Bloggers Must Disclose Payments for Reviews

From December 1,this rule from the Federal Trade Commission in the US applies.  The New York Times reports:

'...The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products...'

and

'...Penalties include up to $11,000 in fines per violation.'

In respect of the UK, this requires some further investigation, e.g. what if a UK-based blogger has received a book from a US publisher/PR company/author?

Any thoughts, folks?  Immediate reaction?

Update: You can see the FTC press release here (you may need to click on your IE compatabililty button to scroll down).  It includes the text:

'...The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, 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. Likewise, if a company refers in an advertisement to the findings of a research organization that conducted research sponsored by the company, the advertisement must disclose the connection between the advertiser and the research organization. And a paid endorsement – like any other advertisement – is deceptive if it makes false or misleading claims...'

Comments

[Kerrie]

Interesting - Australia has a trade agreement with the US - wonder if that affects us?

[Maxine]

This would only affect blogs that fall under the jurisdiction of the US trade commission. What those are, I don't know - whether privately "owned" blogs would be affected or only blogs that are part of a company (eg a newspaper's official blogs) and hence the bloggers are employees of the company that is subject to the FTC rules.

I find it hard to see how this could apply to blogs outside the USA.