Ad Group Calls FTC Blog Rules 'Dubious'
The Interactive Advertising Bureau on Thursday called on the FTC withdraw recently issued enforcement guidance regarding the opinions and commentary of bloggers online marketers and others, saying the rules unfairly and unconstitutionally impose penalties on online media for practices in which offline media have engaged for decades. In an open letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, IAB President Randall Rothenberg called the agency's distinction between offline media and online media, "constitutionally dubious."
The FTC this week has been trying to quiet a growing chorus of concern over the guidelines that require bloggers and others to inform consumers when they are paid or given free products to write positive reviews. The rules, which take effect Dec. 1 and were the focus of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in July, were made public last week. FTC Consumer Protection Bureau Associate Director Mary Engle has been doing the rounds with reporters to stress there are ample misconceptions about the guidance. See CongressDaily's coverage here (subscription required).
"What concerns us the most in these revisions is that the Internet, the cheapest, most widely accessible communications medium ever invented, would have less freedom than other media," Rothenberg said. "These revisions are punitive to the online world and unfairly distinguish between the same speech, based on the medium in which it is delivered." He said the practices have long been afforded First Amendment protections in traditional media but the FTC is saying the same speech deserves less protection online.
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