Internet & Computer Law Archives - Page 31 of 34

New FTC Rules Aim to Kill the Buzz on Blogs

Citizen Media Law Project: “On October 5, the Federal Trade Commission issued new guidelines (large pdf) on advertising involving endorsements and testimonials. The guidelines, which are due to go into effect on December 1, have caused a stir among bloggers, journalists, and new media types because they appear to place significant requirements and restrictions on blogs and social media. Most notably, they suggest that bloggers or other consumers who “endorse” a product or service online may be liable for civil penalties if they make false or unsubstantiated claims about a product or fail to disclose “material connections” between themselves and an advertiser.”

Do the FTC’s New Endorsement/Testimonial Rules Violate 47 USC 230?

Eric Goldman’s article starts, “In reading the FTC’s new rules on endorsements and testimonials in advertisements, I was struck by the FTC’s expansive vision of advertiser liability for third party-caused violations. In particular, the FTC apparently has made the same analytical error that the SEC recently made in the SEC’s proposal to hold securities issuers liable for third party content they link to. In my comments to the SEC, I explained that trying to hold a linker liable for content at the terminus of a link violates 47 USC 230.

The FTC’s Mad Power Grab: Preposterous New Endorsement Guidelines

Slate.com: “If you’re a blogger and you write about goods or services—and what blogger doesn’t write about books, movies, music, theater, restaurants, home theaters, laptops, manicures, clothing, tutoring, bicycles, cars, boats, cameras, strollers, watches, lawn care, pharmaceuticals, gourmet food, maid service, hair care, concerts, banking, shipping, or septic tank service from time to time?—then you’ve just made yourself vulnerable to an investigation from the Federal Trade Commission.”

See also “Our lips are sealed” by Megan McArdle. “A reader asks me to blog about the FTC decision on blogger disclosure. The problem is, it’s so transparently stupid that I don’t even know what to say.”

Overlawyered.com says “some blogs have mistakenly reported the applicable fines as ranging up to $11,000, which is an obsolete number and should in fact be $16,000.”

Domain Names: Federal Court or UDRP Arbitration?

Attorney David Johnson, author of the Digital Media Lawyer Blog, wrote an interesting article on a trademark holder’s choice of forum when seeking to obtain a domain name from a cybersquatter. The action may be a lawsuit in federal court or an arbitration under ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedure. The article is titled “Federal Court or UDRP Arbitration? How the Forum that Decides a Domain Name Dispute Can Make a Big Difference in the Results.”

Combatants in cybersquatting or domain name disputes are often not aware of the great degree to which the result they get depends on the judicial body that makes the decision. A clear illustration of how forum choice affects results can be seen in the widely varying deference given by the different judicial bodies to a defendant’s assertion of a “laches” defense to a cybersquatting complaint.

New Required FTC Blogger Disclosure

Overlawyered.com has an excellent article on how the FTC’s new ad rules will affect bloggers. Bottom line: the new rule is overly broad in scope, will have a chilling affect and it will be selectively enforced. The article includes quotes from and links to other articles on this subject.