If you’re a blogger and/or affiliate marketer and you live in the United States, then you’re probably aware of the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations that will go into affect December 1, 2009. That’s in less than 4 hours from now, by the way.
Here’s the official release of the new regulations on the FTC website: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm
I’m a blogger (obviously) and an affiliate marketer AND I live in the U.S., so I needed to listen up to these new changes and how they were going to effect how I do business.
When these new regulations first came out, there was a lot of confusion and not many people knew exactly what needed to be changed to be in compliance. I’ll be honest, I was very confused myself, and I still am, kind of. Maybe you were in the same boat, or still am. If you are, that’s good because I’m going to provide you with everything you need to know. Well, I’ll provide you with the links that will provide you with everything you need to know. 
I wanted to get the facts about what I needed to change, if anything, so I wouldn’t become non-compliant and get in trouble with the FTC. That would be a very bad thing. I want to avoid this at all cost because it can be costly if the FTC comes after you.
After reading Peter Lee’s blog post on the New FTC Guidelines, I was just left with a million questions because everything was left up in the air. There weren’t any definitive answers, and that wasn’t Peter’s fault by any means. No one was sure at that point.
After a couple weeks or so, I finally started getting answers. I found a couple of resources that I found very helpful in getting some concrete answers. The first resource is an interview that Jim Edwards did with Mr. Rich Cleland, Assistant Deputy at The Federal Trade Commission. I took the time to listen to the interview. It’s lengthy but worth every second of it.
Listening to this FTC Interview is a must if you want the facts about what these new regulations entail and how they’re going to affect you as a blogger and affiliate marketer.
Another great resource I found through Twitter is: http://www.clicknewz.com/?s=ftc
Here’s one more from Mike Young’s Internet Law blog: http://mikeyounglaw.com/wp/2009/10/16/testimonials-federal-trade-commission-ftc-websites/
These resources should give you the information you need to stay FTC compliant in your blogging, affiliate marketing or online business venture.
What do you think about the new FTC regulations? Do you agree with them? What do you like or not like about these new regulations? Share your thoughts below…
