I saw a very interesting article on the New York Times about the new rules of blogging and twittering about product reviews.

With this media & technology filled world we are often inundated with articles and reviews about stores, new clothing lines, the lastest designer coffee, etc.  In it all, it’s hard to determine what is a true and honest review and what’s paid for. The Federal Trade Commission is the agency that regulates the concept of “truth in advertising” and now they seek to extend those rules to online media like blogs, facebook, and twitter.  The FTC has laid out in a  81 page document what type of situations require disclosure the level of compensation on a product review and whether the review is considered an endorsement based on that compensation alone. Feel free to read through the document if legal-ease is your thing.  In my opinion there is still a large gray area as to how these new regulations apply but to put it plainly:

If you are writing a review or an endorsement of a product plainly state if the product was given to you for free, if they asked for a unbiased review or an endorsement, or if being given the item has influenced your review in any way.

The way I figure it,  these regulations are only problem if the product is considered a bribe for a good review .  Even still, the FTC has not come up with fees to impose for violations. It will all take some time to see how these new rules really affect the blogosphere.

In the meantime,  if a few companies want to “bribe” me with some products to review, I’m sure I can find a way to work with the new rules.