The Federal Trade Commission is trying to calm some fears in the wake of its revisions to the FTC Act of 1980, amended to include bloggers in its guidelines for endorsements and testimonials. Fast Company does a good job of rounding up concerns like the fear of being fined $11,000 for mistakes, by getting Richard Cleland, assistant director, division of advertising practices at the FTC, to demystify it a bit. About that fine, says Cleland: “That $11,000 fine is not true. Worst-case scenario, someone receives a warning, refuses to comply, followed by a serious product defect; we would institute a proceeding with a cease-and-desist order and mandate compliance with the law. ... There’s no monetary penalty, in terms of the first violation, even in the worst case. Our approach is going to be educational, particularly with bloggers. We’re focusing on the advertisers.” As for enforcement, Cleland says watching for case-by-case violations isn’t realistic; this is more about education and voluntary compliance than prosecution.

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