‘go after bloggers—as well as the companies that compensate them—for any false claims or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.'”
Rrrriiiiight.
People, this all about control. I wrote an impassioned, angry post about the proposal here at my other blog.
I have ONE THING to say about this entire FTC crap and all the little minions defending it:
SHOW ME THE MONEY. THE MONEY THAT YOU GUYS ARE GETTING, for sponsoring and supporting this legislation. Please do NOT tell me you are doing it for the protection of the idiot consumer, that’s a lie.
When the FTC and other government lackeys have to play by the same rules as everyone else, then I’ll believe that their laws are just.
When these legislators and government bureaucrats are, by law, required to wear lapel pins or placards with disclaimers saying, “This legislation is sponsored by such-and-such a lobbyist,” I’ll gladly support their law. Until then, this is nothing but the Big Guy oppressing the Little Guy, because this regulation is ridiculous, unenforceable, partial, and tyrannical. (And believe me, I’ll have a few more posts debating the gory details).
We bloggers are being oppressed. The government bureaucrats are the real shills, but they get a FREE ride. This regulation, specifically crafted to target bloggers and excuse everyone else, is nothing but oppression by people in power who want more power. And that’s the truth. :-p
P.S. This is not a sponsored post. :-p
Life is never dull, and exciting things just seem to always happen to me... why me... when I'm not running around the house fixing things, I'm a freelance writer for national media outlets like USAToday.com, Salon.com, and others. I've even been interviewed by TIME and The Wall Street Journal about blogging. Can you believe it?! Here is where I express my zany, creative, motherly side. 
June 23, 2009 at 10:48 am
The government is getting more and more power and control hungry and the majority of the US citizens sit by and let it happen. They want to control every aspect of our lives and turn us into obedient citizens who depend on them for everything. Not this girl!
June 23, 2009 at 11:26 am
That is just ridiculous. First of all we have no control of the product or what was made. So why are the bloggers being punished. Ughhh don’t get me started on my thoughts of the government I could write a book. LOL
June 23, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Welcome to Obama’s America where the government is seen as a benign vigilant watchdog. Of course, this is just one step from a regulatory nightmare for bloggers.
June 23, 2009 at 10:23 pm
This is the first I heard about this, but I have to say that this is just ridiculous. This means that the government is going to have to spend even more of our money to pay for this mess. I would also like to know who is behind this: Google?? Lawyers?? This is just another attempt for the government to stick their nose in business and in our personal lives. Why do we need more government interference in our lives? You know, if this thing passes, the PPP environment is going to go the way of the dinosaur and businesses are going to have to resort to more expensive ways of advertising and those of us who make money on PPP will have to find other avenues of revenue. Thanks Congress for helping us in this time of need; you make me feel so proud to be an American:(
June 23, 2009 at 10:28 pm
I just read the article, it also applies to affiliate marketers. These ***holes!!! How dare they do this! Do they think consumers are so stupid that they cannot make their own decisions? Do they have to have the government holding their hands and wiping their behinds? Sorry, this just gets my goat. Thanks for letting me know about this.
June 23, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Here! Here! Government is sticking its nose in where it doesn’t belong…again. It seems to be a huge trend right now and is leading our country in a very dangerous direction.
June 24, 2009 at 6:40 pm
I know many folks see this as favorable…but I see this as penalizing bloggers and websites form doing the same thing traditional newspapers do. Products are sent to newspapers to review, a columnist or feature writer gives their two cents about it, either positive or negative. They are either compensated by the product giver in product, or they are paid by the newspaper or magazine they write for to do so.
If a blogger is paid for writing or reviewing, they pay their taxes just like everyone else, but perhaps without the benefits and health insurance a columnist at a newspaper might get. So its not like anyone is being cheated out there.
June 24, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I just heard about this here. I don’t think this is fair at all. This is a free country, I can’t believe the government is sticking its nose where it shouldn’t be. It’s simply ridiculous!