Originally posted by junyo
Or, it's another way for companies to smack down independent reviewers/websites by having the FTC dig through the finances of anyone that gives them a bad review.
Or maybe I'm just a cynic about the government's need and/or ability to fix a social non-problem.
Good point, but they would be inviting a reciprocal investigation.
This is not really a social issue, its an issue of corporate misrepresentation. If a company discretely pays someone in kind, or in cash, to rubbish someone elses products and support theirs, then clearly that company is attempting to bypass laws regarding misrepresentation.
A company is NOT allowed to directly or indirectly make false claims about a competitor or its own products. If they are sponsoring a blogger to do just that they are just as guilty as if they had hired a PR company or ad agency to do the same.
This is really about enforcement of existing laws, not new laws.