A Sector Under Siege - Part 2
If you watched the Senate Committee on Health Education Labor and Pensions For-Profit Schools: The Student Recruitment Experience, only the most unattached...
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New FTC Rules for Debt Relief Services
New FTC Rules for Debt Relief Services Turn Up the Heat on Lead Generators and Affiliate Marketers
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Dumb and Dumber
When going through the Google v. Pacific WebWorks lawsuit, the subject of our article, "When They Come for You," several lines stand out. One of them, we printed, a line that gave us reason to think Google's awareness of their...
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Fake Blogs - What's At Risk
In chatting with a friend in the industry, they remarked how it seemed to them that the FTC operated two years in arrears. They looked at this week's earlier announcement regarding the updating of the FTC’s Guides Concerning...
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FTC Revises Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising
On Monday of this week, the FTC announced they approved final revisions to the guidelines they give advertisers on how to keep their endorsement and testimonial ads in line with the FTC Act. While the announcement didn't come...
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Oprah and Oz on the Offensive
There might never be a good way to learn about bad news, but some ways are definitely worse than others, e.g. when it involves you. That would certainly be the case with the biggest news to ripple through the...
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Lead Generation and Debt Relief Services:
In the wake of massive unsecured consumer debt and the country’s most recent economic woes, debt relief services are under scrutiny from federal regulators, state legislatures and attorneys general.
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Internet Fraud Complaints Cost $265 Million in 2008
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that in 2008, the organization’s Web site received 275,284 complaints of fraudulent and non-fraudulent issues on the Internet, a 33.1 percent increase from 206,884 complaints in 2007.
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Spam Down, Trojans Up?
McColo was shut down last week. If that makes no sense to you, you’re probably not alone, though you’ve probably benefited from its meaning.
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U.S. Tops World with Malware
Malware has wrecked havoc on many computers around the globe, but according to recent figures released by Trend Micro, nowhere has its effect been as harsh as the United States of America.
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Win, Lose, or Draw?
One of the longer running and largest legal proceedings came to a conclusion. Were you to have read the adjective laden accounts of the outcome in the popular and trade press, you would think the case involved...
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The Rogue Marketer
I remember someone instant messaging me and saying that I should watch the Katie Couric show as one of the more well-known names in the performance marketing industry would receive unanticipated exposure. For...
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iLegal - Verdict Against FTC in Important Affiliate Marketing Case
The FTC was handed a stunning defeat this Monday by a jury in Seattle, Washington. Much to the surprise of many (if not most) watching this case, a jury in U.S. District Court held that Impulse Media Group, Inc.,
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iLegal 2007 - The Year in Review
Well, the year is coming to a close, and it seems like a good time to look back on the major trends of the year in our industry.
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Ringtones Survival Guide
In this week's Trends report, we introduce the notion of affiliate accountability, not that affiliates have thus far in their existence acted without accountability, but for reasons both valid and not...
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iLegal - Thinking through Azoogle’s Settlement with the Florida AG
iLegal - Thinking through Azoogle’s Settlement with the Florida Attorney General - What Does it Mean for the Industry?
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iLegal - Confusion over FTC Press Release
Confusion over FTC Press Release - “FTC Approves Affiliate Marketing Rule Regarding Use of Consumer Information”
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FTC Charges Online Marketers of ‘Debt Meltdown Program’ with Failing to Deliver Promised Debt Reduction Services
As an affiliate marketer, it’s imperative that you stay up to date with the latest FTC actions against online advertisers. You want to look out for trends, and you also want to be informed when any offers you might be running have attracted unwanted attention from the FTC. Be aware; it’s your best defense.
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iLegal - Best FTC Compliance Resources
I’ve written many articles here in the iLegal column on the various resources available at the FTC which can help affiliates to stay in compliance, and out of trouble. I still receive inquiries on a regular basis regarding the best places to...
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iLegal - FTC Continues to Prosecute Alleged Weight Loss Spammers
The FTC is clearly on the tail of those making bogus weight loss claims, and this week they announced another prosecution. This one is against Sili Neutraceuticals, LLC and Brian McDaid, individually and doing business as...
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Get Out of Jail Free - The DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act)
Ever play Monopoly? Most people have, and they’ll tell you that a "Get out of jail free," card is an excellent thing to have on hand. It allows you to keep playing the game, instead of losing a turn, even when you end up getting sent to "jail."
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“Compliance” as a Sales Tool
When I approach compliance as a lawyer, I am primarily thinking of compliance as a legal issue. That is, what can a company do to assure that they are in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations? This is...
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iLegal -Live from adtech San Francisco - Indemnity Clauses
In my day to day capacity as a General Counsel in the affiliate industry, I have the opportunity to review dozens upon dozens of contracts. “Agreements,” “insertion orders,” “Contracts,” “terms and conditions;” they go by many names, but across the board they contain many of the same, “standard” terms. Unfortunately, some of what is presented as “standard” is not necessarily so in legal terms.
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The FTC is Watching - General Rules and Regulations
I’ve been getting quite a few emails asking that I cover more generally, the things which are most likely to be in the sights of the FTC. The big, general category that the FTC is monitoring is "unfair or deceptive advertising." The
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When "Free" Really Isn't
One of the FTC's current hot buttons is investigating advertisers who are running offers for all things "free." Specifically, the FTC becomes interested when things advertised as free truly...
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Affiliate Mudslinging - The Ringtone Flare-up
“CPA Empire and Mobile Sidewalk Team Up On Ringtone Fraud.” That headline illustrates the difference between being a company and being an affiliate. A company cannot say such things, but a one-man show whose personal branding skills might just top his abilities in search can get away with...
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The Legal Minefield
The world of online marketing is heavily regulated, and constantly watched by both government authorities and consumer advocates. Honest marketers must tiptoe carefully through the minefield of regulations and laws, and make...
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