The FTC and review blogs...

[telophase]

If any of you USAians receive books or other products from the publisher/manufacturer and review them on your blog, you might want to read this interview with Richard Cleland from the FTC about revised Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials. There is gobs of clueless happening there.

Comments

[nekonexus.livejournal.com]

This is very much WTFery. >.>

[riofriotex.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting this. I'm hoping it won't affect small-time book bloggers like me - can't see that they have the manpower to enforce something like this with blogs with readership as low as mine has! I usually get a book a month from LibraryThing Early Reviewers (usually an ARC, which technically has no value as you are not SUPPOSED to resell it), and occasionally I get one directly from a publisher. Sometimes the books are ones that are already published and could be resold, but I think I ultimately end up donating them somewhere.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I think if you disclose that it was given to you and then pass it on somehow you're fine. They're really trying (badly) to crack down on the paid-reviewer phenomenon, but are catching almost everyone in their net.