πŸ“• Node [[2010 01 06 press cbc paid to blog segment regarding ftc blogger disclosure rules]]
πŸ“„ 2010-01-06-press-cbc-paid-to-blog-segment-regarding-ftc-blogger-disclosure-rules.md by @bmann


layout: post title: “Press: CBC "Paid to Blog" segment regarding FTC blogger disclosure rules” created: 1262767226 categories: - Speaking tags: - blogging - Bootup Labs - CBC - CMP.ly - disclosure - FTC - FTC Endorsement Guidelines - John Chow - Miss 604 - press - Rebecca Bollwitt - Vancouver


The New Year is kicking off with a bang. Bootup Labs moved into our new offices on Sunday (Cambie at Hastings, the Flack Block - come visit!) On Monday morning <a href="http://blog.bootuplabs.com/2010/01/04/danny-in-the-financial-post/">Danny was in the Financial Post</a> (actually, @trevoro from @layerboom has much longer quotes on <a href="http://www.financialpost.com/small-business/business-solutions/story.html?id=2403106&amp;p=2">page 2</a>). Then on Tuesday (technically yesterday as I&#39;m posting this), I got a call from @lalondetcbc and ended up with a <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada/BC/ID=137792113">short CBC TV segment</a> talking about whether bloggers should be legally required to disclose payments and other bonuses they receive. I was &quot;opposite&quot; <a href="http://www.miss604.com">Rebecca / Miss 604</a>. That is, it was supposed to be opposing view points. <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/Canada/BC/ID=137792113"><img alt="CBC Video is not embeddable so all I could do was give you this crappy screenshot" src="http://bmannconsulting.com/sites/bmannconsulting.com/files/Screen shot 2010-01-06 at 12.37.05 AM.png" style="margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: left; width: 400px; height: 359px; " /></a> Rebecca is an excellent blogger. She is a professional blogger (i.e. makes her living from her blogging activities). It&#39;s great that <a href="http://www.miss604.com/2010/01/disclosure-statements-for-bloggers.html">she&#39;s decided to use CMP.ly to indicate her disclosures</a>: it shows the kind of honesty and transparency that makes her a great blogger. Do we need a law for it? Well, the FTC in the US thinks it does, but the guidelines seem over broad - a $5 discount at a restaurant and a positive review could net you an $11K fine? Of course, they say it will be on a case by case basis. Hmmm ... a law that is hard to enforce and is applied inconsistently? Sounds like trouble to me! I like <a href="http://www.johnchow.com/about/my-disclosure-policy/">John Chow&#39;s disclosure policy</a> -- everything he posts he&#39;s making money from. This is a pure case of media literacy - people need to learn about the sources they are consuming and make their own decisions. Of course, journalists aren&#39;t covered under these laws at all. Why not? Good question, and <a href="http://reason.com/blog/2009/10/05/shut-your-mouth-if-your-experi">quotes like this one in a Reason Magazine article</a> don&#39;t inspire confidence: &quot;Yet I don&#39;t remember any reviewer in any print publication ever disclosing that the record, the movie, the meal or the vacation was free.&quot; Lastly, it seems like Rebecca and I were set up to have opposing viewpoints, since we <a href="http://twitter.com/Miss604/statuses/7436305318">seem to be on the same page</a>. Oh well, at least they spelled my name right :P I have a few quotes bookmarked under the tag <a href="http://asides.bmannconsulting.com/tag/ftcendorsementguidelines">FTC Endorsement Guidelines</a> for further reading.<!--break-->

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