PayPerPost Now Requires Disclosure

Nathan on December 18th, 2006 11:33 am

There seems to be a severe ethnocentric slant on many message forums and blogs frequented by people from all over the world towards U.S. based rules and regulations pertaining to online business and affiliate marketing. It’s almost as if though no other country in the world has an agency whose regulatory function is the equivalent to that of the U.S. based Federal Trade Commission. Recently, a Chinese webmaster was sentenced to life imprisonment pursuant to Chinese law because he ran a website whose core content would otherwise be mostly legal in the United States.

I’m slightly worried that with such a focus on U.S. based rules and regulations, some of us might miss the hidden regulatory dangers that lurk in other countries.

Maybe my concerns are misplaced, but I have long had a nagging suspicion that U.S. based rules and regulations receive excessive deference as compared to the rules and regulations of other countries which could carry equally if not more painful penalties for webmasters who violate their provisions.

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Rosalind Gardner on December 18th, 2006 14:11 pm

Hi Nathan,

Not sure that I can agree with the statement that there is a “severe ethnocentric slant on many message forums and blogs”.

Sure, most of the dialogue pertains to U.S. rules and regulations because that’s where the vast majority of online business comes from and where most of the marketers are based.

There are affiliate marketing forums specifically for U.K. marketers and I would hope that there are business sites and forums for people who do business in China - written in both Chinese and English.

We are all individually responsible for abiding by the laws of our own countries and those of the countries in which we conduct our business.

For example, if your server is U.S.-based, you better make sure that you are abiding by CAN-SPAM laws.

Regarding the Chinese webmaster who now suffers life imprisonment for what was written on his website - we might see that as a terrible violation of freedom of speech and a human rights issue. However, as a person living in China he should have known what he could and could not say, in English or Chinese.

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Michel Fortin on December 18th, 2006 14:39 pm

I agree with Rosalind, but I also somewhat understand what Nathan is saying. In one sense, there’s also the issue of targeting. The 11th of December letter was aimed at any website targeting the US consumer. So if you were a Chinese webmaster, you must follow US rules? Now, whether it’s feasible or not, that’s a whole other can of worms, I think. (Remember, I’m Canadian. I have to follow both the CRTC — Canada’s version of the FTC — as well as the FTC? Ugh.) And honestly, I think this whole FTC letter is blown out of proportion.

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Rosalind Gardner on December 18th, 2006 19:56 pm

Bonjour Michel!

You’re not kidding when you say that “the whole FTC letter is blown out of proportion.”

How far will this go?

Should I be concerned that my comment about the Chinese webmaster and human rights issues might prove treacherous during my next visit to China?

I was really hoping that the Internet would force countries to ‘work things out’ nicely.

Maybe even bring some peace to the planet.

I’ll keep hoping that. It’s preferable to the alternative that things really are just getting sillier and sillier.

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Chris on December 23rd, 2006 9:35 am

Hi Rosalind!

I have read the new FTC policy details, and it really seems that it could easily be applied to every single affiliate marketer. After all, we receive a commission (payment) for promoting a product. Rosalind, do you intend to change or add to the disclosure policies on your websites? And, if so, do you have a good resource you could recommend for your readers? AutoWebLaw is a great product. But, it was created before this FTC policy.

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