This is something that most of us do, but now it is an official rule and if you don’t do it you could receive a fine of up to $11,000 according to PCWorld, page that have analyzed the regulations and summarized them in this article. 

As of December 1, the Federal Trade Commission is going to require bloggers, and prominent tweeters and Facebook types to disclose any paid endorsements to their followers, online friends and readers.

Every time that I receive anything from any company I say it clearly in my reviews. And that’s something learned from my other fellows bloggers. We do it because we think that is unethical to hide this fact. Others just do it because they feel more important saying that X company sent him/her X product to review. Come on! A little bit of fame does not hurt anybody.

Another fact that I do not hide and my fellows MVPs do not hide too is that we are MVPs. That means that we are supposed to show the world all the new and good things that Microsoft releases. It does not mean that we should not criticize Microsoft but it says clearly that we believe in Microsoft and we like Microsoft products.

Anyway, it’s good to know these new regulations to avoid the fine. And be clear… This applies too to anything that any of you write in any forum. If you are bashing a product from the competition you should mention clearly what company you are working for.

ctitanic (738 Posts) - Website | Twitter | Facebook

Working as IT Professional since 1994. IT Manager since 1999. Microsoft Most Valuable Professional in Tablet PC/UMPC since 2007. Owner/writer of www.ultramobilepc-tips.com . Published many articles in todoUMPC Magazine, www.todoUMPCmagazine.com, the first online magazine all about UMPCs. Maker of Tweaks2K2, a registry hacking tool for Pocket PC devices (www.tweaks2k2.com).