For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission will have regulation power over blogs. But before you get your panties in a bunch, it's for a pretty good reason. The FTC will require blogs who receive freebies or monetary compensation for product reviews to reveal that they get rewards for reviewing products or face a fine of up to $11,000 per offense.

This seems like a decent idea from a consumer point of view, since paying bloggers for seemingly realistic product reviews has become a big problem and it only seems fair that if some company is paying someone to write a favorable review of their product, that there should be some sort of disclaimer that that's the case.

And if you were wondering, IHC has never been paid to review any product. Every now and again, Comedy Central gives us freebie DVDs for giveaways, but there's never any stipulation that I have to positively review whatever. And I haven't even done that in a while, since the last several shows they've asked me to mention have been pretty crappy.

From Fox News:

The FTC's proposal made many bloggers anxious. They said the scrutiny would make them nervous about posting even innocent comments.

To placate such fears, Cleland said the FTC will more likely go after an advertiser instead of a blogger for violations. The exception would be a blogger who runs a "substantial" operation that violates FTC rules and already received a warning, he said.

Existing FTC rules already banned deceptive and unfair business practices. The final guidelines aim to clarify the law for the vast world of blogging. Not since 1980 had the commission revised its guidelines on endorsements and testimonials.

Cleland said a blogger who receives a freebie without the advertiser knowing would not violate FTC guidelines. For example, someone who gets a free bag of dog food as part of a promotion from a pet shop wouldn't violate FTC guidelines if he writes about the product on his blog.

Blogger Linsey Krolik said she's always disclosed any freebies she's received on products she writes about, but has stepped up her efforts since last fall. She said she adds a notice at the end of a post, "very clear in italics or bold or something — this is the deal. It's not kind of buried."